Still stuck in SLAM after 2 weeks

[Newdude]

As for the cover, I just can't keep it open overnight because of safety concerns. We live in a suburban neighborhood and my fence has not yet been installed (for a variety of annoying reasons) so I didn't want to leave it unattended all night

Very smart. And good call. A tragic accident would put some pool issues in perspective REAL quick.

The CCs won’t burn off at night anyway, and the sun won’t be heating the closed cover either. You should be 2 for 2 , there, being closed.

Leave it open as much as possible during the day.

 

[IceShadow]

Can you send a photo of the lights in the pool with them off? They might not be a removable type. If they are larger and have a single screw at the top, those are the ones that come out. Water gets behind them anyway (which is where the algae could hide). Other types are permanently installed and water doesn't get into them so algae in them isn't a concern.

 

[totolos]

In case future readers in the same situation want to see how this resolves, I will say that today, at day 17, the water looks clear. Since I have had 3 days in a row with OCLT <= 1.0 ppm, I have passed 2 out of the 3 criteria for the SLAM process. My current goal is to knock down the Combined Chlorine (CC) to <= 0.5. I will continue to brush daily and open the autocover during the day.

Today, we will have to keep the cover closed since it will be unattended (and we don't have a fence yet). So I will use this chance to juice up the FC count to 20-21 ppm to see if that has any effect on the CC's. I have not taken it up that high so I thought it was worth an experiment.

Dustin, I attached a picture of my pool light in case you were able to recognize it as one that is not removable.

 

[IceShadow]

Thank you - that doesn’t look like a removable one. This is what a removable one with a light niche looks like:

 

[totolos]

Well, I can finally say that 18 days after I opened the pool, my SLAM is complete. Fortunately, I was able to open the cover for most of the day today and my evening reading came back with CC of 0.5. So now that the third criteria has been met, I'm letting it drift back down to normal levels.

I think in the end, the advice to open the cover during the day and brush all surfaces daily are lessons that I'll take with me the next time, in hopes of speeding it up. Thanks for all the help!

Dustin, thanks for that on the pool light. I thought that was the case.