And another first test…

[Hollybody]

You should keep your free chlorine between five and 10 if your CYA is 70. 3PPM would be the bare minimum with no room for error.

I have a salt water pool and according to the chart 70 CYA is 3-5 in FC.

 

[PoolStored]

I have a salt water pool and according to the chart 70 CYA is 3-5 in FC.

So, 3 is the absolute minimum, 5 is recommended. Minimum is lava. If I sniff minimums, my pool will cloud. The reason some may run their pools with a bit more FC is that they may be in a climate, or have pool usage where their daily FC consumption is variable, or high.

If you sit at 3, then have a really sunny day with lots of swimmers, you may get into algae territory. If you are a bit higher, say 6, then you have some room.

I have a pool with lots of sun. In june/july, I can use 3ppm/day. With swimmers I can use up to 5.5 per day. If I were at 3-5, I'd get algae. No swimmers and a cover 1.5-2 fc loss. Ask me how I know. As a result, I have SWCG and 70 CYA. Because of my consumption, I keep my pool between 7-9. (9 usually in June/July, 7 other months). (9-5.5=3.5...above minimum).

Where you run is dependent on your situation. My brother was in CA. Covered pool (less FC consumption), and he was the only one that swam, rarely. He could add a quart a day and be really stable, because his FC consumption was stable and known.

You need to learn your pool (how much FC it uses a day in each season), and adjust your SWCG to maintain AT LEAST minimum (3) PLUS your FC loss. I would keep at least 1-2 more FC than the 3+loss to cover unforeseen usage.

Hope that helps...

 

[Hollybody]

Thank you, very helpful! My other pool was nothing like this one, so all a learning curve for me. I’ve tested everything tonight and here is where I am at:

 

[Newdude]

+1.

What is your SWG runtime schedule ?

If you produce at night, or only a couple hours during the day, you'll be more prone to daily FC swings like a chlorine dosed pool. Take your 3 FC and subtract 2 to 3 FC and it's a one way ticket to Swampville. Always test FC at its low point of the day with a SWG if you won't easily stay above minimum.

For example, with nighttime production only, it's gonna look great in the morning, but a whole different story as the sun goes down before the SWG comes on again and starts to make up the loss. So in that scenario (if applicable) you'd want to test in the evening to ensure you were still above minimum at your lowest.

It's why I run hot, because I can't be bothered. When it's 8 - 10, I'm covered no matter what. A hot day, a big storm, a 2 day power outage.......

 

[PoolStored]

Thank you, very helpful! My other pool was nothing like this one, so all a learning curve for me. I’ve tested everything tonight and here is where I am at:

Those are fine numbers. No worries on any of them. To continue to improve it, reduce your pH to 7.2 with Muriatic Acid (MA)...IF you know how MA works in your pool. If you don't, reduce pH in increments of .4 to get it down to 7.2-7.4. It will rise again over time. With these additions of Muriatic, OVER TIME it will slowly lower your TA, and at some point the TA will be low enough that the pH rise will slow.

Adding more Chlorine Stabilizer (CYA) will help reduce your daily FC loss and increase the longevity of your cell. Much like the MA, you can add CYA in increments of say 20, so you don't overshoot. 70 is a nice target for SWCG. WAIT 48 hours AFTER it is dissolved before retesting. It will take that long to show up...ask me how I know.

That's about it...nice job!

 

[PoolStored]

What is your SWG runtime schedule ?

+1 to what @Newdude says. Most here run 24/7 at low speed and adjust the SWCG so that at low point in the day it never gets below min+(1-2). This chlorinates all day!

 

[Hollybody]

Wow...I'm shocked that it is all pretty normal. According to the pool math calcs, I'm all out of whack!. Good to know...So for run times, my pool company started us at 70% on the SWG running from 8-8. When my chlorine spiked last week, I changed the run time to 11-6 and the SWG to 10%. In an attempt to get the kids in the pool while it was warm, I turned the SWG off. We have had this pool up and running for all of 14 days so I really can't be sure what "normal" is. In addition, we have had waaaayyy less than normal weather the last week with the freezing temps for about 5 days. We are back to "seasonal" temps now (high 70's). If I am seeing a trend, it would be to keep my FC around 7-9 and my CYA around 70, then adjust pH. Is this correct? I'm thinking it would be wise to run the SWG again, but just not sure at what percentage.

I'm looking forward to getting to "know" my pool and how the SWG works with temps and sunshine. I'm sure just when I think I figure it out, we will be in FL summer and I will have to learn all over again.

Thank you everyone for the help! Hopefully I'm not asking too many questions

 

[Hollybody]

+1.

What is your SWG runtime schedule ?

If you produce at night, or only a couple hours during the day, you'll be more prone to daily FC swings like a chlorine dosed pool. Take your 3 FC and subtract 2 to 3 FC and it's a one way ticket to Swampville. Always test FC at its low point of the day with a SWG if you won't easily stay above minimum.

For example, with nighttime production only, it's gonna look great in the morning, but a whole different story as the sun goes down before the SWG comes on again and starts to make up the loss. So in that scenario (if applicable) you'd want to test in the evening to ensure you were still above minimum at your lowest.

It's why I run hot, because I can't be bothered. When it's 8 - 10, I'm covered no matter what. A hot day, a big storm, a 2 day power outage.......

Forgot to mention, all of my testing has been at night.

 

[PoolStored]

According to the pool math calcs, I'm all out of whack!.

Pool Math is the best out there. There are targets and recommended ranges. Don't chase perfection.

Keep your FC in range for your CYA.
Keep your pH between 7.0-8.2. When it rises to 8.0-8.2, reduce it with Muriatic to 7.2-7.4. Rinse, repeat. at some point when TA gets below 80, your pool will sit at a pH like 7.6, 7.8 or even 8. If it is stable, even in this range it is fine! Then your MA additions will be less.
Manage pH and ignore TA (just don't let it get below 50).
Fiberglass pool, you can basically ignore CH, unless you have a heater, which in that case 275 is perfect.
Check your CYA every couple weeks, it degrades 5-10 or so a month. Add some when it gets to 60. You will also tell that CYA is degraded when your FC demand starts to rise.
You have CSI turned on. Enter your pool water temp and it will give you a CSI. If you keep CSI between about -.3 and 0, you will extend the life of your SWG as this will avoid scale.

Pretty simple...just a dance.

If you have a variable speed pump, I would run 24/7 at somewhere between 1100 and 1400 RPM. Slow your pump down until the SWCG flow switch turns off. Then increase 100-200 rpm from there and leave it. Adjust your SWCG for the season. I run April 15%, May 25%, June/July 35%, 25% Aug, 15% sept/oct. I keep the pool covered and this works perfect. If we take the cover off and jump in, I just turn it up to 50% for the rest of the day and back to seasonal percentage at night. This works for me. There are lots of formulas (run-times/percentages) that can work.

 

[Bperry]

I have a salt water pool and according to the chart 70 CYA is 3-5 in FC.

With saltwater pool it should be 3-10ppm. (At least on my poolmath app).

edit: i just checked my app against the official chart and it looks like the app ignores the high end change for the salt water pool and uses liquid chlorine value for the high end. That’s odd. There shouldn’t be any reason to lower the high FC recommendation when using SWCG is there? If 10ppm is fine for liquid chlorine then it should be just fine for salt.

 

[PoolStored]

If I am seeing a trend, it would be to keep my FC around 7-9 and my CYA around 70, then adjust pH. Is this correct?

Those would be good choices. There is no order to the pH or FC adjustments. You can do them concurrently.

 

[Newdude]

Hopefully I'm not asking too many questions

Please. Ask. Anytime.

If it's silly, we can all have a good laugh. (With you, not at you, promise). If it's not silly, we can save a few other issues that would have arose if you did something you were unsure of. We'll gladly help fix the extra problems too, but it's way better for all parties to only have one fish to fry.

 

[PoolStored]

In an attempt to get the kids in the pool while it was warm,

On a side note, it is safe to swim up to SLAM level FC (as long as you can see the bottom). Click on SLAM on the chart to get these level. 30 CYA is safe up to 12 FC and 70 CYA is safe up to 28 FC.

Finally, if you click the gear in upper right on home page, scroll to bottom of that page and enable log sharing, we can see your logs through your name on the post. Saves posting numbers all the time and we can then see trends to help you with problems.

 

[Hollybody]

If you have a variable speed pump, I would run 24/7 at somewhere between 1100 and 1400 RPM. Slow your pump down until the SWCG flow switch turns off. Then increase 100-200 rpm from there and leave it.

I do have a VSP...It's a Jandy TruClear. So are you saying that within a certain RPM, the SWCG will turn itself off?

 

[PoolStored]

I do have a VSP...It's a Jandy TruClear. So are you saying that within a certain RPM, the SWCG will turn itself off?

Yes (but it is flow, not rpm, though they are related. Jandy turns off at 20gpm...at some point with low enough rpm the flow will drop below 20gpm). If it is installed properly, there is a flow switch that will turn off SWCG if flow is too low (<20gpm)

The TruClear will display “No Flow” when there is insufficient flow. If you reduce the pump until the display says "no flow," then go up 200 rpm and use that 24/7. You will be doing less yoyo with the SWCG adjustments. Might have to make an adjustment once every week or two.

 

[Hollybody]

According to the Handy user guide pools under 15K gal should be set to 30% on the chlorinator. Do you agree with that? I have no idea (clearly )

 

[Newdude]

Do you agree with that?

I violently disagree with that. You own pool's needs will change several times throughout the season. My pool up north needs less than yours in FL. There is no one size fits all.

Test and adjust as needed. If you're making too much FC, turn it down a skootch. If you aren't keeping up with the daily loss, turn it up. (Or increase runtime.... half a dozen or six).

 

[PoolStored]

Jandy truclear creates .92 lbs per day. Put that into "effects of adding" in pool math. 15K pool, .92 output, free chlorine generated with 30% and 24 hour pump time will raise FC by 2.2.

The manual is just numbers. If your FC demand daily is 2.2, then yes. If your daily demand is 5, no. You need to figure out what your pool uses.

 

[PoolStored]

Think of a pool as a human. Pool you want to maintain FC, Human, maintain a body weight.

Human = stay in bed all day under the covers, your basal metabolic rate might be 2000 calories you would have to eat to maintain.
Pool = solar cover on all day, FC consumption of 1.5-2, have to add 1.5-2 per day.

Human = normal sleep, normal movement day = 2250 calories you would have to eat to maintain.
Pool = cover off during the day, low sun, 2-2.5 per day to add.

Human = normal sleep, normal movement with cardio and gym = 3000 calories to maintain
Pool = cover off, lots of sun and a bunch of swimmers = 3-4 a day needs to be added. The season increases FC consumption because of the length of time and intensity of the sun increases.

You need to figure out what your pool needs...

 

[Hollybody]

Yes (but it is flow, not rpm, though they are related. Jandy turns off at 20gpm...at some point with low enough rpm the flow will drop below 20gpm). If it is installed properly, there is a flow switch that will turn off SWCG if flow is too low (<20gpm)

The TruClear will display “No Flow” when there is insufficient flow. If you reduce the pump until the display says "no flow," then go up 200 rpm and use that 24/7. You will be doing less yoyo with the SWCG adjustments. Might have to make an adjustment once every week or two.

OK so I just went outside and started at 1100 and went from there. The SWCG would not turn on until I hit 1750 RPM. It didn't display anything about flow, just wouldn't even be powered up until I hit 1750 RPM.