New guy in need of some SWG help

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Warlock1

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Jul 21, 2008
28
Cape Coral, FL
Hello everyone, my name is Tracy and I live in the Land of the Dry Heat (Phoenix). My wife and I just bought a house with a 90 ft perimeter (14000 Gallon) plaster saltwater pool. It uses the Polaris Ultra Clear Plus SWG and it just doesn't appear to be working.
The pool was built in 06 and for a year worked fine. Owners moved and the house sat vacant and the pool was drained (we think) as we can see some small rust stains in a vertical position coming from the returns. Renters moved in and filled the pool and was using chlorine tablets in floating dispensers. They were there for approximately three months.
We bought the house and start working with the pool. I an't tell you the numbers but I can tell you the salt was 1800 PPM and it should be 3000-3500. We ended up adding 8 bags and now it is at 3300.
The problem is the SWG. It never seems to read the salt content right. Most times it says it's in the hundreds and a code 91 (low salt) is showing on the screen. Also the LED graph also shows very low salt. We have checked the water multiple times and the only times it shows we have chlorine is when we shock the pool.
At this point I think I need a new cell, but I just want to be sure I have done everything to gie the SWG a chance to work.

Thanks all,
 
Re: New guy in need of some help

I am still learning much about SWG. But a bit of advice about posting. The experts will help you but will want more info, like equipment specs and water test results, a full set. You can update your signature to include your pool specs and equipment, go to your user profile to do that. Then to get a better response to your thread, I would edit your post to change your title to reference the SWG issue....as "need some help" is rather vague and you want more specific help, from people experienced with SWGs....

So, update your profile; edit the title; post your test results. :mrgreen:

Welcome to TFP! :wave:
 
I'm gonna take a shot in the dark...I'm still learning about SWG's and advanced chemistry issues so bear with me, if I'm wrong I'm sorry. I'm hoping the SWG experts will be along to advise you better....

I think your PH is too high and you may have scale on the SWG, causing malfunction. Without knowing your CH number, I think that plays a role too. I would suggest that you get the CH tested asap and also some muratic acid to lower your PH. Also with an SWG you need to lower your TA in the 70-90 range to avoid your PH from drifting up. Follow the "lowering TA" article in Pool School. Lastly, until you get your SWG working, you need to keep adding chlorine in your pool daily to prevent algae. Your CYA is a tad high, even for a SWG pool, 80 is the high end.

I would recommend you read the articles in pool school if you have not already done so, like recommended levels, etc., and then use the Pool Calculator to double check your dosing, and confirm your targets with the CYA/Chlorine chart.

Hope this helps.
 
I agree with frustratedpoolmom, she is on the right track.

You want to get the PH down.

You should do a visual inspection of the SWG cell. If it look silvery metalic or black it is good, if it looks chaulky white it needs to be cleaned. It is also possible that the cell needs to be replaced, or possibly the sensor module (if your SWG has a sensor module).
 
Cell has been cleaned and the blades look clean
Ph is off due to a recent party :shock: a couple of days before that it was 7.5. I added 1/2 gallon of acid to it last night so I will retest tonight. I'm also going to pick up some bleach tonight from Lowes so I can add it until I get the SWG figured out.

As far as the CYA goes my pool is in the sun all day and remember it gets to be over 100 every day here and sometimes to 115 during the summer months. I thought those factors have something to do with CYA. Please shed some light on that if you can :?:

I will reread the articles and use the calculator and see what I can come up with.

Thanks again everyone.
 
Warlock1 said:
Cell has been cleaned and the blades look clean
Ph is off due to a recent party :shock: a couple of days before that it was 7.5. I added 1/2 gallon of acid to it last night so I will retest tonight. I'm also going to pick up some bleach tonight from Lowes so I can add it until I get the SWG figured out.

As far as the CYA goes my pool is in the sun all day and remember it gets to be over 100 every day here and sometimes to 115 during the summer months. I thought those factors have something to do with CYA. Please shed some light on that if you can :?:

I will reread the articles and use the calculator and see what I can come up with.

Thanks again everyone.
Click to expand...

Well if your Cell doesn't show signs of scale then Jason's advice on replacement or the sensor module...

Sunlight is a factor in setting your CYA levels, not pool temp, as far as I know, but I've been wrong before :oops: . The recommended range for an SWG pool is 70-80, deferring of course to your manufacturer's warranty manual, which may also give a recommended CYA level. The Pool School article on water balance for SWG does say some manufacturers recommend 100 ppm, so I stand corrected.

Good luck, hope it's an easy fix whatever the problem is. Don't forget to have your CH tested....
 

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I'm pretty sure that with your system, you're going to have to program/set the temperature first.

I don't know how that's done and had to do it once before, but called their help line and they walked me through the steps.

After that, everything else seemed to come back on line.

Hope this helps,
 
Thanks PS I think I have the pool temp set ok right now. I need to double check the actual pool temp and verify, so we'll see. We have it set on a 24 hour boost right now. Hopefully this darn thing can get caught up and stay true.
I think I read on another forum that you had hired a Polaris expert? What kind of voltage and amps should I be seeing after I press the test button and it cycles through?
 
Just a quick update. I called Polaris Pools and talked to their help desk and after a few minutes of sharing what I have done, they decided that I need a new circuit board. They are honoring their warranty and sending one to me. Hopefully that will take care of the issue.
 
***update***
I received the board yesterday, but it was the control board. As I went to replace it, I noticed a burnt IC and transistor on the power board. I called them and they are going to send out an entire controller. The Customer Service lady also told me to just keep the other new control board as a back up.

If this system works half as good as their Customer Service is, I will be in great shape :goodjob:

Downside is they can't send it until 8/8/08. No biggie, a little bleach and constant monitoring and it'll be all good.
 
Just a note on your CYA. It is not uncommon to have CYA at 90-100 ppm in desert climates with pools that get a lot of full sun. I would shoot for maintaining your FC at 4-6 ppm however, once you get everything working.
 
Thanks WB I was wondering about that. I just haven't been posting a lot of numbers until I get this SWG running. I'll just continue testing with my cheapy Pool Pals water test kit until I can pick up one from here. I just don't trust the guys at Shasta or Leslies. I took a sample in and said I want the works, what I really wanted was just the CH. He did everything except that. I asked him why and he said that it takes a lot of chemicals and most people don't care. Then he told me I had 0 CYA which he promptly sold me a bottle. Just to double check I took a sample to another store and it tested 176.
I need to just stop procrastinating and become a supporter and pick one up here. :-D
 
Here is an update...after waiting for almost 2 months for the control box, it finally arrived. Plugged it in and I now have a beautiful sparkling pool again. Chlorine is a little high so we are in the process of dialing it in, but no more algae and it looks awesome.
I will say that the Polaris customer service has been awesome. Other than the 2 month wait for the parts to be shipped from overseas they were great.
Thanks everyone for all your help and guidance.
 

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