SLAMathon

[SaltyBHouston]

Hello TFP, I am losing the battle with my SLAM. The cause is the classic case of neglecting my testing. I allowed the chlorine to drop below the effective threshold. With that said, I have never noticed any visible algae or discoloration in the water. I started my SLAM on 8/31 and I have not been able to pass the OCLT. My CCs have always been very low. I have brushed, put the mask on and scrubbed all nooks, crannies, drain covers and weir doors.

Several of my OCLTs have failed by only 1-2 drops. I have been out of town and my wife has been running this for the last 5 days, so testing frequency has decreased and brushing has stopped all together. The chlorine consumption has definitely increased...

I am running out of ideas.

 

[dereksanders]

Stating the obvious, but are you sure of your CYA reading to ensure enough FC is being used?

 

[mknauss]

Clean your test vials with alcohol.

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Stating the obvious, but are you sure of your CYA reading to ensure enough FC is being used?

Yes, tested CYA before starting my SLAM. I have the CYA standard so I’m fairly confident in the accuracy. I tested again last weekend and it was a little lower at 40. I have not adjusted my SLAM chlorine target.

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Clean your test vials with alcohol.

Have not tried that, will do. I am back in town this afternoon and will be all over it this weekend.

 

[pjt]

I tested again last weekend and it was a little lower at 40.

Are you using the SLAM FC target (16) for CYA 40?

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Are you using the SLAM FC target (16) for CYA 40?

I have been targeting 20, as when i started my CYA was 50.

 

[Mdragger88]

Failed by 1 or 2 drops? You mean you lost 0.5 or 1ppm fc overnight?

 

[SaltyBHouston]

No unfortunately, lost 1.5 to 2 parts FC in my closest OCLTs.

 

[SaltyBHouston]

I understand that the PH test values will not be accurate. I normally have to add 6-8oz of acid each week and it has been weeks since I added any acid.

Can I / should I add an estimated amount of acid to adjust for likely very high PH?

 

[Mdragger88]

You need to let fc fall to 10ppm to get an accurate ph result.
Don’t blindly dose with acid.
Aside from doing all the above mentioned things…
I see you have an attached spa? If so, are you treating the pool & spa as 1 body of water during the slam?
How often do they mix?
Are you running slam fc level water through all lines and water features daily?
Do you have an auto fill or overflow?
Lights? Drains?

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Pool and Spa are treated as one body. In pool mode the spa has two returns and overflows to the pool. My normal schedule runs the spa jets 30 mins per night, this has continued through the SLAM. The only other feature is the bubbler return on the tanning ledge which runs multiple hours everyday.

I do have two drains in the deep end of the pool and one drain in the spa. I have pulled the covers off of each and scrubbed them. No visible algae before or after.

No autofill.

One two inch overflow which has been above the waterline the entirety of the SLAM.

I have four Pentair Globrites, three pool, one spa, all non-functional. I am actually planning on replacing them tomorrow as the parts came in this week. While replacing I plan to scrub the niches.

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Passed my OCLT last night. Scrubbed the light niches, inserted the wand of my garden sprayer as far in as it would go and sprayed bleach solution. I think that did the trick.

I also think cleaning my testing materials with alcohol helped improve the accuracy.

Thanks for all of the good insight!!!

 

[Mdragger88]

The slamathon is over!!

Going forward aim for high target or a scootch above for fc. This will give you some wiggle room when Murphy throws life your way.

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Will do. I typically aim for FC around 10 or so. As I said in the initial post, the issue was related to my negligent testing... Pool Math claims I did not test for nearly a month but I will never confess.

I also sabotaged myself by adjusting based off of new variables and estimated incorrectly. I have had high pool temps every summer since installation and as last ditch effort prior to installing a chiller I decided to try Lily Chillers. They worked wonderfully for lowering my pool temps and also lowered the UV chlorine demand. I adjusted my SWG incorrectly and thats what ultimately created the need for this post.

 

[Mdragger88]

Poolmath telling secrets lol
Maybe set a recurring alarm or a calendar event for fc checks?
I live & die by my alarms and calendar as my brain simply cannot remember all my to do’s.
The lilys sure look interesting but a bit pricey for a large pool like mine. Over $1k.
I will just have to stick to my $20 fountain ️ to chill my pool. Glad to hear they worked for you! The Texas heat is brutal.

 

[dereksanders]

As if MS is a picnic.

 

[Mdragger88]

As if MS is a picnic.

Our weather is just drunk & needs to go home lol

 

[SaltyBHouston]

Poolmath telling secrets lol
Maybe set a recurring alarm or a calendar event for fc checks?
I live & die by my alarms and calendar as my brain simply cannot remember all my to do’s.
The lilys sure look interesting but a bit pricey for a large pool like mine. Over $1k.
I will just have to stick to my $20 fountain ️ to chill my pool. Glad to hear they worked for you! The Texas heat is brutal.

The combo of the $20 fountain and the chillers is what really did the trick. I was still battling water temps above 90 degrees in the afternoon with the fountain alone. I add the chillers and it brought the temps down to the mid 80s. For my pool it was $420 bucks.