Do I need to slam?

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A

aztony

Bronze Supporter
Oct 10, 2012
209
Maricopa, Arizona
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Latest test results:
Calcium - 450
TA - 90
CYA - 70
pH - above 8.2
Salt - 3200
FC - 1.5
CC - .5
TC - 2

We have been getting a few monsoon storms lately in AZ. Last week I had to drain some water out. The water level was just under the concrete walkway. FC is really low, that's why I'm thinking I need to slam with chlorine. Just making sure I'm correct.
 
So the FC is low maybe due to rain. Is the SWCG not set or something gone wrong, target FC for 70 is 5. I'd bring the ph down with MA to 7.4ish and get some liquid chlorine in now like yesterday then do an OCLT with the salt cell off to see if anything algae wise is brewing. If you loose more then 1 ppm overnight it's slam time.
 
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wireform said:
So the FC is low maybe due to rain. Is the SWCG not set or something gone wrong, target FC for 70 is 5. I'd bring the ph down with MA to 7.4ish and get some liquid chlorine in now like yesterday then do an OCLT with the salt cell off to see if anything algae wise is brewing. If you loose more then 1 ppm overnight it's slam time.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. The SWCG is set and seems to be working fine, with no errors showing up. I ran out of MA, just picked some up today, and was intending to add it. I'll also be adding chlorine.
 
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I noticed the pool was developing a green color a couple of days ago. The first liquid chlorine I used was old and didn't have much of an effect, the level did go up a bit. I ended up running to Walmart and picked up some bleach (7.5%), they were out of any liquid chlorine. TC is now at 8.5, pH was down to 7.4 but is back up to over 8.2. TA is 90, CYA is 70. The green seems to be subsiding. I'll give it another day or two to see if it clears up. I haven't done the OCLT test yet. Should I add more bleach? I will be adding acid to get the pH down.
 
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I've slammed the pool and the water is a lot clearer today, still need to do a little more slamming. I'm confused about where the CC should be. Right now it's at 24 with the SWG off after slamming with chlorine the last couple of days. I read where the CC should be at .05 or less. What has me confused is that my CC has never been that low. I am wondering if maybe I'm doing the test wrong or I need to set the SWG lower or I just need to get the CC down by removing water. I usually have the SWG around the 30% mark.

Another problem I'm having is the pump isn't filling all the way up. I checked the lid and gasket, cleaned and lubed the gasket, it is still not filling all the way up. The water is about an inch away from the lid, maybe 2". It doesn't matter if I put it on vacuum or skimmer or both. Any suggestions on what the cause might be?
 
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It's been fairly difficult trying to slam with the monsoon storms we've been getting and trying to do the OCLT test. I knew what the CYA was when I started slamming but with the rain, I'm guessing it most likely went down. I'm not sure how accurate the figures are to add chlorine when using the pool math app. The water now seems crystal clear. I still get a little cloud when brushing down the pool in some areas. I'm not sure if it's just dust from the AZ air or a little bit of algae left. I'm trying to understand the part about knowing when you're done slamming.
The part about getting the CC level down to 0.5 has me confused. How do I get the CC down to 0.5 after slamming and it's in the high 20's. Do I wait for it to lower by itself or replace some of the water?
 
FC should be the high number - the good stuff
CC hopefully is never over 0.5 - the bad stuff...the "cooties"

You keep the FC high with chlorine additions based on your CYA level. See --> FC/CYA Levels (look under the SLAM heading)
You hope that keeping the FC high enough will kill off any cooties that cause high CC.

Maddie :flower:
 
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aztony said:
It's been fairly difficult trying to slam with the monsoon storms we've been getting and trying to do the OCLT test. I knew what the CYA was when I started slamming but with the rain, I'm guessing it most likely went down. I'm not sure how accurate the figures are to add chlorine when using the pool math app. The water now seems crystal clear. I still get a little cloud when brushing down the pool in some areas. I'm not sure if it's just dust from the AZ air or a little bit of algae left. I'm trying to understand the part about knowing when you're done slamming.
The part about getting the CC level down to 0.5 has me confused. How do I get the CC down to 0.5 after slamming and it's in the high 20's. Do I wait for it to lower by itself or replace some of the water?
Click to expand...
If you vac through the filter very well without disturbing the dead algae on the pool floor meaning carefully going in a systematic way so not to stirr it up but that it'll be sitting quietly waiting for the vac head to pick it up. You need to eliminate that cuz there's no way to know for sure until you'd brush to see if any gets kicked up. As long as you see the dead stuff you are not done. Brushing is next best as it gets into the water stream but then some settles again so keep brushing minimum twice a day till done.
 

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YippeeSkippy said:
FC should be the high number - the good stuff
CC hopefully is never over 0.5 - the bad stuff...the "cooties"

You keep the FC high with chlorine additions based on your CYA level. See --> FC/CYA Levels (look under the SLAM heading)
You hope that keeping the FC high enough will kill off any cooties that cause high CC.

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
Sorry, my mistake, I had the FC and CC confused. That's what I've been doing for the last week, using chlorine to keep the FC high, The problem is knowing what the CYA level is. I know what it was when I started the slam but with the monsoon rains, I'm guessing it has changed and I haven't taken any other measurements except for the FC. I read where you shouldn't bother with any other levels until the slam is done.
 
wireform said:
If you vac through the filter very well without disturbing the dead algae on the pool floor meaning carefully going in a systematic way so not to stirr it up but that it'll be sitting quietly waiting for the vac head to pick it up. You need to eliminate that cuz there's no way to know for sure until you'd brush to see if any gets kicked up. As long as you see the dead stuff you are not done. Brushing is next best as it gets into the water stream but then some settles again so keep brushing minimum twice a day till done.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by vac through the filter. I have a pool vac, so it's not something I can control, it goes along on its own merry way. :)As I said, I'm not sure if it's just dust that I see or dead algae. Hopefully, the pool passes the OCLT and I can get everything back to normal.

The other problem I'm having a problem is the pump not filling up with water. I've checked just about everything and have done what others have suggested here. The only other step is to check the filters, which I intend to do next.
 
Your signature doesn't show a pool vac. Assuming you have a suction side cleaner that gets a hose plugged into a dedicated port in the pool. The suction side cleaner will stirr up the pool floor with that cleaner when the tail swings back and forth. Using a manual vacuum head attached to a pool poll with a hose that connects to the skimmer, is what I was going at. That will let you get all that's on the floor if you go at it carefully and rid the pool of the dust you speak of.
 
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Hi again.

I finished slamming the pool a week or so ago. The water is clean and clear but the pool surface in some areas is still darker than in other areas. The numbers are showing everything is good. I was thinking maybe throwing a gallon or two of chlorine liquid in the pool to see if that would help clear up the dark spots. I have been brushing the pool. Would adding the chlorine help?

IMG_20210826_183153.jpg
 
While you can add some if you want, I doubt it will do much for those spots. To me they look like the kind of plaster glitches we see, especially in dark blue pools. Unless I'm mistaken and they're stains?
www.troublefreepool.com

Stains in Your Pool

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aztony said:
Hi again.

I finished slamming the pool a week or so ago. The water is clean and clear but the pool surface in some areas is still darker than in other areas. The numbers are showing everything is good. I was thinking maybe throwing a gallon or two of chlorine liquid in the pool to see if that would help clear up the dark spots. I have been brushing the pool. Would adding the chlorine help?

View attachment 368962
Click to expand...
Also be careful what kind of bleach you add. The pool chlorinating liquid is really a safer bet. The regular bleach you typically find has other stuff in it. Don’t use anything labeled “splashless”, “blue”, “anti-foaming”, “anti-wrinkle”. It has to just be sodium hypochlorite. Sometimes you can find plain bleach like that but it’s getting pretty hard. Just be aware.
 
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YippeeSkippy said:
While you can add some if you want, I doubt it will do much for those spots. To me they look like the kind of plaster glitches we see, especially in dark blue pools. Unless I'm mistaken and they're stains?
www.troublefreepool.com

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
I am not sure if they are stains. I don't remember them being there before I did the slam for the algae.
 
Bperry said:
Also be careful what kind of bleach you add. The pool chlorinating liquid is really a safer bet. The regular bleach you typically find has other stuff in it. Don’t use anything labeled “splashless”, “blue”, “anti-foaming”, “anti-wrinkle”. It has to just be sodium hypochlorite. Sometimes you can find plain bleach like that but it’s getting pretty hard. Just be aware.
Click to expand...
I have the chlorinating liquid, 10% is the highest I could find at HD or Lowe's. When it comes to bleach I always check the label. I'm just not sure if it was okay to add it to see if it would help. Should I turn off the SWG if I do add the chlorinating liquid?
 
aztony said:
I have the chlorinating liquid, 10% is the highest I could find at HD or Lowe's. When it comes to bleach I always check the label. I'm just not sure if it was okay to add it to see if it would help. Should I turn off the SWG if I do add the chlorinating liquid?
Click to expand...
The SWG won’t be able to handle supplying chlorine for a SLAM so liquid is best for that. But there’s no issue adding some liquid while it’s running.
 
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