Down side to SWG?

[P00LNerd]

All systems are a compromise. Chlorine tablets are convenient, but come with uncontrolled CYA rise. Liquid chlorine is cheap and adds nothing but salts, but must be dosed daily or fed thru troublesome liquid dosers.

SWG resolves these issues, but at what penalty? Cost alone? Is there any down side to SWG?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Oh lordie... most folks here would give up their kids before they gave up their salt systems!

I have been able to repeatedly go off to Italy for up to 2+ weeks and return to sparkling clean *sanitary* water. I trust my SWG and autocover that much. In fact leaving it on 9 months of the year we went almost 9 months without attention due to many health problems/accidents. NOT that I would ever recommend but with autocover and salt cell we managed fine. We were lucky but life got in the way...

It is NOT set and ignore, you do still need to test and occasionally change settings or add salt. In your cold climate you can open your pool early to get summer ready and just use liquid chlorine to manage til water is warm enough to use the SWG (usually 50-60º ) Allows you to get a head start before everyone else.

I add salt usually once a year to replace salt splashed out/walked out on suits, etc.

Maddie

 

[P00LNerd]

Here's one quote I found:

"The salt doesn’t really affect the liner of the pool. If you have polymer wall panels, the salt won’t affect them either. However, if you have metal wall panels, beware. The liner will eventually leak and corrode the metal panels, which is the structural support of the pool."

Okay... but isn't all chlorine corrosive to metal pool walls? My pool is indeed a laminated steel/insulating foam shell, with a liner. Floor is lightweight concrete. All are susceptible to salt, as is my decorative concrete patio, but I'm not sure at what level of salinity the concern becomes real.

Also, being new to liner pools, I'm not sure how often a liner failure is actually a leak. Don't they typically fail above the water line first, due to highest UV exposure there?

 

[JJ_Tex]

The only real downside I see is that you "pre-pay" for your chlorine with your SWCG. Most of the time you are way better off in the long run, but the initial cost can be a year or two worth of chlorine so takes a bit to make it back.

 

[Saturn94]

All systems are a compromise. Chlorine tablets are convenient, but come with uncontrolled CYA rise. Liquid chlorine is cheap and adds nothing but salts, but must be dosed daily or fed thru troublesome liquid dosers.

SWG resolves these issues, but at what penalty? Cost alone? Is there any down side to SWG?

I’m one of those who would not have a pool without a SWCG.

That said, a few (very few!) downsides;

1. Upfront expense and cell prices. Although in the long term we’ve saved a lot of money over other forms of chlorination, having to fork out $$$ all at once can seem more painful at the time.

2. If you have issues with the SWCG, it’s not always easy or straightforward to diagnose.

3. Our pool is so stable with a SWCG, it can make me a bit lazy!

 

[P00LNerd]

The only real downside I see is that you "pre-pay" for your chlorine with your SWCG. Most of the time you are way better off in the long run, but the initial cost can be a year or two worth of chlorine so takes a bit to make it back.

Between the electricity usage, re-salinating the 3500 gallons I drain from the pool each winter, and replacing at least the salt cell if not whole system every several years... I'm honestly not expecting to ever make the cost back. If I do, that's a bonus, but I'm doing it for convenience over anything else.

 

[PoolStored]

Liquid chlorine is cheap and adds nothing but salts

"The salt doesn’t really affect the liner of the pool. If you have polymer wall panels, the salt won’t affect them either. However, if you have metal wall panels, beware. The liner will eventually leak and corrode the metal panels, which is the structural support of the pool."

Wait, you said chlorine adds salt, then talked about "beware metal wall panels!!! Then you should beware of using Chlorine!

Chlorine adds salt. Get a K-1766 salt kit, if you have been using chlorine, you salt level is likely at least 1000. I've seen several pools here, where they don't have winter, with salt levels north of 4000ppm.

A chlorine pool is a salt pool. A salt pool is a chlorine pool.

 

[trivetman]

I am waiting for the day when the electronics fail and I spend two weeks messing with it, buy the wrong components to fix it a few times before i give up and purchase a whole another system brand new.

Hasn’t happened yet but it will someday.

Except for that….zero downside

 

[KenKasza]

Installed a SWCG 1 year ago......never looked back. Diamond Solar Salt at Lowes or Home Depot is about $8 for a 40lb bag. Cheap. 2 or 3 bags a year. The electricity to run the SWCG is hardly noticeable Maybe a $5 dollars a month. I've never calculated the cost. The initial cost of the SWCG is high but the convenience is so worth it. Salt water pools feel great. Add some boric acid and it becomes a dream pool. The cell can last 5-7 years if the pool and cell are maintained. Return on Investment over 5 years is about equal to buying pool bleach from Walmart. But the convenience is so worth it. Did I already say that?

 

[Bperry]

, and replacing at least the salt cell if not whole system every several years...

something is wrong if you have to replace it earlier than 4-5 years.

 

[P00LNerd]

Wait, you said chlorine adds salt, then talked about "beware metal wall panels!!! Then you should beware of using Chlorine!

No, I didn't. The site I was quoting wrote that. I thought that was clear, as I both put it in quotation marks, and provided the source.

 

[P00LNerd]

Chlorine adds salt. Get a K-1766 salt kit, if you have been using chlorine, you salt level is likely at least 1000. I've seen several pools here, where they don't have winter, with salt levels north of 4000ppm.

Living in a region where we do have winter, and where I am draining the pool down 25% every winter, my salinity levels would never be as high on LC as they will need to be with SWG.

Not saying it's a problem, that's really more the question.

A chlorine pool is a salt pool. A salt pool is a chlorine pool.

Not really. It's a matter of degrees. Those of us this far north are probably never hitting anywhere near the salinity required for a salt pool, when running on LC or dichlor.

 

[PoolStored]

No, I didn't. The site I was quoting wrote that. I thought that was clear, as I both put it in quotation marks, and provided the source.

Living in a region where we do have winter, and where I am draining the pool down 25% every winter, my salinity levels would never be as high on LC as they will need to be with SWG.

I think we are in violent agreement. After 2 years of LC, and at SWCG conversion, I was about 2000ppm. Certainly not 3500, but no where near the ocean at 33,000ppm.

 

[P00LNerd]

Return on Investment over 5 years is about equal to buying pool bleach from Walmart.

I hadn't run the numbers, but this is what my gut was telling me, just based on some quick figures.

But the convenience is so worth it.

Yep. Same reasoning, here. I don't really care if it saves me money, I just want to get away from dichlor, and don't want to sign up for manually dosing LC everyday.

 

[PoolStored]

I hadn't run the numbers, but this is what my gut was telling me, just based on some quick figures.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[P00LNerd]

I think we are in violent agreement. After 2 years of LC, and at SWCG conversion, I was about 2000ppm. Certainly not 3500, but no where near the ocean at 33,000ppm.

Yep, that's what I'm figuring. The people who sell dichlor dispensers like to use the "corrosiveness of salt" in their marketing for dichlor, but again... matter of degrees. We know how corrosive ocean water is, but it's literally 30-35,000 ppm salinity! I know 3500 ppm ain't nothing, but I'm thinking it can't really be all that much worse than a dichlor pool, WRT corrosive factor.

Hey, question... I calculate the saturation index for my pool, and try to keep it -0.3 to +0.5, on the advice that below -0.3 is "corrosive". But salinity doesn't even go into that calculation, according to my handy Taylor decoder wheel?

 

[PoolStored]

Hey, question... I calculate the saturation index for my pool, and try to keep it -0.3 to +0.5, on the advice that below -0.3 is "corrosive". But salinity doesn't even go into that calculation, according to my handy Taylor decoder wheel?

Turn off CSI tracking. CSI is for corrosive to PLASTER pools. Doesn't matter in a vinyl pool.

 

[P00LNerd]

Turn off CSI tracking. CSI is for corrosive to PLASTER pools. Doesn't matter in a vinyl pool.

I'll have to go back and re-read that little Taylor booklet, but memory tells me it mentioned corrosiveness to metal components, namely heat pump heat exchangers. But I'll believe you if the number has to be lower for that, versus plaster.

I'd love to stop tracking that, as it's sort of a PITA. I was below -0.3 two weeks ago, now I'm +0.25.

 

[PoolStored]

CSI and LSI - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The Taylor Watergram calculates LSI, not CSI. There’s probably a correction factor for TDS if you look into the math further. PoolMath CSI is a far better analysis of saturation index as it is based on actual calcite chemistry and not just fitting experimental data like LSI is.

Saturation index has very little to do with corrosion. It’s an old school misapplication of boiler water analysis adapted to pool heaters. Completely wrong. And, your heat pump heat exchanger is made of titanium (they all are unless it’s several decades old) and titanium is mostly immune to any chemical corrosion unless you’re pumping concentrated mineral acids through it.