AutoPilot's Total Control System Review

[gkarag]

I have the Zodiac Tri Pro (Australia) and I have similar problems with continuous chlorine generations. The technical staff suggested calibrating the orp sensor when chlorine was at 3ppm. This made no difference at times it would continue making chlorine and at other times it would stop and chlorine levels drop below 1ppm. At this point I needed to intervene to get the unit to make chlorine. I also have been using 20 litres of acid every 2 months and also baking soda to push TA up. The pool is now about 6 months old.
As the unit I have cannot be put in a percentage mode, I need to get a differenet module should I be going back to manufacturer to try and get a swap.

 

[learthur]

Not sure if this is rated, but I gathered daily pool data when I had a fresh water pool and after converting to salt.

I can certainly say a salt pool causes ORP to behave differently for some reason and not in a good helpful way.... Never really been able to figure it out.

 

[JasonLion]

gkarag, Welcome to TFP!

learthur, dissolved hydrogen gas. The SWG cell produces hydrogen gas, some of which dissolves. ORP readings are lowered by dissolved hydrogen gas. When the cell runs it produces chlorine, which raises ORP, and hydrogen, which lowers ORP. Depending on details of your plumbing either effect might dominate. If hydrogen dominates, ORP control will not work. This has nothing to do with AutoPilot. All SWG + ORP systems have this potential problem.

 

[Strannik]

It's a well known problem that's been around for years. FC sensors are better, but then more expensive so don't warrant installation on residential pools.

Even though AIS doesn't supply equipment with ORP sensors, during my days working there we have had same issues at one of the commercial sites where customer decided to use it. Took a while to sort out but I don't remember what they did and whether the solution still involved ORP.

I think there was one guy in Australia who produced ORP controllers which played very nice with SWGs, but he either went broke, or got bought out by one of the bigger companies and I'm not sure what happened after that. But again, this was for commercial, and the controller itself would cost more than $2000

 

[stevesxm]

hello jason,
this is the system i am looking at buying. the last post here was two years ago give or take... have they resolved any of the issues and is their tech support any better these days ?

steve

 

[JasonLion]

The problems I ran into are all inherent in ORP sensor technology, so there isn't anything they can do until a new kind of sensor gets invented. Their tech support is fairly good. It was fairly good back then also. But they can't solve problems that are inherent in the technology.

I'm still using my unit in standard percentage based mode, with the chemistry sensor completely removed, and love it. This makes it equivalent to their DIG-220 unit. In that mode it works just about perfectly and I can't imagine how adding the chemistry sensor could make it any better for me, even if the chemistry sensor worked perfectly. For an outdoor pool, percentage based automation is more than fine. Meanwhile I have balanced my levels so that acid additions are reduced to once every other year or so, which eliminates the need for the PH automation feature.

 

[kupermanp]

I have had this system for 5 years now and have had ZERO problems. I clean the sensors and the cell twice a year and I had to replace the cell this year but that's about it. Oh yeah and you have to remember to keep filling the acid tank.

K

 

[stevesxm]

I have had this system for 5 years now and have had ZERO problems. I clean the sensors and the cell twice a year and I had to replace the cell this year but that's about it. Oh yeah and you have to remember to keep filling the acid tank.

K

so your ph automation works as advertised ?

 

[kupermanp]

Yes. The PH meter stays right where i set it (within a a few hundreths of a PH). When I resurfaced the pool I kept having to fill the tank but that has slowly dwindled down and now I top it off every couple of months, although the amount used can vary a lot depending on how much chlorine is being generated. The TC will display the amount of acid used so you don't have to keep checking the tank, but you do have to remember to reset the meter when you fill the tank. I also have almost no scale on the cell because the acid comes into the system right before the cell.

 

[stevesxm]

Yes. The PH meter stays right where i set it (within a a few hundreths of a PH). When I resurfaced the pool I kept having to fill the tank but that has slowly dwindled down and now I top it off every couple of months, although the amount used can vary a lot depending on how much chlorine is being generated. The TC will display the amount of acid used so you don't have to keep checking the tank, but you do have to remember to reset the meter when you fill the tank. I also have almost no scale on the cell because the acid comes into the system right before the cell.

well... i have mine here ready to install. there is more work to be done so it won't be for another 30 days or so but we'll see then. did you do your own installation ?

 

[kupermanp]

Yes. Took me a couple of hours (would have been less but I miss-read the instructions and connected 220 to the 110 and blew a fuse so I had to drive out and get a new fuse). The instructions are good enough. The plumbing for the chlorination is straight forward. Make sure your samples come from the input line and you drop the acid in the output line after everything but the chlorinator.

The electrical is a little tricky as you have to hook up the pump and a second relay switch to control the acid feed system (make sure you have this relay if you plan to use the total control for both the pump and the acid feeder. It was an extra for me)

One other thing for safety reasons I dilute the acid in the tank by about a 33-50%. Full strength acid will etch cement but you can stick your hand in 50/50