Short Cycling

[waterbear]

Michael, I was quoting from Ben's previous post on the subject and I defer to his knowledge and experience.

[donjoarm]

Thanks for all of your replies. I still have all of the same problems mentioned above (filter short cycles, water is still green). However, I ordered Ben's kit and can now actually test my water. Here is where I am now (after adding 3 gallons of bleach due to original TC reading of 13). Today is the first I have added bleach in over a week while I awaited the arrival of the test kit.

FC = 35
CC = 1
TC = 36
pH = 7.2
Alk =80
Cya = 60

How long should I continue to maintain these cl levels?

Thanks.
Don

[duraleigh]

Hi, Don,

There's a typo or calc issue. 3 gallons of bleach to your pool with a Cl of 13 should've brought you up around 22ppm....you show 35. Review your post....we need to find that error.

Secondly with a CYA level of 60 (not 100 that was originally posted), your Cl level only needs to be brought up to around 18.

Lastly, the CC of 1.0 indicates you still have "bugs" that your Cl is working on. When that CC goes to 0, your water should be pretty clear.

The only thing I can help with the DE filter is you're still filtering out dead algae......I simply have no DE experience.

Get us that corrected Cl number posted back.....don't put in any more Cl 'til we find that error.

[donjoarm]

You are correct Dave. I thought my second reading was rather high. I tested again this morning and the results are:

FL = 17
CC = 1
TC = 18
CYA = 60

The original CYA reading was from the pool store. I have read it twice now and it has been 60 both times.

Don

[donjoarm]

Thanks for all of your replies. My water is clear and the filter is running fine. I will continue to rely on my local pool store, but I will do my own water testing from here on out.

[edarling]

I am having a similar problem - I have a DE filter that is getting clogged constantly - even after bumping, draining, and adding new DE there is no circulation. I need to take it apart and clean the fingers at some point. That is a pain with the Hayward DE filters with the 15 bolts, but I'll do it every few days if my pool cleans up!

My question for you is - did you add all the bleach without running the filter? I can't seem to see that answer in your posts. Ben's response seems to say it is OK to add the bleach until you can see clear, then vacuum to waste the stuff that falls out to the bottom. How did you run your filter if it had no pressure. I really need to know, since I am encouraged that you finally got your pool cleaned up. My situation is very similar and that is my main question.

[donjoarm]

I have a Hayward multiport valve which allows me to bypass the filter by placing it in the recirculate position. I continued to circulate the water without filtering. I believe the post by PoolDoc indicates that you should still add the bleach until the algae is dead if you are unable to recirculate.

The most important thing I did was obtain a test kit which allowed me to know exactly what my CYA and chlorine levels are. This was the only way to determine what the necessary "shock value" is for my CYA level. Once you hit that Free Chlorine number and keep it there for a couple of days the algae will die.

Good Luck.