i just turned on my intex and my green light doesnt come on, but i get the little bubbles like you would normally do. is it still ok or does that green light have to be on??

Adam,
Here's a closeup of a picture of mine. I don't think you'll be able to separate the cell from the base due to the length (or lack thereof) of the power cord going to the cell.



This is my first year with mine, so of course I have no idea of a lifespan for the unit.

It takes a few minutes for the green light to come on. Leave it running for 5 minutes and then go back and check it. If the green light still isn't on, I'd really wonder if it was actually producing any chlorine.

Thanks a bundle Mike! I wonder if I could cut and extend the wires... hmm. Well, that's another story, first I have to convince my parents to buy one.

Also, mudrider420 however unlikely, it is possible for the LED to stop lighting and it be a problem with a connection(most likely) and the generator still be producing chlorine. I would leave it on and check to see if the chlorine level in your pool starts dropping.

Adam

You can extend the wires quite easily. You will need a wire of the correct gauge, soldering iron, some solder and heatshrink, and a hair dryer for a heat gun.

Make sure you solder them, otherwise they will eventually overheat and melt the isolation.

well, the green light is not working but it is producing chlorine. i have the bubbles and i took a chlorine test with the water shooting out of the return and it is making chlorine. it even goes through the cycle and still produces chlorine, even though the light didnt come on. however, i will keep an eye on it and maybe write to intex and see what they say about it.

Maybe just the light has died.

MikeInTN, I've been following your postings in this thread since I am a proud new father of a 24' AGP with 54" walls. I originally ordered a Hayward AquaTrol for $519, but long story short, after waiting a month for an ebay seller to tell me that they are out of stock, I decided to get the Intex SWG. It's been installed and running 12 hours a day for 3 days and so far, I am extremely thrilled with the quality of this unit, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is covered by a 2 year warranty. I have mine installed with 2" PVC all the way to and from the pool, salt measures around 3200 ppm, TA is around 100, PH is 7.4 and CYA is testing at about 35, and I have a FC and CC reading of 1.7, according to the pool store. I was just wondering if you have been running yours for the full 12 hours a day to have such a good FC level. I bought a Taylor complete test kit last night so I can save the gas to drive back and forth from the pool store, so I'll see if my test readings are similar to the pool store later today. The only thing they recommended for me to do was add about 15 pounds of Calcium Hardness adjuster to the pool, and I wonder if this is partially the reason my FC is not over 3.

Hey Bob, and welcome to TFP!

I run my pump 12 hours a day, and so run my Intex 11 hours a day. Your numbers all look OK, except of course for the FC and CC. Your pH could use a smidge adjusting upward to 7.6, too. The pool school section has an article on water balance for SWG's, so that's very much worth reading. I'm thinking the recommended CYA level for the Intex is 35-50, but I'll go re-read the manual and verify that.
After you do your own tests, if your FC is still low and your CC is indeed 1.5, I'd go ahead and use liquid chlorine to bring your FC up to shock level and keep it there until you kill off the CC's and the FC holds overnight. After that, stop adding bleach and let the FC drop down, and see where the Intex holds it running it 12 hours a day. The CC's indicate that something's using up your chlorine, which is probably why your FC level is low. From reading the other posts in this thread, it seems like our units aren't producing as much FC as the units that were purchased last year. I don't know if that's because Intex changed something with the units, the differences in our CYA levels versus theirs, or what. I've been thinking about doing an FC per hour test after the sun's off the pool, so I may do that tonight. If I do, I'll post the results.

The CH stuff the pool store is wanting to sell you is probably to increase your CH level. Check your CH level yourself, and if it's 150 or so (or even a little more or less), don't worry about it. CH really doesn't do anything for vinyl pools, and does nothing for your FC. If it's above 400, you could have scaling (again, good info in the pool school section), but if it's between 150 and 300-400, don't worry about it. Heck, if it's lower than 150 and your water looks OK, I probably wouldn't worry too much about it.

OK, I let my pump and SWCG run for an hour tonight after the sun was down, and the FC went up 1.4 ppm. My CC is 0, so that should be a fairly good reading, and I think it corresponds roughly with what MeSue measured when she ran the same test with her unit.

For the record, Intex recommends CYA of 35-50 as ideal.

Mike, Thanks for the tips.

I was mistaken when I said that the pool store test showed a FC and a CC reading of 1.7, they were actually the FC and TC readings with a CC of 0.0

Oh well, now that I have a test kit, I tested everything that I could at least twice, and found that my readings are somewhat different than the pool store:

FC 5+
TC 5+
PH 7.8
TA 110
CH 230 (after adding 10 pounds of CH adjuster and waiting 2 days)
CYA 50
SALT 3400

I just ordered some FAS-DPD reagents and powder so I can test the chlorine levels more accurately than my current DPD test kit allows.
I've been doing a lot of reading about Borates in the Pool School area and decided to lower my TA down to 70-80 so I can add some Borates (the 20 Mule Team variety). So far I've added almost 3 quarts of MA to keep the PH in the 7.0-7.2 range while the pool has been aerating for the past 5 or 6 hours. So far it looks like I've gotten the TA down to around 80, and I know by the bubbles that running the SWG causes some outgassing, so I'll let it run overnight to help the PH level get back up to 7.6 before I check on the TA again. Are any of the other Intex SWG owners using Borates? Does it help keep your PH from going as high as 7.8 or is that more a function of the TA being over 100?

I know there are a couple of folks on here who have the bigger SWG's like the Aquatrol who have added borates to their water, but don't know if any of us with the Intex units have (I haven't). Same principles would apply though. The pH rise is a combination of both the SWG aerating the water and TA. Waterbear had a great writeup when he first did the borates experiment, so you might want to do a search on that. From what I remember, the borates did help buffer his pH. The only problem I have with borates is that we let our pooch get in the pool from time to time, and borates in high enough concentrations can harm the critter. IIRC, 50ppm shouldn't hurt a dog, but she's a smaller dog, and why take the risk if I don't have to?

Amazing how inaccurate pool store readings can be, huh? You'll love the FAS-DPD kit. You can measure your FC and CC down to .2 ppm. I bought a Taylor K-2005 kit and also bought the FAS-DPD power and reagents.

There is a good article about adding borates here.

Pets should only be at risk if they get most of their drinking water from the pool, which is not really a good idea with or without borates. It is normally simple enough to train pets not to drink pool water.

I've been running my intex unit for about three weeks or so and I'm a little bit confused about something....
My FC level has been staying at about 3 ppm with a CYA of 50.
Since I've never had even a hint of algae at these levels (even when using bleach) I have no problem with my readings.
My TA is about 120 and my PH is at 7.2.
Now here's the part I'm confused about...
Everyone says that with a SWCG their PH rises, in some cases dramatically but I started with a PH of 7.2 and now nearly a month later I'm still at a PH of 7.2.
Now we have gotten quite a bit of rain lately which I guess might contribute to my readings. I honestly don't know the answer and am looking for some insight here.
After buying the SWCG I was all geared up to start dumping acid on a regular basis but so far all I've had to do is vacuum the pool once a week (like I always did anyway) and swim.
Understand that I'm not complaining. I like the fact that I'm doing less maintenance than normal and enjoying the pool more. I just don't understand why I'm not seeing the PH rise that others talk about.
Any help/advice anyone can give would be appreciated.
Dave

If your PH is steady, that is great! There is no reason to worry about it. Every pool is different.

True enough, Jason. Just my personal preference, I guess. Our pooch doesn't have access to the pool for drinking or anything else unless we bring her on the deck with us, but she will try to take drinks on the occasion we do have her on the deck. So, better safe than sorry - again, just my personal preference.

OK, it took me a day and a half of aerating and adding MA to lower TA and monitor PH, but I was finally happy to get my TA down to 70. After aerating to get PH back up to 7.5, I added the recommended dosages of Borax and MA to get the borates level up to 50ppm. (10 boxes of Borax and 3 gallons of MA) For anyone sitting on the fence, let me tell you that this was possibly the best thing I ever did for our pool. Just for a brief history, we've been using the Intex SWG for a little over one week, running it for the recommended 12 hours per day, and had a FC level that was un-readable (off the high end of the scale) with a standard DPD test kit. I don't mind having the higher FC level, but ordered some FAS-DPD reagents and powder to get a better picture of our FC level and possibly look into shorter run times on the Intex SWG. The water quality has been great, nice to look at, and we could all swim without goggles and had no real complaints of stinging eyes. Our chemistry before the borates were added looked like this:

FC 5+
TC 5+
PH 7.8
TA 110
CH 230
CYA 50
SALT 3400

Now, after adding the Borax, and circulating for 36-48 hours, the water has an extremely noticeable clarity and sparkle looking from the outside. The biggest difference is seen when you get in the water. I can honestly say that in 30+ years of swimming, I've never had such an amazing underwater visual experience without wearing goggles that our pool now has. It's incredible how easy the water is on our eyes, and after 3 hours of swimming with "naked eyes", I haven't got even a hint of stinging, and neither do the kids. There is a mildly different taste if any water hits your tongue, but I wouldn't trade this visual water quality for anything that minor. The pool chemistry is now reading:

FC 5+
TC 5+
PH 7.5
TA 75
CH 250
CYA 50
SALT 3550

The TA only went up to 75 after everything was mixed for a few days. The PH required an initial tweaking to get back down to 7.5 the morning after adding the Borax, but it has stayed locked at 7.5 ever since, even after going through 2 more 12 hour Intex cycles. I'm trusting the fine experts here as far as their recommended chemistry levels in a SWG pool, but it looks like the only real difference between the Intex manual and what the pros here recommend is the TA. I'm not sure what chemically took place for the salt and calcium levels to go up slightly, and will definitely post more accurate FC and TC levels as soon as I get them tested. The reagents arrived while I was swimming this evening, but I had to share this experience with others that might be trying to decide about taking the leap into borates.

MikeInTN, I read your postings and after researching borates before I took the plunge, I completely agree that you have a valid concern about your dog getting sick from drinking too much water if you add borates up to the 50ppm level. If the chemistry experts here feel that a lower concentration wouldn't be at all risky, it might be worth trying the Borax in a smaller dosage to see the difference. I'm a little bit relieved that my little dogs don't like swimming, and as a responsible father of 2 daughters and 2 miniature pinschers, I will be spending the next few days teaching the kids that the dogs are never, never, NEVER allowed to get up on the pool deck. I may even buy them a small plastic kiddy pool to get in, if they ever show an interest in the sport.

Hey Bob,
Glad to hear you're pleased with raising your borates. I've yet to read of anyone who wasn't happy with the outcome, once they did it. The dog is really my only concern with doing it myself. We have a miniature schnauzer who's not really crazy about the water, but does want to be outside with us when we're in the pool. First thing she did when we brought her out the first time was come over and lap up some water. Who knows, one day I may try it anyway and just tell the wifey that the pool is offlimits to the pooch; but for now, I'll probably just stay with the status quo. Whenever I read of someone thinking of raising their borate level, I do like to mention the potential danger to their pets, just to make sure they're informed. I'd hate to read a post where someone's pet got really sick from it and have them wondering "why no one said anything about it possibly making a dog sick". Call me Chicken Little, I guess...

Well, it looks like I may have found out why our eyes had a very slight sting in them prior to adding the Borax. The FAS-DPD test is showing my FC level to be 11.2

I've posted a question in the chemistry section to get some advice on what would be the best method for bringing the level down (slowly decreasing the SWG run time, or "cold turkey"), but as I said earlier, with the addition of the borates, we have absolutely zero eye discomfort, even at this high chlorine level. My most recent numbers are now:

FC 11.2
TC 11.2
PH 7.5
TA 75
CH 250
CYA 50
BORATES 50
SALT 3550

I think I don't need to continue running the Intex SWG for the full 12 hours each day, especially since these readings were taken about 1 hour before the daily cycle start time.

I've been running on a two hour cycle here lately, and even then I shut it off for a couple days cause the FC creeps up. We've had a record amount of rain for June with 28 days out of the last 32 having at least some precip. Been hovering around the upper 70's as well for the most part and right now we're leaving the solar blanket on 24/7 except on the week-ends or nice sunny days. Could have waited 3 weeks to open the pool at this point.

So far, this thing is working great.

Yesterday
FC 6.5
CC 0.5
TC 7.0
pH 7.2
TA 70
CH 70
CYA 70
Temp 74
Salt 3400 2 weeks ago