Chlorine Generator Not Generating Chlorine Except When Super Chlorinating

Pool Equipment
1

Have an Aqualogic system with T-15 cell.

  • used to use 15 chlorine setting & kept pool at right chlorine level
  • chlorine went to almost 0
  • tried 30, then 60 chlorine setting, chlorine level stays almost 0
  • super chlorinate works
  • T cell 1yr old, just checked clean
  • salt level good

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

2

Hi FloridaMan,

The first thing I would do is test your water and post the results back to this thread. Please post the results of the items I have listed below. Quite often we see the CYA level being low, CYA is sunscreen for your chlorine so if you have 0 CYA then in the blazing Florida sun your chlorine will be consumed almost instantly.

Chlorine
pH
CYA (Cyanuric Acid)
Alkalinity
Calcium

Thank You

Patrick

www.inyopools.com

3

Thanks, for your response …

Had the pool water checked yesterday:
total chlorine - 0.0
free chlorine - 0.0
combined chlorine - 0.0
pH - 7.8
total alkalinity - 115
calcium hardness - 360
stablizer - 30
total disolved solids - 4,000
salt - 3,000

Any ideas?

4

All looks good with the exception of your stabilizer (CYA), for a salt pool you should be in the 70-80 range. The stabilizer is what protects your chlorine from being consumed by the UV rays from the sun. Chlorine is consumed quite rapidly by the sun if your stabilizer is not at proper levels, especially in Florida where the sun is quite harsh. Another thing I have done in the past to double check that the salt system is indeed producing chlorine is to crank your salt system up to 100% or Super Chlorinate and then take your water test result right at the return jet, if your using a test strip be careful as the jet might blow the strip to pieces =) You should get a chlorine reading as the water coming out of the return jet will be freshly chlorinated water that has not yet had the time to be consumed by the sun.

Another tip on the stabilizer is to be careful not to add too much as if you get over 100 or so then your chlorine can become ineffective and the only way to lower your CYA is by draining your pool.

If you supply the size in gallons of your pool then I could let you know how much stabilizer you need to add.

Also have you got an algae bloom yet? If so then we can give you some tips on how to clear up the pool.

Thank You

Patrick

5

Thanks, for you very quick response!

Just a small pool 12,000 gal. No algae. Let try adding some stabilize & see if that helps.

6

Based on your pool size you will need use roughly 4-1/2 Lbs. of stabilizer to bring your CYA up from 30ppm to 70ppm. I normally put the stabilizer in an old sock, fill to the top with stabilizer and tie off the sock and put in your skimmer. I periodically agitate the sock filled with the stabilizer to dispense the stabilizer.

Were you able to get a chlorine reading when you test the water directly at the return jet?