Cystal Clear Chlorine Eater!

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paigenicole0289

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Sep 11, 2013
74
Joplin, MO
Hello everyone!! Starting my own thread to keep all my info hopefully in this one post! Sorry for the long post, I'll put my question at the top too!! I'm going to be out of town this weekend hopefully will be done SLAMing by then!

Is it okay to add more than the SLAM level of chlorine to keep it above that level for a longer time?

I'm back. I posted once last year at the end of the year thinking I had the starting of some nasties growing in our pool. We eventually figured out that it was pollen. (Opps) I lost my password and couldn't get back on. We took the pool down not long after that. We had paid someone to level the ground and set it up, lesson learned, do it yourself and it'll be much better!

I've spent lots and lots of time reading and getting tons of info from everyone here (thanks for that!)

This year! We finally got around to setting it all up over the weekend! The ground is much more level this year, enough I'll probably leave it up through the winter.


I spent a good 2 hours making sure the bottom was as flat and wrinkle free as possible. (Did I mention the water is freezing?!?)



I'm guessing last year when we put up the liner that it hadn't gotten dried as much as I thought it had. While I was on my hands and knees trapped in a 15x48" jail (someone took the ladder out and left me stuck!) I crawled through some nasty slimy stuff. I knew right then as soon as it was filled I wanted to SLAM just in case.

Fill water test:

FC - 0
CC - less than .5
TA - 220
PH - 7.5
CYA - 0

Added enough CYA to bring it up to 30. Brought the PH down to 7.2 and began the SLAM process.

Enter today. My super pretty crystal clear chlorine eating machine.


(Ignore the toys in the bottom of the pool, wanted to make sure they got cleaned good!)
Currently tests

FC - 12
CC - 3 (down from 6 last night)

It's been eating the bleach like a kid eats candy! Checking it every few hours, and making sure to keep it at SLAM for my CYA. Going on the 4th Gallon of bleach (which probably seems like nothing to a lot of you, but seems like a ton for my small pool!) in about 36 hours.

OFCL last night was around 4ppm.

Is it okay to add more than the SLAM level of chlorine to keep it above that level for a longer time? I'm sure it's disappearing even faster because the CYA hasn't had time to dissolve totally.

-Paige
 
You have something organic in the pool consuming the FC, and the lack of Cya is letting the Sun burn it off as well.

Yes, you can let it ride high until you have completed the SLAM. It won't hurt anything, but get through all of that, get the Cya up to 40-45 PPM, let the FC come in range, then you can swim.
 
Thanks for the reply! I added some CYA before we started SLAMing to attempt to get something in it. I put enough in that should have brought it up to around 30, but I know it hasn't had time to dissolve or be able to test.

I've been keeping free chlorine as close to 12 as possible. I just wasn't sure about getting it any higher. I can check it several times a day, just not every single hour. So hopefully that will help!

I'll try to get a photo of the stuff that is now on the bottom of the pool when I go out to test in a bit.
 
You know, cause I took the time to make a post about it, its all gone today!!! Spent an extra long time vacuuming last night, brushed the sides really good again, last night only lost a little over 1ppm FC. Hoping to fully pass the OFCL test tonight. CC is less than .05. Of course now the storms are coming now. Just finished making 10 lily pad solar heater things for the pool. Hoping it'll take some of my chlorine loss down some during the day. I'm excited to see if they help, and if they keep the water warmer at night.

Ordered a new Taylor FAS-DPD kit since I'm almost out of everything from last year (when I had no clue what I was doing!) We're working on figuring out what pump/filter we want to order, so excited about it.
 
So last night seemed to be much better. OFCL of less than 1ppm. The pool is super clear, just stuff on the bottom that I think the filter is missing. (We're getting the new one this weekend. So ready to get rid of the one that came with the pool!) I'm going to keep it up the rest of today and test again tonight. If everything is good it'll let it fall from SLAM level's tomorrow. I didn't have green water to start with, but here's some more photos since I know everyone likes photos!

Watching the sunset, ready to finish the SLAM so I can swim!


Here's a photo of some of the lily pad things I made. No clue at this point if they're helping in any way or not. I'll have to update about that when I can.

 
Tip: get a whirlpool going in there and all that debris will end up in a pile in the center. Then the vacuum can get it all in one pass. Sneal up on it and let the vacuum draw the stuff in, then move forward a little, letting it suck a clear path ahead of otself.
 
What are your lily pad solar covers made out of? It looks like a hoola hoop and garbage bag.
 
I have been using the knee high trick! It catches so much more small stuff. I think the pollen is what bugs me the most. I'll get it all cleaned up, walk inside and back out and the top of the water is covered again.

Casey, they are dollar tree hula hoops and really thick trash bags! Everything I could find said to use black plastic sheeting. I could get 3 out of a trash bag that was a ton cheaper. I wanted to try it more so because I thought it might make me loose a little less chlorine during the day. It's a lot easier for me by myself to throw those in the pool than try to cover it. Our pool is in pretty direct sunlight for 8+ hours a day. $1 for each hula hoop what do I have to loose? Much cheaper than $150 for 5 on amazon!
 

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How did you get the bags to stay on the hoops? I have a 24ft solar blanket my Dad gave to me and I cut it in 4. That thing is still a lot for me to get on and off the pool by reaching over a 54" wall. :shock:
 
I used an iron with wax paper between it and the plastic. It took a few tries for me to push hard enough to get the plastic to melt. I was scared I was going to melt everything to the iron. They seem to be holding up pretty good, even after a hard rain this morning.

So another quick question. On the Taylor FAS-DPD when you put in the 5 drops to test CC.... If it's present does it turn bright pink like in beginning? It didn't really turn anything just barely tinted the water. I added one drop and it was totally clear again.

FC is currently at 11
CC is at or less than .5

Edited to add- super super fast shipping on the test kit!!! I was shocked when it showed up today.
 
Hey!! Just an update. We went out of town for a long Holiday weekend. My awesome neighbor tested my water and added bleach for me each day! Came home to a pool in perfect condition!! Not sure about the lily pads at this point, but we had a ton of rain while I was out of town and the water temp still went up a little. Hoping that it continues a little. It's hanging out right at 80 degrees.

I have my CYA at right around 30... I'm loosing a lot more chlorine in a day than last year. Will raising it up a little help this?

-Paige
 
paigenicole0289 said:
Hey!! Just an update. We went out of town for a long Holiday weekend. My awesome neighbor tested my water and added bleach for me each day! Came home to a pool in perfect condition!! Not sure about the lily pads at this point, but we had a ton of rain while I was out of town and the water temp still went up a little. Hoping that it continues a little. It's hanging out right at 80 degrees.

I have my CYA at right around 30... I'm loosing a lot more chlorine in a day than last year. Will raising it up a little help this?

-Paige
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Yes. If you have any leftover CYA, add another 10 ppm. Or if there's any leftover pucks or powders from last season, they can be used judiciously. Check the Effects of Adding Chemicals at the bottom of poolmath.
 
paigenicole0289 said:
I still have about half a container of CYA. I've only used pucks for like 3 weeks last year! I'll have to look around and see if there are any in the closet. Does 50 seem like a good target for CYA?
Click to expand...
40 or 50, doesn't matter. If you have the plain CYA, perfect! Use that.

Personally, I'd aim for 40 so I could stick a floater with pucks in when I leave town later in the summer and not drive the CYA up too high.
 
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