New To Salt Water, Kindly ask for some help in setup

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Undivided

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Jun 3, 2015
20
NJ
Hey Folks. I have a small round pool, 14x38 with 3300 Gallons of water. I have a 1500gph pump. I have had the pool for a few years and have been using chemicals with out any issue. I decided to give the SWG a try to reduce the amount of chemicals I need.

My pool is currently filling as I type this.

Intel manual says that I should figure about 82 pounds of salt on first set up. However the manual states that for every 1000 gallons of water 25 pounds of salt is needed. The math does not add up since at 3000 gallon I would be at 75 pounds of salt. Are they calculating extra for any reason?

Once I add the salt, I will need to add 0.8 pounds of cyanuric acid. Then I plan on running the pump for 24 hours to be sure all salt is dissolved. Then I need to run the boost cycle. Manual says Boost runs 8 times more then normal operations. 3 hours is normal operations, therefore, according to the manual I must run the boost cycle for 24 hours. Then run the pump for 4 hours. Then begin my regular cycle of 3 hours for the SWG and 4 hours for the pump.

I never had any issues with algae bloom, or green water when I was using chemicals. Shocked the pool once when first opened and then float chlorine tablets thereafter, and never had any issues. Changing to SWG has me a little nervous.

Are my plans thus far OK, am I missing something? Doing something wrong?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Does the manual give a salt ppm range? If so, just use PoolMath to figure out how much you need to add (in fact use it for all your chemical additions).

Forget the boost cycle. Just add some bleach to get the FC in range and let the SWG maintain it there.

What kind of test kit are you going to use to keep the pool balanced?

Have you discovered Pool School yet? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Water Balance for SWGs
 
Thank you for the welcome.

Manual says I should maintain salt range of 3000ppm.

If I am using pool math correctly, (Goal:0 Not Setup:X), for a FC value of 2.0 it says I should add 14oz of bleach? I have never used bleach in my pool. Is this bleach I can buy at any supermarket or walmart? I would add the bleach instead of using the boost cycle?

So add 83 pounds of initial salt and run the pump for 24 hours
Add 14oz of bleach while pump running or after 24 hour cycle?
After pump runs, do I begin a normal SWG cycle? 3 hours on followed by 4 hours of pump.

I have not settled on a test kit yet. I see folks here recommend the K-2006? Not to expensive on Amazon. Test strips seem not to be trusted. Is that true?
 
Add the bleach (plain old bleach ... check the strength on the bottle matches what you have in PoolMath) now.
Add stabilizer to target about 50ppm to start.
Add the salt , run pump 24 hours.
Dial in the SWG to run as much as need to maintain adequate FC for your CYA: See the FC/CYA Chart.

I would recommend the TF-100 over the K-2006, but either is fine. Don't waste money on test strips.

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

Did you read the links I provided for the recommended chemicals?
 
jblizzle said:
Add the bleach (plain old bleach ... check the strength on the bottle matches what you have in PoolMath) now.
Add stabilizer to target about 50ppm to start.
Add the salt , run pump 24 hours.
Dial in the SWG to run as much as need to maintain adequate FC for your CYA: See the FC/CYA Chart.

I would recommend the TF-100 over the K-2006, but either is fine. Don't waste money on test strips.

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

Did you read the links I provided for the recommended chemicals?
Click to expand...

I am reading the links now. Lots of info. Honestly in the past I shocked the pool on first setup and then floated chlorine tablets. Everything else seem to fall into place. The SWG seems to be a lot of maintaining. But maybe thats because its just new to me?

Pool math says 14oz of 6 weight. Is the weight the strength?

Manual says to maintain CYA at 30-50ppm and FC at 1.0-3.0. The FC/CYA chart does not have these figures? Am I reading this correctly?
 
Wow...A lot of reading. Honestly as I have said, I have never worried about my pool with chlorine tablets. My PH was always maintained. And I really did next to nothing. I have a small pool 14x38, the SWG really seems like too much work and worry.

I am going to return the SWG and stick with my previous methods. Never had green water in the life of the pool (5 years).

Thank you all who have looked to help me. Your time was very appreciated.
 
I wouldn't give up yet. Once you get the salt in there and dissolved it's just a matter of getting the run time right. I just coverted to SWG myself. As a matter of fact I didn't even bring the FC up first. I did however get some test strips from the dreaded pool store to make sure i was close on the salt level. I'm at about 2780 PPM and I have not had to add any bleach at all in 2 weeks now. All I did was start with the suggested run time for my pool, 10400 gal. if i remember right it was 6hrs. Let it do its thing and tested and I was a bit high on FC. So I reduced it 2 hrs and tested the next day and I was low. SO added 1 hr and settled @ 5 hrs and it's been right on ever since. Also: we have had alot of rain here over the last couple weeks to and I have not had 1 sign of any alge. Used to have to run out and bring it up to shock level everytime it rained. This thing seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. So far I'm happy as a clam with mine.
 
Joelin said:
I wouldn't give up yet. Once you get the salt in there and dissolved it's just a matter of getting the run time right. I just coverted to SWG myself. As a matter of fact I didn't even bring the FC up first. I did however get some test strips from the dreaded pool store to make sure i was close on the salt level. I'm at about 2780 PPM and I have not had to add any bleach at all in 2 weeks now. All I did was start with the suggested run time for my pool, 10400 gal. if i remember right it was 6hrs. Let it do its thing and tested and I was a bit high on FC. So I reduced it 2 hrs and tested the next day and I was low. SO added 1 hr and settled @ 5 hrs and it's been right on ever since. Also: we have had alot of rain here over the last couple weeks to and I have not had 1 sign of any alge. Used to have to run out and bring it up to shock level everytime it rained. This thing seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. So far I'm happy as a clam with mine.
Click to expand...

I live in Wayne NJ. Never had to shock my pool or add anything after rainfalls. I never had to worry or overthink my pools chemistry. Maybe because it's small? Most I had to do was add baking soda for the PH. I really want to try the SWG, I hear such good things about them. Once the salt is added, am I able to discontinue the SWG and fall back on Chlorine tablets and shock if needed?
 

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jblizzle said:
Baking soda does not raise pH much. Sounds like you have been lucky and likely not had nice balanced water.
Click to expand...

Baking soda worked for me. Always had ideal PH and Chlorine. Checked a few other factors but never worried too much other than PH and Chlorine. Regardless of weather or not my water was balanced properly, I ALWAYS had crystal clear water, no algae, never any cloudy water, and never had to drain my pool and start over. I test my water daily and make the necessary adjustments. Maybe that makes me lucky :)


In any event, I decided to try the SWG. Both SWG and Pump are connected and housed in my 50 gallon tub. I just added the 80 pounds of salt needed for start up and my pump will run for the next 24 hours. Is 24 hours the norm to run the pump at start up, or is there a good indicator of when all the salt has dissolved?

Torn between running the boost cycle per the manufacturers directions for 24 hours, or add the 14 ounces of bleach per pool math recommendations.

EDIT:
Well I decided to take your advice jblizzle :)
I added the stabilizer and the Bleach, and the salt. And I ordered the K-2006 test kit.
 
Did you ever test CYA? I see a lot of talk about shock and pucks and no CYA test results or level. Do you know what your starting CYA level was before you added more?
 
pooldv said:
Did you ever test CYA? I see a lot of talk about shock and pucks and no CYA test results or level. Do you know what your starting CYA level was before you added more?
Click to expand...

I never tested for CYA before. Mostly FC and PH. My pool was always crystal clear and never had a problem. I have a small pond with a waterfall feature in my backyard. No fish. To keep the small pond clean, I just drop Chlorine tablets in the waterfall bucket. No green water, and no mosquitos.

With the SWG, I ordered the K-2006 test kit. Should be here next week. Until then, I have test strips and an HTC chemical test kit to hold me over.

I see a lot of undisolved salt at the bottom of my pool. I used the Morton salt you can purchase at walmart. I just added 10 more pounds of salt as my salt level as only at 2400. I wanted to gradually add the salt to avoid too much.
 
Dont add any more salt until the salt in there has dissolved. As it dissolves it will continue to raise up. Get in the pool and kick it around for a few hours. If you have kids, get them in there to help. Tell them to go hunting for diamonds.
 
pooldv said:
How many gallons is your pool? 3500 gallons?
Salt takes 24 hours with the pump running to dissolve and mix in. Are you using Pool School - PoolMath to calculate how much stuff to add? It seems like you have added too much CYA and too much salt.
Click to expand...

My pool has 3300 gallons per the manufacture. And Yes I did use poolmath which stated to use 83 opunds of Salt. Yesterday at 7:pM was the 24 hour mark - my pump ran for 24 hours. This morning I had very little salt on the bottom. I tested for salt and I was up to 2600ppm. My FC was up around 3 without running the SWG. I added I think too much bleach. My CYA is in the ideal range. SHould I not run the SWG for a day or continue the cycle? 3 hours a day?
 
If your FC is a few ppm too high then turn the SWG off for a day. I know at 70 CYA my pool loses about 2-3ppm FC in a full day.

BTW, your signature says 3500k. That means 3.5 million gallons. :) Might want to change that to 3500g, or 3.5k. Just an observation. :)
 
Undivided said:
My pool has 3300 gallons per the manufacture. And Yes I did use poolmath which stated to use 83 opunds of Salt. Yesterday at 7:pM was the 24 hour mark - my pump ran for 24 hours. This morning I had very little salt on the bottom. I tested for salt and I was up to 2600ppm. My FC was up around 3 without running the SWG. I added I think too much bleach. My CYA is in the ideal range. SHould I not run the SWG for a day or continue the cycle? 3 hours a day?
Click to expand...

Ok, good. FC of 3ppm is not too high. What is the ideal range for salt for your SWG? If the pool is in range then run the SWG to make sure it is working.
Chlorine level needs to be set based on CYA level, Chlorine CYA Chart
Here is the Pool School - Water Balance for SWGs
 
FC still is at 3
my Salt level is at 2540ppm
Ideal according to manufacturer is 3000
CYA is registering as 0, should I add more stabilizer?

My intex SWG is not registering low salt and seems to be working fine.

Should I add more salt? If so, does the SWG need to be off, while the pump is on? Or can I add the salt while SWG and Pump are in their normal cycle?
 

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