Jandy Truclear Not Producing Enough Chlorine

[Ribido]

Moved from here.

Location: Central FL
Pool Size: 11k is what my builder told me but I think it's higher (3.5 to 6ft deep, non sunshelf is 14 x 28 which puts me around 15k)
SWG: Jandy Truclear
CYA: around 90 (overshot a bit on the way up)
PH: 7.6
TA: 100
Salt: 3500
CH: 430
CC: 0 (or close to)
FC: see below but wont stay about 1-2 w/o manual dosing
RPM: 1500
Runtime: 24hr


We just had to replace our SWG (check cell) so we have a brand new one. Before we replaced it we had issues with the swg not keeping up with demand, at the time I was running it at 100% for about 10-12 hours a day then it died. Upon replacement and a lot of research I switched to running 24hr/day at 1500 rpm. During the time when my SWG was down while I was manually chlorinating I SLAMd to make sure I didn't have a hidden bloom and everything was fine. At 50% I wasn't able to maintain over 1-2ppm. I went up to 70% and it slowly decreases but requires that I still manually dose chlorine occasionally. Now I'm at 80% and I did a slightly heavy dose yesterday which brought me to about 7.5FC, we'll see how quickly it drops. Again I'm running 24hr/day.

One other comment, I had a heatpump installed about 2 months ago (before the old SWG died). I had no issues prior, but something else that happened after and continues today, is that I get a lot of continuous bubbles when the SWG is running. I understand they produce gas but it looks and sounds like a small suction side leak. It's only out of the nearest jet but I previously never saw/heard the bubbles. I've checked the system over and don't believe I have a suction side leak, I imagine my pump basket would have a lot of air in it if I did and there isn't.

Is this just what it means to have a SWG or should I not need to be manually dosing?

--edit to remove unnecessary sentence and add additional test results--

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Have you done an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test recently?
You said you followed the SLAM Process earlier. Did you pass all three criteria for a successful SLAM?
You should not have to be adding liquid chlorine on a daily basis. I suspect you need to follow the SLAM Process throught to completion.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[mknauss]

I see your pump rpm is 1500. With a heat pump, that is fairly low to ensure the flow switch of the SWCG is being closed. Be sure to check your SWCG panel to be sure you have sufficient flow.

 

[Ribido]

I completed the exit criteria for the SLAM, to be honest I never really a lot of combined chlorine or very much loss in the evening, it was more preventative in case something developed while the previous SWG was failing (water has also always stayed clear). The panel always says chlorinating, my assumption was if the flow was too low I'd have some sort of alert but if I need to to increase the RPM I'll gladly due so to fix the issue. I'll due an overnight test tonight to confirm.

 

[carnivalday]

I have the same SWG as you do, and it works fine, and keeps up. When did you test your CYA at 90? Did you run your SLAM with the CYA that high?

 

[Ribido]

Alright, so I completed the overnight chlorine loss, at 7:30 PM I was 3 FC, at 6:30AM I was down to 2 FC. I did the SLAM while the SWG was inoperative, I took that time to get really educated on pool chemicals and I hadn't been managing them as good as a I should have. my CYA was probably in the 30 range then and it wasn't until I got everything back that I brought the CYA back in line.

 

[Ribido]

At 820pm tonight after running at 80% all day I was right around 3 FC, maybe slightly under.

 

[Ribido]

With the pump on all night the FC maintained at 3 with the 80% settling. We had no rain and no one used the pool.

 

[Ribido]

I bumped the RPM to 1700 based on the earlier comment. However even at 80% the FC dropped to 2 by the end of the day. Granted the weather is brutal in FL right now

 

[RMcGirr83]

I believe the true clear produces 420 g for a 32k gallon pool per 24 hours. That would be 3.18 PPM if running 100% for 24 hours. Your pool is ~ half the size of 32k gallons so the most I would say you would get would be 6.36 PPM if running for 24 hours @ 100%. Running at 80% is ~ 5 PPM though you don't say how long your pump is running ("on all night" and "end of the day" is variant). With a CYA of 90, which is off the chart, your minimum would seem to be 5 PPM which means, at least to me, you should be running the SWG 24 hours per day @ 80% to get to 5 PPM (the minimum).

I could be completely off though.

 

[Ribido]

I'm running 24/7 but was taking measurements twice per day to try and understand what's going on. What I'm taking from your comment is that this all seems normal? I don't mind running 24/7 at 80 if that's what I need to do; I just want to make sure it's normal and not an issue with the cell while I'm still under warranty.

 

[RMcGirr83]

Is the SWCG running 24/7 as well?

 

[Ribido]

Is the SWCG running 24/7 as well?

Yes

 

[RMcGirr83]

Then I would imagine that your PPM should remain constant at 5 PPM if running at 80% of max output. Obviously dependent on bather load and other stuff in the pool.

Did you perform an OCLT?

 

[Ribido]

Then I would imagine that your PPM should remain constant at 5 PPM if running at 80% of max output. Obviously dependent on bather load and other stuff in the pool.

Did you perform an OCLT?

Yes, a few days ago (captured above) I did it and I lost 1 PPM overnight with everything off. Surprisingly this morning (pump and SWCG running 24/7 again) my FC was at 1 PPM (last night at 8pm it was 2 PPM) meaning it dropped by 1 even with everything running. Pretty confusing. Additionally the pool has been entirely unused for the last 2 days.

 

[RMcGirr83]

I guess it would be time to contact the manufacturer or where ever you got the true clear. I'm out of ideas.

 

[Ribido]

That's what I was afraid of. The cell is practically brand new, maybe a month or two? I see a lot of bubbles coming out my initial return jet and I can see a large bubble in the top of the cell so it's definitely producing chlorine. Do you think it's worth slamming it for a few days before escalating higher? I know that might be hard given the now high CYA level.

 

[Cavmedic]

I am going to catch some Crud for this but....

MY SWG was under performing as well. I have an Aquapure 1400. I added some phosphate remover and let it do its thing for about 48 hours. Cleaned the filter and boom, the SWG was generating so much chlorine, I now have it backed down to 25%. We are in central Florida and it has been very hot and raining every day.

I am uncertain of the science but it worked.

 

[Ribido]

I am going to catch some Crud for this but....

MY SWG was under performing as well. I have an Aquapure 1400. I added some phosphate remover and let it do its thing for about 48 hours. Cleaned the filter and boom, the SWG was generating so much chlorine, I now have it backed down to 25%. We are in central Florida and it has been very hot and raining every day.

I am uncertain of the science but it worked.

Great information. I know I have _some_ phosphates in the water as I'll occasionally take it to the family owned pool store that has a pretty nice automated test (about once a month). They've never tried to sell me on anything and I'm happy so long as the water is clear and chemicals balanced. Maybe it's worth a shot as I'm coming up short on everything else. Thanks!

 

[Cavmedic]

Great information. I know I have _some_ phosphates in the water as I'll occasionally take it to the family owned pool store that has a pretty nice automated test (about once a month). They've never tried to sell me on anything and I'm happy so long as the water is clear and chemicals balanced. Maybe it's worth a shot as I'm coming up short on everything else. Thanks!

Worth a shot. Remember to do a good clean on your filter as the phosphate remover adds a layer of "slime" to it.