Off the charts chlorine question

[JazzMan2010]

Last saturday my polaris auto clear salt light came on so i checked and needed to raise salt levels. On that same day i also put on my solar cover and have left in on. That day i had a CYA of 80, PH of 7.4, and FC of 6. I left the autoclear on 8 hour run time for the past few days. A mistake because we haven't used the pool. too long a time. However, i just checked and i can't even get my Taylor Complete FAS-DPD K-2006 test to turn from red to clear. I went up to 40 ppm and then got tired of testing. Is it possible that my SWG created that much chlorine in so few days. I understand the cover helps the chlorine from being dissipated and my CYA is at a good level too. I tested it twice with 2 different dpd powders cause i have an extra. It just doesn't seem possible. Anyway, this evening i took of the cover so it could burn off some tommorow and had some chlorine neutralizer to try and drop it some. Anyone have anything similar ever happen?

[JazzMan2010]

I figured out my problem. It was my brain. I used the wrong reagent. I guess my wife is right i am losing my mind.

[kelemvor]

I did the same thing (twice) about a month ago. I was really scratching my head for a few days!

[steveinaz]

Anytime I get suspicious readings, that are really over-the-top, I double check and/or replace my reagents.

[Manslick]

LOL – I bet that’s why my TA and CH tests indicate my pool water is concrete.

Thanks for posting this JazzMan (take my blues away.....)

[gilbertpsk]

I also have that basic question. Is it possible to generate too much chlorine with a SWCG?

[chem geek]

Yes, it is possible for the SWCG to generate too much chlorine, but there is a limit to how high it will go unless the pool isn't exposed to sunlight. When exposed to sunlight, the loss of chlorine is proportional to the amount of chlorine in the pool so when that loss equals the amount of chlorine coming from the SWCG, the chlorine level won't rise anymore.

Usually, you'd see your FC level get too high if your SWCG percent on-time was set to handle sunny days and you get a long string of days of cloudy weather or if you decide to cover the pool with a mostly opaque cover. It's times like these that you would turn down your SWCG percent on-time.