I was a bad girl!

[clambert1273]

Good morning my fellow pool nerds! I was a bad girl over winter Normally it isn't too bad and I start pulling pool out of hibernation when everyone changes time in March but this year AZ weather was broken and it stayed cold for quite a while. Well cold for me anyway so I got started much later than usual. My downfall is if I am outside too long when it's below 70 my body temp drops and I get cold from inside out (stupid medical conditions) so I will be the first to admit I do nothing in winter which is awful.

Anyway, started with a lake complete with ducks so I did what I knew to do. Stocked up on chlorine, had some CYA powder left from last yr. I always have 0 when starting. Added what I had on hand to get to 30 & started SLAMING. In the course of first few days I retested CYA and it was <30. I got some new CYA and told my "helpers" to put a couple pounds in stocking I have for CYA and put in skimmer. My helpers put the entire bag in stocking so now it was at 80! Great for summer not so much slam I've done the 31 since then pretty well and it Went how I expected and eventually was blue but crazy cloudy and it took 7 days for us to even see the bottom to where we could finish fishing out gunk on bottom. Of course every time we did it would get murky & would have to wait until following morning to run again. Finally, I am pretty much super clear now. Nothing poofs when brushing except the normal desert dirt that falls onto benches.

My problem now that I can see 100% is it appears like I have Black algae (which isn't too surprising) and my question is related to that. Do I keep the normal SLAM ritual but include hardcore brushing that area multiple times per day? I'm not sure how long I can physically keep up with it all. I was excited to be over the slam hump & hoping to start dropping some lol but jokes on me

I have not done anything yet today but will shortly. I will need to replenish my chlorine stock today too.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Off topic slightly but slightly relevant question - are you not running your pool all year round? Typically in the desert here, we don’t close pools. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.

 

[clambert1273]

Off topic slightly but slightly relevant question - are you not running your pool all year round? Typically in the desert here, we don’t close pools. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Pretty much just sits and while I "intend" to keep it perfect. I end up not wanting to be outside ever when It's cold It's my own thing to overcome & again I have the intention to do better

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Pretty much just sits and while I "intend" to keep it perfect. I end up not wanting to be outside ever when It's cold It's my own thing to overcome & again I have the intention to do better

If the pool is setup correctly and running properly, you don’t need to add more than a few gallons of liquid chlorine over the winter when the SWG stops working due to the cold water temperature. Last winter I added exactly 2-1/2 gallons of LC from mid-December to late-February. During that time I probably dosed acid once. The rest of the time the pool pump ran on schedule and my suction cleaner kept the pool floor mostly clean. If I looked at my pool for more than 5mins from the warmth of my kitchen door, that would be a lot.

I understand the desire not to mess around with a cold, wet pool when the air temps are cold so anything you can do to automate the pool routine, the easier it will be to keep the pool clean and then you won’t have to waste time and money on algae problems.

Black algae isn’t very common around here so I would suggest you follow the normal SLAM process and see how it goes. You will likely clear up quickly especially if you are diligent about keeping the FC at SLAM levels and you brush those areas well.

 

[clambert1273]

Thanks & I understand what you're saying. It isn't the dosing or testing that keeps me away. For some reason my pool is the catch all for every leaf in the neighborhood when it gets windy & well that's a lot here. It isn't unusual for my skimmer to be emptied 3-4x a day and even then the water will be covered so then im out in the cold skimming which starts to physically be painful in cold lol my body just doesn't regulate like normal so it's a combo of issues that I have to find a way to work through for me.

Currently still slam level & just brushed those areas after dosing.

 

[clambert1273]

Black algae isn’t very common around here so I would suggest you follow the normal SLAM process and see how it goes. You will likely clear up quickly especially if you are diligent about keeping the FC at SLAM levels and you brush those areas well.

I'm open to any ideas of what it could be & doing what I need to do. Currently, I am still dosing to slam levels couple times a day. I brushed those areas hardcore 3x yesterday and will probably follow that pattern. I don't have a puck to try on it lol.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I'm open to any ideas of what it could be & doing what I need to do. Currently, I am still dosing to slam levels couple times a day. I brushed those areas hardcore 3x yesterday and will probably follow that pattern. I don't have a puck to try on it lol.

Keep doing the SLAM until you reach the exit criteria - clear water, CC < 0.5ppm, and pass OCLT. Until the SLAM is finished, ignore the spots. If you can get a chlorine tablet (maybe buy a bottle of the 1” ones) then you can try to rub that area with them to see if the spots change.

 

[clambert1273]

Keep doing the SLAM until you reach the exit criteria - clear water, CC < 0.5ppm, and pass OCLT. Until the SLAM is finished, ignore the spots. If you can get a chlorine tablet (maybe buy a bottle of the 1” ones) then you can try to rub that area with them to see if the spots change.

I am fine ignoring those areas and keeping my Slam going. lol I have 2 questions though.

1. Is it possible to pass OCLT with FC at 30-31
2. I can't get a good CC reading that high it seems

My water is crystal clear (blinding in sun light) and I know it's pretty clean as I'm not having to clean my filter as often now & my little robot isn't getting gummed up. He's just humming along. I do spray off his filters in the evenings for good measure. Pics of water this morning (Ignore the few rocks my shepherds knock them in ALL the time)

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I am fine ignoring those areas and keeping my Slam going. lol I have 2 questions though.

1. Is it possible to pass OCLT with FC at 30-31
2. I can't get a good CC reading that high it seems

My water is crystal clear (blinding in sun light) and I know it's pretty clean as I'm not having to clean my filter as often now & my little robot isn't getting gummed up. He's just humming along. I do spray off his filters in the evenings for good measure. Pics of water this morning (Ignore the few rocks my shepherds knock them in ALL the time)

Make sure you are following this - Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

It is very possible to pass the OCLT with your FC at 30-31 (Your SLAM FC level is actually 32ppm). But you need to be very consistent about adding the chlorine after the sun goes down, adjusting the FC to the right level and then checking in the morning before any direct sunlight comes up. Even with FC that high, you should still be able to do the CC test without any problem.

What filters are you cleaning - the robot filter basket or your cartridges in the pool filter?

 

[clambert1273]

What filters are you cleaning - the robot filter basket or your cartridges in the pool filter?

Both really, I swap my cartridge filters out I have 2 sets. Before this week, I was doing hot swap 2-3 times a day and poor robot was getting gummed up after about 30 min of running. lol Now my cartridge filters are lasting full day or more and my robot runs all day without needing anything. I just hose those filters off in the evening for good measure. Today was the first morning that my cartridge filters did not rise in pressure overnight, so I think I am SUPER close.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Just a word of wisdom - a slightly loaded (dirty) cartridge filter actually works more efficiently than a completely clean on. You really want to follow the advice and only change out cartridges when the filter pressure has risen by 25%. If you clean too often, the filter won’t capture fine particulates as well and water clarity can suffer.

Also, you want to be careful to not open the finger too often simply because if you don’t reassemble it quite right, or you forget to lube all the o-rings (there’s one on the bottom manifold assembly that everyone forgets to check and lubricate), you can inadvertently cause a leak in the filter that allows dirty water to get through. It’s easy to see that with a DE filter because you get a DE cloud that bypasses the filter. In a cartridge filter, it’s a lot harder to detect an o-ring bypass leak.

Plus, you do yourself and your back a favor by not opening the filter up so much.

 

[clambert1273]

Yup, I was only doing it per the guidelines and it was usually way more than 25% by the time I woke up in the morning. I meant it when I said I started rough and it was a fight to get even to this point. It was just overloaded before but now is in a good place

 

[clambert1273]

Ugh no dice on OCLT lol will try again tonight

 

[clambert1273]

 

[clambert1273]

Just to close this out fully & in case any newbie's want to see it is possible & stats.

4/22 - 5/5
38 gallons of chlorine total
5lb bag of CYA

Here is side by side beginning & end

And hi to my old friend @kimkats

 

[RookiePick]

Just to close this out fully & in case any newbie's want to see it is possible & stats.

4/22 - 5/5
38 gallons of chlorine total
5lb bag of CYA

Here is side by side beginning & end

And hi to my old friend @kimkats

View attachment 488751

The power of Chlorine compels you!

Congrats on the result!

 

[clambert1273]

Last night, my son and I completely cleaned the filter out and put in clean cartridges which should last us the rest of year unless I screw up again lol. Pulled the salt cell off to clean & lord have mercy! So. Much. Calcium! Got that cleaned and hooked back up. Turned it on real quick to make sure was working & no errors. So now, all set for normal operation once the weather in AZ isn't broken. Currently letting FC come down to a normal range then will get the swcg running and resume normal operating MO

 

[JoyfulNoise]

What is your CH? The only PoolMath log I can see is one from nearly a year ago that says you measured 675ppm. If you haven’t measured CH in a while, you should. Keeping your CSI in the negative range is fine but, if your CH is too high, it’s going to cause problems for your SWG. If your cell is scows as bad as you describe, that’s going to make your pool harder to manage.

 

[clambert1273]

What is your CH? The only PoolMath log I can see is one from nearly a year ago that says you measured 675ppm. If you haven’t measured CH in a while, you should. Keeping your CSI in the negative range is fine but, if your CH is too high, it’s going to cause problems for your SWG. If your cell is scows as bad as you describe, that’s going to make your pool harder to manage.

675 was 13 days ago. Nothing I can do about it currently so just gonna have to manage it this year & make a plan next year.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Missed it.

Are you on softened water? It’s strange that last Aug and 14 days you got exactly the same number, 675ppm. Considering where you live, evaporation should have raised your CH substantially unless your fill water is very soft.

Also, all of your chlorine additions for the SLAM over the last 2 weeks added about 500ppm to your salt level. Your salt level is now at 4400ppm. You have high salt and high CH; it’s going to cause more scaling inside your cell. An exchange refill (no drain exchange) can lower both levels and get you back to a better balanced state. If you can’t do that then I suggest keeping a close eye on your cell and cleaning it more frequently otherwise you risk damaging the plates with calcium build up.