Pentair IC30 or IC40?

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cthomas37

0
Apr 4, 2017
10
Hartsville, SC
I am having some confusion with my pool guys...I have a 27,000gal pool by their measurements and they have recommended a Pentair IC30. I find nothing on google when I look up the IC30 - only the IC40 comes up. I am in the process of switching my system from a copper ionizer and I am very new at the pool thing. As in I have no idea what half the things posted in this thread mean. :shock: I do know I have a Heyward pump. I researched and talked and read and chose to go with Pentair because I really liked/trusted this pool company I chose and they are a Pentair warranty company. Reviews on the two systems made me lean Pentair. I had thought it would be the IC40 they put in but they are saying with my size pool I need a IC30....can someone advise if this sounds correct?
 
Welcome to TFP!

There is no IC30 that I am aware of. And if there were it isn't big enough for your pool anyway. We recommend sizing your SWG 2-3 times bigger than your pool so that you don't have to run your pump as long to make sufficient chlorine. During mid-summer you would likely need to run an IC40 nearly 24x7 to produce enough chlorine for the pool. I would recommend an IC60 for your pool, it doesn't cost much more and it makes quite a bit more chlorine per hour than the IC40 so you can run your pump less.
 
Pentair iChlor 30 is the actual name of it...I just bumped another thread with my question on it...hmmm seems I need to call my pool guy back...

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I do have a brochure on it and I have the actual system here...so I do know it exists.IMG_6548.jpgIMG_6549.jpg

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pooldv - I appreciate your commenting and taking the time to help a newbie who is also obviously a lurker - you've already helped me more than these brochures have!
 
My pool is roughly the same size as yours, and I went with the IC60. I can tell you that with just a little bit of sunlight, my FC drops quite rapidly since I have my CYA quite low at the moment and the IC60 has a tough time keeping up. We haven't used the pool yet, but I've just been experimenting. If I open the cover on the pool to clean it up on a sunny 70 degree day, my FC diminishes really fast. Personally, I wouldn't go any smaller.
 
dw886 said:
My pool is roughly the same size as yours, and I went with the IC60. I can tell you that with just a little bit of sunlight, my FC drops quite rapidly since I have my CYA quite low at the moment and the IC60 has a tough time keeping up. We haven't used the pool yet, but I've just been experimenting. If I open the cover on the pool to clean it up on a sunny 70 degree day, my FC diminishes really fast. Personally, I wouldn't go any smaller.
Click to expand...

In an SWG pool, you need to keep your CYA above 70ppm. 70-90 is the recommended level; this helps a lot to keep the FC stable.
 
Hmmm. I've completely lost trust in the company I chose :( Which is not good at this point...

Monday they came in and did the install without me being home. And apparently without measuring my pool (I'm a new pool owner).
The install guy - talked to him on the phone - claimed this was the best system.

Owner - I talked to him 2 weeks before and he said pool would need to be measured before install - obvious lack of communication within their company is now obvious.

Pool has been running on 100% for 4 days and still cloudy and chlorine not up to par - haven't tested other items.

We get full sun. South Carolina pool.

I just called and left a message for owner to call me back. Not happy customer. An install guy is on the way to my house now to look at it.

I'm angry at myself because I thought I was able to trust 'experts' to know what was best...seems I should have been just doing all the legwork myself. I hate the feeling like I've been taken advantage of.
 
Well I just got off the phone with my pool company...some miscommunication and I think it's going to be ok in the end...they had thought I told them I had a 20K pool and that's what they ran with and didn't actually measure...they reviewed their paperwork to see that it's actually 27K and are recommending they switch it to the IC40....the person I talked to said that they don't do IC60 on a pool my size and that a 40 should be able to handle it. They have a note out to the owner to double check with him on his thoughts.

I feel so much better about all this - I was really freaking out and getting annoyed at everything but I honestly think it was a communication problem that can easily be solved by everyone just talking...sheesh :) If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a women and like to re-think and talk my way through things.
 
Mine is 28,000 gal, and in upstate SC the IC-40 seems to work fine in mid-summer. I run the pump 12 hours per day and set it to 60%, keep debris out, and maintain CYA. The cell may produce less over time, so at some point you may have to bump it to 80%, then 100%, and then increase the on time. But less than IC-40 would not be recommended at all.
 
I still say it's inadequate. Here are some numbers for you -

An IC40 produces 1.4lbs of chlorine gas per day, that's 22.4oz per day.

In a 27k gallon pool, 22.4oz of chlorine gas will raise the FC by 6.2ppm per day.

A clean and clear swimming pool will lose anywhere from 2-4ppm FC per day.

So, if you want to add 3ppm of FC per day to keep up with the natural loses from UV light, then you will need to run the SWG at 100% output for 11 hours per day. That also means your pump will have to run for 11 hours per day (since SWGs only produce chlorine when the water if flowing). This increases utility costs.

Also, SWG's only have a finite amount of lifetime. Most manufacturers will quote that it runs for about 10,000 hours but real world experience puts that closer to 8,000 hours. So, the less you run your SWG, the longer it will last and the better return on investment you will get. You can read all about it here -

Economics of Saltwater Chlorine Generators
 

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A few notes:

The ichlor30 is a new product from Pentair.

I would install an IC60 on your size of pool. An IC40 will handle it but as Matt states the IC60 will let you run the pump less hours and the SWG cell will last longer with the IC60 size.

A SWG is great for maintaining the proper amount of chlorine in a clear pool. They are not meant to clear a cloudy pool and the pool must go through a process we call a SLAM. Read the link for SLAM in my signature for more information.
 
Philo - I have a Heyward Pump...my electric bill that I just got yesterday is for April 2 - March 3 and has on it that the avg kWh per day was 65.

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Well after listening to the advice of complete online strangers, I expressed my concerns to the pool tech who came out this afternoon. He agreed that if I was willing to pay the diff in price of the 40 to 60 then he would go with the 60. At first he thought it was too big of a system but by the time I told him it was 27K gal and that I had full sun and that I was willing to pay the $ up front in order to save $ on my electric and expand the life of my cell, well he was sold that the 60 made more sense. Kinda strange that I had to convince the pool guy that a 60 made more sense - usually it's the other way around...Sheesh. This is too much thinking all in one day for me.
 
ct,

If I had known it was going to be that easy I would have offered to sell you shares in a couple of bridges I own in Brooklyn... :p

I believe that you made a very wise investment...

Thanks for the update..

Jim R.
 
cthomas37 said:
Philo - I have a Heyward Pump...my electric bill that I just got yesterday is for April 2 - March 3 and has on it that the avg kWh per day was 65.

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Well after listening to the advice of complete online strangers, I expressed my concerns to the pool tech who came out this afternoon. He agreed that if I was willing to pay the diff in price of the 40 to 60 then he would go with the 60. At first he thought it was too big of a system but by the time I told him it was 27K gal and that I had full sun and that I was willing to pay the $ up front in order to save $ on my electric and expand the life of my cell, well he was sold that the 60 made more sense. Kinda strange that I had to convince the pool guy that a 60 made more sense - usually it's the other way around...Sheesh. This is too much thinking all in one day for me.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, most of these guys don't know a thing about the product they are dealing with other then where the ON/OFF switch is and even fewer understand their operation and chemistry in any real detail. So most of them just believe the marketing literature they get from their sales reps and they think that you just size a cell according to the pool volume as the manufacturer specifies. The techs also probably hate these systems because most pool owners never want to be bothered with actual maintenance issues regarding the pool they own and they just want the tech to "fix it now". Without any detailed knowledge, these units just turn into "black boxes" that the pool owner knows nothing about except that it's supposed to "do something" that "makes chlorine". Then, when problems do crop up, everyone just gets frustrated, they throw up their hands in defeat, and drop a few trichlor pucks in a floater and call it a day.

I'm glad you found TFP...you will be very happy that you did too....
 
"Philo - I have a Heyward Pump...my electric bill that I just got yesterday is for April 2 - March 3 and has on it that the avg kWh per day was 65."

I was going to double check that you were had or were getting a variable speed pump and mention how much electricity you would save vs. a single speed pump. 65 KWh per day is a lot..... The price of each KWh is equally important (it's on the bill also).
Mine is $0.40 at top tier and some on this forum are at $0.10. BIG difference in the monthly bill.
 
Philo - my bill is 197.97 total for that month so that would put me around .10/kWh if I did my math right. Our bill runs at the high end of average in our area for an almost 4,000sf house...we also have kids that constantly leave lights on (when told not), doors open �� and we run our air/heat (depending on season) to keep the temp at 71/72 year round.
 

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