Turbo Cell T15 parameter setup

[Verne Bunsen]

Hi all,

I'm about 5 months into 1st time pool ownership, and need a little insight on setting up the parameters of my Turbo Cell T15 SWG. My pool is a pool/spa combo with spillover, est. 12,500 gallons. Controller is Goldline Aqua Logic PS-4. Pump is a Jandy Stealth 1.5 HP, 120 gpm.

Here's some background: The system was in disrepair when I bought the house. The SWG (T15) and pump were both shot. I replaced the pump and had a local pool company come in and empty and clean the pool, refill it and get the chemical balance right. They have continued doing my chemical and filter maintenance, chlorine addition has been via a floating dispenser. I decided last week to get the Salt Water system operational. I couldn't get a call back from my pool company, so I decided to do it myself. I took a sample into Leslies and found my chlorine at 0 ppm and my pH at 8.0. Went home and found my chlorine dispenser empty, 4 days after my last pool company visit. I fired my pool company. I know I can do at least that good, haha!

So, long story short, I added salt and muriatic acid per Leslies instruction, and with the salt level in range I installed a new salt cell. Since the chlorine level had been at 0, I let it run 24 hours straight to catch up and then had it tested again. The chlorine reading is now off the scale high. I'm running it in spillover with the SWG off to let the level come down. Once it gets back in range, I'll be running the system 8 hours per day, 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the heat of the Arizona afternoon. The SWG has output settings for the pool and for the spa, currently both are at 100% (that is as-found). Does anyone have insight on what settings I should dial in so I'm not chasing my chlorine level around for the next 6 months?

Thanks!!

 

[mas985]

First, with that pump, your turnover is probably less than 3 hours so 8 hours is overkill. I wouldn't run more than 3 hours.

But assuming you do run 8 hours, then probably around 30% SWG setting may be all you need and most likely, you will need to make some adjustments from there. Target the CL to about 5% of the CYA level. But if you run only 3 hours per day, set the SWG to 80%.

For the spa, I find 25% is about all you need since that is run for short period of time and you want a little higher CL for the spa. But if you run the spa for longer than 2 hours at a time, you may want to drop that a bit.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That's great info, thanks Mas985! I'll try those suggestions as soon as I get the chlorine levels back in range. I run the spa 1 hour daily as part of the routine cycle, so I'll set it to 25%. I'll reduce the pump run time and set the pool cycle to 80%. My electric bill will like that too!

For cutting down the pump time, does it make much difference when I choose to run it? Is there any advantage or disadvantage to running it during the hotter/ sunnier portion of the day vs. running it in the morning?

I'm sure there will be some fine tuning, but it's great to have a good starting point. Thanks!

 

[mas985]

If you run the pump right before you are likely to swim, then the chlorine levels will be at their highest and the pool will be freshly skimmed and filtered.

 

[y_not]

Do you have a way to perform your own test of the CYA level?
Or are you relying on Leslie's for that?

It needs to be at a certain minimum for operating an SWG unit. But too much is also bad and I'm concerned as to how much you may have accumulated since the pool company was using pucks to chlorinate your pool. These also contain CYA, so with every puck that disolves, the CYA also goes up.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Hi y_not. I've been having Leslie's handle the water testing, I just take them the sample. I had a full spread done 3 days ago and they spec'd me at 100 ppm CYA. The range they show is 30-99, so that puts me right on the ragged edge. Apparently, the pool company was only pretending to use the pucks anyway, haha! I'm taking a sample in tomorrow, so I'll see what they have to say. They haven't said anything about it yet, but it's been a one-thing-at-a-time approach: salt up, pH down, chlorine up, chlorine down...

 

[y_not]

Verne,

It would do you well and your pocket book to stop listening to the pool store and using them to test your water.
Free yourselves from their ill placed advice, although I'm sure it's well intentioned, just bad advice. Anyway, do so by getting yourself a test kit and trusting your own results.
It'll save you time, gas, money and headache in the end and and all season long.

Take a look at my signature for a link to our favorite test kit. It may seem a little expensive but trust us when we all, 30k+ of us say it's well worth it.
The place I have linked to has some of the best customer service you'll find anywhere. It's the old fashioned kind, not to mention they ship very quickly.
This way you can test your own CYA and be sure of what it is, as well as everything else.

100ppm of CYA is far too much, despite what the pool store says. For a SWG chlorinated pool, you need to get it down to 70-80ppm by a partial drain and fill. Unfortunately, you can't trust their results, and subsequent numbers. You need to find out for yourself using your own kit and test procedure.
For bleach/liquid chlorine, just so you know for comparison purposes to the pool store. You would run it between 30-40ppm, sometimes 50ppm but no more.

You need to read through Pool School here on the site so you understand what chemicals your pool needs. So you can stop buying them at the pool store with their high prices and instead buy them at the grocery or hardware store where they are much, much cheaper and chemically the same thing.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

100 is as high as the CYA test typically reads - just for grins take a water sample that is half pool water and half tap water to the store ignore everything they tell you but find out the CYA level multiply that by two and that might be closer than the first reading. Honestly your own kit would do a better job.

One more thing, you said too high - what was that level? If you ONLY have a 100 CYA ( I would guess it is higher) your minimum Free Chlorine level would be between 5-7 ppm and the target between 7-12ppm depending on your daily losses.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks for the info, guys! I'll be ordering that test kit immediately. I'm a DIY'er by nature, but I've felt a bit over my head with the pool stuff. Just moved to Arizona from Alaska, so pools are very new territory to me! I will be a bit dismayed if I have to drain the pool to get a handle on this CYA, seeing as I just completely drained and refilled it 4 months ago... I'll see what the test kit tells me before I move on that though. As for what constitutes "too high" on the pool store chlorine test, the guy didn't give me a number. He indicated that it was off the scale.

 

[jblizzle]

Usually the scale for the chlorine tests that pool stores use max out at 5ppm. As was stated previously, with the high CYA 5ppm is actually the minimum chlorine level you should have. That is why you need the accurate FAS-DPD chlorine test.

Most pool stores just do not understand the CYA/FC relationship and do not use that test ... after all you will buy whatever they recommend.

You have certainly found the right place to get the information you need to take control.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[Verne Bunsen]

TF-100 kit is on the way. I'm leaving town for a couple of weeks so the real fun will probably have to wait until I get back, but now I'm armed! I took another sample in to Leslie's this morning and they said the chlorine levels are still too high to accurately test, so I suppose a little time will do it good as well! Thanks for all the great information, this forum appears to be exactly the place for me! Y_not, the links in your signature alone have been very helpful!

 

[y_not]

Thanks Vern, your comments are much appreciated.
You'll love your kit once you get it, it's a nerdy blast and you get to understand your pool and be your own master of the beast, whipping it into a tame, lovely friend.

Have a safe trip.
Report back when you return and get your test on.

y_not