Salt Cell doesnt seem to keep up and CYA dropping

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Z

Zaffor

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2019
189
Miami
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Pool was finished around 6 months ago and have been maintaining it myself following what I learned on the forum. For the first 1-2 months I did not install the salt cell and just used liquid chlorine. After I installed the cell I raised the CYA a tad ,added my salt, and all seemed well. I did start to notice I had to constantly add some CYA as the levels would seem to drop 20-30 per month. I attributed it to new pool and maybe not being able to read the CYA test very accurately. I do regularly visit Pinch and Leslies to compare to my test results. I use the tf100 kit with the stirrer (LOVE THAT THING) and I trust most of my results. I even purchased the pentair CYA test kit to see if it yielded better results. I now run the pentair kit and then pour the solution into the vial included in the TF100 to get a second look.
For the last several months I started noticing that the FC was dropping together with my CYA (even though running an IC60 cell at 100% 24hrs/day) and I started supplementing with liquid chlorine. I would add a gal here and there to bump it to around 5 but it would slowly drop (sometimes to 0) I thought it may he related to the CYA dropping and kept adding CYA. Originally liquid CYA but that got costly so switched to powder and i dissolved it in a sock inside the skimmer. The pool always looks crystal clear with no signs of algae or trouble. I run my pump 24/7 at around 28GPM and have a second pump that runs 24hrs circulating water through 2 bubblers at slow speed as well. I called pentair thinking the cell was going bad and they even changed it out but the tech stuck the old cell in a bucket with flow switch depressed and it created chlorine. Cell was clean and seemed to be working. It seems as it is related to my chemistry or something in the water causing the cell to not keep up as well as consume CYA. I do evaporate alot as the pump runs all day and i have a large spa with a long area of steady overflow but nothing that would indicate a leak (especially not to lose 20-30 CYA in a few weeks). What could cause a large enough chlorine consumption that the cell cannot keep up as well as drop CYA levels? When I add liquid chlorine it seems to drop at a rate of about 2 per day. I am trying to SLAM the pool for a few days to see what my tests show. Had a drop from around 20 to 16-17 few times today and will test again tomorrow morning. Sorry for the long winded post but I wanted to include everything I thought would be pertinent.
Thx
 
You have an algae bloom that you can not see yet.. If the FC dropped to 0 you have something growing..

20 to 40 CYA loss a month there is a hole in the pool and it is leaking water somewhere.. no other way to lose 40 CYA.. I might lose 40 CYA all year long...

AN IC60 makes 2 pounds of chlorine a day.. Please fill out your signature so we can know what kind and type and what your pool is.... it will help us help you.. if you have 60k gallons pool is much different than a 15k gallon pool.. :)

 
I thought I did that? Let me check.
In ground pool 15,000g
To lose 20 CYA from 60 would I not need to lose 1/3 of my water? I lose maybe 1-1/2” per week. No auto fill.
 
hmmm, 15k gallon pool, 2 pounds a day... running 24/7 your cell is creating 16 ppm FC in your pool a day.. if your pool is going down to 0 FC something is in your pool...
CYA does not evaporate Do you have a sand filter or a DE filter?

This is what I see :)

1623639599274.png
 
just saw this..

1623639780759.png

You CYA should be at 70 to 80 so that is part of the problem, your SWG is working way harder than it needs to trying to keep chlorine in the pool.. Also SWG's are really bad at raising FC level, when it falls down make sure your raise it back up with liquid chlorine..

In Miami you are getting rain daily, how much overflow are you getting? That is also another way to lose CYA...
 
Just added info to signature, lets see if it shows. I am always weary of raising CYA for fear of going too hogh thus my smaller 2-4lb additions. I have had it in the 60-70 range but it seems to drop. Not a whole lot of rain until just recently. I evaporate more than what rains when it does. Pool deck slopes away from pool so I only get what falls in the water. I have a drain in the skimmer just above mid level but I put a plug in it to keep as much water as I can get. Only loss is the 1-1/2 inches ( 2” tops if very windy and no rain ) per week. I do bump the FC with liquid as I always keep 2 jugs full in the shed, but never can keep it steady, always dropping. Can there be algae unseen?? For months? Water is crystal clear.
 
Have you been using the same brand of stabilizer for all the additions? Is the test data in Poolmath just from your testing?
 
mknauss said:
Have you been using the same brand of stabilizer for all the additions? Is the test data in Poolmath just from your testing?
Click to expand...
No not the same brand. At first liquid and then powder first from pinch and then from Amazon. I had not been adding all my logs into pool math. Maybe I can go back and add the CYA values as I have some of the forms from pool store. I dont really look at anything other than CYA from their tests as I didnt trust my own. Leslies uses that spin disk device while pinch uses manual tests.
 

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That is why the data is all over the place. I saw a CYA of 10. That is not a possible result. Use your own testing.
 
mknauss said:
That is why the data is all over the place. I saw a CYA of 10. That is not a possible result. Use your own testing.
Click to expand...
There was times I would fill the CYA vial and still be able to barely see the dot. Now with 2 methods I can log my own with more confidence. I have added CYA many many times these past 6 months. I also finally purchased pool math instead of writing down my results on the papers from the pool store.
The last 2 months of CYA were close to what I was getting myself.
 
The CYA can degrade slowly in warmer waters. Otherwise, it is there. Unless the pool is drained and refilled with fresh water.
 
Had some heavy rain today but checked chlorine and it was holding at 20 even after rain. Perhaps cell is starting to make progress. I shut off cell overnight to get a good chlorine loss result.
 
Zaffor said:
Had some heavy rain today but checked chlorine and it was holding at 20 even after rain. Perhaps cell is starting to make progress. I shut off cell overnight to get a good
Click to expand...
Zaffor said:
Had some heavy rain today but checked chlorine and it was holding at 20 even after rain. Perhaps cell is starting to make progress. I shut off cell overnight to get a good chlorine loss result.
Click to expand...
woo! We had a ton of rain here in Florida. Got about 5” in a couple hours today. Anxious to see what FC levels our pools are at tomorrow.
 
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