Contemplating making the SWCG jump

[Jughead]

I have been on this forum for all of a week now and have gotten some great advice on my chemistry that has worked exactly 100% as-advertised. It is becoming obvious that the best solution for our situation in the long-term is to put in a SWCG so the system can be a bit more self-sufficient during periods of absence. My panel is a Pentair EasyTouch 8 and appears to be already SWCG capable, based on my caveman observation of a 12 amp low voltage breaker labeled "IntelliChlor" in the upper right corner of the panel. The P/N, as best I can discern without taking the front off, is 520583. As I read through the archives it looks like the IC40 is almost a plug-n-play, or as close to that as one gets, provided I can find the right place to plumb it into the system. I don't know if I have the time or inclination to start cutting into the pipes myself, but am I at least barking up the right tree as far what to install?

UPDATE: Further inspection reveals P/N 520593.

 

[jdlangley1]

If I can do it, so can you!!! I had to cut pipe and reroute to make room for mine. Installed this week and love it. Bought in online at polytec pools.

 

[Texas Splash]

As JD noted, if he and thousands of other TFP members can do it, so can you. Feel free to post a few pics of your equipment pad and that plumbing leaving the filter so we can see it from different angles. You can post pics of the panel as well. Lots of folks here who will be glad to help.

 

[Kaylee34]

Do it! You won’t regret it.

 

[Lake Placid]

Do it! You won’t regret it.

The only regret you will have is why you waited so long to do it to begin with.

 

[Newdude]

Having the right automation is HUGE. It removes the electric component. My controller needed 240V run in conduit to the pool panel breaker. Yours plugs in and you twist the lock on the end of it.

YouTube how to cut/glue PVC pipe. Buy a 2 ft piece and a few $2 fittings. It takes 2 tries to be a master at it. Get your practice on and the SWG will be cake on your 3rd rodeo.

 

[Jughead]

Thank you for the votes of confidence, I hope I can live up to the expectations.

Here are a few photos - there isn’t a lot of room to move further from the house because of the fence. My initial Ogg the Caveman idea would be to take the 45 degree pipe coming off the solar heat check valve and make into a right angle with either the vertical or horizontal leg being the SWCG. I never like hypotenuses anyway.

 

[Newdude]

make into a right angle with either the vertical or horizontal leg being the SWCG. I never like hypotenuses anyway.

That works. The ICXXs need to be horizontal or upflow because of the internal flow switch. If it has downflow, gravity could close the switch without flow and then then boom.

It actually looks like it would fit in the hypotenuse. Or reroute it, even obershooting the target if need be and looping back to it.

Forgive the drawing skills of a 2nd grader.

 

[Lake Placid]

With the 12-18” straight run requirement on the inlet side, the detailed schematic as drawn is the best plan IMO. I dont think it would fit directly in the hypotenuse and meet the pre cell length called out by Pentair.

 

[Jughead]

I found a lot about horizontal mounting, some about vertical mounting, but nothing about having Pythagoras do the install on a 45. Seemed like maybe an extra variable that I didn’t need to introduce. If that keeps the whole thing from looking like the old Windows XP screensaver pipes, though, and doesn’t affect function I’d sure consider it.

 

[Newdude]

My PB put my last one on a 90 directly from the heater with no straight pipe. It ran mint for 8 years before moving.

With 2 inch plumbing, I'd use the hypotenuse if it fits. It's possible you could have flow switch problems afterwards and would have to redo it, but PVC fittings are cheap. The SWG unions are $25 for the pair and elbows are $7 each.

It's worth the risk IMO to not have Italian plumbers looking for the warp zone at your equipment pad.

 

[Lake Placid]

ok can’t resist

 

[Jughead]

So I pulled the front off of the panel this afternoon just to see what I could see. Am I seeing this right, that the plug at the lower left corner of the panel with green/red/black wires coming out of it and a four pin female (can I still say that?) connector is where the SWCG plugs in?

The pump runs 24/7 - seven hours a day at 2100 rpm to power the floor cleaner and the rest of the time at low speed to keep the water moving and filtering. I have no idea what the pump output is in gph so don’t know if I need to plumb in a bypass or just constrain the flow using pump speed, if I’m even close to the 80gpm they say needs a bypass in the first place.

Can it really be that simple? Cut out a section of PVC, fill it with a generator, plug in the connector, dump an alarming amount of salt into the water, and watch it go?

 

[Newdude]

Am I seeing this right, that the plug at the lower left corner of the panel with green/red/black wires coming out of it and a four pin female (can I still say that?) connector is where the SWCG plugs in?

Yup. The universe is shining upon you. The standalone controllers are $500 and hard to find.

Can it really be that simple? Cut out a section of PVC, fill it with a generator, plug in the connector, dump an alarming amount of salt into the water, and watch it go?

Exactly that simple. Like I said, YouTube it and buy some parts to make *2* practice tries for $15. Then go for real and you're already a master PVC guy.

Test the baseline salt with your new k-1766 salt test, buy enough per poolmath to get you the rest of the way. Dump in 75% of what you got. Let it mix for a full day. Test and creep up to the target. Fire up the SWG.

It's about as easy as it gets. We'll be there too just in case.

 

[Jughead]

It looks like other than getting my hands on a salt cell I’ve run out of excuses, just need to find the time now.

I’ve read elsewhere about rusting issues. We don’t have any ladders or rails but I don‘t know about the internals of the equipment. I’ve seen sacrificial zinc mentioned a time or two - is that something I need to concern myself with?

 

[Texas Splash]

sacrificial zinc mentioned a time or two - is that something I need to get concern myself with?

@JoyfulNoise has all but confirmed that they are not a beneficial as some would think. If you manage your salt and chemistry levels per TFP guidance, corrosion should not be an issue. More than anything, it's the way a product was manufactured (materials and/or outer protection) that lends itself to corrosion.

 

[Newdude]

I’ve read elsewhere about rusting issues

All hogwash my good man. The salt pool is 10% the salinity of the ocean. A 'chlorine pool' is 5% - 7.5% the salinity of the ocean.

Then salt doesn't evaporate so there is no worries away from the pool. If anything in or around your pool rusts it of poor quality and the moisture would have taken it out either way.