I have been running the intellichem for about 7 years now. My ph is muriatic acid, my chlorine is from the intellichlor. The ph is always consistent , but I have had to replace one probe and usually they need a gentle cleaning once in a while. The orp works well, but is sensitive to everything. CYA will decrease the orp readings. In your case I suspect pucks in the basket are what caused your sustained drop -- until they dissolved. Pucks in the basket are like washing your probes with cya and fc directly.
Opening the pool cover (I have a covered pool too) will drop the orp quickly during that time frame with any sun exposure.
To get consistent readings:
I run my pumps 24/7 but at 15gpm about 200 watts so the energy consumption is low. This is about 1 turnover per day for me. Water is always flowing
in the intellichem cell. With cover open or high bather load or cleaning i will increase the pump speed.
I maintain temp at about 86 degrees. Temp changes will affect the orp readings as well as salinity readings and the system fails as the fall/winter approaches.
My probes are on high sensitivity and dispense chlorine and MA with minimal variations.
I dilute my MA by 50% and dose 100 ml at a time with a short lockout.
I keep the cya less than 30. I find the cya really affects the orp readings
I keep fc slightly high about 5. Even a brief drop will make the water cloudy so I like a cushion.
Proactive:
If i will be leaving the pool open for a day or expect a high bather load I will increase the orp ahead. For kids pool parties I may keep some liquid chlorine around-- The SWCG may have trouble keeping up. ( my next one will be oversized (IC60)
Points of failure:
The probes can be bad and do fail- I have replaced each once so far in th 7 years.
My initial intellichem was defective- pentair replaced it and no problems since.
Oddly enough the probe cables can fail as well.I have replaced these on occasion ( maybe water gets inside when it rains ?)
I think from what I read here you are doing eveything right--- I think the trichlor pucks in your basket messed up you readings in that interval. I would add chemicals to the pool itself.
Wth this system you always have to adjust your baseline when any chages are made and correlate your orp reading to your FC level, but I have had full summers with minimal effort.
Hope this helps.
Opening the pool cover (I have a covered pool too) will drop the orp quickly during that time frame with any sun exposure.
To get consistent readings:
I run my pumps 24/7 but at 15gpm about 200 watts so the energy consumption is low. This is about 1 turnover per day for me. Water is always flowing
in the intellichem cell. With cover open or high bather load or cleaning i will increase the pump speed.
I maintain temp at about 86 degrees. Temp changes will affect the orp readings as well as salinity readings and the system fails as the fall/winter approaches.
My probes are on high sensitivity and dispense chlorine and MA with minimal variations.
I dilute my MA by 50% and dose 100 ml at a time with a short lockout.
I keep the cya less than 30. I find the cya really affects the orp readings
I keep fc slightly high about 5. Even a brief drop will make the water cloudy so I like a cushion.
Proactive:
If i will be leaving the pool open for a day or expect a high bather load I will increase the orp ahead. For kids pool parties I may keep some liquid chlorine around-- The SWCG may have trouble keeping up. ( my next one will be oversized (IC60)
Points of failure:
The probes can be bad and do fail- I have replaced each once so far in th 7 years.
My initial intellichem was defective- pentair replaced it and no problems since.
Oddly enough the probe cables can fail as well.I have replaced these on occasion ( maybe water gets inside when it rains ?)
I think from what I read here you are doing eveything right--- I think the trichlor pucks in your basket messed up you readings in that interval. I would add chemicals to the pool itself.
Wth this system you always have to adjust your baseline when any chages are made and correlate your orp reading to your FC level, but I have had full summers with minimal effort.
Hope this helps.