Newb OB with BYOP in Buckeye AZ - pebble and tile touch up suggestions

Schwimmbad said:

I kinda like that thinking, is there any harm in doing a SLAM around day 30? Other than just the little bit of cost?

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Why are you in a rush?

Your past pool logs look good. Now after 3 weeks, continue to add MA to lower the TA and keep the pH down.

Why do you want to raise the CH to 350 ppm? I would leave it alone. The calcium level will slowly rise over time and will eventually to go above 350 ppm.

Newdude said:

It helps the addition chore, but you still have to buy, lug and pour the jugs. Now. If it produced MA in the backyard like the SWG does for FC, I'd be buying one.

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I'm a fan of the Intelli-Ph I have. It turned a multiple time a week chore into a once a month or every 6 weeks chore. Once the dose is dialed in, it's as simple as filling the tank and verifying PH is staying where I want it during normal testing.

Schwimmbad said:

How long have you had it? How much acid is your pool consuming? Have you replaced the pump head tube yearly?

I’m certifiably lazy and forgetful, so I want to reduce my effort as much as reasonably possible. I’m also cheap so I’ll likely stick with adding acid manually for a while until I see what kinda acid diet my pool demands on an ongoing basis once things stabilize.

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I’ve had it 4 years or so. Pool eats acid to the tune of about 3 gallons every 6 weeeks, even with a relatively low Alk level (I keep it at 70). I bought it used from eBay and it’s served me well. I replace the pinch tube every spring and had to replace the pump head - but that’s likely because it was a little abused before I got it.

Most pools have upward pressure on pH. The ones that don't are typically fiberglass/vinyl with very soft fill water and large amounts of rainfall.

SWG's, high alkalinity/pH fill water, aeration and cementitious surfaces all contribute to pH rise. I would expect you to need to add acid weekly (at a minimum).

Schwimmbad said:

Thanks for the info @Lake Placid. What is driving your acid demand? Aeration, high TA fill water, something else?

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I’ve never been able to pinpoint why the high demand. Fill water TA is 60 and I have a very basic pool setup with nothing that would induce a lot of aeration. I suspect it’s a combination of the floor surface and the SWG as well as the 8th wonder of the world buried in my yard that is unbeknownst to me.

To be clear, you were inquiring about an intellichem originally. That system is an ORP and PH probe that monitors those two parameters and adjusts/doses chemical accordingly to its readings and set points. TFP doesn’t advocate ORP per se because (in very basic terms) it is essentially a meter that measures conductivity and correlates this reading to an amount of available FC. While I’ve used and still use ORP in commercial settings, it is not a replacement for reliable chlorine testing and in my opinion for a homeowner is just more trouble than it’s worth.

I was describing the “dumb” acid injection system of the IntelliPH that automates acid dosing only. The way it works is that it injects acid every hour routinely for a user specified amount of time (or percentage). It’s basically an on-off relay for a Stenner pump that doses acid for the length of time you tell it.

All that rambling aside if you get serious about dosing acid with the Intelliph you need to go in eyes wide open and know there are potential issues with the system. The split tank is considered “non serviceable” by pentair and if the o-ring fails and it starts leaking they will want to sell you a $300 tank. In fact the tank is serviceable and you can repair the o-ring for about $17 by finding the correct chemical resistant replacement o-ring online.

Secondarily there are known issues with how much amperage the SWG pulls through the control board causing failures. There is a fairly simple fix that I’ve employed and was well conceived and outlined by @Dirk and @ogdento. The thread to my repair is here.

All that said I’d still advocate the system if you have a need for it and want to automate acid dosing.

Even a TA of 60 is out of equilibrium with the pH range that a pool is kept. This only takes into account carbon dioxide outgassing and not other factors like deterioration of cementitious surfaces, etc…

Lake Placid said:

To be clear, you were inquiring about an intellichem originally. That system is an ORP and PH probe that monitors those two parameters and adjusts/doses chemical accordingly to its readings and set points. TFP doesn’t advocate ORP per se because (in very basic terms) it is essentially a meter that measures conductivity and correlates this reading to an amount of available FC. While I’ve used and still use ORP in commercial settings, it is not a replacement for reliable chlorine testing and in my opinion for a homeowner is just more trouble than it’s worth.

I was describing the “dumb” acid injection system of the IntelliPH that automates acid dosing only. The way it works is that it injects acid every hour routinely for a user specified amount of time (or percentage). It’s basically an on-off relay for a Stenner pump that doses acid for the length of time you tell it.

All that rambling aside if you get serious about dosing acid with the Intelliph you need to go in eyes wide open and know there are potential issues with the system. The split tank is considered “non serviceable” by pentair and if the o-ring fails and it starts leaking they will want to sell you a $300 tank. In fact the tank is serviceable and you can repair the o-ring for about $17 by finding the correct chemical resistant replacement o-ring online.

Secondarily there are known issues with how much amperage the SWG pulls through the control board causing failures. There is a fairly simple fix that I’ve employed and was well conceived and outlined by @Dirk and @ogdento. The thread to my repair is here.

All that said I’d still advocate the system if you have a need for it and want to automate acid dosing.

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Did you just call my IntellipH "dumb?!" Thems fighting words! He's just a little, uh, simple sometimes. Sheesh.

Even though I've never owned one, I would never recommend the IntelliChem system. An SWG and IntellipH will accomplish the same thing for far, far less money and hassle, and not actually require any more or less manual testing. I wouldn't rely on an IntelliChem for balancing FC and pH without testing my water manually once a week to make sure it's working correctly, and that's how often I test my water to make sure my SWG and IntellipH are working correctly! So why would I want all the expense and complexity of an IntelliChem?

I had the described over-current problem with my SWG and IntellipH, and I fixed it myself. While that issue is unfortunate (and well-known to Pentair), I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that combo just because of that. Because of the two, my total weekly pool chores take about 10 minutes. That's about as good as it gets for pool care.

I may have mentioned all this previously in your thread. Apologies. Including the following:

In AZ, a Pentair SWG will shut itself down for cold water in the winter. And Pentair decided the IntellipH shouldn't run in the winter either. So you'll lose both for a few months each year. I've worked around the IntellipH doing that (with a somewhat complicated circuit I devised), but I still have to manually add liquid chlorine about 12 times a year. I cannot say what an IntelliChem does in the winter. It can utilize either an SWG or chlorine tank. If SWG, that would be subject to this same limitation. I don't know if IntelliChem shuts down acid dosing when the SWG shuts down, nor do I know if the IntelliChem will dose acid and liquid chlorine year-round or not, regardless of pool water temp. So those are some things to research and consider if you ultimately decide to choose between IntelliChem or IntellipH.

That all said, even if IntelliChem could handle my winter dosing, I still wouldn't choose if over an IntellipH. They are just too expensive and needy. I'd stick with my "simple" IntellipH, thank you very much.