i purchased the 18' easy set (bubble pool) with the SWG and the AQUAquick sand filter from wal-mart.com. all at once and it bolted right up no surprises. i asked a lot of ?? before i purchased. i run my SWG about 6 hours a day its on its own outlet and the pool filter is on a timer. i got the 3/4 HP one i think it is (the bigger of the 2) and its is awesome. i have to adjust the SWG occasionally depending on weather and usage but i dont think i ever went below 4 hours. my only complaint is i cannot skim and clean the inside of the pool simultaneously. other than that goodbye to 30 minutes maint a day whew.

6 hours a day for the SWG portion seems like a lot of run time - what is your CYA level? There are users on this forum with larger pools who run it for less time.... I'm wondering if you have read Water Balance for SWCGs

I'm new to this forum and new to the Intex 8110 SWG. Mine is the old model ordered new on ebay. The manual indicates 5 hours per day for my 18'x48" Intex metal frame pool in our normal summer temp range. The strange thing is that the manual for my model shows a maximum chlorine output of 24 grams per hour. The manual for the 2010 model shows maximum chlorine output of only 12 grams per hour, but still calls for the same 5 hour run time. That seem strange to me. Does that have something to do with the copper, is that just a mistake in the manual or something else?

The new model suppossedly produces less chlorine. The # of hours required is a guestimate on their part. Mostly likely 5hrs will be way too much for you, but it's a good starting point. (I only run mine 3-4 hrs on a 24ft round). Why Intex feels they didn't need to adjust is anyone's guess. IMO they ruined a good thing with the new model and the whole ion exchange concept

Walmarts on-line store has them for $139.00 Just received ours today, about $145 shipped to your door!

I will add it is theModel CS8110.

Wow this is one EverlastIng Gobsopper of a thread! My quote is from a few years back and look how the price has dropped!

Another beginner question. When I was researching SWGs I kept reading reviews about saltwater pools not fading swimsuits or causing skin irritation like "normal" pools. It this true? The pool still has chlorine, so how is this possible?

Can you say, Marketing Gimmick?

Well, there is an element of truth there. A rather badly kept pool can fade swimsuits and cause skin irritation, and people who have a SWG are less likely to keep their pool badly, so . . .

If you maintain a pool the way we recommend, none of that will happen regardless of chlorine source (SWG or not).

I'm fairly new to this site and have not posted before now. We are looking at buy a Intex SWG, but not sure if it will work with our pool. We have a 27' round, 52" deep AGP with 1 1/2 hp pump and sand filter. We've been using a power ionizier for a few years now. Not very pleased with it. After reading about the Intex SWG...I'm very interested. We use our pool everyday, weather permitting from May through Sept. We also have 2 labs that love the pool, too. Can anyone offer any advise?

I used one for several years on my 18x33 52" deep. It worked well enough - for the money you can't get a better bang for the buck - we only upgraded because I was put off having to re-set everything whenever we had a power outage (all too often around here with thunderstorms) and I wanted a few more bells and whistles - otherwise, it did a very nice job on our pool.

The intex SWGs just work, and cost a fraction of the price of any other SWG. Note the differences between last year's model and this year's "CS" model as previously mentioned in this thread - if there are any blondes in your family who don't like green hair, you may want to hunt down one of the non-CS models that produce twice as much chlorine and no copper. Again as mentioned previously in this thread, 17,000 gal is at the upper end of what this unit is spec'd for - there are plenty of stories around here from folks that find the Intex units produce plenty of chlorine even in bigger pools than your's, but there is the chance it might not keep up with heavy chlorine demand from a very heavy bather load in really hot weather even with long run times (in which case you would have to dump in the occasional jug of bleach).

Is there a simple way to manually reverse polarity so that it will self clean? At my current settings it should self clean about once a week. The problem is that we rarely go a week without a short electricity outage, especially this time of year with all the storms.

Also, I had been running the SWG based on the time in the manual, which is way too much. My FC level is way darker than 5, the maximum my $6 Wal-Mart test kit will go. I plan on buying a better test kit at some point, but for a seasonal/temporary pool I'm trying to operate on the cheap. Is it okay to not run the SWG at all until the FC level drops or do I still need to run it an hour or two each day?

This is a 18' X 48" Intex metal frame pool.

No, unfortunately there is not a simple way to manually reverse polarity.

Go ahead and shut the SWG off until your FC drops to normal range, and then turn it back on. I have a 24' pool and set mine on 4 hours/night (my CYA is roughly 80), and it maintains FC right about 4 - 6. Try 6 hours or so, and keep a check on your FC; if it's still shooting up too high, drop it to 5 hours; if still too high, drop to 4 hours, etc.

You could get a rough idea of the hourly output of your SWG by waiting until the sun's off the pool, measure your FC, and then measure it again an hour later. I did this for my pool and it came out to roughly 1 ppm FC / hour. Once you have the hourly output, you can figure how long to approximately run it to provide the FC you need. Works for me, but YMMV.

Just a warning for those who have the Intex SWG... I would advise putting some protection over the control panel if you have it out in the sun and elements. I am on season 3 with mine and this year the button panel is all cracked and messed up. Resetting the thing is a real hassle now--it actually hurts for me to type this because my fingers are so sore from trying to reset the SWG earlier today!

Now I am trying to decide if I want to buy another one of these and keep dealing with the constant fiddling and resetting for power outages, or spend more for a different SWG with a better timer. NWMNMom, I see you upgraded from the Intex... what is the model you have now, and are you happy with it?