FCL - Not Enough

[Patrickoleary]

I forgot to add my 10% at 7:15 somehow.

After another hour. I’m down to 23.5 FC. Going to take it back to 28. I seem to be consistently losing 1.5 ppm per hour. Even after the sun went down.

 

[Patrickoleary]

Speaking of the robot. Should I throw it in and let it go through the SLAM as well?

 

[Patrickoleary]

I decided to.

 

[frogabog]

I think yes, it's possible the robot brought something back in.

Although, it wouldn't be the worst idea to remove it and do a deep cleaning with bleach. Try to get into every possible spot the robot could have that could have algae growing inside.

Keep in mind that there may be some spots you can't get to. Can you fit it into a 5 gallon bucket to soak for a bit?

 

[frogabog]

What you're describing is very typical of some kind of hidden algae. Either being reintroduced to the water, or hiding somewhere. Clear water with big FC losses. Now, to figure out where it's coming from.

Might I ask, was the robot in the pool earlier when you were only losing .5ppm every couple/few hours?

 

[Patrickoleary]

What you're describing is very typical of some kind of hidden algae. Either being reintroduced to the water, or hiding somewhere. Clear water with big FC losses. Now, to figure out where it's coming from.

Might I ask, was the robot in the pool earlier when you were only losing .5ppm every couple/few hours?

It was not in the pool then.

I just retested and am at 28.5. You think take robot out and remove from equation. And don’t put back until a deep clean.

 

[Patrickoleary]

You can see how crystal clear it is at night.

 

[frogabog]

I think it could go both ways. Maybe leave it in for an hour or two and see what happens to FC but if it's still losing a lot, pull it and clean it.

I'm just thinking that maybe you got ahead of it earlier today without the robot in there but when you put it back in then you saw bigger losses.

A deep cleaning outside of the pool wouldn't hurt, might help. I think it could get at whatever's hiding in the robot in the pool, but also that might just use up way more chlorine than a deep cleaning would. $$$

 

[Patrickoleary]

I think it could go both ways. Maybe leave it in for an hour or two and see what happens to FC but if it's still losing a lot, pull it and clean it.

I'm just thinking that maybe you got ahead of it earlier today without the robot in there but when you put it back in then you saw bigger losses.

A deep cleaning outside of the pool wouldn't hurt, might help. I think it could get at whatever's hiding in the robot in the pool, but also that might just use up way more chlorine than a deep cleaning would. $$$

Thanks for all the advice.

I took the robot out. I hate to even consider it but it might be time to replace it. We keep finding bearings which we think are from its tracks in the pool.

I tested at 28.5 a bit ago. With this robot situation, I took out another half gallon in and will test in an 30 min to an hour and then again when the sun comes up.

 

[Patrickoleary]

30.5 FC at 9:50 PM.
0.0 CC.

Will check around 7 am. No sun get to the pool until 10 am.

 

[Patrickoleary]

7 am.

FC 27.5
CC 0.0

Seems like I need to go another day. Or is there something to the, let it drop to 10 and then do the OCLT? I’m new to the TF-100. Could I be messing something up?

Like I said. The water looks amazing. Attached.

 

[Patrickoleary]

7 am.

FC 27.5
CC 0.0

Seems like I need to go another day. Or is there something to the, let it drop to 10 and then do the OCLT? I’m new to the TF-100. Could I be messing something up?

Like I said. The water looks amazing. Attached.

I’m doing something wrong.

I added 3 cups of 10% at 7 am. Tested at 8 am. FC 25. Can’t be possible.

I have been doing this. Wash cup. Get sample 18” in deep end in front of skimmer. Wash vial. I fill the vial to 10ml. Put it the sppedstir. Turn on speedstir. Add powder. Start dropping R-0871. Count drop.

 

[Patrickoleary]

I tested again and was at 33 FCL. I must not be letting it mix long enough.

I’m gonna not mess with it until later afternoon and see where it is.

 

[Patrickoleary]

I tested again and was at 33 FCL. I must not be letting it mix long enough.

I’m gonna not mess with it until later afternoon and see where it is.

It’s at 32 FC.

I’m taking better precaution when testing. Slowing down my drops. I think I was going too fast.

 

[Patrickoleary]

I tested back to back. 24.5 and 22 were my FC readings. It seems like there is significant error at higher levels. In the morning if I am between 21.5 and 24.0, I’m inclined to believe I passed. Your thoughts?

From there I’ll keep doing the overnight test until I get to around 10 and hopefully I pass each time

 

[frogabog]

It could be the size of your drops. We're not supposed to squeeze the bottle, but rather let it drip. You can turn it back upright if it stops dripping to re-equalize the pressure inside.

I squeeze a tiny bit... but I try not to!

Hopefully an expert will chime in on this. Most people do the OCLT for SLAM at SLAM FC level. It doesn't make sense to wait till it's 10ppm while SLAMming to do the OCLT, because then you're not SLAM anymore.

 

[Patrickoleary]

It could be the size of your drops. We're not supposed to squeeze the bottle, but rather let it drip. You can turn it back upright if it stops dripping to re-equalize the pressure inside.

I squeeze a tiny bit... but I try not to!

Hopefully an expert will chime in on this. Most people do the OCLT for SLAM at SLAM FC level. It doesn't make sense to wait till it's 10ppm while SLAMming to do the OCLT, because then you're not SLAM anymore.

Oh. I guess I should have read the instructions or watched the video closely. I have been squeezing gently.

I may test it again tonight then and see what I get. I feel like the won’t come out if I don’t squeeze a little.

 

[frogabog]

I agree, it's hard not to squeeze. But by tipping the bottle back upright long enough to allow air to get back in it does begin dripping on it's own again.

I'm not sure it says this in the instructions or video, but it's been mentioned a number of times here by the experts recently so... I'm just repeating what they say. (I always squeezed before) You also could tip the bottle for each drop, then upright in between drops. That might even out the drops.

 

[proavia]

The reagents should be dispensed only with the bottle held completely vertical. If you apply pressure to the bottle at all, use only enough pressure to allow each drop to fully form on the tip prior to it dropping of its own accord - do not force the drops off the tip. Dispense the drops at about 1 drop per second maximum.

Practice and consistency will result in more accurrate test results. Using a Speedstir will increase accuracy.

 

[Patrickoleary]

I used the same sample again, I had a large bottle of it. Letting it painstakingly drop the result was FCL 22.0 and CC 0.0. I’ll go with that.