SWG with and without solar cover. The fine tuning will drive me nuts.

[kul]

Could also be easily proved by Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Good news. Passed OCLT. FC=9.5 CC=0 both during evening and morning test. Tested twice each time.

You may find that the cell will develop scale much faster when running at 100% even when accounting for run time.

I see what you mean. I have the pump running alone for one hour before the SWG turns on and one hour after the SWG turns off to 1) help with the scaling issue 2) as another check that my SWG runs while my pump is on in case there’s ever a clock issue.

Seems best path forward is to continue monitoring the FC and adjust the SWG run time and % as needed. Spring is a tricky time here because we get extra sunny days mixed with some overcast days. And this shoulder season also leads to the start of some heated pool use.

 

[Newdude]

Good news. Passed OCLT. FC=9.5 CC=0 both during evening and morning test. Tested twice each time.

Now we know. Carry on.

Revisit the CYA level while you're at it.

If it helps any, I'm seeing high loss as well. It warmed up early this year and the blazing sun seems to be taking its toll. I will be doing my own OCLT soon, then revisiting the CYA after.

 

[Newdude]

I added more as you were reading it. ^^

 

[mas985]

Your FC level, from PoolMath Logs, is 9.5 ppm which 13.6% of CYA (70 ppm). Seems a bit high for LA. I target around 7% and can keep algae at bay fairly easily.

 

[kul]

Revisit the CYA level while you're at it.

I added more cya a week and a half ago. It was initially at 30 and now is at 70. I checked it last week and checked again yesterday when I ran all the tests and it remains at 70 so CYA should be good.

Your FC level, from PoolMath Logs, is 9.5 ppm which 13.6% of CYA (70 ppm). Seems a bit high for LA. I target around 7% and can keep algae at bay fairly easily.

I fear algae trouble so my aim is always to keep it at the highest amount that is indicated on pool math which is currently showing it should be between 3-10 for CYA of 70. So I have been aiming for 10. However, I should probably take a chill pill.

 

[Newdude]

So I have been aiming for 10. However, I should probably take a chill pill.

You know I'm a fan of wiggle room. So.

which is currently showing it should be between 3-10

3 is min and we never want to play kissy face there. So yes, it should be 'above 3', but that doesn't tell the proper story IMO.

 

[kul]

By the way @Newdude i just tried to spy your Poolmath logs and got fooled. why the secret keeping?! Are you adding something special to your pool?!

 

[ajw22]

By the way @Newdude i just tried to spy your Poolmath logs and got fooled. why the secret keeping?! Are you adding something special to your pool?!

He seems to be anti-authority and refuses to provide a signature with his equipment either.

I wonder if he is a poser really living in his mothers basement.

 

[Newdude]

why the secret keeping?!

A northeast pool makes perfect water fall from the sky and flow from the tap. Being vinyl, CH isn't a thing either. The only thing I need to track is FC, and it's hot so whether it's a 10 or a 12 isn't of much importance.

Salt and CYA need an occasional topping off but again it's minor at most.

 

[Newdude]

Welp @kul, twinsies with the OCLT.

I came home to 6.5 FC today. SIX. POINT. FIVE. I'm OK now but it took a while to get over it. Thank you for your concern.

I was at 12 or 13 just a couple days ago, and had been for some time so I'm 99% it's not algae, but when in doubt OCLT, so here we go.

Then I checked the CYA and I could tell right away from looking at the side of the tube it was low. It was almost clear when filling to the 10s. It's somewhere around a 30 so I probably wasn't retaining what I was making. I have 6 lbs of CYA all Tshirt-ed up so it can hang in the morning upon a good AM test.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I added more cya a week and a half ago. It was initially at 30 and now is at 70. I checked it last week and checked again yesterday when I ran all the tests and it remains at 70 so CYA should be good.

I fear algae trouble so my aim is always to keep it at the highest amount that is indicated on pool math which is currently showing it should be between 3-10 for CYA of 70. So I have been aiming for 10. However, I should probably take a chill pill.

Since you have a little buffer in your FC, why not try an FC daily loss test. Shut down your SWG, test FC, then test 24 hours later.

 

[kul]

Welp @kul, twinsies

Sorry to hear it! For sure twinsies because I had a similar CYA scenario as well a week and a half ago. I doubt it’s algae for you too. We just need to get our SWG in sync with the FC loss a little bit which is difficult during this tricky season where several days are sunny then sometimes several days are overcast.

try an FC daily loss test. Shut down your SWG, test FC, then test 24 hours later.

Great idea! Would be interesting to know. Though I wonder if I can just rely on that my SWG produces 4 FC a day and go from there. On 5/2 I had 6.5 and 5/3 had 7.5. I checked at 2pm each day. So seems I lost 3 FC in 24 hours that time. This makes sense because during these days pool was heated and cover was not in use the whole time. I’m sure it’s variable between the cloudy and full sun days.

Anyhow I am a sucker for running tests so will try with the SWG off soon.

 

[Newdude]

. I doubt it’s algae for you too.

OCLT passed with .5 or 0 loss (mind may have been playing tricks on me) and 0 CC. CYA is soaking and will squish out after work if it's ready.

Anyhow I am a sucker for running tests

We trained you well, if I do say so myself.

 

[kul]

@Newdude are things going better with FC loss?
Checking because my situation improved due to recent cloudier days. So seems it was just the sun and warmer water causing more FC usage than usual. I’m accidentally overproducing now so have starting to decrease SWG to see what works best.

 

[Newdude]

are things going better with FC loss?

Yeah. I added CYA to 60, and overshot to 70. FC loss dropped to 2 to 3 daily, which is way more in line with the warmer half of the early season.

I was seeing 2 to 3 loss while I was producing 2 to 3.

There's been several reports from others seeing extra loss early this year. I'm guessing it's gonna be a scorcher when things warm up for real.

 

[kul]

Wow. Just wanted to share that living the no solar cover life is fun but pool consumes chlorine like it’s free! This year I got a smaller solar cover and I do see the difference in FC consumption. With the full cover I was losing 1-2 during the summer. With about 75% coverage I’m losing around 3-4 and with no cover at all and full blazing sun all day I’m at 4-5. Fiddling around with the SWG has been a good learning experience. I trust it more now than I did but it’s been quite the challenge getting comfortable and predicting FC loss. In the olden days I’d just throw in a gallon of chlorine and know what to expect at least temporarily. I never really checked end of day FC when I did that since I had a good schedule of dosing with chlorine going. Anyhow, just sharing in case there are others who are new to SWG who are learning with me.
I’ve also learned about how best to set my production time. I haven’t actually done this part yet but certainly producing while the sun is out sounds like a good idea since my FC is being burned off during that time. Right now I’m producing between 7-1 so there’s 6-7 hours of sun left after that where I’m being robbed of FC.

 

[PoolStored]

@kul This post has stuck with me WRT running the cell 100%

Running a SWG at 100% and Cell Life

From ... https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/have-had-to-add-120-lb-salt-to-pool-in-one-year.254219/post-2251405 @JoyfulNoise said: This is not true. Cells should never be run at 100% all the time. That will absolutely wear out the coating faster. Your assumption is that the...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kul]

@PoolStored i appreciate you sharing that with me. I try not to run mine at 100%, but have done it multiple times and for at least a week sometimes. When my swg runs, I have a 1 hour cushion before and after it’s run time where the cell itself is off, but water continues to run through it because my pump is on. Does that count? Or is the comment saying that the cell needs a break while it is on so that’s when it’s most useful to not consistently run at 100%. Sorry if my question is confusing. What do you think?

 

[PoolStored]

Or is the comment saying that the cell needs a break while it is on so that’s when it’s most useful to not consistently run at 100%.

Did you read the post? ^^^This.

 

[kul]

Sorry for my confusion. I read it but it seemed like the cell completely turned off would be the same as having it off for a certain % of time. Since when it’s producing it is 100% producing and when it’s not producing it’s 100% not producing. So my guess was that when the cell is totally off (no lights) and water is flowing through it, it counts as the off time and allows the plates to be cleared.

But it sounds like I misread and what the post is saying is that the clearing of any minerals or whatever on the plates happens best when the cell is on and just set to less than 100%.