We built our pool this past fall and it was finished in October. We had the system setup with a Jandy Aqualink Powercenter with the Aquapure 1400 system built into the power center. We never set up the SWG because we were told that in the winter the salt would not covert into chlorine if it was too cold. Our pool has been sitting at 47 degrees until yesterday when we finally put the solar blanket on it. We didn't do it before because we have dogs and wanted to make sure they were going to try to walk on it. Now after just one day, the temp is up to 50 degrees. I found out that it needs to be 50 or the system will not turn on automatically. Apparently it can still be used 24 hrs at a time if put into boost mode. Anyways, I am thinking that by tomorrow it should easily be higher than 51 degrees, so I have been wanting to get this thing up and going. Our pool is 12,500 according to the city water meter when we filled it. According to Jandy's salt chart it says that we need 300 lbs of salt for 12,000 gal. Am I reading this right? Just seems like alot of salt. I am new to this and would hate to put way too much salt in. We built our own pool and just subcontracted out some of the stuff I couldn't do myself and all of the people we talked to said we could just go to the grocery store or lowes and buy water softener salt. Is this true as well? I am eager to get this going as I am tired of buying and storing the chlorine when I could just be using the salt like originally intended.
Jandy Aquapure SWG Startup questions.
- Thread starter Owner/Builder
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Going from 0 to 3000 PPM for salt, the pool calculator indicates you need 314 lbs of salt. That is only about 8 bags of salt. That isn't a lot. I would get some salt strips to determine if you already have some salt in your pool. Most likely you do. After testing, use the pool calculator to determine how much more to use.
Yes, you can use the water softener salt from lowes or home depot. Go to this link and look under salt pool-school/recommended_pool_chemicals
Pay ATTENTION to the directions on how to add salt and turn your SWG off. Also tells you what type of salt you can use.
Yes, you can use the water softener salt from lowes or home depot. Go to this link and look under salt pool-school/recommended_pool_chemicals
Pay ATTENTION to the directions on how to add salt and turn your SWG off. Also tells you what type of salt you can use.
We have had the salt cell installed for a few m0nths now but set at ZERO. Hopefully this is good enough to be considered to be off and didn't ruin anything. According to the online manual the salt reading on the meter should read between 3 and 3.5 and it is currently at .7 which should be 700ppm if I am understanding this correctly.
Pool temp is at 54 degrees now and still rising since we installed the solar blanket. Would it be worthwhile to get the salt in the pool and go through the whole startup procedure for getting the SWG going, or should I continue to use liquid chlorine until spring?
Pool temp is at 54 degrees now and still rising since we installed the solar blanket. Would it be worthwhile to get the salt in the pool and go through the whole startup procedure for getting the SWG going, or should I continue to use liquid chlorine until spring?
Owner/Builder said:
You did not do any harm to the cell since your output was set to 0%. You are converting the .7 reading correct as 700ppm salt level in your pool. This may be accurate or it can still be off. I use test strips to confirm my salt readings and I do get a significant difference between the two. The SWG will work within a wide range of salt levels so it doesn't have to be exact.
Figure you are starting at 700ppm of salt and add enough salt to raise your level to 2500ppm. I add mine in the shallow end one bag at a time and brush it back and forth a few times then brush it towards the main drains. Let your pump run 24 hours and verify the salt level. Add enough salt to bring the level to 3000ppm and run the pump another 24 hours and you should be good to turn on the cell.
Make sure your FC is already at your target level for your CYA level before you turn on the cell. Once your FC is at your target level turn your cell on to 50% and check your FC daily to dial in your settings. With your water being this cold it may be set too high and you will need to turn it down some.
If you start using the SWG now you will have an understanding of how it works before the swim season starts. As the temps rise and cool you will need to adjust the output and pump run times throughout the year. It is not a set it up and forget it system. If you post all of your pool chemical numbers we might have some more suggestions.
IMO, I wouldnt even fool with a salt system until the water is at 70 degrees or so. Low water temp affects the ability of the cell to "read" the salt in the water (some systems compensate, but I have my doubts about how well). It doesnt matter what the drop test or strips say the salt is. What matters is what the SWCG "thinks" it is. Trying add salt, getting the concentration correct and fighting the SWCG to operate correctly in cold water is a PITA. I dont even try and measure the salt nor even think about getting mine to operate until i see 70 degree water.