Getting frustrated...

[bbbwanabe]

Hi folks,

Here's my issue. After much thought and reading and advice from TFP, I decided to go with a new SWG when I redid my pool back in November 2016. I left the SWG out of the system with a bypass for the first few months since it was cold and wasn't going to be doing anything anyway. In March I put it in service and in June noticed 0 chlorine in the pool and found out that all the lights were out and it was popping it's breaker. I got it replaced and now it's a month old and my filter was cleaned 2 weeks ago. I have been running the pump at 2000 rpm 10 hrs a day and 3000 rpm 5 hrs a day. The lower speed used to be lower but about 5 days after filter change the flow is insufficient to produce chlorine so I upped it. The SWG is currently set to 100% and seems to only be producing at the higher speed anyway. The pump draws only from the pool and then feeds back 50 / 50 to pool / spa. On the lower speed the flow doesn't even put water over the dam wall which leads me to believe that the flow is not even enough to overcome the backflow. I use cellulose fibre in my DE filter and the grids are about 5 year old with a few small holes in corners and along seams. And, they look really dirty even after cleaning with a mild cleaner and a brush. I set the dial after cleaning and it was reading 12 and after 2 weeks is already at 24. Today my chlorine was at 0 again so I took the water to the pool store when I went to buy muriatic acid and they said I had the following: FC 0, PH 7.8, TA 80, CH 280, CYA <20 and Salt 3950. I came home, added 1 gallon of 12% liquid chlorine, 30 minutes later I tested the water and here are my numbers: FC 5.4, PH >8.0, TA 80, CH 380, CYA 50 and Salt 4050.

So, I guess my questions are these: 1. How big a problem are the little (pinky finger tip size or smaller) holes in the grids? 2. How big a problem is the build-up on the grids after cleaning? 3. What else could cause that build-up in pressure in such a short time? 4. Is there a problem with using cellulose fibre in a salt-water pool? 5. I've had trouble with the IC-60 before, could a bad flow sensor be contributing to my problems?

I'm ready to pull my hair out, please help!

 

[mknauss]

1. How big a problem are the little (pinky finger tip size or smaller) holes in the grids? I would suggest looking at your filter manual. But I would suspect they are an issue. Hopefully someone with DE filter experience can chime in. 2. How big a problem is the build-up on the grids after cleaning?
See answer to number 1. 3. What else could cause that build-up in pressure in such a short time? Algae in your pool. I would suggest doing an OCLT to see if you have organics in your pool 4. Is there a problem with using cellulose fibre in a salt-water pool? There should be no issue in using that with salt water. 5. I've had trouble with the IC-60 before, could a bad flow sensor be contributing to my problems? Doubtful, it sounds more likely that your filter is plugging based on your flow rate reductions you mention.

See above -- hope this helps!

 

[bbbwanabe]

Thanks for the answer. I suspected that the filter was involved. So, I ordered new grids online yesterday. And for those that might doubt that the pool store is gouging you, the grids cost $350.00 at the pool store and I got them online for $129.00, with free shipping. I'll get the new grids in and going then do the OCLT. Hopefully that fixes my troubles!

 

[triptyx]

If you still have troubles, keep posting here in this thread - we're here to help.

 

[bbbwanabe]

OCLT had 0 drop. My new grids will be here Monday. I'll install them and see how it goes. I wanted to ask though, how can the pool store screw up the numbers so much? Their number on CYA and CH were far different from mine. The CYA I understand because they could easily use too much water and too little of the reagent or the opposite. But the CH was almost 100 off that would be 10 drops difference. Is the answer stop doubting that I'm doing it right and don't confuse myself by having them test the water anymore? I few years ago when I first got the pool they told me that my CYA was <20 and I luckily remembered that we had stopped adding tablets to the pool because of high CYA. I went back 2 days later and had the store manager check it and he got a CYA of 100.

 

[triptyx]

You've hit the nail on the head again - stop doubting yourself and stop having them test your water.

Pool store employees are often poorly trained, (or they just don't care), if they're using electronic equipment it's often not calibrated, and if they're using drop tests, they're just squirting the reagents in without ensuring that the drop is forming fully and possibly fast enough that color changes happen while more drops are being added, making accurate counting impossible.

 

[mknauss]

CH is in increments of 25 ppm per drop. And it is pretty fussy about how it is stirred during the test. A SpeedStir really helps that test.

take care.

 

[LFrankow]

Double or triple check your own self tested cya number, something isn't right 20/50/100 stories of pucks.
I have learned over the years that when the heat hits no matter how big or long you run a swg, they just cannot keep up with a cya lower then 70.
Ran mine at 50 ppm cya, omg my swg died I thought, a short trip back to pool school, a slight upward adjustment of the cya, half a gallon of 10%, and everything started working right.

 

[bbbwanabe]

I'm certain that they're CYA was wrong. I triple checked mine. The puck story was from 5 years ago. I replaced the grids in the filter and the swg started producing right away at 1200 rpm. It wasn't producing before at 2000 rpm. That was 2 days ago. Checked the water today after not adding liquid chlorine in 3 days and CH was at 4.2

Thanks again for the help!