Salt Cell - is this clean or dirty?

[rich6429]

1800 RPM should be plenty to activate the flow switch in the SWCG. Out of curiosity, is your SWCG installed in a horizontal or a vertical orientation?

The other thing which could be happening, and this would be a long shot .... is the internal thermistor within the SWCG might be reporting the wrong water temp, and if it's reporting something way too low ... maybe the SWCG is turning off?

You can check what water temp the SWCG is detecting by following the procedure in this video:

installed in horizontal position. And I am also not getting 'cold water' alerts, therefore assuming that all is good there.

it was just weird that I used to run at 45% to maintain, and 65% if I need to increase FC a little bit. But in the last few weeks, I ran at 100% and could hardly get the FC up. But all seems ok now (after also cleaning the filter). It has also been super hot...but I still think the SWCG should keep up.

OCLT will give all the answers I think. Hoping OCLT fails then at least I have an answer (and the solution to fix). But if my OCLT passes, then I will be stumped once again

 

[jmastron]

installed in horizontal position. And I am also not getting 'cold water' alerts, therefore assuming that all is good there.

it was just weird that I used to run at 45% to maintain, and 65% if I need to increase FC a little bit. But in the last few weeks, I ran at 100% and could hardly get the FC up. But all seems ok now (after also cleaning the filter). It has also been super hot...but I still think the SWCG should keep up.

OCLT will give all the answers I think. Hoping OCLT fails then at least I have an answer (and the solution to fix). But if my OCLT passes, then I will be stumped once again

If the OCLT passes, then the next night do an OCGT (gain test), with the pump on and SWCG at 100%. Together those will give you (and us!) all the answers.

Well, a third test would be what I'd call a "DCLT" (Daytime Chlorine Loss Test) -- raise FC to at least 5ppm above the min for your CYA early in the morning. You can use liquid chlorine, or if you're lucky the gain test will leave your FC fairly high and you can start from there. Turn the SWCG off, then measure FC again that night. That'll tell you how much FC is naturally used on a day like that -- this is what will vary significantly with CYA levels, sun vs cloudy day, sun angles through the seasons, etc.

In all cases, measure FC at the start and endpoints -- for example, when doing the OCLT, don't just assume the liquid chlorine raised it the expected amount, actually test ~30 minutes after adding.

 

[pb4uswim]

stabilizer issue as in too low? or something else about stabilizer?

Yes, I’m wondering if your stabilizer is too low. Thus, your SWG not being able to keep up in the hot (sunny weather).

 

[rich6429]

Verdict is in…2.0 FC loss in 7 hrs. Even tested using 25 ml sample to be precise. I guess Slam is up next.

Hmm…with a clear water but a 2.0FC loss…do you think there is enough time to slam and be done by Friday for a pool party?

 

[wireform]

If the pool is clear although in middle of slam let the party roll.

 

[IceShadow]

So long as the pool is clear enough to see the bottom of the whole pool, you can swim in water with FC up to SLAM level.

I just had my kids and some guests swimming in a pool with 11FC / CYA 30. (Was a little overzealous with the liquid chlorine the previous day and it was still high.) No one even noticed.

 

[SecoSteve]

In your pool math logs, it says you've added dry acid. I've read dry acid is bad for the SWG. Maybe that is effecting the performance.

 

[rich6429]

In your pool math logs, it says you've added dry acid. I've read dry acid is bad for the SWG. Maybe that is effecting the performance.

perhaps I may be logging it incorrectly...but the dry acid I have added is PH minus powder. Is this not dry acid

 

[SecoSteve]

perhaps I may be logging it incorrectly...but the dry acid I have added is PH minus powder. Is this not dry acid

Why don't you use muriatic acid to lower Ph? read this...

Muriatic Acid vs Dry Acid

I'm just getting started and wondering what the consensus is regarding whether to use Muriatic acid or dry acid. Any thoughts?:confused:

www.google.com

 

[rich6429]

If the pool is clear although in middle of slam let the party roll.

my pool is clear now...just having FC loss. CC is also less than 0.5. I just need to pass the OCLT to meet criteria.

so do i continue to slam while the party is rolling?

 

[pjt]

Running 9hrs a day at 3450rpm

Any reason for running your pump at max speed? There's great energy savings and efficiency at low RPMs.

 

[rich6429]

So long as the pool is clear enough to see the bottom of the whole pool, you can swim in water with FC up to SLAM level.

I just had my kids and some guests swimming in a pool with 11FC / CYA 30. (Was a little overzealous with the liquid chlorine the previous day and it was still high.) No one even noticed.

but my target FC is 24 since my CYA is 60 at the moment. Safe to say that is on the high side to swim, no?

by the way pool is clear now...just need to pass OCLT

 

[rich6429]

Why don't you use muriatic acid to lower Ph? read this...

Muriatic Acid vs Dry Acid

I'm just getting started and wondering what the consensus is regarding whether to use Muriatic acid or dry acid. Any thoughts?:confused:

www.google.com

didnt know about this...thanks for letting me know.

 

[IceShadow]

but my target FC is 24 since my CYA is 60 at the moment. Safe to say that is on the high side to swim, no?

by the way pool is clear now...just need to pass OCLT

The HOCl (Hypochlorous acid) concentration is the same as FC 12 with CYA 30, and lower than FC 3 with CYA 0. If you want you can let it drop a bit before the party and bring it back up after (can guarantee the party will lower it anyway, just from sweat/etc. even if everyone follows the "OOL rule") but it would be fine either way if you're confident in the CYA value.

 

[rich6429]

The HOCl (Hypochlorous acid) concentration is the same as FC 12 with CYA 30, and lower than FC 3 with CYA 0. If you want you can let it drop a bit before the party and bring it back up after (can guarantee the party will lower it anyway, just from sweat/etc. even if everyone follows the "OOL rule") but it would be fine either way if you're confident in the CYA value.

great...thank you for this information.

and just to clarify, if my CYA is 60 and FC is 24...good to swim?

and after the swim, add liquid chlorine to get it back to target FC of 24 at night and continue with slam?

 

[IceShadow]

great...thank you for this information.

and just to clarify, if my CYA is 60 and FC is 24...good to swim?

and after the swim, add liquid chlorine to get it back to target FC of 24 at night and continue with slam?

Yes to both. If you want some of the science to back that up, see here:

CYA Chlorine Relationship - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Particularly the linked article:

CYA and Chlorine in Plain Language

The CMAHC now recommends the ratio of cyanuric acid to free chlorine be reduced from 45-1 to 20-1. Here’s their explanation, in layman’s terms.

www.aquamagazine.com

The industry is just starting to come around to the FC / CYA relationship but instead of saying higher FC is safer, they just say high CYA is bad. Which is half-correct. But this is the real snippet:



So long as the FC/CYA ratio is consistent, then the HOCl is consistent.

Anyway, probably a bit too into the deep end, so to speak. But it's why we say it's safe to swim with FC between minimum and SLAM for your CYA.

 

[IceShadow]

Also, if your pool is clear and OCLT is failing, that's usually hidden algae. Check inside light niches, ladders in the pool, skimmer throats and the back of weir doors / weir door foam, scrub around the edge of where anything connects to the liner (like around returns/skimmer opening/steps), etc.

 

[rich6429]

Also, if your pool is clear and OCLT is failing, that's usually hidden algae. Check inside light niches, ladders in the pool, skimmer throats and the back of weir doors / weir door foam, scrub around the edge of where anything connects to the liner (like around returns/skimmer opening/steps), etc.

oh man...

so about the light niches and skimmer throats/weir doors, etc...do I actually just clean and scrub around it? or do I actually have to take out the light, skimmer face plate cover and clean around it? my worry is of course the leak it may create around the light niche, face plate cover, etc. if I play around with it. I have a globrite...not sure if that helps.

will Slamming not resolve the issue?

 

[IceShadow]

Algae makes a biofilm that protects itself from chlorine, which is why brushing is needed. You don't need to remove the skimmer face plate - just scrub around it with an old toothbrush or the end of your pool brush while it's still attached and in place. You can take out the weir door and check the foam behind that. Lights sometimes have a niche behind them that is exposed to water - those sort have a single screw at the top of the metal ring to hold the light into the niche that you remove to take out the light. Globrite may not have light niches, so I'd just scrub around those with the brush too.

If you keep failing a few days, take some photos of everything in the pool that isn't a flat vinyl surface and send and we can try to offer advice. Any intake/outtake ports, ladders, skimmer, lights, etc. But you may not need to worry if the OCLT holds, so no need to do that quite yet. You're just gonna get started with it now, so just elevating may be enough. I'm just offering plans in case it isn't.

 

[rich6429]

Algae makes a biofilm that protects itself from chlorine, which is why brushing is needed. You don't need to remove the skimmer face plate - just scrub around it with an old toothbrush or the end of your pool brush while it's still attached and in place. You can take out the weir door and check the foam behind that. Lights sometimes have a niche behind them that is exposed to water - those sort have a single screw at the top of the metal ring to hold the light into the niche that you remove to take out the light. Globrite may not have light niches, so I'd just scrub around those with the brush too.

If you keep failing a few days, take some photos of everything in the pool that isn't a flat vinyl surface and send and we can try to offer advice. Any intake/outtake ports, ladders, skimmer, lights, etc. But you may not need to worry if the OCLT holds, so no need to do that quite yet. You're just gonna get started with it now, so just elevating may be enough. I'm just offering plans in case it isn't.

great...all good info.

my pool is pretty simple. 3 corner steps (vinyl), 2 returns, 1 light, 2 main drains and 1 skimmer.

I will slam and also brush around those areas...and go from there.