Newbie - SWG not working in 3rd year

I added another 4 cups and this time FC went up 2-3 but this included some time with the cover off and full sun so I could add the liquid chlorine.

Just helps to confirm that I think the Leslie liquid chlorine (labeled "super shock") is just higher than expected.

Will report back tonight on what a day time test shows with pool cover on.

I really appreciate all the help! It feels so good to not be reliant on a pool company or the pool store people - its always been so frustrating - poor results with little to no insight as to why.
 
C,

When you add the drops, are you holding the bottle upside down, with the dropper pointed down? Or kind of sideways? It needs to be upside down and the drops should almost come out on there own.. You don't put much pressure on the bottle.

Do you have the speed stir or similar stirring device?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Idk if this will help a little but I thought my SWG wasn't working and took a test strip and put it in front of return jet. It was working. My SWG require 3500 ppm of salt and it's picky about that, so I added salt. Problem solved.
 
I've been holding the drops mostly sideways. Can definitely do upside down, once it came out too fast so I switched. I can certainly be making a mistake, maybe it was with the first reading, but it seems to be impacting every reading.

What is the best practice technique?
1)Do you have the top or bottom of the meniscus hit the 10 ml?
2)seems holding it upside down is the best way?
3)I have been manually stirring the power w the blue scooper. Is there a better way?
 
3)I have been manually stirring the power w the blue scooper. Is there a better way?
These are awesome. It'll make your testing more accurate and more consistent.

 
4)is there a best way to scoop the water? wondering if maybe i'm getting too much surface water vs deep.
I get my sample at least 15 minutes after the filter has been running. I go elbow deep across from a return & rinse the sample bottle a couple times before getting the sample. You want to do the test fairly quickly because the solution will turn pink again if it sits too long. You should be able to complete the test in less than a minute after adding the powder. Bottom of the meniscus to 10 ml line.
 

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C,

I recommend getting the water about an "elbow" depth below the water level. Never get a sample near a return. Try to get the sample from the same basic place each time.

The Speed Stir or Smart stir is the only way to go, in my mind.. I can't count drops, look at the sample and swirl all at the same time.. :mrgreen:
I like the Smart Stir better than the original speed stir. It is almost a requirement to use when measuring the salt level....

I also have the sampler sizer.. Basically just a round metal bar that if put into a test tube one way gives you a 10 mil sample and if put in the other way gives you a 25 ml sample. As a side note, The sample sizer only works with Taylor test tubes, which works for me, as that is all I have...

Bottle vertical when counting drops.. The whole point is that the drop size is determined by the tip of the bottle and gravity.. When done correctly, each drop will be the same exact size.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thanks all, very helpful hints.

I suspect I messed up the first time I did it and so it was under reported. Definitely seems the deeper I stick my hand the higher the FC level.

Just to clarify - one person said to do by a return and one never by a return? (BTW a return is a skimmer right?) What's the consensus on that?

FWIW - my day time test worked pretty well. I got no drop in FC after 8.5 hrs (kept cover on entire time) Over night probably would have been longer but felt a reasonable way to get in two trials/day vs one.
 
The return is where the water comes back into the pool from the filter. I'm 16 feet away from the return when I get the sample. I'm not sure if Jim was saying that's bad but can't imagine it being a problem after running 15 minutes. I have good circulation.
 
Thanks all. I added 7oz this morning and again FC went up by 3. I'm just wondering now if my pool size is off. It is 45X20 but has a 10 ft long (w steps) sunshelf on one side and a 10X10 spa on the other. It is 8ft maximally deep and the sun shelf is 1 ft. How many gallons do you think this is?

I've reverse calculated 18,000 which is very different from my original 30,000 assumption based off an avg depth using 1 and 8.
 

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