Chlorine

[beachcozy]

My chlorine was 2.5 yesterday, SWG was 30%. I bumped it up to 60%. Today it's still 2.5. My CYA is 70. I assume this could mean that there's not enough salt? We haven't added any since the PB added it in January. I don't have a salt test kit. Which one is better....Taylor drops kit or the Aquachek test strips?

Oh and I added bleach today to get it up to 5.

 

[Mr Bruce]

SWGs don't generate much chlorine when the water is cool, and we've been cool lately. Just keep manually adding a couple times a week until it warms up.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The Taylor K-1766 is the only test I recommend for salt. It is a true chemical measurement of the chloride (Cl-) ion concentration and it can be as precise as you want it to be (a 10mL sample will test at 200ppm/drop while a 25mL sample will be 80ppm/drop). Everything else (including your SWG) is a proxy measurement with lots of things that can interfere with the reading.

Knowing the salt level independent of the SWG's readout is the best way to know if the unit is functioning properly. Everything else is simply guesswork.

 

[aggiewonder]

JoyfulNoise...

Always appreciate your posts. When doing a 25mL sample, do you still use one (1) drop of R-0630 Chromate Indicator or do you need a little more? If more, how much more? EE, not ChemE!

Thanks!

(Sorry for hijacking the thread but I though it may help in the long run...)

 

[JoyfulNoise]

JoyfulNoise...

Always appreciate your posts. When doing a 25mL sample, do you still use one (1) drop of R-0630 Chromate Indicator or do you need a little more? If more, how much more? EE, not ChemE!

Thanks!

(Sorry for hijacking the thread but I though it may help in the long run...)

It doesn't matter.

The chromate indicator is just that, an indicator. It does not play a role in the precipitation of chloride from the solution and only reacts with the silver ions once all of the chloride is depleted. So, by diluting it all you do is make the brick red color you're looking for appear a little lighter in shade. You could add one or two drops of the R-0630 and it would not matter.

When doing a 20mL sample (100ppm/drop), I add just one drop of the chromate indicator.

 

[aggiewonder]

Many thanks, Sir.

 

[duraleigh]

beachcozy,

What does your water look like? What is your water temp?

 

[beachcozy]

beachcozy,

What does your water look like? What is your water temp?

Water looks great and temp is around 78

 

[ping]

What brand of SWG do you have and is there a salinity readout on it?

 

[beachcozy]

No there isn't a salinity readout on it, the manual says to use test strips or a meter.
I should also mention that we were out of town for a week, last week. I shocked and covered the pool before we left. When we came back there was some chlorine but it was low, 1-2. I did all the tests and got everything back to the right levels.

 

[ping]

If the salt level is low the display will have a low salt message, but you should test it to make sure it is in the 3000 to 3500 range for best performance. Since it shows chlorinating 60% it looks like the system is detecting enough salt in the water.

If everything looks like it should be working then the best test to do is an OCLT. The OCLT will rule out organics consuming the chlorine. Do a search for OCLT and ask any questions that you might have.

 

[beachcozy]

Thanks!