Can salt level rise from a lot of swimmers?

[ionizer]

New SWG, but not new to TFP.

Switched over recently and had everything balanced and good, salt about 3600 ppm and IC60 said it was happy.

Had a big party with lots of kids swimming in the pool (enough that post end of day the water in deep end began getting a bit cloudy).

I checked my IC60 at end of day intending to run boost as well as pour a gallon of leftover liquid chlorine.

I noticed the IC60 flashing green/red which indicates salt level is actually too high. Considering I didn't add any salt, it was level before and the only change was a bunch of sweaty kids in the pool. ....is it actually possible that swimmers can raise salt levels somehow???


Tested my salt the next day (today) and I am at 3600ppm which is well within the threshold and the flashing has since stopped as well indicating it's at a fine level.

Thoughts?

 

[jeffchap]

No, it's more likely the IC60 is inaccurate. I think they can be affected by water temperature too. This is why we only rely upon the Taylor drop test for salt.

 

[wireform]

No nothing adds salt from kids but if you're at the upper limit of salt other products used in pool water can add some too like the jug of chlorine you pour in.

 

[mknauss]

To be sure, did you see the single light flashing for salt or did you see the top two lights flashing which indicates it is at a 12 hour restart.

 

[ionizer]

To be sure, did you see the single light flashing for salt or did you see the top two lights flashing which indicates it is at a 12 hour restart.

I saw the two separate lights flashing, one green, one red.

I don't recall reading about a 12 hr reset, any links to info about it?

 

[ionizer]

No nothing adds salt from kids but if you're at the upper limit of salt other products used in pool water can add some too like the jug of chlorine you pour in.

Right but the chlorine jug was after the flashing....not before

 

[ionizer]

No, it's more likely the IC60 is inaccurate. I think they can be affected by water temperature too. This is why we only rely upon the Taylor drop test for salt.

Fair enough but even if inaccurate, ultimately I have to go by what it says it needs or has 2 much of, even if my test says otherwise, right? At least presumably with a brand new unit that is 2 weeks old

 

[Lake Placid]

Slow green flash is high salt indicator….mine is currently doing this. It will continue to produce chlorine. Salt level in my pool tests at 4190, but the IC is +/- 500 ppm so it thinks salt is high. Meh….

The red and green “railroad“ style flash you describe is either initial power on of the cell for 2 minutes (page 16 of your manual) or an intermittent power supply issue forcing a restart. I have experienced this based on my equipment setup and failures of components. I can’t speak to a 12 hour restart as described above but could be plausible, I’ve just never noticed.

 

[ionizer]

Slow green flash is high salt indicator….mine is currently doing this. It will continue to produce chlorine. Salt level in my pool tests at 4190, but the IC is +/- 500 ppm so it thinks salt is high. Meh….

The red and green “railroad“ style flash you describe is either initial power on of the cell for 2 minutes (page 16 of your manual) or an intermittent power supply issue forcing a restart. I have experienced this based on my equipment setup and failures of components. I can’t speak to a 12 hour restart as described above but could be plausible, I’ve just never noticed.

would a change in the variable speed pump or a re-priming cause the railroad red/green?

 

[Lake Placid]

would a change in the variable speed pump or a re-priming cause the railroad red/green?

I’m not sure. Others need to answer definitively, but I would think a change in flow too low would only trigger the flow light to come on and then when proper flow restored for it to turn off.

 

[Dirk]

Fair enough but even if inaccurate, ultimately I have to go by what it says it needs or has 2 much of, even if my test says otherwise, right?

That's correct. That is the bottom line. You should still use the Taylor salt test kit, though, to monitor how your SWG's built-in salt-o-meter is doing. They do go bad occasionally, and being new or old doesn't really matter. Plus, both the Taylor test and most SWGs are at least 200ppm inaccurate at the typical pool range (around 3K). And not necessarily in the same direction, so your Taylor result could theoretically be off from the SWG by 400ppm. Salt is a "close enough" dealio, but as you've surmised, if you want your SWG to work, it has the final say about salt level.

Humans do, in fact, leave salt behind in a pool. You can hope its sweat, sure, if that makes you feel better! Acid and liquid chlorine also leave salt in the pool when they are done doing their thing. And you can have salt in your fill water, too.

As you know, salt doesn't evaporate, so it collects. But it can get splashed out. I have an auto-leveling system, so my pool loses some salt whenever it rains enough. But other than that, if you want to lower your salt level, you have to exchange water.

 

[mknauss]

Look at your manual and you will see the IC does a restart every 12 hours (if on that long) to check the conductivity of the water (which it relates to a salinity).

 

[jeffchap]

Fair enough but even if inaccurate, ultimately I have to go by what it says it needs or has 2 much of, even if my test says otherwise, right? At least presumably with a brand new unit that is 2 weeks old

Correct. As long as my SWG is happy, I don't bother to test my salt.

 

[ionizer]

Correct. As long as my SWG is happy, I don't bother to test my salt.

Plus it leaves those annoying stains on my finger when I do no matter how careful I am

 

[ionizer]

Look at your manual and you will see the IC does a restart every 12 hours (if on that long) to check the conductivity of the water (which it relates to a salinity).

So it does seem to do this when flow is not good and I guess last time I caught it just as I had upped.the flow.

Here is a picture of my rpm @ 1200 and then what it looks like after I jump it up.


First pic shows red flow and flashing green and red alternating on bad/good lights

Second shows after I bumped up the rpm to a high enough flow it turned green but the alter sting still occurred for another 2 minutes or so

Hard for me to (a) get overhead because of pipe in the way and (b) can't catch both lights due to alternating