Just converted my chloring pool to an SWG

[Leslie36]

We bought the Intex Krystal Clear SWG, we put in the amount of salt it stated in the manual and now we continue to have high salt levels. I drained the pool 20 % like the manual said, test with salt strips and the salt level was to high 3800. It says the ideal is 3600. Drained 20 % again, test the water and now its at 3580. We are thinking the SWG isn't worth it. We honestly don't know what to do anymore. Drain the whole pool? My husband says no way we aren't draining anymore. Can anyone help?

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Now that salt is down to 3580 you should be fine.

What problem are you having now that your brought the salt level down?

Also, it would help if you post a full set of water test results.

 

[No P in my ool]

Please read the manual again as it says 3000ppm is ideal 3600 for the high side. At 3580 you are real close to the high side and the strips often read +or- 250ppm.

 

[dmanb2b]

I have the same swg...once you get your salt level down to around 3200...you'll never turn back. It's been a pleasure not having to manual add chlorine to the pool for the past month

 

[Leslie36]

Thanks everyone. How in the world do I get it down to 3200 without draining the whole pool? I reset the pump tonight and so far it is making chlorine but it has done this before and went to high salt come morning. It is driving me crazy. I told my husband once we get it under control I know it will be a good thing but he doesn't think so. I wish he would of listened to me when I told him not to put all that salt in there. We replaced 20 percent of the water this morning and now I don't have any fc in the pool.

TH- 200
FC-0
TA-120
CYA- 30-50

I am using 6 way testing strips from Walmart.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You are headed for algae if you don't get chlorine in there. Use bleach or liquid chlorine until things are straightened out. Do you know how to use the pool calculator to figure out how much to add?

Also, I highly recommend you get a better test kit, either the TF100 or the Taylor K2006. Strips just are not accurate.

 

[JasonLion]

If salt is currently 3,600 and you want to lower it to 3,200, you need to replace 11% of your water with fresh water. If the pool is 4 feet deep, that means replacing 5 1/2 inches of water.

It sounds like you are really close to having it work, it just occasionally trips over the limit. So you probably don't need to replace anywhere near that much water to get it in bounds.

 

[teppy]

Don't give up!

we just converted a few weeks ago. we had the exact same problem. i was getting very frustrated after every partial drain thinking i had it right this time only to see that darn red light come on that told me high salt. jeeze! this last time, i did finally get it after the third time of doing my partial drain. it was not until i got the SWG to read at 3400 did it finally work. its been going now for about a week with no more high salt readings. it is the greatest thing to have the SWG. i love it. not having to dump chlorox every afternoon is a good feeling. just keep dumping a little bit at a time until you get it right. the last couple of times i did it, i only emptied a little below my waterline tiles.

 

[pool4me]

This is a very informative post.

I remember reading, to add a bit less salt than required to the pool when initially starting up.

I think (especially after reading this) I'm going to keep the initial level of salt "down" when I initially start mine up. Seems to be easier to add a bit more salt a little at a time over a few days, then to have to drain large amounts of water.

I'm sure once you get everything set up, you'll be happy you made the switch.

 

[MikeInTN]

You're exactly right. Salt is one of those things like CYA or calcium chloride that require draining water to lower the level, so it's best to undershoot, and then add more to get where you need. One item folks tend to overlook (I was guilty of this as well) is that salt is a byproduct of using chlorine in your pool, so chances are good you've already got a certain amount of salt in your pool already. So, first thing you need to do before adding salt is measure how much salt is in your pool already, and subtract that from the amount you figured you need to add. As a rule of thumb, i then subtract 40 lb from that amount as a fudge factor, and dump the salt in. After it's dissolved, I retest the water and add more as needed.