No/low chlorine with this cheap amazon/chinese SWG (Pomeade EC16)

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Gilligan8 said:
It has 5 leds and then "boost".

I ended up at LED 2 and had been running 8 hours a day for a while at that point.

This is a "20,000" gallon generator and I have an 11,000 gallon pool. Obviously I take that 20k with a grain of salt, which is why I got the 2X of my pool size vs 50% bigger. ;)

IF I remember correctly, I jumped on the SWCG install when I did (had it in the closet for a min) because my chlorine levels were gone (or fading fast). Put it on boost, but was running 24/7 then, and it climbed and climbed. At some point I backed off to 8 hours and was still climbing so I cut back... then cut back more, then more.

It IS possible I have my brain all mixed up and the 8 hours did happen in that sequence and maybe that is what is screwing me up. I just don't FEEL like that happened. But I'm not gonna deny that I could be mistaken.
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This cell is rated to produce 384g/day or .84lb/day. Which is about right...if it produces that.

The 5 leds and boost, means that each increment is about .15lb/day Each LED means, in your pool, running 24 hours per day is adding 1.6ppm.

LED 2 would be 32% output, and with a runtime of 8 hours, would be 1ppm of FC. In Louisiana in Spring, I would guess your FC demand to be about 1-2FC...which seems reasonable.

So, I'm going to suggest, you have a testing problem. One of the precepts of TFP is good testing. Without it, we are shooting in the dark.

I know $$ might be tight, but you will spend more chasing your tail with chemicals and effort than getting a good test kit.

I recommend you buy a good test kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared

When it arrives, post a full set of results.

Without a good test, we might make recommendations that will do more harm than good.
 
PoolStored said:
This cell is rated to produce 384g/day or .84lb/day. Which is about right...if it produces that.

The 5 leds and boost, means that each increment is about .15lb/day Each LED means, in your pool, running 24 hours per day is adding 1.6ppm.

LED 2 would be 32% output, and with a runtime of 8 hours, would be 1ppm of FC. In Louisiana in Spring, I would guess your FC demand to be about 1-2FC...which seems reasonable.

So, I'm going to suggest, you have a testing problem. One of the precepts of TFP is good testing. Without it, we are shooting in the dark.

I know $$ might be tight, but you will spend more chasing your tail with chemicals and effort than getting a good test kit.

I recommend you buy a good test kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared

When it arrives, post a full set of results.

Without a good test, we might make recommendations that will do more harm than good.
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In my first post back to this thread early today (the first you one you replied to) I had said I got the TF100 Salt in today and those were my numbers. :/
 
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Great! Then I'll revert to the recommendation. Raise your FC with LC, turn your cell on to one LED, 8 hours pump time, and see what happens. That would add .5FC or so per day. I'm surprised your FC demand is that low.

In either case, the combination of pump runtime and %output controls the FC level in the pool. You need to modify the runtime and % output (1,2,3,4 LEDs) to maintain the correct FC for your CYA. Link-->[FC_CYA\[/FC_CYA]

As you get deeper into summer you will need to increase pump time and/or %output to maintain FC for your CYA.
 
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Great job getting a proper kit👍🏻
Every one has you going on the right path
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test & report back.

Just wanted to point out that if at any time your fc was below minimum for your cya algae may have taken hold.
See—> FC/CYA Levels
Algae will consume fc much faster than your swcg will produce it (even on boost) The oclt will help confirm or deny this.

*Boost simply runs the unit around the clock @100% for 24hrs, which if it produces what it says it does would be 9.2ppm fc. Or .4ppm/hr.
While that is more than sufficient for maintaining normal fc levels It’s simply not fast enough to overcome an algae problem that has gotten a foothold. As pointed out above they are maintainers.
 
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It is only 7.5% & an 81 oz bottle so you’ll be using more liquid & buying more bottles.
If home depot is your only option look for the 10% stuff in the pool section
www.homedepot.com

HDX 128 oz. Chlorinating Liquid (3-Pack) 30128HDX - The Home Depot

Keep your pool clean and sparkling with this 128 oz. Chlorinating Liquid. It quickly dissolves so your water isn't cloudy and it can be used as a super-chlorinator, shock or sanitizer. This liquid can
www.homedepot.com

Or this 10% strength from Walmart they are full gallons as well
IMG_0001.jpeg
 
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Mdragger88 said:
It is only 7.5% & an 81 oz bottle so you’ll be using more liquid & buying more bottles.
If home depot is your only option look for the 10% stuff in the pool section
www.homedepot.com

HDX 128 oz. Chlorinating Liquid (3-Pack) 30128HDX - The Home Depot

Keep your pool clean and sparkling with this 128 oz. Chlorinating Liquid. It quickly dissolves so your water isn't cloudy and it can be used as a super-chlorinator, shock or sanitizer. This liquid can
www.homedepot.com

Or this 10% strength from Walmart they are full gallons as well
View attachment 571623
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I don't shop at Walmart (haven't spent a dime there in 20 years).

The math I'm seeing suggest I need like 60 something ounces and what I'm reading is bleach has a shelf life.

Would it make sense to "save money per ounce" on chems I don't need right now that will lose potency as time goes on?

I'm usually the guy that will buy WAY too much in bulk but if it will "go bad" (I know that's now how that works) then maybe that isn't saving money?
 
Gilligan8 said:
Would it make sense to "save money per ounce"
Click to expand...
Go to the upper left menu in poolmath and there's a bleach calculator. You'll be surprised what is actually cheaper in practice, and if not, you'll know for a fact it was the better deal. :)
 
You’re in southern Louisiana so I’d figure 4-5 ppm fc per day worth for the near future so you have enough on hand to chlorinate daily. Say 3-4 gallons.
You’ll need more if a slam process is warranted but you’ll have enough on hand to get started.
Buy the freshest date code you can & store it in a shady spot that is relatively cool & it will be fine for a while.
Its pool season so it’s readily available for you to acquire more if you need it.
It doesn’t go bad - just gets less potent over time

Breakdown of Bleach Over Time by Storage Temp - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Chlorine Date Code Decoder - Further Reading

www.google.com www.google.com
 
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There are also 4 pinch a penny locations in Louisiana- not sure if any are near you but it can be an affordable place to buy fresh liquid chlorine in bulk if you need to.
pinchapenny.com

Find A Store

pinchapenny.com pinchapenny.com
 
Ok... So, I added 80oz of bleach (wife got the clorox with color max after I said not to :rolleyes: ) didn't even budge.

We got the 3 pack from HD and added a full jug of that because my wife was determined to put algaecide in it and it said to have a 2ppm FC level.

It came up to 10ppm! Woo!

Then I decided to raise my CYA from 40-50'ish to 70-80 and added the 3.5 lbs of stabilizer.

Next morning, chlorine was almost all gone... 1 ppm! :oops:

She added algaecide 🤷‍♂️

I went back about 20 mins later and added another jug.

About an hour later hardly budged.

Added another jug and now it's been an hour later and it's at about a 2ppm!
 
I think we should take a breath and restart.

Do you have visible algae? If so, then you need to follow this process. Link-->SLAM Process

If you don't have visible algae, and you are losing FC, you should perform this test. This test will tell us if you have algae you cannot see. Link to test-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Perform this test tonight and report back. If you fail the OCLT, then start the SLAM process.
 
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So like, I'm not sure what visible algae would be... I don't THINK we do. Attaching a picture of our pool.

We do have a bit of a cloudyness that will come off our walls as we brush it after a few days.

Would I not already see a OCLT if I went from 10 to 1 overnight?

*Fyi, those are stains you are seeing on the bottom

1715880630160.png
 
Gilligan8 said:
Now, just have to keep checking and keep it up that high!
Click to expand...
The more often you can do it, the faster it will go. No need to do any more often than every 2 hours at the start. As it gets better (FC loss slows), you can go to every 3-4 hours. Or you can be "extra" like me, I did every two hours, 7am to 11pm. HA! I did have a holiday weekend coming, so I was motivated...
 
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