Struggle to keep FC up

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berddog123

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Jun 3, 2017
45
Kansas City, MO
So this is second summer with our pool and I pretty much coasted through last summer bumping SWG up a hair here and there to keep FC around 3-4...Usually bounced between 30-35% on the setting. I did end up getting a cloudy pool and algae bloom later in the summer but one SLAM took care of it and was fine until fall. And I controlled again with intellichlor and SWG bouncing between 30-35%.

THIS SUMMER has been a struggle.

I've had zero cloudy water but all spring I couldn't keep FC from dropping 2-5 ppm a day. On May 22 I had noticed some algae in skimmers (at water level) and with FC dropping so fast decided to SLAM, so held it at 24 until I got an overnight drop of less than one. Which took 48 hours. On May 25 it was at 20.5. On may 26 it was 16.5. On May 27 10.5, May 28 8.0, 29th 8.0, 30th 6.0, and I bumped up Intellichlor to 50%...31st 4.0 and added 1 gal bleach, June 1 5.0, June 2 2.5, today only .5...

We do use our pool and I have 4 kids. But it is covered 18-21 hours a day.

Today I turned on the 100% 24 hour superchlorination feature on the chlorinator it's-self. I've never used it and just going to give it a try to see if it can maybe kick this SWG into gear. Think this will work?

I talked to our pool company about my losing FC situation and they seem to think everything is working fine, but it's was an unusually cool spring and now it's an unusually hot spring and "weird weather patterns" are part of the problem.

My numbers today
FC .5
CC 0
ph 7.2
TA 120
CH 110
CYA 65
Salt 3600

Do I just keep bumping this SWG percentage up until I get it to start producing FC?
 
Using 'superchorinate' does nothing but set the IC40 to 100% for that cycle. I recommend not using it. SWCG's are not designed to raise FC to a set point, but to maintain.

Use Liquid Chlorine to raise your FC to target level for your CYA of 70 (round up). Then use SWG Run Time Calculator to determine what setting on the SWCG with your pump run time you need to create 4 ppm of FC per day. Set that up and see if your FC rises or falls. If it falls, raise add LC to get back to target and raise your SWCG %/pump run time to account for the loss you saw.

Keep testing FC every day while you are adjusting. Be sure you are monitoring your pH too.
 
Raise your FC to target. That is 5 ppm for a CYA of 70. Then set your SWCG to the 62% and run the pump 24 hours. Or change the pump run time to less and set the %SWCG accordingly.

I find it best, in my pool, to create the chlorine while the sun is on the pool. With your undersized SWCG, you will need to run it longer than that.

Take care.
 
I should've clarified. I redid chemicals tonight to be solid before figuring out how much LC to add and did them in a hurry this afternoon. So wanted to be more accurate. I had a CYA of 55 so bumped it up to 60 on the chart. So I added just now 10 gall of LC to get me to 24. I am running the pump 24 hrs because that's what the pool company said they recommended for me and I have SWG set at 62%...

So tonight after an hour or so I'll get a FC reading and tomorrow and if it falls, I bump up from 62% and get my pool back to 24, correct?

Thanks so much for the help. I do appreciate it.
 
A FC of 24 is SLAM level. Your previous post said you had done a SLAM and the pool passed the three criteria for a successful SLAM. So, are you wanting to SLAM? If so, turn off the SWCG and use Liquid Chlorine.

My instructions were for everyday maintenance, not SLAM.

No reason to run a pool pump 24 hours a day when in maintenance mode. But, as you have a VS pump, if you are able to run it at 1200 rpm or so that is about 100W so may not be expensive for you.

Let me know on what you are trying to achieve.
 
I would. You can let the FC drop over the next couple days. Check it tomorrow evening.
 

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Definitely bump it up, you need to keep FC higher than 3.

Do you see bubbles or haze through the clear compartment around the salt cell?
 
Add liquid chlorine to get back to 4. Raise your % to 72%. See what it says tomorrow.
 
I like to keep FC a little above the target, just to be safe. If I were you, I'd raise my FC to 7-8 ppm with bleach, then adjust the SWG to keep it at 7 or above.

That way, if it drops a little bit, say to 6, you're still in good shape. Either increase run time/percentage or add chlorine to get back to 7.
 
I had a similar issue a while back.

How long do you run your pump for ?

Your numbers seem odd, do you think it might be worth running another overnight test, just to be sure?

When I had a similar issue (even though I passed a SLAM 2 weeks prior) , it failed the test , so I had to SLAM again.
 

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