No chlorine and now I’m leaving town

[danielhv]

I don’t know what’s going on here. I feel like my SWG isn’t making chlorine. It’s a Hayward Aqua Rite, set at 75%.

Pump runs 100% for 1 hr beginning at 9am, then 50% from 10a-6p every day.

We are leaving the country for 2.5 weeks so I’ve been testing daily and yesterday I had 3.2ppm FC. Day before that was 4.2ppm. This morning? .7ppm.

This entire pool and equipment is less that 3 months old. The SWG shows no error, salt level has always been 3000-3200.

I put it on super chlorinate and set the pump to run 100% for the next 24 hours, but I’m leaving in 2 hours. Any suggestions?

14k gallon IG Fiberglass pool btw. Yesterdays numbers were:

FC: 3.2
CC: 0
PH: 7.2
TA: 68
CH: 299
CYA: 82
SALT: 3555

Todays numbers:

FC: .7
CC: .0
PH: 7.2
TA: 71
CH: 400
CYA: 82
SALT: 3519

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Have you made sure that the flow switch is not closing when the pump switches to 50%? Maybe you have a dirty filter or an organic issue that's slowing down flow.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

How are you testing your water? The results are not typically what we see from a TFP recommended test kit (Test Kits Compared).

How does the water look?

If the SWG is operating at the lower speed, there's not much you can do in two hours. You can add enough FC to get to SLAM level and add a few tablets to a floater.

Is there anyone near you that can help to add liquid chlorine every day or two? You need around 72 oz of 10% to add 4ppm of FC each day.

 

[danielhv]

Have you made sure that the flow switch is not closing when the pump switches to 50%? Maybe you have a dirty filter or an organic issue that's slowing down flow.

The NO FLOW light stays out while the pump is running, even at 50%. It does turn on when the pump turns off.

 

[danielhv]

How are you testing your water? The results are not typically what we see from a TFP recommended test kit (Test Kits Compared).

How does the water look?

If the SWG is operating at the lower speed, there's not much you can do in two hours. You can add enough FC to get to SLAM level and add a few tablets to a floater.

Is there anyone near you that can help to add liquid chlorine every day or two? You need around 72 oz of 10% to add 4ppm of FC each day.

I use two methods, the easy/quick is the TruBlue electric tester thing from Leslies. I like it because it's quick and saves everything, but I mainly use it for an overall look. If I see an issue, I've been using the Taylor K2006 SALT kit as my backup or to verify the electric tester. The water looks fine, can clearly see the bottom.

I'm asking in our FB neighborhood to see if anyone has someone that can maintain it for a few weeks until we get back. I did pull the swg cell open just to peek inside... looks ok to me but I'm relatively new to all of this.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

The NO FLOW light stays out while the pump is running, even at 50%. It does turn on when the pump turns off.

That's good news.

Ignore Pool Store test results. Trust your Taylor kit. Unless you have some recent consistent accurate testing, it's going to be hard to determine what's going on.

 

[Parac]

Which model Hayward Aqua Rite? The smaller ones running 75% for 9 hours may just not produce enough for the current weather in Dallas.

 

[.ben]

I mean no offence, but your test results are highly suspect. However, assuming they are correct your FC is much too low. For a CYA of 80 you should not let your FC fall below 6. I keep my CYA at 80 in the summer and I aim for FC level of 8-9.

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

My best guess is that you have organics (algae), based on too low FC, which is consuming more FC daily than the sun normally would (normal is about 3-4 ppm per day this time of year). This seems more likely than your 3-month-old SWG suddenly failing.

Not much can be done to quickly fix this issue unfortunately. If I were in your position, I'd run the SWG to produce 4-4.5 ppm of FC daily for the next 2.5 weeks and hope for the best. Use pool math to figure out the correct cell % and run time.

Edit: If you can, I'd toss in a gallon of liquid chlorine today to quickly get your FC above 1

PoolMath

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[proavia]

Since you’re leaving soon for 2.5 weeks…
You don’t have many options

Assuming your Hayward SWG is rated for 40k gallon - set the pump runtime to 10 hours per day and the SWG to 80%. This should produce between 4 and 5 ppm FC daily.
Add one gallon of liquid chlorine before you leave to get FC up.

Is anyone checking in on your pool while you’re away? Maybe they can perform a basic FC test a few times a week and add liquid chlorine if the pool needs it - and empty the skimmer baskets as well.

Any issues that come up will need to be dealt with on your return.

Whenever you post test results here, use your K-2006 Salt test kit. Pool store testing is inaccurate. Take the time to test yourself - you’ll use less time instead of running to LPS for their less than adequate testing.

 

[danielhv]

I ran out of time on it. I ended up turning the SWG off, and dropping a floater in with 7 tabs in it, then poured a little less than a gallon of 10% bleach in and I'll let the chips fall where they may and deal with it when I get back.

I haven't been using store testing. I have their at home tester, they call it AccuBlue or something, and have verified the results using my Taylor kit. I will likely ditch their tester even though I do like it. My issue is I travel for work so only have weekends to mess with the pool, and the Taylor kit while it's great, takes a bit of time to go through all the tests. So my routine is when I come home, I grab a sample, throw it in the machine, and if all looks well, I'm done. If something looks weird, I verify with the Taylor kit.

This is the tester I've been using:

https://lesliespool.com/accublue-ho...tm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign={{campaignname}}&utm_id={21184624991}&utm_content={}_{}&utm_term={}&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjqWzBhAqEiwAQmtgT5ii9hDuMKBzmlKnWgrdK_gn0Vem06u2WHv72TfHhlaqjPp7JP6w2xoCmsEQAvD_BwE

It's $50/mo, but then you get $50/mo in credit, which I've been using for the test discs.... so basically free reagents is how I look at it. But I'm open to suggestions and I'll make the changes when I get back home early July.

 

[proavia]

I ran out of time on it. I ended up turning the SWG off, and dropping a floater in with 7 tabs in it, then poured a little less than a gallon of 10% bleach in and I'll let the chips fall where they may and deal with it when I get back.

I haven't been using store testing. I have their at home tester, they call it AccuBlue or something, and have verified the results using my Taylor kit. I will likely ditch their tester even though I do like it. My issue is I travel for work so only have weekends to mess with the pool, and the Taylor kit while it's great, takes a bit of time to go through all the tests. So my routine is when I come home, I grab a sample, throw it in the machine, and if all looks well, I'm done. If something looks weird, I verify with the Taylor kit.

This is the tester I've been using:

https://lesliespool.com/accublue-ho...tm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign={{campaignname}}&utm_id={21184624991}&utm_content={}_{}&utm_term={}&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjqWzBhAqEiwAQmtgT5ii9hDuMKBzmlKnWgrdK_gn0Vem06u2WHv72TfHhlaqjPp7JP6w2xoCmsEQAvD_BwE

It's $50/mo, but then you get $50/mo in credit, which I've been using for the test discs.... so basically free reagents is how I look at it. But I'm open to suggestions and I'll make the changes when I get back home early July.

The only difference between that LPS home tester and going to the local LPS is the gas and time you save driving.
Both are wonderful to help lighten the pockets of way too many unsuspecting pool owners.

Testing with a drop based test kit (TF-100/TF-Pro or K-2006) should take less than 30 minutes - especially when using a SpeedStir or other electric stirring device.

Chances are the LPS tester got you to where you are today - out of time and praying for a miracle in your absence.
A complete set of test kit refills for a TF-100TF-Pro or K-2006 plus the 2 salt reagents will cost about $80 regular price - less when on sale at TFTestkits in March of each year.
There is a good possibility you can get 2 years out of a refill kit if it's stored properly - so $40/year in that case.
Well worth the price and piece of mind.

Is anyone going to add tabs or liquid chlorine while you're gone?
7 tabs (56oz) will add 27ppm FC in 14400 gallons. If your pool uses 4ppm FC daily (not out of the question in TX in summer), that won't even get you thru 7 days - and that's in a pool without any algae.

When you return, run a full set of tests using your K-2006 Salt test kit and post them here. We can help you with any issues.

With a CYA of 80 in a SWG pool, minimum FC is 4 and target range is 6-11.
Without the use of a SWG (your pool right now), minimum FC is 6 and target range is 9-11.
You never want the FC to get to minimum - always plan on being near the top end of target range. Being near the top end of target range allows for dips in the FC due to daily loss. In summer, your TX pool probably loses 3-5 ppm (maybe more).