Is SLAM inevitable? (YES...it was...5 Days of stress complete now)

[zea3]

I'm thinking maybe you should run your water features longer. Considering the biofilm you had in the filter you may have something similar in the lesser used plumbing that needs more exposure to clean up. You did loose that big chunk of FC after the 30 min water feature run.

 

[NorCalX]

I do have to ask.............are you SURE your addition of chlorine got it up to your target in the first place??? sorry but.............

Yes this was brought to my attention on Day 1 or Day 2. I do confirmation testing 30-60 minutes after 1+ gallons now

Here is my log from today

CYA 80
SLAM target FC 31

5/25 36 9:30am (0 CC) sun is out...adding .5 gallon
5/25 32 1130am (0 CC) sun hot adding 1.5 gallons
5/25 39 12:30pm (0 CC) confirms approx. entry from before
5/25 34.5 2:30pm (0 CC) added 1 gallon
5/25 38 330pm (0 CC) confirmation check looks slightly under what I expected

And here is my last test...took pics for you after seeing your post

I keep my eye level consistent and measure from same spot in the pool every time.
Camera was above eye level so water level slightly under 10ml to the camera perspective

 

[NorCalX]

I'm thinking maybe you should run your water features longer. Considering the biofilm you had in the filter you may have something similar in the lesser used plumbing that needs more exposure to clean up. You did loose that big chunk of FC after the 30 min water feature run.

My water features have separate plumbing that does NOT go through the filter or SWG.

Intake is on the shallow end. Goes directly to water feature pump then out the weeping wall and grotto.

I poured the new liquid chlorine directly outside the intake while the water features were on for my morning test





Should I do this water feature clean in the middle of the day or at night?

It is 104 degrees outside right now.

 

[zea3]

Pour some in tonight and let it run all night and see what happens. Do you have any removable ladders that go into the pool? Trying to think of any other spots we can check. And you still need to check behind the lights, right?

 

[NorCalX]

Pour some in tonight and let it run all night and see what happens. Do you have any removable ladders that go into the pool? Trying to think of any other spots we can check. And you still need to check behind the lights, right?

I have no ladders. Natural lagoon style pool (attempting to become more lagoon than pool it seems)

I haven't checked behind the lights

I will turn water features tonight when the sun goes down and pour liquid chlorine in front of the intake slowly

Will leave water features on all night and not even bother with OCLT

 

[zea3]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[bdavis466]

Ok so I need help on how to access the lights

Problem #1

I was just in the pool with my wading suit on (goes up to my chest so I can get in and clean without getting wet)

I tried reaching for the shallow end light but I could barely get it without having to put my chest under

Should I go in and submerge myself in the pool with FC over my SLAM level?



Problem #2

How the heck do the lights open? I don't want to break anything

I have 2 regular pool lights
I have 2 micro lights (grotto and baja shelf)

I looked at a quick video and it said I could rotate the glass of a regular light.

When I was touching the light in the shallow end I tried rotating and nothing moved

When I was in the grotto I had easy access to the micro light but nothing seemed to budge there either. I didn't attempt to use any extra force. Do not want to break things.

You have to remove the light and loosen the Clamp to rotate the lens. I've done this a few different times in different pools and never noticed a difference. It's definitely not worth messing with in my opinion

 

[Richard320]

Bleach degradation is faster at higher levels. It's not just a certain percentage per hour and you lose more because you started with ore. It's more like half-life. So the losses are HUGE at really high FC. That's why you don't see 30 or 40% bleach. It would save a lot of shipping but it just doesn't last. And why you can't just dose your bleach once a week.

Don't freak over daytime losses. Look at overnight losses. That's when it's organics only.

 

[NorCalX]

Bleach degradation is faster at higher levels. It's not just a certain percentage per hour and you lose more because you started with ore. It's more like half-life. So the losses are HUGE at really high FC. That's why you don't see 30 or 40% bleach. It would save a lot of shipping but it just doesn't last. And why you can't just dose your bleach once a week.

Don't freak over daytime losses. Look at overnight losses. That's when it's organics only.

Does this mean a healthy algae-free pool will see the same (or similar) losses when trying to keep the pool at SLAM rates?

If so that would help me from going insane

 

[Newdude]

Wooooooooooooooooooow !!!!!!! if its just burn off from insanely high FC.......... well at least we will all remember it next time.

Got nothing to lose by seeing if it holds at 10.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Dont bother with the lights if you domt know how to remove them. May break something. Nid need to know what type of lights to help on that. I agree with the loss #s not being a huge deal. With your heat amd sun your gonna lose FC fast in the sun. While i agree with tfp methods I dont run higher than 60 on a swg pool. Its just too much work to slam and 60 is enough to hold if the swg is running right. I would keep the FC higher than slam for 24hrs amd dump right into the intake. Then check at sundown amd sun up amd see what it does overnight. With no CC you likely are clean. Is there no filter or trap on the water features amywhere?

 

[NorCalX]

Dont bother with the lights if you domt know how to remove them. May break something. Nid need to know what type of lights to help on that. I agree with the loss #s not being a huge deal. With your heat amd sun your gonna lose FC fast in the sun. While i agree with tfp methods I dont run higher than 60 on a swg pool. Its just too much work to slam and 60 is enough to hold if the swg is running right. I would keep the FC higher than slam for 24hrs amd dump right into the intake. Then check at sundown amd sun up amd see what it does overnight. With no CC you likely are clean. Is there no filter or trap on the water features amywhere?

Thanks for calming me down about daytime FC loss.

Very eye opening lesson in pool chemistry for me right now.


There is no filter on the water feature loop.

I don't know what a trap is but I doubt it has one.

Water goes in a dual intake system to the pump and then back out to the water features. Does NOT connect to my filter

I was running it to circulate while I turned off my main pump and cleaned skimmers + pump basket

Poured 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine slowly and moved back and forth between both intakes

Will leave the water features for an hour then get prepped for OCLT

 

[NorCalX]

SLAM Day 5

Opposite experience from yesterday morning.
When I went outside I did NOT smell anything.
I hoped that meant the pool was clean and no longer creating chloramines.


5/25 37.5 730pm (0 CC) Added 1 gallon to WATER FEATURE + 60 min run
5/25 44 9pm (0.5 CC) turned off WATER FEATURE
5/25 38 10:50pm (0.5 CC) OCLT
5/26 37.5 520am (0.5 CC) OCLT PASS!!!

I did my confirmation test 3 times this morning



VICTORY IS DECLARED!!


My recap from a stressful 1st ever SLAM at 80 CYA

I now understand the cost and chemistry trade-offs associated with high CYA and SLAM targets

I strongly suggest updating the SLAM instructions to let dummies like me know there will be massive FC loss due to sunlight even if the pool is ok
Rereading the material it makes sense but when I was in the middle of it I was freaking out about it

I think cleaning out the filter was AWESOME advice and probably got me to the finish line.

I was extremely frustrated at the clear pool and bad results.

I was told I have a massive cartridge filter which is probably what saved my pool from showing any signs of the algae early on. Taking the 2-3 hours to clean it and soak in a FC bath probably made a huge difference.

After 5 days I used approx. 24 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine from HD


Also big thanks to all the TFP members who provided advice and even those who chimed in just to let me know they were on the same roller coaster I was.

It did mean a ton to me while I was going through it.

Time to watch my FC drift down and then I will keep near the upper side of my target from here on out

I'm thinking 8-9 FC at CYA 80

 

[carnivalday]

This is awesome!! Trust me, the TFP crew has never let a pool beat them, and they certainly wouldnt let yours be the first. How great that you got to the finish line, and think how much you learned on the way.

 

[NorCalX]

30 FC at 1pm (below SLAM so now we can actually swim again woo hoooooo)

Dropped down from 37.5 at 520am

Now I understand I will lose large percentages when FC is that high regardless of algae or not

No longer freaked out. This is just confirmation testing



*edit*
Forgot to mention...my hands have no "pool" smell anymore after testing
Another sign nothing funky is going on with the water

I need to pay more attention to the pool smells in the future. Lots of info available from those smells

 

[jimmythegreek]

I dont know if you have an overflow drain but if you do let any rains dilute the water naturally and slide down the CYA scale a little bit. Target your FC a little higher like 7ish going forward amd just watch your overall chemistry going forward. Each pool amd its climate has it's own character for what it likes to be steady

 

[NorCalX]

I dont know if you have an overflow drain but if you do let any rains dilute the water naturally and slide down the CYA scale a little bit. Target your FC a little higher like 7ish going forward amd just watch your overall chemistry going forward. Each pool amd its climate has it's own character for what it likes to be steady

My pool had dropped to CYA of 40 after the winter

I raised it up in 2 stages. First to 60 then again to 80. That was shortly before the dead bird and SLAM experience started.

I am definitely going to keep my future CYA closer to 60 in the future.

I will also ride high on FC in case anything else decides to die in the pool in between my inspections

 

[MikeTX]

Congratulations on getting it done! Thanks for sharing your experience. It will help me down the road if I ever have to slam.

 

[zea3]

Congratulations!!!

 

[kimkats]

SWEET! This one is a learn for all of us.........clean filters, run features for a while, HIGH FC drops hard, and on and on and on!