That reads 24 psi to me so you would clean it again when it reaches 30. Set your pointers if you wish so you don't have to write the numbers down.
Added products we probably shouldn’t have…now what?
- Thread starter Schaeper
- Start date
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
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- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Just catching up on your saga.
To clarify/point some things out…
- the products you added previously may have led to more chlorine demand but that is likely over now.
- proceed with the SLAM Process as described in the article until all 3 end of slam criteria are met before proceeding with MA fc levels for 24hrs.
Keep at it! The more often you test & replenish slam level fc the faster it will go.
Hit it hard when you get the opportunity by dosing every couple hours to get the upper hand. Put your robot to work as well & clean the cover & the pit.
To clarify/point some things out…
- the products you added previously may have led to more chlorine demand but that is likely over now.
- proceed with the SLAM Process as described in the article until all 3 end of slam criteria are met before proceeding with MA fc levels for 24hrs.
Keep at it! The more often you test & replenish slam level fc the faster it will go.
Hit it hard when you get the opportunity by dosing every couple hours to get the upper hand. Put your robot to work as well & clean the cover & the pit.
Thank you for reading! I am just so bummed I was off to a good start and now it's supposed to storm for days so I think I might have to start back over
On average, how many days of a SLAM is necessary for this yellow mustard to go away? Also, how in the world do we clean the cover/pit? We were given zero instruction about that. I was wondering about the underside of the cover mostly...We had it off the entire time I first tried to SLAM it because I wasn't sure if the chlorine would damage the cover, but this time I've been putting the cover on because it's been raining. Wondering if the chlorine like steaming up on the cover is enough for the underside?
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Most pits/vaults have some sort of cover - close the pool cover, scrub the top down then remove the pit cover. generally just getting the leaves out then spraying it out can help. Some use a little dish soap in there.Thank you for reading! I am just so bummed I was off to a good start and now it's supposed to storm for days so I think I might have to start back over
Rinse well so it doesn’t end up in the pool.
For the bottom of the cover it should be good if it comes in to contact with chlorinated water - as it rolls up both sides will be contacted by it, same with whatever you use on the top, diluted bleach etc. You also want to clean/maintain the tracks.
Natural chemistry makes a cover cleaner - there may be other brands as well. Here’s a more detailed explanation. Your cover manufacturer website may have more information as well.
Pool Covers - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Unfortunately there’s no timeline for slam.
In general we recommend leaving the cover off during slam- aside from the time you want it to be in contact w/slam level fc.
this is so the cc’s produced by the process can escape.
Rain itself shouldn’t have too much of an affect on slam unless its a monsoon. Just go out & replenish fc when its safe to do so. (ie. Not lighting etc) honestly it can sometimes be helpful because generally when its rainy the uv is lower so you have less fc loss.
Just keep with slam fc as often as you can- it’s not starting over, its MAINTAINING until you meet all the criteria. I know it feels like it is taking forever but that’s because you have spread out/broken up the process which has dragged things out.
If you can be diligent going forward it will pay off.
After your slam is done you want to be sure to set your swcg to maintain high target - this will prevent accidentally dipping below minimum in the future.
So, for this weekend we are supposed to get like 4" of rain and 55-60mph winds from the hurricane. Think I should still leave it open? The neighbors tree would be blowing a bunch of stuff in our pool too.Most pits/vaults have some sort of cover - close the pool cover, scrub the top down then remove the pit cover. generally just getting the leaves out then spraying it out can help. Some use a little dish soap in there.
Rinse well so it doesn’t end up in the pool.
For the bottom of the cover it should be good if it comes in to contact with chlorinated water - as it rolls up both sides will be contacted by it, same with whatever you use on the top, diluted bleach etc. You also want to clean/maintain the tracks.
Natural chemistry makes a cover cleaner - there may be other brands as well. Here’s a more detailed explanation. Your cover manufacturer website may have more information as well.
Pool Covers - Further Reading
Unfortunately there’s no timeline for slam.
In general we recommend leaving the cover off during slam- aside from the time you want it to be in contact w/slam level fc.
this is so the cc’s produced by the process can escape.
Rain itself shouldn’t have too much of an affect on slam unless its a monsoon. Just go out & replenish fc when its safe to do so. (ie. Not lighting etc) honestly it can sometimes be helpful because generally when its rainy the uv is lower so you have less fc loss.
Just keep with slam fc as often as you can- it’s not starting over, its MAINTAINING until you meet all the criteria. I know it feels like it is taking forever but that’s because you have spread out/broken up the process which has dragged things out.
If you can be diligent going forward it will pay off.
After your slam is done you want to be sure to set your swcg to maintain high target - this will prevent accidentally dipping below minimum in the future.
Also, I keep seeing that you can swim when you're at SLAM levels... But doesn't the pH get thrown off when you SLAM? Can you swim with the high pH? Or should you dump some acid in to lower it before you swim. Just wondering what is/isn't safe for our kids to swim in. So many mixed thoughts that I've read.
Thank you so much for your time and advice!
You're supposed to take the PH to 7.2 before the SLAM and it's safe to swim at SLAM level, if you can see the bottom of the pool (safety).
I started at a 7.6 and added what pool math said to drop the pH to 7.2 but I didn't actually re-test the pH before I started dumping chlorine. Think thats okay? Or what else should I do?
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
The rain itself is fine- if you want to cover to prevent the debris that’s fine too.
The phenol red ph test is skewed due to fc levels above 10ppm - the ph itself is not necessarily higher.
The slam process article outlines that you’re to lower ph to 7.2 before beginning- this generally gives most folks a week or more of time before the ph rises too high.
If the slam drags on for a couple weeks then let fc fall to 10ppm for a short period & ph can be checked & adjusted if necessary, then slam can resume.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
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- Vinyl
- Chlorine
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- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Its fine. Your ph will rise in the same way as it normally does. If it normally doesn’t change much then don’t worry about it.
I tried to google search and couldn't find anything for my specific question. I had passed an overnight SLAM test twice so I was bringing it up to mustard algae levels for 24hr to get rid of that. I went to bed with FC at 25ppm and woke up to 7 dead frogs in the pool and the chlorine dropped to 22ppm. There is a deviation of 1ppm because I was using the 5ml test so there could be some not-so-accurate test results as well. But anyway... could the dead frogs in my pool cause the chlorine to drop that much or is the algae somehow still in the pool? Do I need to still pass the overnight test at mustard algae FC levels? Please advise, thanks!
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
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- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
The frogs will not appreciably effect the chlorine levels unless they have begun to decompose.
You do NOT do an OCLT at mustard algae FC levels. You hold the MA FC level for 24 hours and revert to MA FC maintenance level (at or above 15% of CYA level).
You passed the OCLT prior to raising to MA FC SLAM level -- correct?
You do NOT do an OCLT at mustard algae FC levels. You hold the MA FC level for 24 hours and revert to MA FC maintenance level (at or above 15% of CYA level).
You passed the OCLT prior to raising to MA FC SLAM level -- correct?
Yes, I passed the OCLT on the 28th and the 29th. Was trying to get the levels up to mustard algae levels yesterday but the chlorine I had I think went bad (bought it half off at HD....sooo I suspect they knew it was bad) because I was adding a whole gallon twice and it didn't do anything and it was raining/cloudy basically since Thursday so the sun wasn't eating it. We went out and bought new chlorine from the pool store yesterday and brought it up to 25ppm early evening yesterday. Then this morning it was at 22ppm with the dead frogs in the pool. I added a half gallon of the new stuff around 7:30am but haven't checked it again yet. Still cloudy and dreary outside.
As for our cartridge filter... we have just been rinsing it out with our hose. Do we need to do anything else to it to rid of the algae? We did that last Thursday. I still need to re-clean all the pool toys. Is putting them in the mustard algae level waters sufficient or would spraying them with a bleach cleaner be better?
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
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- Fiberglass
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- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Regular cleaning of the filter elements is fine.
Best to clean the pool toys separately if possible. If too many or too big, put in the pool and be sure to thoroughly soak them.
Best to clean the pool toys separately if possible. If too many or too big, put in the pool and be sure to thoroughly soak them.
Ok will do. Any thoughts about the chlorine loss? I'm just so confused why I passed OCLT twice and then when I go to raise to mustard algae levels its dropping. Is that normal? I'm just scared to finish this & call it complete and it not be sufficient enough and have to do it all over again. Need to knock this out before we close the pool for the winter!
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
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- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
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- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
At MA FC SLAM levels, testing is far less accurate. Also, loss of FC at very high levels when your pool is open to the environment is very likely. You followed the process, move on.
And the human error involved in testing..... the more drops you make, the more chance some of them aren't dead on. With the smaller 5ml sample, the more being a fraction off skews the end result.
IMO going to mustard slam is insurance as nobody can really prove/disprove it. When following the regular slam process prior, onw already passed an OCLT (you did two) so there isn't a need to OCLT at MA slam FC.
IMO going to mustard slam is insurance as nobody can really prove/disprove it. When following the regular slam process prior, onw already passed an OCLT (you did two) so there isn't a need to OCLT at MA slam FC.
So do you think I'm good and just let the FC levels start to drop back down to normal? I've been struggling to get my FC over 22ish. Wants to hover around 21-22. I'm not sure if my chlorine is bad or if when it's THIS high that it goes away faster as I've dumped a gallon in and then walked away for several hours? It was a very cloudy, dreary day here again.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Let the FC drop to MA FC maintenance level as I stated above. 15% of CYA for your FC minimum.
Ok! Also... any idea what the black stuff is? I have wiped it two days in a row with a magic eraser and it goes away perfectly fine but it comes back every morning. We usually have our autocover on and the wind does seem to blow towards the shallow area and we live off a lake. Is this really just "scum" and is it normal to come back everyday like this? It seems way up past the calm waterline so it must have been windy last night. The other two days it was lower.
Attachments
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40