Startup SWG chlorinator salt for new pool

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3500 ppm will be fine. If you get any amount of overflow from rain, good idea to stay above the minimum a bit.

There is a chance some can taste salt at that level. But they should not be drinking pool water anyway!
 
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mknauss said:
3500 ppm will be fine. If you get any amount of overflow from rain, good idea to stay above the minimum a bit.

There is a chance some can taste salt at that level. But they should not be drinking pool water anyway!
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ok great, watermaid say 3000 to 4000, but in a further read they recommend 4000, so as u say 3500 should be fine as it running now at 2720,

i am still messing with trying to get cya level up, tested again today get 50 faint, 40 black dot gone, so i am trusting my eyesight and going with 40, i am aiming for 70, pool math says add 1.1kilo of stabilzer so i will do that, but seems i keep adding over time and dont seem to get it up there, anyway i got 1.1 kilo hanging in pool now....
seems ongoing maintenance here i hope 1 day i get to the point where i am not testing every week and tweeking every week or so, i am still tweeking swg output and run time its ongoing and going and more ongoing.....
 
Here's the rub.. your SWG will monitor the salinity on its own. And the SWG uses those self salinity measurements to control the operation of the cell. But the measurements aren't exact, especially when compared to precise independent salinity tests.. so you have walk the line between being aware of the true salinity, but still keep it at a level that will keep the SWG happy. And when those two numbers diverge, its usually an indication of a cell or controller issue.
 
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I wouldn't be too hung up on having it below 3200ppm for salt taste reasons. It's not that the water tastes fresh at 3100ppm and suddenly incredibly salty at 3300ppm. Each individual will experience that differently. Just try what works for you. See how 3500 or 3700 works for you. Just don't tell your family that you added salt, they probably won't notice a thing. Worst case would be that you give your filter a good backwash and top up with fresh water to get the salt level down again.

My SWG works best between 4000 and 5000 ppm, but can go up to 8000ppm and down to 3000ppm. At the start of summer I usually go up to about 4700ppm. I still hardly notice any salt taste. With winter rains it usually goes down to about 3500ppm before I start adding salt again. Like that I really don't have to worry much about salt.
 
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68,

Salt should only get consumed by draining the pool during downpours or when you manually drain. Don't know if you have that in your area or not but here in Florida we definitely do. So every time I've gotten 4 downpours I check salt with a Taylor K1766 kit. It's the only good test you can find for personal use in the US and it's accurate to about 200 ppm. Strips are about 500 ppm accuracy and if that's all you can get it's better than the cell's reported accuracy as it ages. Looks to me that your cell has plenty of production for your pool. I don't think salt taste should drive the salt range you choose. It's barely detectable for most and many like the softer feel, especially ladies. My wife and daughter in laws say it feels like a spa. Since we get frequent downpours I run the high end of salt range then test and top off after 4 downpours. This keeps me in the range. If I didn't have the downpours to worry about I'd stay mid-range. Also, watch your water balance for long cell life. Keep within TFP ranges and your CSI will be slightly negative. This reduces the tendency for deposits on the cell. I've done so and after 2 years am still on the same power and run time with no detectable deterioration on the cell and no cleaning.

I hope this helps.

Chris
 
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Hey Tony! Good to hear from you. 3500 is fine. Or 3200, or anywhere in between. If you're confident you'll be eventually getting a lot of rain, which will help keep salt from accumulating over time, then go for 3500. Salt test results can be off by 10%. The SWG's internal salt test can be off by at least that. If they're both off, but in the opposite direction, then that can really mess up what's what. That's what the buffer is for, to help account for the possible discrepancy.

Whether you can taste salt or not, sorry, irrelevant. You need to maintain the level of salt at which your SWG will work. If you or the fam can taste that... oh well.

Edit: whatever your minimum salt level is supposed to be, add 200-400 to that for your target level.
 
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Not quite sure what the obsession about salt taste is all about. Are you all drinking the pool? Pool water does sometimes get in my mouth, but I don't swallow it, and I don't really care what it tastes like, because I try to avoid it in the first place! 🤪

Some claim the water of a salt water pool feels nicer than a non-SWG pool. Which I think is true. In which case a little extra salt will make the water feel a little extra nice. As in "silkier." It's no where near the salinity of the ocean, which has at least 10 times more salt.

To each his own. Like a said, it's mostly academic. You should run your salt at the low end of the range, and whatever that number is is what it is. Is.
 
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Dirk said:
Not quite sure what the obsession about salt taste is all about. Are you all drinking the pool? Pool water does sometimes get in my mouth, but I don't swallow it, and I don't really care what it tastes like, because I try to avoid it in the first place! 🤪
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Because it interferes with the salt flavor on the rim of my Margaritas. 🍸🍹
 
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hi, actually i am not fussed about salt taste, another knowledgeable member mention one time about staying at 3200 there is no taste there, and i have just repeated his comment, but to be honest who cares about taste not me, i just thought lower salt would be better for corrosion reasons, or i thought too much salt would cause dry skin, all that, but from all the responses here it seems a bit higher is no issue.....
so as said mine runs 3000 to 4000 so i will go in the middle at 3500 ....thanks again everybody
 
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mgtfp said:
I usually go up to about 4700ppm.
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hi always good to hear from you, so got a question on what you said, ok so mine runs 3000 to 4000, forget salt taste i shouldn't have mentioned that its no concern, so 3500 would be in the middle of my swg range, i will go for that, i am wondering lets say i am running at 3500ppm and all is going fine, i run swg at 100%, adjust hours, so all seems good, but lets say i run at 4000ppm does this mean my swg will produce more Chlorine? run more efficient, like my swg works at 3000ppm but will it work better and produce more at 4000ppm ?
 
FIESTA62 said:
i didnt realize more salt makes water feel softer, i was thinking more salt might make skin feel dry and maybe itchy , but if it makes water softer then hey more salt then.....3500...thanks
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I don't know what the perfect number is. Non-SWG pool water can feel harsh-ish, for some. Ocean water definitely is not comfortable when you get out. You kind'a feel sticky. But the range that keeps an SWG happy seems to be ideal. Kinda like the difference between a hard-water shower and a soft-water shower, if you've ever noticed the difference.
 
FIESTA62 said:
but lets say i run at 4000ppm does this mean my swg will produce more Chlorine? run more efficient, like my swg works at 3000ppm but will it work better and produce more at 4000ppm ?
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Not sure how strong the dependency is, but there probably is an optimum salt level. Too high is not good as the current through the cell will get too high, but too low is not good either. I haven't noticed too much of an influence as long as I stay in the recommended range.
 
mgtfp said:
Too high is not good as the current through the cell will get too high
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hi, i called watermaid today they are so helpful always happy to talk, he said its not going to really make much or any difference if i am 3000 or 4000, as long as it dont get too low , he said around 2500 is too low, he did say he would prefer i ran at 4000, as the lower its run at the more current needed to produce chlorine, and too much current will shorten cell life,
but really he said its not a big deal just keep above 3000, when i pushed for what he would do he said 4000 is best, on this unit for efficiency
anyway i dumped and 20kg in today, and will test in a few days, aiming for 3500 to 4000
and also yesterday another 1.1kg of stabilzer, yep still messing with that !
 
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