Went out of town and restarting the new pool process

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marpar80

marpar80

0
May 29, 2018
66
fort smith, ar
Ok, so we went of town for a week and had the chemicals all in check. When we got back the SWG was reading low and the cell isn't on, flow is green and all the percentages are flashing. I'm quite confused on this. Now that I'm researching I'm finding that I should have the swg turned off fully until I get all chemicals in check, is that something ya'll agree on?? Also I am reading about TDS. Should I be testing for dissolved solids? I have never even heard of that before. Thoughts?? I'm vacuuming up the dirt for the next couple of hours and plan on testing. Also, can you use an alternative to Cyanuric Acid to raise it? Is there a liquid form?? Thanks in advance. Also, once you get your numbers in check what typically do you keep your SWG on and also VSP? I live in Arkansas where it gets pretty hot in the summer. The VSP and SWG are brand new to us. Everyone says it's easy, but I am difficulties figuring it all out.
 
I can’t tell you what happened to your pool while you were gone but if you post a complete set of tests, including a salt test, we can help you get it fixed.

There is no reason to turn off yiur SWG when away. Bad water chemistry, other then low salt, should not cause a SWG to turn off.

TDS is meaningless to us. We care about the individual components that we measure - salt, cya, ch, etc.

Granular stabilizer added by the sock method is the best to use if you need to increase your CYA. Liquid stabilizer is ok but it can solidify in the bottle if let to sit around.

You need to run your SWG and pump enough to generate the FC your pool needs. Give us more details in your signature about gallons in your pool and model SWG cell. It takes a bit of time to find the proper pump run time and SWG % for your local pool conditions. We can give you some guidance on where to begin the process.

Have you reviewed this - Salt Water Chlorine Generators - Trouble Free Pool and Water Balance for SWGs - Trouble Free Pool
 
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marpar80 said:
Thank you! I will test and let you know. I read in the manual to turn off SWG for 24 hours when adding salt originally. Is that not accurate?
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That is correct. Turn off SWG, add salt, wait 24 hours, turn SWG on, test your salt level using your test kit and see if SWG is happy generating. Repeat as needed if salt is still low.

You said
I'm finding that I should have the swg turned off fully until I get all chemicals in check
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You don’t need to have the SWG off for ALL chemicals. Just off while the salt is dissolving for 24 hours.
 
Ok here are my numbers! Better than I expected!!
Salt- 3000
FC- 3.5
CC-0
PH-7.6
TA-50
CA-50
We had been running the pump 24/7 so I think that is what use up the salt, because when we left it was 4600. We have a VSP, so do ya'll have any recommendations on how to run it throughout the day so it doesn't use the salt up? Is it just a try and see thing? Also, what is the typical percentage you keep your SWG on to generate salt? With these numbers should I add bleach or just add salt?? I just looked at pool school and it's saying 70-80 on CYA. Is that accurate??
 
Salt is not consumed by the SWG. The only way you lose salt is by dilution or draining the pool. The salt regenerates itself in the chemical process from salt to chlorine to CCs back to salt. Amazing!

The Pentair 520555 is the IC40. Note that in your signature.

The IC40 is undersized for your 35K pool. We recommend a cell that is 2X the pool volume. The IC40 is sized for a 40K pool if run 24/7 at close to 100%. Someday when you replace the cell get an IC60 sized for a 60K pool.

You need to run your pump 24/7 at a speed sufficient for the SWG flow switch. And run the IC40 24/7 at 90%. Then adjust the % as needed if your FC gets above or below target.

CYA with a SWG should be 60-80. Add some stabilizer using the sock method.
 
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marpar80 said:
Do you think I should ask our builder if I can switch out ic40 with ic60 and pay difference since it's only a week old?
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Yes, even worth spending a bit of money for the swap. He should have known better.
 
marpar80 said:
What rpm do ya'll recommend running my pump? This is our second pool, but had a single speed pump and had chlorine only.
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Enough RPM to close the IC40 flow switch for it to run. 1500 - 1800 rpm usually works. Lower your rpm until the low flow light turns on then add 100 - 200 rpm.
 
ajw22 said:
Salt is not consumed by the SWG. The only way you lose salt is by dilution or draining the pool. The salt regenerates itself in the chemical process from salt to chlorine to CCs back to salt. Amazing!

The Pentair 520555 is the IC40. Note that in your signature.

The IC40 is undersized for your 35K pool. We recommend a cell that is 2X the pool volume. The IC40 is sized for a 40K pool if run 24/7 at close to 100%. Someday when you replace the cell get an IC60 sized for a 60K pool.

You need to run your pump 24/7 at a speed sufficient for the SWG flow switch. And run the IC40 24/7 at 90%. Then adjust the % as needed if your FC gets above or below target.

CYA with a SWG should be 60-80. Add some stabilizer using the sock method.
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So will I need to run my pump 24/7 always with the SWG or did you just mean until I can get it figured out? I got a VSP in hopes of running at less speeds and saving some money. I have asked the pool builder to switch out and am waiting on a response. I am disappointed that I spent all this extra money and he didn't even have the right info or add the right cell.
 
marpar80 said:
So will I need to run my pump 24/7 always with the SWG or did you just mean until I can get it figured out? I got a VSP in hopes of running at less speeds and saving some money.
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With the IC40 you need to run your pump 24/7 at low RPM to keep generating chlorine. You can run it at any RPM that closes the flow switch. Usually around 1500 rpm will work. Find the RPM where the IC40 indicates low flow then add 100-200 rpm. That doesn't use much energy.
 

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