VS Pump speed

[KevinBond]

Is the sound level OK from the pump for sleeping?

It's better at 20GPM (which is the lowest I can set it at right now) but still 1900RPM. I'd still really like to figure out what's going on with this but I'm pushing that out until I get the pool balanced. Trying not to get overwhelmed!

Question: I've gone through ~15 gal of liquid chlorine since opening the pool and I'm obviously going to need more to keep up this SS. Does that amount sound right?

 

[needsajet]

Yes, for your size pool that's very reasonable, keeping in mind that we're not doing it optimised by the right test kit and therefore unsure of the CYA level. It also depends how much algae there was there to start with, and whether we've lost ground during the Sustained Shock due to fits and starts. It's not uncommon for a SLAM on a big pool to take 20 or 30 gallons, so we're not crazy out of line, that's for sure.

Have a thorough read of the intellicenter manual. You can switch to RPM control, and/or reduce the minimum available flow setting. It's a massive manual, which I'll bet $20 your pool builder hasn't read.

 

[needsajet]

Hopefully @Jimrahbe will jump in and help you out with the intellicenter and vsf pump settings.

 

[KevinBond]

whether we've lost ground during the Sustained Shock due to fits and starts.

Yes, a good chunk of what I've put in would fall into this category. Glad to know this isn't extreme. The local pool store originally told me 1x2.6 gal jug would be all I need to clear it up... So now that I'm going out tomorrow to get jug #7 and 8 I thought I'd check...

Have a thorough read of the intellicenter manual.

The manual was not terribly helpful to be honest. I found a post on here that gives pages and pages of details (precisely because the manuals aren't great). I need to go through that still.

I did figure how to switch to rpm but since my flow rate seems to drop so darn fast, setting it to a minimal rpm would soon (in a day or so) not provide enough flow to trigger the SWG... Configuring as gpm at least allows me to be assured that's running.

I do see how to reduce the minimum gpm below 20. For the time being, I'm thinking to find the lowest gpm that allows the heater and set to run and set to that over night.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kevin,

If your flow drops in a day or so, then you have a serious case of Algae.. Nothing mechanical will cause the filter to slowly increase in pressure and for the flow to decrease except for a dirty filter..

Jim R.

 

[KevinBond]

Ok, thanks Jim. I am working on clearing my pool after opening so maybe that's it.

Freshly back washed today, currently running at 1900rpm to give me 20gpm. Does that seem wrong? Others have thought maybe something isn't configured correctly in IntelliCenter.

 

[KevinBond]

Hello, here's an update on my pool balancing journey.

First of all, my test kit's at the border and I submitted all the customs paperwork. I'm guessing I'm still not going to see it until later this week.

Pool has been crystal clear all weekend. I added chlorine Saturday, it dropped a bit overnight and I turned on the SWG (60%) Sunday morning. Continued dropping. Last night it was ~5ppm and this morning ~2ppm. Did I have a false sense of it being balanced and jump the gun. Should I be keeping up the SS?

 

[Newdude]

Hello, here's an update on my pool balancing journey

Love. Them. Keep ‘em comin.

Last night it was ~5ppm and this morning ~2ppm. Did I have a false sense of it being balanced and jump the gun. Should I be keeping up the SS?

Yes and no. You have a false sense of the SS clearing the problem while you await your test kit. It’s actually REALLY good because it will show you first hand how well the pool store way works. Which doesn’t work well at all. So you’ll be good and ready to follow the SLAM Process to a ‘T’. Many times new folks do a half SLAM and try and rush the process with their old way of doing things (which of course got them here in the first place). You, however, will already know that that way only works for a little bit, if at all. So you definitely have a leg up and will be ready to do it right. And when you do, it will be once and you’ll never look back following PoolMath and Recommended Levels

2 years from now when your kit is expiring you will order it 2 months early, not the least bit concerned of its value, but terrified you may have to go without for a week or two.

If you read around here enough you will see hundreds of ‘I’m not so sure I need the kit’ posts. You will not find *one* ‘I used to have a TF-100 but chose to do something else this time’. You instead will find hundreds of ‘woohoo the refills were on sale so I bought them early’ posts. It’s very telling if you read between the lines.

 

[needsajet]

That's a great description above! Newdude's a psychic and has yo' numba!

Glad to hear the SS has made your water nice for swimming. I'll suggest adding 3 L chlorine each night until you get the kit, or running the SWCG 12 hrs per day at 90%. (those are both about the same amount of FC - 3 ppm per day)

Get ready to do this test when you have the kit: Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. (SWCG must be off for that) The OCLT is the only way to find out when the algae is annihilated.

Free-floating algae is invisible to the naked eye. When you can see cloudiness, or especially any green, there are bazillions of algae cells floating around in the pool, and they multiply fast.

 

[Newdude]

Free-floating algae is invisible to the naked eye. When you can see cloudiness, or especially any green, there are bazillions of algae cells floating around in the pool, and they multiply fast

Exactly. By the time anyone can see it, it’s pea soup. We have the struggle with new folks over and over. ‘My testing is off but it looks clear blah blah blah’. Some of them listen. Some get pea soup.

 

[KevinBond]

Hello! Finally got my test kit and performed my first test.

First, for the last week, I've been just maintaining 3-5ppm FC (based on my strips). To keep this level, I've had to run my SWG at ~75% (pump running 24 hrs). I'm guessing this means I have some algae issues still. I have been having to back flush basically every two days which seems pretty frequent (I hope this is considered frequent!). I haven't been adding any additional chlorine. Also, we have some major pollen issues (no rain) - I've been wondering if that is filling the filter up quickly too?

The strips were showing my pH high so I did add some pH- a few days ago to get it lowered a bit.

Anyway, here are the results of my first test:

FC 3.5 ppm
CC 0.5 ppm
pH 7.8*
TA 170 ppm
CH 450 ppm
CYA 30-35** ppm
Salt 5000*** ppm

* Unfortunately, I have a bit of a hard time with the colour match tests (wish there was a drop test for this...)
** Again, this one was a little tough for me to interpret. I got the sampler with my kit so I will test using these to ensure I'm reading correctly.
*** My SWG is telling me it's at 3650. Also, after I did the test I realized I wasn't holding the dropper perfectly vertical like the instructions said so maybe this is off?

So what should I do next? Should I do a OCLT tonight to see where I stand? If so, should I turn the SWG off 30 minutes before testing?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[Newdude]

Hello! Finally got my test kit and performed my first test

Yay !!

I have been having to back flush basically every two days which seems pretty frequent (I hope this is considered frequent!).

It is very frequent as the filter is happy doing it’s thing and filtering out your crud that’s growing in the pool. Which means you are temporarily babysitting it. It will get worse for a bit but then get much much better.

CYA 30-35** ppm

CYA rounds up to the next 10. 31-39 = 40.

My SWG is telling me it's at 3650. Also, after I did the test I realized I wasn't holding the dropper perfectly vertical like the instructions said so maybe this is off

Very possible. Take your time on any test. Gentle gentle squeeze so that gravity makes equal sized drops fall. If you force it you are getting several drops per ‘drop’.

So what should I do next? Should I do a OCLT tonight to see where I stand

Yes. But just for education. We already know you need to SLAM Process. This way, when you need to do one for real at the end of the SLaM, you already have one under your belt.

If so, should I turn the SWG off 30 minutes before testing?

Yes. SWG off or it will produce all night and give you a false reading in the morning. Or less of a fail if you generated 3FC and lost 4, reading a loss of 1 which barely passed.

When you are ready to SLaM, drop the PH to 7.2 per pool math and target a SLAM level FC for 40 CYA.

 

[KevinBond]

Ok, thanks! I'll get the pH down, do an OCLT tonight and hopefully start the SLAM tomorrow.

 

[Newdude]

I'll get the pH down

Muriatic acid per pool math. Stand upwind and pour a pencil width stream so it doesn’t splash in front of a return (jet) with the pump on. Brush the floor good in the general area afterwards. It’s heavier than water and might sit on the bottom of the jets didn't woosh it away

Google the brand to get the strength in the store. And buy according to pool math. Anything labeled as green, Eco or low fume is half strength so you’ll need twice as much. At $10-$15 a jug it won’t break the bank to have less fumes if you decide to go that route.

 

[BenB]

At $10-$15 a jug

Wait what now? Is that how much retail muriatic acid costs? I get a case (4 gallons) of 31.45% for $20-22+tax at my local pool store (HASA dealer) and I thought that was getting pricy. Do I have it lucky?

 

[csconner]

Kevin, just to share how I run my pump, speeds, timing etc..

I run my VSF 7x24 @550RPM all winter (I do a soft close)
I my pump 7x24 @1000RPM spring, summer, fall to drive my swg and skimmer. @1000 RPM I’m consuming 62watts of electricity according to the pump read out.
I ramp up to 1100, 1600, 2200 RPM for 15-120 min to drive quicker skimmer action, disperse chemicals, drive waterfall, prior to swim, after big swim party, etc.
@3300RPM when I vacuum for 15 min every week or two.
When the HP/Chiler is running I set it to run @30gpm (that’s about 1600RPM), this is the only time i use GPM as I want to ensure I move that specific amount of water thru the HP As that’s defined by the manufacturer as best practice and I do get about 1degree of heating/cooling per hour at that rate.
I can run at lower speed bulk of the time as my SWG flow switch is closed ( it’s actually closed as low as 920RPM, I leave a little room for variables) and my skimmer works great at low speeds due the Venturi thats part of the skimmer.

As folks have shared, every pool is different.

Hope that helps..

 

[Newdude]

Wait what now? Is that how much retail muriatic acid costs? I get a case (4 gallons) of 31.45% for $20-22+tax at my local pool store (HASA dealer) and I thought that was getting pricy. Do I have it lucky?

Very lucky. Home Depot is 1 gallon jugs at $10 or $14 a pop. It still doesn’t break the bank. So there is that.

 

[DeanP66]

Wait what now? Is that how much retail muriatic acid costs? I get a case (4 gallons) of 31.45% for $20-22+tax at my local pool store (HASA dealer) and I thought that was getting pricy. Do I have it lucky?

BenB,

Where do you get it at? I'm always stuck buying it from Leslie's and they just keep raising the price. It's now over $19 for a case of 2.

Still don't understand why Home Depot doesn't carry the full strength in CA. I always see people from other states say their HD does carry the full strength, and it's the same price as the half strength, usually $10.99/case.

 

[KevinBond]

Thanks for the info @csconner!

I've been sticking to GPM right now as my filter is filling up so quickly that my SWG wouldn't stay running more than a day if set at a low RPM. I checked my IntelliCenter pump settings and for setting GPM, I can't set lower than 20 for some reason (this is the lowest I can set the min to). By switching to RPM so I can lower the GPM and I found I need about 15 GPM to activate my SWG.

I've been running at 20GPM overnight which, with a clean filter, starts at about 1800 RPM but quickly goes up to 2200-2600RPM over a day or so. Obviously, as others have said, I have a major algae problem. Once that's resolved via a SLAM, I hope to dig deeper into my RPM/GPM issue (assuming it still exists).

I'm starting to regret not enclosing the equipment in a shed/enclosure as the noise really bugs me. It never occurred to me as I was getting a variable speed pump and everything I read said they'd be quieter (admittedly, I didn't have anything to compare it to). If I kept it at what my PB recommended (40GPM/24 hrs which would be over 3000RPM) I would be losing my mind... Anyway, sorry for the rant, I appreciate everyone's help here!

 

[Newdude]

Don’t worry about the noise. Your filter is clogging fast and you need more flow/psi to keep circulating. When all is said and done and you run a normal lower RPM/GPM, you’ll will not even know it’s running. From 10 ft away I would have to get closer to hear mine.