Question for salt chlorinator Owners

[Tal.1986]

Hi all,
If you own a salt water pool (with chlorinator of course), does it means you don't use a service company for regular maintenance?
wondering if there's a need to pay those service companies as the chlorinator does all the work of me anyway.
I know there are other parameters to look but seriously, how hard does it gets to understand the pH level?

Thanks

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! There is no need to pay for a service to take care of your SWG. If your water is properly balanced and calcium/pH levels well controlled, the potential for getting calcium scale in the SWG cell plates is minimal. Even if you do get scale on the cell plates, it's an owner-user maintenance that can be performed. See more about this and TFP in the links below.

Pool Care Basics

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Water Balance for SWGs

Saltwater pools are becoming more and more popular. We discuss How salt generators work and water balance tips for SWGs to run them.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mgtfp]

Welcome to the forum.

It is always possible to maintain a pool without a pool company. But it's certainly easier with a SWG.

In fact, maintaining your pool yourself is not hard at all. It will save you lots of money and will most likely end up with a much cleaner and more enjoyable pool.

Have a look through the Pool Care Basics, pay particular attention to the FC/CYA Levels. Get a recommended test kit (Test Kits Compared) - see if you can get a Taylor 2006C to Israel. Have a good browse through the forum and fire away with your questions.

 

[setsailsoon]

Tal,

Welcome to TFP! I think it's fair to say most of us do not use pool service whether we have a salt pool or a traditional chlorine pool. Of course both are really chlorine pools. It's just a matter of where the chlorine comes from. I think it's also fair to say that most of us would agree a salt pool is much easier to care for than a traditional pool. Yes there is a little more to it than just chlorine level. But TFP methodology makes it about as easy as it can be. And also about as cheap as it can be to have a gorgeous pool with minimal effort and very low cost. Read through the references Pat pointed to you to above And you'll see this is indeed pretty easy. Why don't you give it a try? One thing you can always rely on is completely unbiased advice from our volunteers on this site. We sell nothing. There are a few requirements to use this methodology and the most significant one is to get a good test kit. We recommend two different kinds. And there are some brands that seem to be easier to get overseas.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

 

[markayash]

We travel and are gone for 2 weeks or more. When I leave my Chlorine is 7..When I get back the water is clear and the Chlorine is still 7.
Before I never knew if I would come back to a pool or a swamp, especially in early spring.

 

[Newdude]

Going SWG is actually a great way to ensure that the pool service does an adequate job. You handle the chemistry with very little effort needed and they can do the cleanings and manual labor stuff, for those that aren't physically able or don't wish to.

If you're physically able and don't mind investing some elbow grease cleaning the pool/skimmers/filter etc, an SWG and the super helpful TFP army will make the chemistry a breeze for you.

 

[Rossterman]

Super simple to diy maintain. you’ll have to treat occasionally as pH rises with muriatic acid but most other parameters won’t change much over time.

 

[phonedave]

We travel and are gone for 2 weeks or more. When I leave my Chlorine is 7..When I get back the water is clear and the Chlorine is still 7.
Before I never knew if I would come back to a pool or a swamp, especially in early spring.

About the only thing I need to do when I return from vacation is give the pool a good vacuuming. Everything else is just about the same levels as when I left it.

 

[Newdude]

I go on a two week staycation every 2 weeks.


I'm home and keep an eye on it of course, but it just stays stupid clear.

 

[markayash]

I go on a two week staycation every 2 weeks.


I'm home and keep an eye on it of course, but it just stays stupid clear.

You do go through withdrawals at first “ going out to balance my pool! “
Then realize it’s perfect and your not needed anymore

 

[mgtfp]

Was away last week. The only thing I didn't consider was this:



That's at the peak of summer mind you. Bloody Melbourne.

So, my SWG produced way too much chlorine for the weather conditions, and when I got back, my FC was "a bit" higher than planned, but still well below SLAM. No harm done, just dialed the SWG back for a couple of days.

Apart from that no issues. My son took care of the skimmer and water levels (which turned out not to be a concern anyway after this weather change). Family already took care of most of the leaves that this Antarctic blast blew into the pool, just needed to hook up the cleaner.

I love my SWG .

 

[Poolnerdgrandma]

Going SWG is actually a great way to ensure that the pool service does an adequate job. You handle the chemistry with very little effort needed and they can do the cleanings and manual labor stuff, for those that aren't physically able or don't wish to.

If you're physically able and don't mind investing some elbow grease cleaning the pool/skimmers/filter etc, an SWG and the super helpful TFP army will make the chemistry a breeze for you.

And if you have a robot, and put a hairnet in your skimmer, that's even less work. We do have to wrestle the filter every few months, and lug salt to the pool a couple of times a year.

 

[Mdragger88]

@Tal.Sade ,
As others have mentioned the swg definitely does the heavy lifting for maintaining free chlorine levels, depending upon your pool you may need to dose regularly with Muriatic acid to maintain ph & of course test & maintain the other parameters as well (cya, ch, ta) however those are not generally as frequently adjusted as fc needs to be.
This is easily doable by a homeowner. The only reason to have a service is if you’re gone for long periods of time or to do the manual labor like vacuuming but it’s very likely that for a few months costs in pool service visits you could just buy a robotic pool cleaner that can run every day if you want. You are located in the land of Maytronics after all. You might be able to get one even when availability is scarce here.
With a swg & a robot the pool just needs you to dump the skimmers & bot occasionally, test regularly & enjoy .

 

[phonedave]

You do go through withdrawals at first “ going out to balance my pool! “
Then realize it’s perfect and your not needed anymore

My hot tub keeps me from those withdrawals (No SWGC in that - yet)

 

[1poolman1]

Hi all,
If you own a salt water pool (with chlorinator of course), does it means you don't use a service company for regular maintenance?
wondering if there's a need to pay those service companies as the chlorinator does all the work of me anyway.
I know there are other parameters to look but seriously, how hard does it gets to understand the pH level?

Thanks

When I actively serviced pools (I've concentrated on repairs for the last 30 years) I would regularly tell potential customers that they don't really need me if they are willing to do what I do at least twice a month. I was there weekly.
Service is more than just maintaining chemical balance. Besides the menial chores of brushing, cleaning baskets in the skimmer and pump, emptying pools cleaners, cleaning filters, etc., it is maintaining the pool equipment, catching safety issues that might crop up from time to time. Someone stepping on the flex conduit running to a pump and exposing the conductors was a very common occurrence. Had one pool that was, apparently, on some kind of route that deer took, right through the equipment area. They could do some damage until I finally convinced the owner to install a fence. He liked to look out a window and see if the equipment was working, leaking, etc. and didn't want to obstruct the view. For some reason, they liked to chew on valve handles and booster-pump hoses.
Looking for a leak at the equipment, particularly the pump seal, should be done each time the equipment pad is visited. Rodent damage to exposed wiring for automation is very common in many areas, especially more rural ones. Catch it early, just like a pump seal leak, and the repair and frustration is minimal. And the list goes on.
Is it DIY friendly? Yes, if you DIY regularly.

 

[phonedave]

When I actively serviced pools (I've concentrated on repairs for the last 30 years) I would regularly tell potential customers that they don't really need me if they are willing to do what I do at least twice a month. I was there weekly.
Service is more than just maintaining chemical balance. Besides the menial chores of brushing, cleaning baskets in the skimmer and pump, emptying pools cleaners, cleaning filters, etc., it is maintaining the pool equipment, catching safety issues that might crop up from time to time. Someone stepping on the flex conduit running to a pump and exposing the conductors was a very common occurrence. Had one pool that was, apparently, on some kind of route that deer took, right through the equipment area. They could do some damage until I finally convinced the owner to install a fence. He liked to look out a window and see if the equipment was working, leaking, etc. and didn't want to obstruct the view. For some reason, they liked to chew on valve handles and booster-pump hoses.
Looking for a leak at the equipment, particularly the pump seal, should be done each time the equipment pad is visited. Rodent damage to exposed wiring for automation is very common in many areas, especially more rural ones. Catch it early, just like a pump seal leak, and the repair and frustration is minimal. And the list goes on.
Is it DIY friendly? Yes, if you DIY regularly.

That is really the same thing people should do with everything they own, unfortunately many do not. People should know if their car starts handling differently, or make an odd noise. Same goes for your heating system in your house. People who own a home should walk around it every so often, just to see if anything is out of place (hanging flashing, broken trim, hornets starting to build a nest, termite tubes, cracking foundation). Check the trees on your property to make sure there are no deal limbs (before the end up in your pool - or worse). Sure, you are not going to catch everything (the gas valve on my boiler decided to die two weeks ago without warning. A fix I could have done myself and not paid for I it was not 5:00 on a Wed night when I had work and nobody under the sun had that model valve in stock.

As you said, even if the homeowner does not do the fix themselves, noticing something does not look right before it becomes a huge expensive issue is key.