Ok - will do that here shortly. FC only dropped to 14.5 overnight (versus 6.5 the night before), so I guess things are still progressing. Maybe this will be the last day.
In middle of SLAM - questions
- Thread starter atx78704pool
- Start date
Still looks like something is eating up my chlorine - I guess we'll see if the loss is reduced again tonight but assuming I should just keep dumping chlorine in this pool until I'm holding at 24 overnight?
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I know the crue here will be upset about the following:
When I run into similar situations and the pool has a SWCG I use it at 100% to help keep the slam moving forward as it keeps feeding chlorine because I know that the slam is far from over, but turn it off for the OCLT. It makes the slam work better as it keeps the FC higher. I've found it actually shortens the duration too.
When I run into similar situations and the pool has a SWCG I use it at 100% to help keep the slam moving forward as it keeps feeding chlorine because I know that the slam is far from over, but turn it off for the OCLT. It makes the slam work better as it keeps the FC higher. I've found it actually shortens the duration too.
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,814
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
The downside to having the SWCG on while doing a SLAM is that you are using up "hours" of the SWCG life when you already have chlorine from another source. A SWCG has a defined life in hours of use.
The upside, I would agree, is that a SWCG will help maintain that FC level during a SLAM once you have used liquid chlorine to reach your SLAM level. Especially if you are not able to "top up" the FC level every 2-3 hours.
And fully agree that it is important to turn the SWCG off before you do the night test of the OCLT and do not turn it back on until you have taken the sample for the morning test to measure the OCLT.
The upside, I would agree, is that a SWCG will help maintain that FC level during a SLAM once you have used liquid chlorine to reach your SLAM level. Especially if you are not able to "top up" the FC level every 2-3 hours.
And fully agree that it is important to turn the SWCG off before you do the night test of the OCLT and do not turn it back on until you have taken the sample for the morning test to measure the OCLT.
Sorry wasn't as clear, yes only after the LC was being used then this helps keep it there or close by.
This seems like a good way to not keep wasting all this liquid chlorine. I still lost 8 on my FC overnight (though getting better), so I may try that today if levels are doing good on my next test.
People get too hung up on this. If you already ran 12 hours a day, it's only another 12 hours a day for 84 hours a week extra off the 10k hour lifespan. Nobody will ever know their cell died 3.5 days early a couple years from now.
Yes turning the cell off saves lifespan, but not in a remotely appreciable way.
Cell hours are far cheaper than the equivalent liquid chlorine so you flat out win there.
That being said, in the beginning of a swamp battle the SWG can't come close to keeping up, then it quickly makes more than they need a couple days in when it shifts to a mechanical / filtering battle. It makes tracking things more difficult for newbs who are likely already overwhelmed so eventhough it works on paper, it's still recommended to turn it off.
Yeah, I figured what I'll do is see where my loss is in a few hours. I can then assume I need to make up that much with the SWG. If it can't keep up according to the Pool Math app, then I'll supplement with liquid chlorine to make up the difference. Seems like sticking to the same testing schedule and adjusting the liquid chlorine for what the SWG can't keep up with can make this less painful than all the trips to the store for more chlorine.
On paper, 100%, but that's also where it gets tricky. The SLAM FC needs are all over the map throughout the process. Mid process you may stir up a bunch of crud breaking the biofilm and spike the loss when it wasn't so bad prior, or the higher loss plummets from one test to the next. But the SWG was a constant in both situations and you can create more work needing to adapt on the fly repeatedly.
Chances are, the folks we are teaching to SLAM aren't SWG ninjas and the extra steps cause as many problems as they solve. Introducing more variables only makes more room for error.
For Wireform who isn't at the customers house all week, it's a necessary evil.
Would it be safe to just run the SWG at say 20% to help supplement during the day? That way is low enough it’s not producing a lot, but helping some.
Probably. Your cell makes 10 FC per 24 hours for you which is about 1 FC per 2.5 hours.
With the cell producing it makes it harder to track the recent loss and while you'll likely lose more than it makes during the day, it may overporduce at night once you have the upper hand in the battle.
Both the daily loss to UV and algae fluctuate so it's really best to remove as many variables as you can and just dose with LC exactly how you need.
The irony is if you were strictly dosing LC, you'd know exactly how it was behaving at that point in the process and could call in the SWG to cover you during a work shift (etc). If you're already using the SWG, you don't have that experience to be able to put it into practice.
With the cell producing it makes it harder to track the recent loss and while you'll likely lose more than it makes during the day, it may overporduce at night once you have the upper hand in the battle.
Both the daily loss to UV and algae fluctuate so it's really best to remove as many variables as you can and just dose with LC exactly how you need.
The irony is if you were strictly dosing LC, you'd know exactly how it was behaving at that point in the process and could call in the SWG to cover you during a work shift (etc). If you're already using the SWG, you don't have that experience to be able to put it into practice.
I’ve had it off since the start, so have a good idea of how things are going to this point. I’m gonna try it at 20% today and see how things go. Turning it off overnight to test the loss.
My favorite part of any of these is that by the end of it needing to control multiple variables, only having to deal with UV loss down the road is a joke.
I look at it that it needs to eat through whatever caused the slam in the first place and if you know the slam isn't over who cares what the loss is for the moment. I'd rather have the FC up and know the slam doesn't drift too often and besides you can still test to see what the FC is at relative to a day or two before so there's actually still a reference point on testing. For a OCLT I just knock it off but usually by that time the slam may have technically been over a day ago. When you do this often enough you get the feel of what's happening.
Well I turned on the SWG to 100% after my last test and just tested again 2 hours later - FC stayed at 24 (my target) for the first time in this process. I'm hopeful that I'm at a point now that I can use the SWG to maintain my SLAM levels and gradually pull back on it till I'm in the clear. Probably best to continue testing every 2 hours and adjust accordingly? All my readings to this point are attached (the 10am one today is when I turned the SWG back on).
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- Jun 24, 2021
- 16,157
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Running your SWCG on 100% is one quick way to kill the cell. Turn it down to 90%.
If possible. The FC loss will decrease as the process plays out and you risk adding too much. Adjust as necessary.