I've been following these forums and using TFP methods for at least 10 years. I've never been hugely consistent on the testing, chemical levels, etc. though generally was able to keep the pool in acceptable shape. The past few years I was getting REALLY tired of buying loads of Clorox. With the scarcity of bleach this year I finally bought an SWG, SLAMed the pool for opening, then installed the SWG (Circupool RJ60+ from discountsaltpool.com). Install was relatively straightforward (if you can use a saw and glue, and do a little wiring you are good but plan it out, I did it slowly over 3 days as I didn't want to screw it up). Also got a Pentair Warrior SI (great deal and great service from marinapoolspaandpatio.com) (both buys and locations were per recommendations on this site). The robot has been ok, I'm still not sure if the cleaning is much better than our ancient Polaris 280 but I am impressed with the build quality and its water line cleaning).
With the SWG, I initially set the power to 35% after the SLAM. The first couple of nights I got a 5 FC reading which was good but after that was unable to maintain good levels of FC and the pool got a BAD case of black algae. After scraping, it would spring back to life the next day. Black spots ALL over. I've had similar problems in the past, but it gets worse every year. The plaster is bad (installed about 15 years ago and I admittedly have generally ignored the Calcium Hardness levels). The black Algae always springs back very quickly the next day at normal SWG power (50% or under). I had some control if I added some LC and boosted the SWG to 70% but still FC would be around 2 in the morning so I knew the algea was doing a good job eating the chlorine. I considered SLAMing at Mustard Algea levels but dreaded the amount of LC I would have to pour in with a CYA of 70. Luckily I read on the forums that SLAM wasn't necessary and scraping would eventually work at decent Chlorine levels.
After about a week or two of scraping with a stainless steel brush and not making progress I added Borox (23 boxes + required acid). I've added Borox in prior years but never noticed much difference. This time, the morning after I added the Borox along with one gallon of LC and SWG at 70% , the pool was 80-90% better. The black algae did not spring back in places where I scraped and the yellowish spots of algae that had appeared previously also were gone. I've continued to scrape every day but the BA is only a small fraction of what it was and the pool is able to maintain a 9 FC with the SWG power at 50%. All my chem levels are within acceptable ranges. I'm sure the BA will disappear soon and all the grey spots will fade.
Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for all the help through the years! These methods work! Also wanted to give another plug to SWGs, absolute best thing even more so than an automatic cleaner (also a must - we went without one for about 5 years). I do not regret having to chase down bottles of chlorine! Also I am definitely going to be doing Borox every year. Next projects - DIY pump automation (some good threads here on that!) and plaster resurfacing (next year).
With the SWG, I initially set the power to 35% after the SLAM. The first couple of nights I got a 5 FC reading which was good but after that was unable to maintain good levels of FC and the pool got a BAD case of black algae. After scraping, it would spring back to life the next day. Black spots ALL over. I've had similar problems in the past, but it gets worse every year. The plaster is bad (installed about 15 years ago and I admittedly have generally ignored the Calcium Hardness levels). The black Algae always springs back very quickly the next day at normal SWG power (50% or under). I had some control if I added some LC and boosted the SWG to 70% but still FC would be around 2 in the morning so I knew the algea was doing a good job eating the chlorine. I considered SLAMing at Mustard Algea levels but dreaded the amount of LC I would have to pour in with a CYA of 70. Luckily I read on the forums that SLAM wasn't necessary and scraping would eventually work at decent Chlorine levels.
After about a week or two of scraping with a stainless steel brush and not making progress I added Borox (23 boxes + required acid). I've added Borox in prior years but never noticed much difference. This time, the morning after I added the Borox along with one gallon of LC and SWG at 70% , the pool was 80-90% better. The black algae did not spring back in places where I scraped and the yellowish spots of algae that had appeared previously also were gone. I've continued to scrape every day but the BA is only a small fraction of what it was and the pool is able to maintain a 9 FC with the SWG power at 50%. All my chem levels are within acceptable ranges. I'm sure the BA will disappear soon and all the grey spots will fade.
Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for all the help through the years! These methods work! Also wanted to give another plug to SWGs, absolute best thing even more so than an automatic cleaner (also a must - we went without one for about 5 years). I do not regret having to chase down bottles of chlorine! Also I am definitely going to be doing Borox every year. Next projects - DIY pump automation (some good threads here on that!) and plaster resurfacing (next year).
