Slamming help

[TwoBananas]

Hello all,
Still a new pool owner and working on turning the swamp into clear. I’ve been slamming and I thought my CYA was correct before I started. I’ve been loading in the liquid chlorine and bleach for a few days, but it seems like no amount will get my FC

 

[Texas Splash]

Are you saying that the FC level doesn't increase at all? What is your most recent CYA test result, and when did you take it?

 

[TwoBananas]

Yes, I can add 10 gallons of bleach and the FC doesn’t go up.

I tested again today and it’s below 20.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes, I can add 10 gallons of bleach and the FC doesn’t go up.

Can you confirm at what intervals? One gallon per hour, 5 gallons at once, etc?

 

[Mdragger88]

How soon after your additions are u testing? Have u checked the date codes on your bleach?

 

[TwoBananas]

Can you confirm at what intervals? One gallon per hour, 5 gallons at once, etc?

So I added six gallons, tested a few hours later and chlorine level doesn’t budge.

 

[TwoBananas]

How soon after your additions are u testing? Have u checked the date codes on your bleach?

I’ve been testing 3-4 hours after and 10-12 hours after.

 

[Mdragger88]

Are u just now opening this pool for the season?
Try adding 10ppm of liquid chlorine then test in 30 minutes- let us know what your results are.

 

[TwoBananas]

I’ve been testing 3-4 hours after and 10-12 hours after.

The bleach is all what I bought from the store this week so it’s pretty new.

Are u just now opening this pool for the season?
Try adding 10ppm of liquid chlorine then test in 30 minutes- let us know what your results are.

Are u just now opening this pool for the season?
Try adding 10ppm of liquid chlorine then test in 30 minutes- let us know what your results are.

I am just opening it yes- Do you mean a gallon

Are u just now opening this pool for the season?
Try adding 10ppm of liquid chlorine then test in 30 minutes- let us know what your results are.

May be a dumb question but do you mean add amount that pool calc says would bring my ppm up by 10ppm?

 

[Texas Splash]

May be a dumb question but do you mean add amount that pool calc says would bring my ppm up by 10ppm?

Yes. Bring the FC up to 10, then test again in 10 minutes. Do not add anymore stabilizer or anything else to the water right now. Just liquid chlorine/regular bleach. It's important to be aggressive for this short period. After 10 minutes, test again. If it fell below 5 ppm, increase right away back to 10 and repeat this 10 min drill until the FC holds between 5-10 ppm for 10 minutes.

Once you are sure the FC is showing signs of holding, check the CYA one more time. It may be reading as zero. If so, add enough stabilizer for a CYA goal of 30. At that point, increase your FC to "12" and continue with the SLAM Process.

 

[Mdragger88]

Use PoolMath to calculate how much liquid chlorine it takes to reach 10ppm in your pool volume.
Note* even if u bought the bleach today - it can be old - thus the need to read the Julian date on the bottles before purchasing to ensure u have fresh stuff. The article i posted above will explain how to read the date code

 

[TwoBananas]

Use PoolMath to calculate how much liquid chlorine it takes to reach 10ppm in your pool volume.
Note* even if u bought the bleach today - it can be old - thus the need to read the Julian date on the bottles before purchasing to ensure u have fresh stuff. The article i posted above will explain how to read the date code

So according to this I need 2.5 128oz jugs to raise to 10ppm.

2.5 did not raise FC at all (tested right after, ten minutes after, thirty minutes after. Eight jugs seemed to get it to around 5FC, but I ran out of liquid chlorine and since I did this last night, Icouldn’t get more. This morning FC is reading as 0.5. The sample is barely pink before test.

The pool is blue and cloudy.

 

[TwoBananas]

Test as often as you can, up to once an hour, and add FC each time to maintain the SLAM level. Pump running constantly. Keep the FC up and you should get to cloudy blue.

What would you say if my pool is cloudy blue, but after 8 jugs of chlorine (10%), the FC reads as 1?

 

[IceShadow]

I would say something is interfering with the test, the jugs weren't nearly as strong as you thought, or there's something in the pool (not necessarily algae) that's burning up the FC. How soon after adding did you test?

 

[TwoBananas]

I would say something is interfering with the test, the jugs weren't nearly as strong as you thought, or there's something in the pool (not necessarily algae) that's burning up the FC. How soon after adding did you test?

Tested directly after, ten minutes, and thirty minutes, then this morning (the rest were last night). It got to five FC on the test last night. This morning 0.5.

 

[IceShadow]

Tested directly after, ten minutes, and thirty minutes, then this morning (the rest were last night). It got to five FC on the test last night. This morning 0.5.

Then it's something in the water. Likely algae. Need to add more FC and maintain that SLAM level for your CYA level.

 

[Texas Splash]

2.5 did not raise FC at all (tested right after, ten minutes after, thirty minutes after.

2.5 gallons might work in a normal scenario - a regular day. In your case, the water has something unusual eating the chlorine, perhaps ammonia. That is the reason for the 10-min drill above. Waiting longer doesn't help the chlorine work better. It has to be done quickly. This is like a sprint, not a jog. If your pool was smaller I'd say exchange some water first, but that's probably not practical. So you're going to need a lot of chlorine at first until you break that FC-eating cycle.

When you add the chlorine, it WILL disappear extremely fast. Be prepared. If in 10 minutes the FC crashed below 5, increase right away with more. Don't wait. Do this until you are sure the FC shows signs of holding between 5-10 ppm. The higher the better. Hit it aggressively and you'll break that cycle. Then things will stabilize.

 

[Mdragger88]

Here’s the guide

Ammonia - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com