SLAM confusion & questions

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Liebert04

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Jun 26, 2017
14
Georgetown, Indiana
Yesterday I posed on the SWG page about some issues I was having with cloudy water with a no chlorine reading. Background...my pool is an 18' x 48" Intex Ultra Frame with a SWG system. It has been up about 2-weeks and the past few days the water has been cloudy & we've never got a reading of any chlorine since the beginning. It was suggested I do the SLAM method on my pool, I watched the video and read the SLAM page. I did used the pool math feature and added my bleach last night but have a few questions.


  1. How often do I add the bleach?
  2. I ordered my TF test kit but am using strips till it comes in. I am still not getting a chlorine reading, is this common?
  3. How long does it take for you to get a chlorine reading?
  4. Do I keep adding the bleach till it clears up then turn on the SWG?

Here is the link to my original post:
Intex SWG No Chlorine HELP please Newby here

Thank you in advance for the help and if you need any other information please let me know.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to TFP and please add your signature. If your water is cloudy and not green, you can stall everything until you receive your kit. We do not rely on test strips. Depending on big your pool is, you may want to add either 1/2 gallon of 8.25% or more. Please add your signature.

How often do I add the bleach?

Bleach has to be added at least daily, if not more frequently to keep the pool at SLAM level based on CYA. You could probably get away with testing 1X daily.

I ordered my TF test kit but am using strips till it comes in. I am still not getting a chlorine reading, is this common?

Yes, it happens. Please shut off your salt cell at this point and switch over to chlorine until your kit arrives.

How long does it take for you to get a chlorine reading?

Should not take long if you perform the SLAM properly. Within an hour you should get a chlorine reading (Again with the proper test kit). Who knows, you may have chlorine and the strips are showing "zero".

Do I keep adding the bleach till it clears up then turn on the SWG?

No, you will finish the SLAM and then once you are done, at this point you can turn on the SWG. I would recommend turning it up all the way and testing daily for the first week until you understand the production of chlorine. Each day, test and lower the % on the cell accordingly. Each system is different.

A lot could be going on in your pool that caused this issue. You could have a circulation issue, a high CYA, your salt cell may be set to low. There are many factors. Once you clear up the SLAM, then you can figure out what % you will or should be at. The key to all this is the TF-100 test kit.

I refuse to help anyone of my friends or anyone that comes to me with a problem anymore unless they order the kit.



Here is the link to my original post:

Intex SWG No Chlorine HELP please Newby here

Thank you in advance for the help and if you need any other information please let me know.
 
Liebert04 said:
Yesterday I posed on the SWG page about some issues I was having with cloudy water with a no chlorine reading. Background...my pool is an 18' x 48" Intex Ultra Frame with a SWG system. It has been up about 2-weeks and the past few days the water has been cloudy & we've never got a reading of any chlorine since the beginning. It was suggested I do the SLAM method on my pool, I watched the video and read the SLAM page. I did used the pool math feature and added my bleach last night but have a few questions.


  1. How often do I add the bleach?
  2. I ordered my TF test kit but am using strips till it comes in. I am still not getting a chlorine reading, is this common?
  3. How long does it take for you to get a chlorine reading?
  4. Do I keep adding the bleach till it clears up then turn on the SWG?

Here is the link to my original post:
Intex SWG No Chlorine HELP please Newby here

Thank you in advance for the help and if you need any other information please let me know.
Click to expand...

As the SLAM article says:

Test and adjust chlorine levels as frequently as practical, but not more than once per hour, and not less than twice a day. Chlorine additions should be frequent, especially at the beginning.
Click to expand...

You should have a chlorine reading almost immediately. If you don't, add more chlorine. If you have doubts about your test strips, dilute a pool water sample 50/50 with tap water and test that to make sure you aren't bleaching out the strips. If it's been more than an hour since you added chlorine, and your pool isn't in good shape, there is a good chance the chlorine is already gone.
 
You can't SLAM with test strips.
  • Test strips will not measure CYA precisely so you have no idea what the FC level should be
  • Test strips won't read FC high enough
  • If the FC is high enough, there's a very good chance the test strip will get bleached out and lead one to believe there is no chlorine.

So is your CYA 30-50 or is it 100? There's no middle ground. Which means FC should be somewhere between 12 and 40. How can you target that? And is it eating all your FC or is the FC there but bleaching the strip?

This is why the very first prerequisite listed on the SLAM page is a FAS-DPD test kit.
 
I am going to stop the process until my TF arrives so I can get an accurate reading. I just figured if I jumped on it now, it would prevent the cloudiness from turning green. I had no idea the importance of the FAS-DPD test kits till I found this page yesterday. I appreciate the advice, I am a new pool owner so this is a learning process for me.
 

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