Zero CYA and FC but want to SLAM

[ethan169]

Assume the CYA is in there for now. Keep squeezing the sock to help it dissolve. Get your FC to 12 and test every 2 hours today. Keep bumping the FC to 12. Maintaining that FC is the key to success.

Got it, I'll start upping my chlorine game. Thanks Katodude.

 

[Katodude]

Take pictures and post them here. We love seeing the progress, and the pictures will help give you an objective guide to see if you are making progress.

 

[mguzzy]

I took pictures of the CYA tube filled basically all the way for both tests, not much difference between the two. The chlorine levels are definitely up but only slightly. I"m surprised my CYA levels don't appear to be increased by much if any. The water doesn't look much different this morning. Still blue/greenish and very cloudy. You can't see the bottom at all and its only 3.5 - 4' deep.

Should I focus on getting CYA up first? Also, we are in a bit of a heat spell in the northeast and are getting quite a bit of sunlight during the day time. There hasn't been any significant sun for the 11 hours that have passed since I added chemicals, there is about to be though...

I also have a solar cover, I assume I shouldn't use that until I am finished with the SLAM process?

It will take awhile for the CYA to show up. it is slow to dissolve into solution. I tend to wait a day to test my CYA after an addition. unlike the other liquid additions that can be measured 30 minutes after adding when the pump is running. The CYA test always throws people off, they tend to over think it. Since the test is only accurate to the nearest 10ppm, you can just fill the tube to each number and look and see if the dot is there or not. Its either 30 or 40... it can't be 34.687. Always round up. Also squeeze that sock.. I can get my sock squooze out in 20 min or so.

Some people will SLAM with the cover on to help with FC retention, but it will throw off the CC readings because the pool can't outgas when the cover is on. So keep that in mind.

Once you get your pH set before the SLAM you will only be testing for FC since pH readings above 10ppm are not accurate. Some tips to remember in the SLAM process:
-Brush brush brush- Algae hides everywhere, in those flaps on the seams, ladders, niches etc. The more you brush it disrupts it from growing
-Keep and eye on your filter pressure and rinse after reaching 25% above normal. That will maximize filtering all that suspended dead stuff
-MAINTAIN, that's the M in SLAM. The more consistent the FC level is the more effective it is on killing algae.

Good luck, SLAM away

 

[ethan169]

Thanks again! The sock is just about totally empty now. Only a tablespoon of granules or so left. I checked the FC after 2 hours and it was up to 8ppm. I added more to try and bring it up to ~12ppm and will check in another 2 hours. I'll take a picture and post soon.

mguzzy - Do I need to keep the CC level somewhere specific during slam? If not, it sounds like putting the cover on will aid in keep the FC up thus helping my process?

 

[mguzzy]

The CC is something that is measured after the FC... It reflects the chlorine that is being consumed by other processes, biological most of the time. So you just monitor the CC and it is one of the exit criteria of a SLAM. when its below .5 is one of the criteria. Its not necessary to check the CC all the time during a SLAM because if the pool is still cloudy, then its likely still has a lot of bio activity and will have a high CC. No sense wasting reagents. When you get to the point of doing your OCLT then the CC measurement will definitely be done. Hope that makes sense.

 

[ethan169]

This mornings first sample was FC = 13.5 and CC = 3 (I was curious about CC).

About two hours later I took another sample (picture of pool was from this sample, water is not much different)
FC = 12

I checked CYA again and it still seems low. I’ve attached a picture of the CYA tube filled to the 20 mark. My guess is I have < 10 ppm CYA unless I need to wait even longer. Everything is dissolved and it’s been about 36 hours.

Should I do anything about the CYA? Or just work on keeping the FC up around 12ppm?

 

[mknauss]

Unless you are losing FC quickly during the day, I would leave the CYA alone.
Remember, you should do the CYA test outside, bright sun. Your back to the sun and vial at waste level.

 

[kellyfair]

Also, CYA test is a quick glance... don’t search for the dot.

 

[ethan169]

Here is a pic from this morning
FC = 12 after an overnight (I was overchlorinated before bed by a bit)

The water doesn’t look much different. Should i expect it too? I’ve been scrubbing the entire pool each day and started vacuuming daily (started yesterday).

I am loosing more FC during the day at night, which I believe is normal. How much is normal, not sure.

kellyfair - I hadn’t read that it was supposed to be a quick glance. This makes the CYA test even more subjective.

 

[kellyfair]

Yep, CYA is a tricky one. Do in direct sunlight, back to sun (so your shadow is in front of you). Pour solution to first line, glance, see dot? Pour to second line, glance, see dot? Repeat until dot disappears at a glance - that is your CYA.

You actually shouldn‘t lose FC overnight, by much. If you do, you are fighting something in pool. Keep SLAMming until you pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, your water is clear, and CC is 0.5 or less. (Just looked again... if you are saying you lose more during the day than you do at night, that is normal).

Remember, the more frequent you test and raise FC, the better your SLAM will go. If you have the time, I’d do it every 2-3 hours.

 

[mguzzy]

Ethan
Here's a recent post with some CYA test pics... they perfectly illustrate the CYA turbidity test:

Help me I am LOST bugs and plants??

So this is my first attempt at doing TFP method. I have a Poolmaster Premier Deluxe 5-way test kit. It tests for Chlorine, Bromine, pH, Alkalinity and Acid Demand. I got this until I order a kit. I feel like I am in over my head. I have 5.6% bleach. I did find I can get 12% which I will do once...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ethan169]

Yep, CYA is a tricky one. Do in direct sunlight, back to sun (so your shadow is in front of you). Pour solution to first line, glance, see dot? Pour to second line, glance, see dot? Repeat until dot disappears at a glance - that is your CYA.

You actually shouldn‘t lose FC overnight, by much. If you do, you are fighting something in pool. Keep SLAMming until you pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, your water is clear, and CC is 0.5 or less. (Just looked again... if you are saying you lose more during the day than you do at night, that is normal).

Remember, the more frequent you test and raise FC, the better your SLAM will go. If you have the time, I’d do it every 2-3 hours.

Thank you for your help! I definitely am consuming or losing the majority of FC during the day time. During the day i am testing every 2 to 3 hours depending in how fast the FC drops. I test before bed and when I get up. Thanks to working from home as this would be impossible if I was in the office.

Ethan
Here's a recent post with some CYA test pics... they perfectly illustrate the CYA turbidity test:

Help me I am LOST bugs and plants??

So this is my first attempt at doing TFP method. I have a Poolmaster Premier Deluxe 5-way test kit. It tests for Chlorine, Bromine, pH, Alkalinity and Acid Demand. I got this until I order a kit. I feel like I am in over my head. I have 5.6% bleach. I did find I can get 12% which I will do once...

www.troublefreepool.com

Those are great pictures. Thanks for sharing!

I ran another CYA test outside with my back to the sun. It still looks like I have less than 20ppm CYA. No matter how quickly I just glance at it. The pictures from the post you shared clearly show how the sight of the dot is lost. I don’t get that even with the tube filled all the way to the top. Here are a few pics from the most recent test.

Should I call it 10 or 20 and try to raise CYA to about 30? I do lose FC during the day time (which I think is to be expected) but how much is ok?

An unrelated question. My current filter seemed ok pressure wise but the bands have let loose from the pleats in a few spots. It’s also from a handful of seasons ago. So I put the brand new filter in. Initial pressure reading was 15psi (new filter). I vacuumed the pool and checked the pressure about 12 hours later. The pressure is now 18psi. So do I use my
Initial pressure as a starting point for my %25 calc? If so I’m almost ready for a cleaning, which I doubt would bring me back to 15psi. Or should I use 18 psi as my baseline?

Btw - FC was at 15ppm this morning about 2 hours after my first reading. The water is still very cloudy but blueish in color. No major notable change.

 

[kellyfair]

I’d bring CYA to 30.

I would call your clean pressure 15, but go ahead and clean your filter and see where your pressure lands. The fact that it bumped up is a sign that you are definitely filtering out something.

 

[kellyfair]

By the way, CYA can take a day or two to show up. I usually get in and wave CYA filled sock around to dissolve it faster.

 

[ethan169]

I added the CYA via sock in front of return about 4 days ago now. After about 24 hours the granules in the sock were completely dissolved. I'll add some CYA to bring it closer to 30ppm, it seems like it's had enough time to dissolve and show up in my tests. Hopefully that will help out on the consumption of chlorine during daylight. So far I have used about 8 or 9 gallons of 12.5% shock.

I would assume the filter picked up a lot of dead algae when I vacuumed. I'll give it a clean and see how low the pressure drops. Just in case, I'll do this before adding any CYA so I don't wash away any that may get caught up in the filter?

My guess based on previous years with new filters is that it won't drop much. 16-18psi seems to be about the normal clean pressure of the filter type I've been using. I have only seen 15psi with a brand new filter.

 

[ethan169]

7/7/20 - Update

My CYA has definitely increased since I added about a 1lb or so. It's still less than 30ppm but definitely higher than before. I would say somewhere between 25 and 30.. When I checked my FC level this morning I was pleased to see that I hadn't lost almost any. Today was the first day in quite some time that we didn't have full sunshine and high temperatures (80-90°F) and I didn't lose very much chlorine. It's hard to tell if this is due to the lack of sun, additional CYA or that my pool is getting better. Or maybe a combination of everything? My CC is down to about 1-1.5ppm where it was previously around 3ppm, so that's another good sign I believe.

The only problem is my water doesn't look much different.. Still very cloudy, maybe a couple of inches of visibility below the surface. When I dunk the sample bottle in the water to get some water I go down to about my elbow (~18" or so) and I can't see the bottle at all.

Is it too early to expect the water clarity to improve?

Here is a recent picture, don’t mind the dirty deck. Once I get the water under control I Can focus on the rest

 

[mknauss]

Your pool is blue and cloudy. Typical time frame is 7-10 days to clear it. Keep up with the SLAM Process

 

[mguzzy]

Keep hammering at it. Make sure your filter is cleaned regularly though the process. You are now starting to filer lots of dead stuff.

 

[LooLooPoolNoob]

I'm cheering you on! I'm going thru the same process. Our pool was closed for five years with no maintenance! Keep posting pics, maybe we can compare results.

I'm gonna start day 6 of my slam tomorrow.

Pic attached for day 1 and day 5

 

[ethan169]

Sounds good.

I'm cheering you on! I'm going thru the same process. Our pool was closed for five years with no maintenance! Keep posting pics, maybe we can compare results.

I'm gonna start day 6 of my slam tomorrow.

Pic attached for day 1 and day 5

Will do! Your pool definitely looks like things are improving! Five years of stagnant water is no joke!