Starting a Slam and Wondering What Happened

[Mdragger88]

That's a good thought. We do have an alarm on the whole house (i.e. not a pool-specific alarm). Perhaps I could just arm the alarm when the pool is open. But yeah, those ones that are up to code were brutal to live with, but effective.

I would at least set it to chime all the time while you’re doing this project - maybe even all the time thereafter. Its a great reminder to pay attention to the kids/pool because someone has opened the door. I first put mine in because I was worried my kids might wander off outside & run into trouble & there’s a pond in view. We didn’t even have a pool. I keep it off on my main door during the day now (my kids are teens now) but I still set it back to chime every night when I lock the door.
All my windows & other doors that we never use are set to alarm mode all the time. My thinking is not really for a burglar or child escape (although they will work for that) but also if the kids need to open the window to get out in a fire I will hear them going off & know they are out. I’ve always told them to leave their door closed & just go out the window.
Safety Covers are great but they are an active barrier that you must envoke. The chimes are a passive one that can be in use all the time with no work from you but turning it on one time. Different types of layers are the key.

 

[treyrich]

Yes, absolutely agree. Sorry, should have clarified my alarm comment, we do have chimes on 24/7 and LOVE them, I even have our chimes programmed to run for an increased amount of time when the cover is open and a door providing access to the pool opens, to be an even greater audible indication that a door just opened and the pool is open and dangerous. In addition to this I have a notification that comes to both of our phones (see attached photo) when a door opens and the cover is off.

I love the way that you phrase it as "Different types of layers are the key." and couldn't agree more.

What we don't have, and what is my wife's concern, is any blaring siren to wake us up letting us know that the 3 year old climbed out of her crib, went downstairs, saw the pool was opened, opened the door and dove in. Which, admittedly, is an EXTREMELY unlikely scenario, and even then the 3 year old is a pretty good little swimmer. But as it stands my wife is currently not wild about the pool open while we're sleeping, I'm sure I can get her to ok a 1-time thing though.

But yes, absolutely agree with you on the multiple layers of security, and really enjoy hearing about what you've done. As you can see I've put a lot of thought/effort into adding layers of security and it's great hearing what others have done as well!

 

[Pauls234]

Overall I'm happy to do things right and get them done the proper way, my real problem is that I thought that's what I did on the last SLAM and clearly I missed something because even running my FC super hot something started brewing days after I finished slamming so that's why we're all here.

Stay at it. You are doing all of the right things.

Algae is sneaky and it can also develop a biofilm that protects it from chlorine which is why we recommend regular brushing and especially during SLAM. Your fact pattern strongly suggests that there is just some spot where it has taken hold but hasn't/can't get hit with the brush.

We will get it figured out and with your SWCG, demonstrated attention to TFP details and protocal you will indeed have trouble free pool in your future.

(And without having to move 50lbs of coping regularly)

Thanks to the othe folks who came in to check my work. I'm AGP'er so not as familiar with some of these water features (waterfall, slide, auto cover) and their capacity for creating algae hiding spots.

 

[Mdragger88]

Yes, absolutely agree. Sorry, should have clarified my alarm comment, we do have chimes on 24/7 and LOVE them, I even have our chimes programmed to run for an increased amount of time when the cover is open and a door providing access to the pool opens, to be an even greater audible indication that a door just opened and the pool is open and dangerous. In addition to this I have a notification that comes to both of our phones (see attached photo) when a door opens and the cover is off.

I love the way that you phrase it as "Different types of layers are the key." and couldn't agree more.

What we don't have, and what is my wife's concern, is any blaring siren to wake us up letting us know that the 3 year old climbed out of her crib, went downstairs, saw the pool was opened, opened the door and dove in. Which, admittedly, is an EXTREMELY unlikely scenario, and even then the 3 year old is a pretty good little swimmer. But as it stands my wife is currently not wild about the pool open while we're sleeping, I'm sure I can get her to ok a 1-time thing though.

But yes, absolutely agree with you on the multiple layers of security, and really enjoy hearing about what you've done. As you can see I've put a lot of thought/effort into adding layers of security and it's great hearing what others have done as well!

View attachment 516748

That is really neat!
You can always add a blaring alarm to the 3 yr old’s bedroom door- she’ll never get out of bed to pee or ask for a cup of water again lol
But seriously- you have good precautions in place & it sounds like you don’t ignore them. Hope your wife can rest easy (although this isn’t really possible for moms ever).
How did we ever do life without all these helpful devices?

 

[treyrich]

Alright. I was right on all counts, the coping is just held in place by gravity, and they are quite heavy .

Here are some photos of the vault, I tend to agree with what was said before that it would be very difficult for the vault to contaminate the cover on the spool since it doesn’t make contact with anything in there, but even then it looks quite clean for what it is.

 

[Mdragger88]

Some people have trouble with stuff blowing in there through the cracks then getting ucky - yours looks pretty good

 

[treyrich]

Ok, so here’s the morning update. We passed the OCLT last night, and this morning I finally got around to dissembling the under water speakers (which were extremely clean, but I gave them a good brushing anyways). As far as I can tell I’ve taken every piece of this pool apart and never once seen any sign of algae. So what’s next? Should I aim for a certain number of OCLT passes in a row? I don’t really feel comfortable at this point letting the FC drop because this was the position I was in before passing all of the SLAM criteria, and within days I was back at it…

 

[Mdragger88]

You passed all 3 criteria- you can hold for an extra day to be certain. Maybe do another with the cover on to see if it is somehow the culprit.
After eliminating that possibility I would suggest going forward that you maintain high target for your cya & brush regularly to break up biofilms. It’s easy to overlook this when the cover keeps the pool so clean.
I don’t see a robot/cleaner in your signature but if you have one run it every couple/few days as well.

 

[treyrich]

I have a suction-side cleaner that runs ~12 hours every day. I’ll add to my signature.

I brush once a week regularly (once a day for the last while with the SLAMs), is that enough, or should I do more?

Previously I was running at ~11 FC with a CYA of 50, now I think (waiting for my standard solution ) I’m closer to 60 CYA, so how high should I run?

 

[Pauls234]

The suction side cleaner does some brushing for you at least on the bottom (I'm assuming it doesn't climb walls?) but I'd probably brush twice a week for now given recent history, though once is usually good enough.

At 60 CYA 11 would still be high end of target range which is 7-9, but if you went to 13 you'd have a nice cushion and still be well below SLAM level of 24 which would still be safe to swim in. 13 might sound high but with buffering effect of CYA it is still likely less harsh than your tap water.

 

[treyrich]

I have no problem with 13, happy to maintain that if that’s recommended.

The pool saw a lot of use today, and was open most of the day to the sunlight. So even with the SWG going we saw a loss of 5 FC. I’m trying to debate if this means I should increase my cover-open SWG percentage, or my cover-closed percentage or both. On the surface it seems like just the cover-open… (currently cover-open is 60% and cover-closed is 25%)

Going to do another OCLT tonight, and test CYA tomorrow against the standard solution that arrived today, then we’ll go from there.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have no problem with 13, happy to maintain that if that’s recommended.

The pool saw a lot of use today, and was open most of the day to the sunlight. So even with the SWG going we saw a loss of 5 FC. I’m trying to debate if this means I should increase my cover-open SWG percentage, or my cover-closed percentage or both. On the surface it seems like just the cover-open… (currently cover-open is 60% and cover-closed is 25%)

Going to do another OCLT tonight, and test CYA tomorrow against the standard solution that arrived today, then we’ll go from there.

If you use the pool alot (ie- the cover is open) you can just increase the cya to recommended swcg levels. 70ppm or so would help protect the fc more from the sun.

 

[treyrich]

Ok, so I did lose 1 FC last night, which is obviously right on the border of ok for concluding the SLAM. Thoughts? Keep going? Also, I tested CYA against the standard solution and it seems pretty clear that I’m midway between 40 and 50, so round up and get 50.

So the question is, am I still slamming and should I wait to add CYA or do you all think that I’m good and should start bringing things to regular levels?

 

[Mdragger88]

Was the cover on for this oclt?

 

[treyrich]

Yes, it was actually on for both, before we passed 2 nights ago we had planned to leave it open last night, but then we passed with it on.

 

[treyrich]

Decided I could have the best of both worlds, so I added CYA and dosed back up to SLAM-levels haha, will run another OCLT tonight and see where we stand since I was on the border with the one last night.

 

[Pauls234]

I think it's smart to stay at SLAM at least another day. Raising CYA can help pretty significantly. I'm a 10+ year TFPer but this is only my 2nd season with an SWCG so I've spent most of my pool life being terrified of high CYA. Last year about this time I decided to raise it up to the SWCG level and as I recall it made a big difference. Just looked through my logs (see below) to see if I noted it and indeed I did. You've got more intense UV than I do so I'd assume you'll benefit at least as much as I did.

But, what is causing you to fail/barely pass the OCLT? I'm still vexed by that question.

 

[treyrich]

Yeah, I’m still at a complete loss as to what's consuming the FC. I've been through everything I can possibly think of and can't find what was or is the culprit. At this point I'm just hoping that if I stay at SLAM longer than anticipated then I have a higher likelihood of killing whatever it is, wherever it might be hiding.

 

[treyrich]

Ok. Another OCLT and still lost 1 FC, so dosed back up to SLAM. It does appear that my CYA is holding and is now at ~60 which is great. I'm going to keep going on the SLAM until I can figure out the OCLT...

Here's a few (reaching) questions.
1. My spa spills over, so the spa returns are constantly pushing water, but we haven't run the spa for a while. Is it possible for algae or anything to reside deep down the drain lines (further than I can brush) and am I causing a problem by not running the spa frequently?
2. I haven't scrubbed my suction cleaner...There's nothing visible on it, it appears super clean, but could something be hiding on or in it?

I still, as of this day, have never seen any visible algae or anything. The closest thing is there's been some black oily substance at the waterline that I've scrubbed, but it's 100% not algae and I figured it was just sunscreen scum. I did have slight cloudiness at the beginning of the SLAM, but that was very slight and I think in any non-TFP pool it would have been completely acceptable.

Is there anything else I might be missing? Algae can't grow in the equipment at all?

 

[Mdragger88]

Is there anything else I might be missing? Algae can't grow in the equipment at all?

Any stagnant water can grow algae/nasties. EVERYTHING, every line- needs to have slam level fc water run through it a couple times a day during the SLAM Process. This includes all lines for your spa.