Replacing cell in SWCG

[mberry]

Thank you for your reply! We do have a black algae problem that started after we installed a heater. I went to the pool store and asked about both problems at the same time. That's when they said I needed a new cell, and they gave me the following instructions for getting rid of the algae:

Day 1 - 32 oz bottle of Metal Control
Day 2 - 2 to 3 jugs chlor.
1 bottle super black
1/2 gal. acid
Day 3 - 1/2 bottle all-in-1 algecide
Run pump 7 days straight
Brush frequently throughout the treatment w/stainless steel brush

Does this sound right to you? Should chlorine production be increased to 100% during this time? Right now it's at 65%.

[Phillbo]

Get the water sample... This place is a great help but they need the numbers . Make sure the test tells you the Salt level as well.

[waste]

Thank you for your reply! We do have a black algae problem that started after we installed a heater. I went to the pool store and asked about both problems at the same time. That's when they said I needed a new cell, and they gave me the following instructions for getting rid of the algae:

Day 1 - 32 oz bottle of Metal Control
Day 2 - 2 to 3 jugs chlor.
1 bottle super black
1/2 gal. acid
Day 3 - 1/2 bottle all-in-1 algecide
Run pump 7 days straight
Brush frequently throughout the treatment w/stainless steel brush

Does this sound right to you? Should chlorine production be increased to 100% during this time? Right now it's at 65%.

#1 I don't think the swcg units should ever be run at 100% or superchlorinate, the life of the cell is determined by usage and bleach is the same thing your cell generates (~), but much cheeper than a new cell [if I was of a marketing bend I might suggest to the swcg makers to recomend 'augmenting with bleach, when a high chlorine demand occasion arises' , it'll save on cell life and bleach is certainly compatable with the unit.
As for the 'rightness' of their algae advice, it's not the way you would have been told to do it here, if we had your test numbers, but I don't think you've harmed anything, and it might work. As Phillbo pointed out, knowing your water chemistry #s, lets the good folks here offer more aplicable advice. You have a concrete pool (if you don't and they told you to use a SS brush, you've got a good reason not to ever trust them again! ), and I could have given you a couple of suggestions for handling it - dependent upon what your chem #s are.
As you become more familiar with this site, you'll earn an appreciation of how important it is to know exactly what your water's perameters are (FC,TC,CC,pH,Total Alkalinity,Calcium Hardness, and CYA) for it is these that determine how to deal with, or better - prevent, the problems that many people who 'just do what the pool store tells them to do' experience every year. (For starters, when this problem is taken care of and you have some time, give POOLSOLUTIONS a good read, you'll learn SO MUCH about your pool and how to take care of it!!) If I can be of any further service, don't hesitate to ask - Waste