I’m doing my first slam and need some help. I got lazy with my pool care and 2 days ago saw some algae in the pool. Did a test with FC 0, and CYA seemed super low because I could still see the black dot with the view tube completely full. I assumed my CYA was maybe 20. So I went and bought dry stabilizer Friday. According to pool math I put 2lbs in using the skimmer sock method which should have raised my CYA to 45. I got all the leaves out of the pool Friday and started slam using 45 as CYA to calculate my slam FC level. As of today my water is super clear, I have no more pollen or leaves. It has now been 48 hours since I added the CYA and the sock is now empty. When I retest my CYA is reading like 70ish. Is it possible it just needs more time to distribute within the pool before I can get an accurate reading? Or could I have gotten a falsely low CYA reading before starting slam for some reason? Either way by pool math the 2lbs should have raised my CYA by like 23ppm. Long story short I just want to make sure I get the slam right and raise my FC high enough to be effective. I’m assuming that my FC probably killed everything before the CYA I added could dissolve. Should I just raise my FC now assuming my CYA is 70, then do an OCLT and check CC tomorrow? Thank you!
SLAM help
- Thread starter crr1876
- Start date
- Jun 24, 2021
- 15,931
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Something is off.
CYA typically full registers in 24-48 hours. I had it happen to me once, it took 4 days. I haven't seen the need yet to wait longer.
I would retest. Use these instructions...print them out:
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
www.troublefreepool.com
Whatever CYA comes from that test, use it for calculating your SLAM target.
I only tested once when my CYA was super low because I was a little stressed since my pool hasn’t had any algae before. I wish I could redo that test. Now I have tested twice, 7.5ml of pool water and 7.5ml of R0013. Shake it wait one minute, shake again. Then holding the tube as waist level with my back to the sun I’m getting 70. I’ll use that as my CYA for calculating FC slam target.
My pool wasn’t super green. But I’m only 48 hours into the slam and my water looks great. Is it too early to do an OCLT the next 2 nights to see if I can stop slamming? From reading other posts it looks like the average time is 1 week, I could wait to start doing the OCLT tests just to make sure I get this right the first time?
My pool wasn’t super green. But I’m only 48 hours into the slam and my water looks great. Is it too early to do an OCLT the next 2 nights to see if I can stop slamming? From reading other posts it looks like the average time is 1 week, I could wait to start doing the OCLT tests just to make sure I get this right the first time?
Clear water...... How Clear is TFP Clear? water, and no visible traces of alage at all, anywhere, means it's time to move onto OCLTs.
Thanks for the help. Also my CYA has never been above 50. Not a huge deal with the summer temps we get here in Texas right? I only use liquid chlorine except like 2-3 times a year on vacation will use trichlor tabs.
Yeah. Many liquid chlorine pools target 50 CYA in the hot climates. Each 10 CYA raises the slam target by 4 FC and thats the only hiccup.
As a teaching forum, we are overly cautious on behalf of the newbs because higher FC slams get costly and require more effort. Once they prove they have a good grasp of everything, we wouldn't blink sending them to 50 if they needed it.
So my water is super clear and I think I passed my first OCLT. My FC actually went up by 0.5ppm but I figure that is probably within the margin for testing error at such a high FC level? My CC has remained pretty elevated at 4 or so. We have been experiencing a lot of cloudy weather during this SLAM. I plan to keep at it but do I likely need a few days of sunshine to help oxidize and clear this CC level?
I have now been slamming for 2 weeks. My water didn’t look that bad to start, had some algae on the walls but the water was mostly blue. My water is now super super clear. I have passed two OCLT (a few days apart because I was waiting on my resupply of R 0871). I have been brushing almost every day and running my dolphin multiple times per day. There is no organic stuff in the pool. I have taken down and cleaned my cartridge filter and the pressure hasn’t risen since. I’m trying to practice “pool owner patience” but I still can’t get my CC level to come down. The first 5 days or so of my slam was super cloudy weather, not sure if that matters to help oxidize the CC? I just wanted to check in and make sure I should just stay the course and that I wasn’t missing something. I have been bringing my FC up to 32-35 each night. Being that it’s been 14 days since I started slamming I’m really hoping this ends soon!
At some point we have to chalk it up to error. If you've been TFP clear with no traces of algae in any capacity, and held a properly elevated FC throughout, then let the FC drift down to high target and see if it fixes itself.
At worst, you don't lose any ground and it's only a pause in the action.
*clean your test equipment real well too. A slight trace of the last test reagent has fouled up alot of folks.
At worst, you don't lose any ground and it's only a pause in the action.
*clean your test equipment real well too. A slight trace of the last test reagent has fouled up alot of folks.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 15,931
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
This I haven’t done. I usually just rinse everything really well with tap water. So rinse out the cylinder for the chlorine test, speed stir bar and the bottle I’m grabbing pool water with all with rubbing alcohol? Can I just put some in the bottle and give it a good shake?
- Jun 24, 2021
- 15,931
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Just the cylinder and speed stir bar. Put some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and wipe out the cylinder...blow it dry.
Well that totally fixed my issue! After cleaning out the cylinder and speed stir with isopropyl alcohol my CC was magically almost 0, super faint pink and returned clear after 1 drop of R 0871. I guess my slam is done! I might do one last OCLT but do I need to bring my FC back up to slam level tonight or just test after dark and test again before sunrise to ensure I’m not losing FC? Here are some pics of my pool water. Thanks everyone!
Bingo. The FC level isn't important providing you're not dancing min. That's its own issue. Lol.
You're just looking to hold X FC overnight.