SWG making wild % swings

[kywildcats]

My SWG has been making some wild % swings lately. I had it on 60% yesterday morning, because my FC level dropped to 4, and when I came home two hours later it was 87%, and FC level was up to 8. I try to keep it at 6 all the time, with a CYA of 70.

I called the Pool Pilot people to ask about these swings, and the first thing he ask was, why do you want your FC so high. I told him I was a new pool owner, and I had researched everything (wife says I'm too anal). He informed that my FC levels should be between 1.5 and 3 to keep it safe, and this would also save the life span of my cell. This has really confused me.

I told him about this site, and he had heard of it, but said I would be better off using NSPF.ORG site because they are the industry standard. I told him I have not had a single issue with my pool testing numbers, and he was surprised that I did my own testing, and never have been to a pool store for a test.

Another thing he mentioned was testing for phosphate's this time of year. I did tell him I had no way to test for these. He informed me that high phosphate level from pollen and all the other stuff in the air this time of year, was a disaster waiting to happen for an algae bloom . Keep in mind he IS NOT trying to sell me anything like a pool store would.

Bottom line is, they are sending a technician from out of state to check what could be causing the large % swings on my unit.

 

[JoshU]

My SWG has been making some wild % swings lately. I had it on 60% yesterday morning, because my FC level dropped to 4, and when I came home two hours later it was 87%, and FC level was up to 8. I try to keep it at 6 all the time, with a CYA of 70.

I called the Pool Pilot people to ask about these swings, and the first thing he ask was, why do you want your FC so high. I told him I was a new pool owner, and I had researched everything (wife says I'm too anal). He informed that my FC levels should be between 1.5 and 3 to keep it safe, and this would also save the life span of my cell. This has really confused me.

Pool Pilot units have a feature called "temperature compensation" built in. This is a unique feature of the Pool Pilot models. As water temperature increases or decreases so does your purifier % level. This all based off of your initial set point. Therefore you'll want to pay attention to the water temperature as reported on the Pool Pilot to see if the adjustment in % follows the water temperature as it goes up and down.

Some of my customers do like to keep their chlorine on the higher side as compared to the "industry standard" of 1-3 ppm. That is is certainly fine to do as everyone has their own recipe for a perfect pool. The tech is correct in that achieving a higher chlorine level will affect the life of the cell. The cells can produce so much chlorine over their life and then they require replacement.

 

[kywildcats]

Thanks Josh! I know about the "temperature compensation" on the Pool Pilot and it supposed to adjust 10% at +/- 5 degrees intervals, or at least that's the way it was explained to me yesterday. Mine is moving in the 27% range, with very minimal temperature movement.