New Pool, CL dropping fast, SWG not working?

[TreeFiter]

If you aren't keeping up at 80%, I don't think 90% is going to make much difference at this point. There is a good chance that algae has started to grow and is fighting against you. The longer you put it off, the worse it will be. If I were in your shoes, I would SLAM the pool and get it over with.

As for the tiny bubbles, you might not be able to see them at the return jets, but if your salt cell is transparent, you should be able to see them there. They are so tiny that they often just look like cloudiness coming out of the cell.

 

[Hagefamily]

Good to know about the bubbles. Thanks. No, the salt cell is not transparent.

I'm just not yet convinced it's algae. I have scoured the pool with goggles. Felt the walls, inspected every nook and cranny accessable. The only places not inspected are inside the pipes themselves, the cartridge filter and behind the two lights. (Those are jobs I'm not certain I want to do myself. Well, the filter yes, but I'm not ready to take it all apart yet the first time.)


I read an above thread that explained the math on how much chlorine the SWG makes and applied the numbers.
This should be right:
The aqua pure makes 1.25 lb./24 Hr. (567 gm/24 Hr.)
1.25 is 20 oz. a day.
Running my pump 12 hours at 100% would make 10 oz.
So If I'm at 90%, I'm making 9 oz.

I think I get how the drop boxes work for chlorine gas now, but hey it's late, errors happen. So please tell me if this is wrong.


So that means very close to 2 ppm chlorine is what I make with my current settings, right??

I have a cya of 70. ph is 7.5. How much free chlorine is normally consumed in 24 hours? We have 2 adults and 3 kids swimming daily. I have full sun about 9:30 to 7:30 on the pool. (if either fact makes a difference)

So if my daily usage is 2.5 and I'm using 3 PPm each day, it would be a deficit like I'm seeing. I see my FC drifting down every time I bump it up to 6. Then it goes down .5 maybe 1.0 a day. I raise it back to 6 and it maybe holds a day, and then slowly drifts down like that.

I just don't know what a "normal FC daily usage" is.

 

[ping]

Run an OCLT to rule out organics consuming the chlorine. Each pool is different and you might need more run time and high % output to keep up with your pool's demand.

I supplement my pool with bleach every now and then when I test at the minimum target range. Some days there is an extra load on the pool that the chlorine needs to work on.

I see small bubbles out of the closest return when the SWG is on and the pump is on low-speed.

 

[jblizzle]

Why are there now apparently 2 accounts?
TheHages and Hagefamily?
This is potentially a violation of the forum rules.

If these are the same person, please PM one of the admins to have your accounts combined.

 

[ping]

Their last post was not there when I posted my last response and that changes my thoughts on what is happening.

It seems I miscalculated or the pool volume changed from what I read earlier, but with the pool being 33,000 gallons the SWG is not producing enough chlorine. You either need to run the pump longer and/or increase the output to 100%. I don't think there is much wrong with the pool except that the SWG needs to put out more chlorine. Your calculated numbers for the chlorine are right.

 

[Hagefamily]

Why are there now apparently 2 accounts?
TheHages and Hagefamily?
This is potentially a violation of the forum rules.

If these are the same person, please PM one of the admins to have your accounts combined.

My husband and I each made an account on separate devices not knowing the other had done so. He started the thread and then I've kind of taken over fixing the issue. We are two different people, same pool, same issue, but we really don't need two accounts. I'll send a PM now.

 

[jblizzle]

Thanks, that should result is less confusion

 

[Hagefamily]

Thanks, that should result is less confusion

Yeah, it was late night math and posting.
But I'll be taking over from here on out on behalf of us.

Veronica

 

[Hagefamily]

Their last post was not there when I posted my last response and that changes my thoughts on what is happening.

It seems I miscalculated or the pool volume changed from what I read earlier, but with the pool being 33,000 gallons the SWG is not producing enough chlorine. You either need to run the pump longer and/or increase the output to 100%. I don't think there is much wrong with the pool except that the SWG needs to put out more chlorine. Your calculated numbers for the chlorine are right.

Thanks for confirming my math. Yes, the post took a while to show up, my mistake! Hubby and I have been discussing that back and forth wondering how you do that, and neither of us found it in the pool school stuff, then I saw another thread and it was an ah-ha moment for me.
Yes, my hubby started the thread. He probably should have put in the body of the message the 33,000 gallons, instead of leaving it down in the signature. IT probably would have made it a bit more clear.

So really the best thing to do is add to the pump time then? I'm quite disappointed. It seems to me that if we need to run the pump and SWG more than 12 hours at 100% just to keep up enough chlorine this is not reasonably sized for my pool.


Is there any reason running the SWG at 100% is a bad thing? I've read several threads on percentages, but I think from what I've understood, it doesn't. Running 4 hours at 100% is just the same as running 8 hours at 50%. That's from a chlorine output. But aside from output it won't stress the system in any way, will it? I don't want to make my SWG prematurely fail or something.


Veronica

 

[ping]

There are a couple of ways around not having to increase the run time. The first one is to supplement bleach every once in a while and the other is to increase the output to 100%. The 100% output may still not be enough chlorine at times and you might still have to add bleach if the SWG can not keep up. The cell will produce a set amount of chlorine in its lifetime, if you use it on a lower output it will last longer than having it on a high output setting.

To save a lot of money, if your electrical rates are high, you would probably be best replacing that 2HP pump with a variable speed pump. You could run longer times on low speed at a fraction of the cost compared to running a one speed 2HP pump. If your electrical rates are not high, then I would just increase the run time on the pump you have.