Going away for extended period of time

[katiecp]

Hello again! I am preparing to be away from home for just over 3 weeks and concerned that I will be returning to a troubling pool when I return. I tested this morning and as usual I am back to 0 FC. I am starting to wonder if my SWG is not working properly per chance? Or maybe I am just really not succeeding with maintaining on my own yet. I have a Taylor K-2006 and just tested levels this morning.

FC: 0
CC: 0
pH: 7.4
TA: 110
CH: 275
CYA:50
Salt: 3200
Saturation Index: 0

I have someone coming to the house every 3-4 days while I am away. I was planning to have them put 1 jug 7.5% 81 fl. oz. beach in 1x/week but that was when I thought my levels would be better than they are now. I am leaving in 2 days, any recommendations on what to do would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Texas Splash]

I would increase the FC to about 6-8 ppm right away with liquid chlorine/bleach and keep it there all day today. Then do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test starting tonight to see if you already have algae. If you do, then you know your instructions while gone will be a bit different than normal.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Katie !!! We have an easier peak demand of the season in the Northeast but even so, a 50 CYA is probably not cutting it for you. If you raise that to 70 after proving you have no algae with an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test like Pat suggested, your SWG should hum along while you are away spectacularly.

If you fail the OCLT, SLAM Process is in order and might complicate things with 2 days to go.

 

[Katodude]

The fact that your FC went to 0 indicates that you probably have algae (just not visible yet). Although the OCLT is the gold standard to verify this, you dont have time. Since you are leaving in two days I think the advice should change a bit. First get your pool to SLAM level right now and keep it there until you leave.

Raise the output of your SWG.

When you have that person come to the house every 3 or 4 days, I would have them dump in the jug of chlorine.

If we were wrong about the algae your FC will be a little hot when you get back and you can adjust from there. If we were right, at least you wont come back to a swamp, and we can clear up whatever is left pretty easily.

 

[Tcadwall0]

It seems you have more than double the size of SWG for your pool size, which is good. What is your pump/SWG schedule and percent? Maybe you need to run it longer or higher percentage.

Agree with the recommendation for higher CYA.

Will you cover it while gone?

Seems the salt could be a little higher but shouldn't be a factor. Pretty sure the Pentair IC's ideal is 3600. (on my IC20 it is)

 

[shwn2405]

@katiecp I read through your previous threads that you have posted recently. With having a swg it's kind of confusing of why your fc is so low. It seems like you have had trouble all summer keeping your fc up. Do you know how to correctly use it? Is it generating chlorine? update your signature as well. https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

 

[katiecp]

It seems you have more than double the size of SWG for your pool size, which is good. What is your pump/SWG schedule and percent? Maybe you need to run it longer or higher percentage.

Agree with the recommendation for higher CYA.

Will you cover it while gone?

Seems the salt could be a little higher but shouldn't be a factor. Pretty sure the Pentair IC's ideal is 3600. (on my IC20 it is)

I just verified I have the IC-40 model. It only has the ability to change percent output - currently on 8% / 80% and flashing green. Attached image for reference.

Dont have a solar cover so wont be covered when we go away. And I do have a bag of salt on hand would you suggest putting in? Thank you for the help!

 

[katiecp]

@katiecp I read through your previous threads that you have posted recently. With having a swg it's kind of confusing of why your fc is so low. It seems like you have had trouble all summer keeping your fc up. Do you know how to correctly use it? Is it generating chlorine? update your signature as well. https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

Updated signature!

I have not done anything with the SWG since owning the pool other than when it was closed and opened they took it off and put back on. It only has the percent output options to change and it is currently at 8% / 80% and blinking green. Attached an image here as well for reference. I added 324 oz of 7.5% chlorine this morning, brushed and vacuumed and am now only at 0.8ppm FC.

 

[ajw22]

Blinking green output light means it is on the lower 8%. Not 80%.

That is too low an output for a 29K pool.

Crank up your SWG.

What is your pump runtime?

 

[katiecp]

Blinking green output light means it is on the lower 8%. Not 80%.

That is too low an output for a 29K pool.

Crank up your SWG.

What is your pump runtime?

Ugh I'm so mad at myself, watching YouTubes now and found the SWG calculator. Timer is set to run 8:30am-6pm. Is there a suggested output you would recommend I put it at?

 

[Newdude]

Ugh so mad at myself

Don’t be. It was set fine for when you opened the pool. It’s a miracle that you got this far. And its good that you’ll never forget again. Start low and look for the lower FC / increased demand as the season gets going. Adjust upwards a couple of times until the mid point of the season, and then the back half of the season is adjusting down 2 or 3 times.

 

[ajw22]

9 hour runtime at 100% will increase your FC by 2.2. That may just about be enough for you daily.

I suggest you run your pump at least 12 hours a day.

 

[Tcadwall0]

I do have a bag of salt on hand would you suggest putting in?

You can use pool math to see how much you need to hit 3600 that is what your picture verifies is ideal.
If your 1 bag doesn't get all the way there, it would still be good to get closer to the number.

It is going to be tough to figure out your best run-time / and percentage if you are gone, but it wouldnt hurt it to run a little hot while you are gone and back it down when you return and can test it.

Last time I was gone for a week (I have the phone app to control it remotely) I left it with the cover on, and low speed for the pump, 12hrs or so (this is entirely dependent on your pool and what you have found over time so it doesnt help, but is an example). I initially set the swg to 100% for 3 days. Then I lowered it back to it's normal generation (60%) for the remaining 6 days or so. I returned to a high-ish level of about 12ppm, but thats a safe level, and I had peace of mind that I didn't have any issues.

That said, there are suggestions above for runtime and percent that AJW took the time to calculate. Hopefully that gets you a good start point after adding your initial LC.

 

[TexEdmond]

Ugh I'm so mad at myself

Yeah we don't do that here. If this was simple everybody would have figured it out and there wouldn't be this website for us to help each other. Everybody's got stuff going on in their life and stuff always falls thru the cracks.

Curious: I see you have the Pentair Salt Generator. Do you also have an EasyTouch or IntelliTouch control panel? I'm just barely getting to know ours, but I do know I can control my SWCG from an app on my phone to very precise percentages. I've only been running mine for a couple of weeks, but it's my understanding there's basically no harm to running it a little higher than the "ideal" calculation. If you don't have control via phone, you can just slide that grey plastic off the face of the IC40 and push the "more" button till the LEDs quit flashing... that'll put you up in the 20% range with the first LED lit solid. You'll probably want more than that if you're not running the pump 24/7, like the folks here are saying, there's a calculator in the app. It's not super intuitive, I spent several hours today modifying one of the online google spreadsheets to let me plug in the numbers I test and it spits out a percentage to maintain the SWCG percentage, because I was getting so confused about all the terms.

 

[TexEdmond]

9 hour runtime at 100% will increase your FC by 2.2. That may just about be enough for you daily.

I suggest you run your pump at least 12 hours a day.

Same advice. I'd imagine you'll need a much higher level than I said in the previous post, but that's just a wet finger in the air: I run my pump 24 hours and salt cell at ~25%. Your pool is slightly larger than mine, your cell is slightly smaller than mine, and you're running the pump way less.

You can even go out and push both the "more" and "less" buttons at the same time and it'll run at 100% for 24 hours.

You got this thing. Don't beat yourself up.