SWG Not Producing. Not Sure Why.

[Lost Yeti]

Hello all,

I'm relatively new to taking care of my pool. I've probably been doing it myself for the past 6 months or so. Lately, I'm having a hard time keeping my FC levels at an appropriate level. FC keeps dropping to 0.3-0.5 or lower and the SWG doesn't appear to be producing anything. I've set the SWG for overnight, 24 hour, and 48 hour boosts with no improvement. The SWG is about 8 years old and the cell itself is two years old (and clean).

Here is some other information:

Recent water test:
FC: 0.13 ppm
CC: 0.72 ppm
ph: 7.5
Alkalinity: 97 ppm
CYA: 60 ppm
Salt: 4000 ppm
Water temp has been between 75-80 the past few weeks.

SWG: Auto Pilot Pool Pilot Digital Nano with a PPC 1 cell. The system check shows 18 volts and 4.9 amps.

I'm currently battling yellow algae. Basically, the current trend has been for the chlorine to drop, yellow algae shows up, I clean it up (brush, clean filter, adjust the necessary chemicals, shock, clean filter again). Then the SWG can't keep the level up and I repeat the cycle. Now, I'm being more vigilant and adding chlorine manually.

Is the SWG dead? Could the cell have failed prematurely?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Lost,

The cell is probably just fine. Salt cells can never make chlorine faster than algae can consume it.

You need to fix your algae issue and then start worrying about the salt cell.

If you can see algae, you need to do what we call a SLAM. SLAM Process



Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Mdragger88]

Hi Yeti
Welcome to TFP.
No swg can overcome an algae problem.
For that you need to do the
SLAM Process to eradicate the algae so the swg can keep up .
You will need your own test kit to accomplish this
Test Kits Compared

 

[markayash]

Here is a like on mustard Algae, it’s a pain and harder to kill. You have to keep brushing it also
Before finding this site i battled it every year.
But once you get rid of it and keep your FC on the higher side of the scale that headache will be gone.

Mustard Algae

Today We are going to show you how you can get rid of mustard algae in your pool. By following the steps in this guide and with no expensive chemicals.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Lost Yeti]

Thank you all.

I guess I haven't been keeping the chlorine levels high enough for long enough. I'll give this a shot.

Quick follow up question: I have a new filter ready to install. Is it best to wait to install that after getting this problem under control (so as to keep algae from getting into that filter) or is it better to go ahead and put it in to help resolve the issue?

 

[markayash]

Thank you all.

I guess I haven't been keeping the chlorine levels high enough for long enough. I'll give this a shot.

Quick follow up question: I have a new filter ready to install. Is it best to wait to install that after getting this problem under control (so as to keep algae from getting into that filter) or is it better to go ahead and put it in to help resolve the issue?

Unless the old Filter is bad I would wait.

Most of us here has started out with a SWG and decided the lower limit for FC is good and soon regretted it. It is good when life is perfect but a pool outside is rarely perfect.
Plus a SWG pool with FC of 8 or even 10 isn't sticky but rather smooth so no real downside. I am in GA and keep mine around 7 or 8 and have been gone for 3 weeks and came back to a sparkling pool