Bought new house with pool, sequence of fixing the problem

[Xiaosong83]

I originally had the fusion2 that wasn’t being used with the tablet dispenser and had the PB switch it to a fusion2 soft with the power center that is labeled Aquapure, ended up being about $2600 for the install.

I had them hold off on installing the mineral cartridge so the blank cap is still in place.

Will post some pictures from my phone in minute. I turned off the UV sanitizer and the ozone generator isn’t working properly right now.

 

[PoolStored]

I had them hold off on installing the mineral cartridge so the blank cap is still in place.

WHEW!!!

Will post some pictures from my phone in minute. I turned off the UV sanitizer and the ozone generator isn’t working properly right now.

Leave them off. Permanently.

I originally had the fusion2 that wasn’t being used with the tablet dispenser and had the PB switch it to a fusion2 soft with the power center that is labeled Aquapure, ended up being about $2600 for the install.

Great. Salt for the fusion soft should be 3000-3500. If the cell is happy (showing in range), then you are happy. Only use the Taylor, making adjustments. If taylor comes back at 2800, leave salt alone, but know that your real salt is 2800 and cell is happy and will make chlorine.

3100 is just fine on the cell. Leave your salt alone for now.

Post the pics and list your equipment in your signature. From that we'll work on steps to start the cell.

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[HermanTX]

I originally had the fusion2 that wasn’t being used with the tablet dispenser and had the PB switch it to a fusion2 soft with the power center that is labeled Aquapure, ended up being about $2600 for the install.

I had them hold off on installing the mineral cartridge so the blank cap is still in place.

Will post some pictures from my phone in minute. I turned off the UV sanitizer and the ozone generator isn’t working properly right now.

Leave the mineral cartridge out.
How are you testing salt level? You stated you do not have a Taylor kit to test salt. Normally the AquaPure sensor is within 500ppm of the actual salt level (when using a Taylor test kit - my experience) - so to be off by 1000ppm tells me however you tested salt level may be off.

 

[PoolStored]

@HermanTX He has a taylor kit for salt on the way.

@Xiaosong83 Can you show me your pump schedule?

You need to raise FC now with liquid chlorine. Get it to range for your CYA. Link-->FC/CYA Levels

If you are running your pump 24/7, turn on the chlorinator to 25%...that should give you 3FC per day.

Then adjust your SWG so that your FC stays in range for your CYA in the FC/CYA tool/chart.

 

[Xiaosong83]

Leave the mineral cartridge out.
How are you testing salt level? You stated you do not have a Taylor kit to test salt. Normally the AquaPure sensor is within 500ppm of the actual salt level (when using a Taylor test kit - my experience) - so to be off by 1000ppm tells me however you tested salt level may be off.

I am testing with a pH/salt probe from Amazon that is similar to the one sold by TFtestkits so I guess I'm not sure how accurate it really is compared to the salt cell sensor which says 3000ppm right now.

 

[Xiaosong83]

@Xiaosong83 Can you show me your pump schedule?

It runs from 7am.to 8pm. I'm not quite sure how to set it for different speeds for different times yet.

You need to raise FC now with liquid chlorine. Get it to range for your CYA. Link-->FC/CYA Levels

Yup, done. I should be around 6 because I just added 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine

If you are running your pump 24/7, turn on the chlorinator to 25%...that should give you 3FC per day.

Then adjust your SWG so that your FC stays in range for your CYA in the FC/CYA tool/chart.

Ok, that is a good place to start. What do you recommend for speed schedule? My pool pump does 70gpm during priming and 50gpm at 2500rpm.

 

[HermanTX]

It runs from 7am.to 8pm. I'm not quite sure how to set it for different speeds for different times yet.

Show a screenshot of your Schedule.
With your current VS speed set up, when in Pool Mode the pump will run at 2500rpm. With a SWCG, you should be able to lower that speed. I ran mine at 1500rpm and it activated the flow switch on my AquaPure 1400. We can show how to lower the speed and still have the SWCG active.

You can change Speed 4 - note I would change this Label to something that makes sense such as Mid Speed, to either a higher or lower speed. Then in the Schedule process, you select ADD and then select Speed 4 (or whatever label you set), then set a start and stop time, then tap SAVE So the speed will change when the start time is reached.

However there are a couple of key rules
Always have the Pool speed as the lowest speed that you want to run as that is the default speed. Currently it is set at 2500rpm and is the lowest speed but I think you should be able to lower it more and still be Ok with the SWCG.

Always set the Filter Pump schedule to be the longest duration you want the pump to run. Let’s say you want 14 hours so the Filter Pump would be set 5am to 7pm. It will run at the Pool Speed.

Set any other schedule to be within the Filter Pump times. So for example, you want Mid Speed (my label which is set for 2750rpm) to run for 4 hrs. Then schedule Mid Speed from 10am to 2pm.

The pump will turn on at 5am and the Pool Speed (say 2000rpm), then at 10am the pump will automatically ramp up to 2750rpm, then at 2pm the pump will ramp down to 2000rpm.

When 2 schedules overlap, the pump will run at the higher of the 2 speeds. That is why you want to have the Pool speed set as the lowest speed for any given time.

The AquaLink system will not run 24 hrs (unless Jandy made a change on their latest revision). So you have to have the pump scheduled something less than- I had mine set from 5am to 4:45am (23 hrs 45 mins). I had the Pool speed at 1500rpm and set 2 schedules daily to ramp up to increase skimming speed. My SWCG was active for the full 23 hrs and 45 mins as 1500rpm was sufficient to activate the flow switch.

Focus on the FC now but when you want to set up the schedule - just ask. But show your current schedule so it is easier to guide you.

 

[Xiaosong83]

Show a screenshot of your Schedule.
With your current VS speed set up, when in Pool Mode the pump will run at 2500rpm. With a SWCG, you should be able to lower that speed. I ran mine at 1500rpm and it activated the flow switch on my AquaPure 1400. We can show how to lower the speed and still have the SWCG active.

You can change Speed 4 - note I would change this Label to something that makes sense such as Mid Speed, to either a higher or lower speed. Then in the Schedule process, you select ADD and then select Speed 4 (or whatever label you set), then set a start and stop time, then tap SAVE So the speed will change when the start time is reached.

However there are a couple of key rules
Always have the Pool speed as the lowest speed that you want to run as that is the default speed. Currently it is set at 2500rpm and is the lowest speed but I think you should be able to lower it more and still be Ok with the SWCG.

Always set the Filter Pump schedule to be the longest duration you want the pump to run. Let’s say you want 14 hours so the Filter Pump would be set 5am to 7pm. It will run at the Pool Speed.

Set any other schedule to be within the Filter Pump times. So for example, you want Mid Speed (my label which is set for 2750rpm) to run for 4 hrs. Then schedule Mid Speed from 10am to 2pm.

The pump will turn on at 5am and the Pool Speed (say 2000rpm), then at 10am the pump will automatically ramp up to 2750rpm, then at 2pm the pump will ramp down to 2000rpm.

When 2 schedules overlap, the pump will run at the higher of the 2 speeds. That is why you want to have the Pool speed set as the lowest speed for any given time.

The AquaLink system will not run 24 hrs (unless Jandy made a change on their latest revision). So you have to have the pump scheduled something less than- I had mine set from 5am to 4:45am (23 hrs 45 mins). I had the Pool speed at 1500rpm and set 2 schedules daily to ramp up to increase skimming speed. My SWCG was active for the full 23 hrs and 45 mins as 1500rpm was sufficient to activate the flow switch.

Focus on the FC now but when you want to set up the schedule - just ask. But show your current schedule so it is easier to guide you.

Thank you, that is super helpful information. After adding the liquid chlorine and running my pump at 1500rpm last night, I tested FC at 5.5 this morning.

So today my salt level from the sensor has been reading consistently 2700ppm. It seemed like the salt reading varied a bit yesterday when I was playing around between 2700 to 3000 depending on how fast the rpm was set to, but today it seems to be at 2700 consistently. Based on poolmath, I need to add just around 40 lbs of salt for a 14K pool, does this sound correct?

Here is my schedule below with filter pump set to 1500 rpm. I am getting a little bit of inconsistency with when the flow sensor seems to be registering. This morning, it seemed to be registering flow at 1500rpm (~28GPM). However, when we were going back and forth between the pool and spa this afternoon (pump shuts off and then restarts in between each change), I came back to the pool filter pump set to 1800 rpm and it said no flow (~33 GPM). I had to go up to 2200 rpm (42 GPM) before flow sensor would register flow again. However, once it started generating, I am able to decrease it back down to 2000 rpm and now even 1500 rpm and it still is reading flow so I am a bit confused. Only thing I could think of was that there was some bubbles after priming that the slower RPM seemed to have trouble pushing out compared to the higher rpm. Is this normal for the flow sensor to sometimes need some higher flow initially to register flow?

Here is my schedule below currently, which gives me about 46K gallons of filtration for the 23.75 hrs the pump is running, which equates to ~7kWh of energy use costing about 90 cents a day.

 

[HermanTX]

Disregard the SWCG salt reading if trying to determine to add salt or not. Only use the K1766 test kit (drop test) to determine the accurate salt level. Always test for salt, then add about 80% of the desired target, brush it in, let it circulate for minimum 24 hrs (longer if your pump only runs less than 24 hrs per day). Test again and add any additional amount to reach your target.

The salt sensor on the SWCG is electronic and it does a calculation and not reliable. So long as the SWCG salt sensor is happy then don’t worry about the specific reading.

The way to test what is the best flow rate to activate your SWCG flow switch is to start at 2000 rpm. Ensure it is active. Then lower your pump speed to 1800rpm, test again if it is active. Continue to lower until the flow switch does not come on. Go back to the last rpm it was activated, then add 200 rpm to that and set it as the POOL speed. The extra 200rpm accounts for the reduced flow that will occur as your filter gets dirty over time.

I think you are using the AquaPure SWCG. It may take 2 or more minutes for the flow to register after the pump starts, so be patient with that.

You show 2 different schedules. Both are fine as to having the pump ramp up and down. However, it appears you are trying to have a certain turnover volume of your pool.
Please read

Turnover of Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

You run you pump for a reason:
1) skim
2) add chemicals (dosing pumps, SWCG etc.)
3) Mix chemicals when you are adding to the pool
4) Vacuuming if you have a suction side vacuum
5) Filtering
6) Heating (heater or solar or whatever), or chilling (chiller)
7) to run your spa, jets, waterfall or whatever other feature that is water driven...

Run your pump as long or short as you need to accomplish these tasks.

 

[Xiaosong83]

Disregard the SWCG salt reading if trying to determine to add salt or not. Only use the K1766 test kit (drop test) to determine the accurate salt level. Always test for salt, then add about 80% of the desired target, brush it in, let it circulate for minimum 24 hrs (longer if your pump only runs less than 24 hrs per day). Test again and add any additional amount to reach your target.

The salt sensor on the SWCG is electronic and it does a calculation and not reliable. So long as the SWCG salt sensor is happy then don’t worry about the specific reading.

Thank you, that is good information.

My pool stats this morning after using the pool yesterday and not generating using the SWG overnight.

4% FC, 0% CC, pH 7.9

I see what you mean about the sensor, it is back up to 3000ppm this morning with a cooler pool temp. I know salt solubility changes due to temperature and my pool has a swing of 5 degrees but I don't know if that is enough to account for difference in salt levels. That being said, if the sensor is happy, does true salinity levels matter as long as I am not causing harm to the cell?

The way to test what is the best flow rate to activate your SWCG flow switch is to start at 2000 rpm. Ensure it is active. Then lower your pump speed to 1800rpm, test again if it is active. Continue to lower until the flow switch does not come on. Go back to the last rpm it was activated, then add 200 rpm to that and set it as the POOL speed. The extra 200rpm accounts for the reduced flow that will occur as your filter gets dirty over time.

I think you are using the AquaPure SWCG. It may take 2 or more minutes for the flow to register after the pump starts, so be patient with that.

You show 2 different schedules. Both are fine as to having the pump ramp up and down. However, it appears you are trying to have a certain turnover volume of your pool.
Please read

Turnover of Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

You run you pump for a reason:
1) skim
2) add chemicals (dosing pumps, SWCG etc.)
3) Mix chemicals when you are adding to the pool
4) Vacuuming if you have a suction side vacuum
5) Filtering
6) Heating (heater or solar or whatever), or chilling (chiller)
7) to run your spa, jets, waterfall or whatever other feature that is water driven...

Run your pump as long or short as you need to accomplish these tasks.

Sorry about the different schedules attached, one was my assumption that the SWG would generate at 25% at 1500rpm which it clearly doesn't. The other schedule is for low speed at night without generation and 50% generation for 12 hrs during the day, which is what I am doing right now. I was shooting for 3X turnover based on one of the YouTube videos about setting speeds for a VSP pump but that is good to know.

 

[HermanTX]

SForget about turnover and run the pump to accomplish tasks as outlined earlier.

If you are running the pump then you want to have chlorine generation. That way you can lower the SWCG output %.

Do you use PoolMath app? That is very helpful to set up the SWCG based on 3 parameters - pump time duration, % output of your specific SWCG and output of FC. The app will solve for 1 if you input the other 2 variables.

4% FC, 0% CC, pH 7.9

It is always best to post the CYA level, even it is was tested weeks before. Also, FC and CC are in ppm units - not %
The SWCG output is in % units.

Also, it would be very helpful to show all the equipment you have.
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