Calcium flakes coming from brand new RJ 30+

[ManiacalMama]

I've literally only had the new SWG installed 24 hours and went out and saw a mess of calcium flakes all over the floor of the pool and steps. I do have high calcium, but have been trying to keep my CSI negative. Didn't realize my calcium was as high as it is until I got my new calcium test. Note to self, don't trust the blue reagent if it's a year old lol

Here's my numbers:
FC 7 (still transitioning from liquid)
CC 0
PH 7.5 (just dosed to bring down a little more)
TA 90
CH 675
CYA 50
Salt 3400
Temp 68

What would you do? Anything? Nothing?
On a brighter note...All my self installed stuff works! Yay me!

 

[mknauss]

Lower your TA. That should reduce them. It will take very regular acid additions to keep the TA lower, especially during the summer.

Or add borates. 50 ppm worth will also likely reduce or eliminate the calcium scale. The borates keep the pH rise that occurs inside the SWCG from being so dramatic. Overall the SWCG process is pH neutral, but the pH rise in the cell is what causes the scale to form.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would suggest you do a partial drain and refill to get the CH down. It’s too high and will only cause you problems. Marty’s suggestions are great but they will only lessen the symptoms. The cure is CH reduction.

 

[ManiacalMama]

Lower your TA. That should reduce them. It will take very regular acid additions to keep the TA lower, especially during the summer.

Or add borates. 50 ppm worth will also likely reduce or eliminate the calcium scale. The borates keep the pH rise that occurs inside the SWCG from being so dramatic. Overall the SWCG process is pH neutral, but the pH rise in the cell is what causes the scale to form.

Forgot to mention. Fill water TA is 140

 

[mknauss]

Forgot to mention. Fill water TA is 140

Same as mine.
Add acid.

 

[ManiacalMama]

I would suggest you do a partial drain and refill to get the CH down. It’s too high and will only cause you problems. Marty’s suggestions are great but they will only lessen the symptoms. The cure is CH reduction.

We are planning on doing that but were trying to wait until the rainy season comes back (if it ever does) to let the rain do some of the refilling. But I'm guessing we're gonna have to bite the bullet.

Has anyone ever seen this happen so soon with a brand new cell? I expected it to happen but like after a couple of weeks, not one day!

 

[mknauss]

Cell age has no effect on the process. It is the water chemistry and the process that occurs inside the SWCG.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Has anyone ever seen this happen so soon with a brand new cell? I expected it to happen but like after a couple of weeks, not one day!

I did.

I had the same issue last July. Our fill water is similar in TA and my chemistry was close to yours. My CH was on ly at 525, but even with vigilant CSI maintenance, my SWG was still turning my pool into a snow globe. I added 50 ppm of borates and the flakes stopped.

In winter, I exchanged water and got my CH to 325. I installed an RV water softener which takes my fill water from CH 125 to less than 10 ppm.

Calcium Flakes in Properly Balanced Pool with SWG

I'm seeing calcium flakes coming from the returns, most likely being generated in the SWG cell. I collected some flakes this morning with the net and they tested positive for calcium (MA drops test). The flakes are soft and dissolve on contact. Test results: FC: 8 CC: 0 pH: 7.6 (Ranges from...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ManiacalMama]

I did.

I had the same issue last July. Our fill water is similar in TA and my chemistry was close to yours. My CH was on ly at 525, but even with vigilant CSI maintenance, my SWG was still turning my pool into a snow globe. I added 50 ppm of borates and the flakes stopped.

In winter, I exchanged water and got my CH to 325. I installed an RV water softener which takes my fill water from CH 125 to less than 10 ppm.

Calcium Flakes in Properly Balanced Pool with SWG

I'm seeing calcium flakes coming from the returns, most likely being generated in the SWG cell. I collected some flakes this morning with the net and they tested positive for calcium (MA drops test). The flakes are soft and dissolve on contact. Test results: FC: 8 CC: 0 pH: 7.6 (Ranges from...

www.troublefreepool.com

Ahhh, ok. I guess I was expecting it to be more of a build up of scale, like I will see on the waterline tiles. Weird.

 

[mknauss]

The scale is shed from the plates each time the polarity reverses. How often that occurs is dependent on the cell manufacturer and model.

 

[ManiacalMama]

This is frustrating stuff.

But I do thank you all for your input!

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Don't be me.

I added borates, then decided to drain/refill.

The other way around is better.

 

[ManiacalMama]

Don't be me.

I added borates, then decided to drain/refill.

The other way around is better.

lol I'll keep that in mind.
Just the whole thought of draining right now skeeves me out.

What CH should I aim for (to eliminate the SWG flakiness)?

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

If you're going to drain, just take it down to 300. The number will continue to increase with evaporative top offs.

Are you lucky enough to have a whole home water softener? The key to avoiding future water exchanges is to reduce calcium from your fill water.

 

[ManiacalMama]

If you're going to drain, just take it down to 300. The number will continue to increase with evaporative top offs.

Are you lucky enough to have a whole home water softener? The key to avoiding future water exchanges is to reduce calcium from your fill water.

No, unfortunately I don't. Luckily our fill water is relatively low at 75.
My CH level is so high because when we had the pool replastered the PB came out and tested the water and told me to get the CH up to XXX (I don't remember what level he said), so I did what he told me to do. I shouldn't have. I should have waited to see what it leveled off at first. It annoys me because I was already a TFPer and knew I should check here first, but I was excited to get it all up and balanced.

 

[tcat]

My TA was 250 the other day, now 220. Looks like going to be a lot of expensive acid & aeration to bring it down! CH was also 650, drained half the pool, now 450. TA barely moved. Really odd since my TA has always been 80-90.

 

[ManiacalMama]

I just got done with a no-drain water exchange to reduce my CH. I started off with 550 and was aiming for 300 and over shot that a bit and landed on 225 or 250. I wanted to decrease the CH because I was trying to reduce/eliminate the snow globe flakes from the SWG. (That thread is here: Calcium flakes coming from brand new RJ 30+)
Here are my current numbers:
Temp 64
FC 9
CC .5
PH 7.6 - 7.77 ?
TA 110
CH 225-250 (color flashed blue at 9 drops, stayed blue at 10)
SALT 1200
CYA 20? (test tomorrow)

How detrimental is it to have low CH of 225 to 250?
Thanks guys!

 

[mknauss]

According to your Poolmath logs, your CSI is around 0. So I would not add calcium.

 

[ManiacalMama]

According to your Poolmath logs, your CSI is around 0. So I would not add calcium.

Thanks. At what CSI would you worry about it? I'll probably have to knock PH down in a couple of days I'm sure. Which will take TA down with it. Plus adding CYA and Salt...yadda yadda.

 

[mknauss]

Keep it above -0.6. Better is between -0.3 and 0 long term when using a SWCG.

Your fill water has CH. With evaporation, your CH will climb some. You can also ride a higher TA and pH with the lower CH.