Plumbing updates input requested.

[sterfrydude]

Hi Everyone,
We moved into a house here last October. I've been working on various projects and now the pool is getting some attention... The chlorine feeder is leaking and I decided to replace it with a salt cell with the omnilogic control that I previously upgraded. The heater was replaced right before we moved in and the polaris pump we replaced after the other one was leaking...

Anyway, I have the cell here but I'm seeing that we're going to need to make adjustments to get the cell to fit into the area where the feeder currently lives. I never like anything to be too simple so looking at all of this has me wondering if we should try to reconfigure the plumbing in a slightly more efficient manner. This is where I'm looking for input.

Another consideration I have is that we have a heat pump that we had with our old pool (a Fibropool F120). I know it's a not rated for a pool quite as large as ours but it has a cooling function and I had thought that it might suffice to keep the temp in place with the gas heater backup. First question -- is this a worthless endeavor; second question -- how would we plumb it (i think it could be mounted above the gas heater but we're tight on space)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HermanTX]

Which salt cell specifically have you purchased?
Coming from the heater there is a check valve then it leads to the chlorinator. With a SWCG you will not need the check valve and depending on the SWCG it may have a separate flow switch, or it may be built into the SWCG.
A SWCG can also go vertical if space is tight.
Taking the pipe from the exit of the heater, go back farther and make the loop back to the 3-way diverter valve. Ideally the flow switch should have 10 inches of straight before it but you can get by with less.

Maybe others can input about adding a Heat Pump with a Heater.

 

[sterfrydude]

I went with the hayward t-cell-9 because it’ll work with the omni logic. There’s already a flow switch installed just after the chlorinator currently.

 

[HermanTX]

I went with the hayward t-cell-9 because it’ll work with the omni logic. There’s already a flow switch installed just after the chlorinator currently.

Ok so it appears to have room for the SWCG or you can go vertical if needed. Is the existing flow switch compatible with the new SWCG? The literature I found on the T-Cell 9 does not indicate if it is shipped with its own dedicated flow switch.
I see the T-9 is rated for 25k gal pools so that is good as we recommend a SWCG that is 2x your pool volume.

 

[pjt]

If you're replumbing a few things, now would be a good opportunity to install an external heater bypass. Since you already have a check valve on the output of your heater, you just need a 3-way diverter and a T fitting.

 

[sterfrydude]

If you're replumbing a few things, now would be a good opportunity to install an external heater bypass. Since you already have a check valve on the output of your heater, you just need a 3-way diverter and a T fitting.

would you recommend that in addition to the bypass built into the heater?

i was able to make very minor modification and get the salt cell in. it appears to be functioning as expected but i don’t know how to verify that other than waiting and testing the water.

i am still interested in maximizing efficiency in the system if i can but that might need to wait until the pump fails on me. i believe i saw that it was replaced a few years ago so probably has some life still.

 

[pjt]

would you recommend that in addition to the bypass built into the heater?

I didn't know your heater had a bypass built in. How is it designed to work? The external bypass is good since you get the benefits of increased efficiency and you can disconnect the heater for maintenance etc. and still operate your system.

 

[HermanTX]

i was able to make very minor modification and get the salt cell in. it appears to be functioning as expected but i don’t know how to verify that other than waiting and testing the water.

Show us a photo of this. We love to see photos.

 

[sterfrydude]

I didn't know your heater had a bypass built in. How is it designed to work? The external bypass is good since you get the benefits of increased efficiency and you can disconnect the heater for maintenance etc. and still operate your system.

yeah it's this model here. Gas Pool Heater: JXi Pool Heater | Jandy the valve automatically activates the flow when it's running and then switches off when it's not in use. I believe it even allows for some cooldown time. You're correct that it wouldn't allow for any use with the heater out of service but it does have the efficiency boost. Since I was considering auxiliary heat I might just wait to do both at the same time; this heater was installed in October so hopefully I'll get some time out of it before needing to have it replaced!

as you can see I really did nothing but shorten one pipe and put the new coupling on... i was a bit anxious to just get it going. now i've had it running and have chlorine up but need to check everything after all the rain we've had. next up i'll probably work on adding an acid doser but still need more research on that...

 

[pjt]

You'll probably be fine with the VersaFlo. I don't know if it has the same efficiency as an external bypass, but it's much better than having the water flow through the heat exchanger all the time.

Your cell should have the hump oriented towards the ground. Since you removed your tab feeder, you don't need the check valve after the heater anymore. You can just remove the flapper from the check valve.

next up i'll probably work on adding an acid doser but still need more research on that

I thought about adding one to my system, but decided against it. Manual MA dosing is simple, reliable, and fast. A MA dosing pump seems like more trouble than it's worth, but some people like them.

 

[sterfrydude]

Thanks, I'll see how the PH is and see if it's too much of a bother.

Re-the cell position -- I was questioning it, but the instruction says it can be placed upside down to help with VS pumps, which we don't have. I had considered putting it upside down thinking it seems like the better option but looking at the housing I can't tell how well it is sealed. There is a seam along the bottom where the electrical connections are. Even though our equipment is covered, the shed isn't totally weatherproof. I guess the question is which is going to be better for longevity?

 

[sterfrydude]

Another question on this... I'm now realizing that based on the cell size and our pool, temp, etc. we're going to need to run the pump quite a long time to reach the correct chlorination levels and/or we need to run the cell at maximum output. Both of those don't seem like great options one for electrical usage and one for the longevity of the cell.

My question is should I return the 20k gal rated cell and swap it for the 40k rated cell? The cost difference is $200 but it seems like we'd easily save that in running our pump less or am I wrong here?