Thoughts on the RJ-60 Plus

MouseMan54

Well-known member
May 18, 2016
108
Riverside, CA
Hello. If interested see my story here: Where do I start...

I'm in the process of recovering this beast. Once filled and clean I'm likely going to convert to SWG to help mitigate my lack of time to spend on it. After reading for several hours I'm leaning towards the CircuPool RJ-60 Plus. From the article below (found on a different post here on TFP) it gets a great value rating, has a great warranty and high output. My pool is relatively large, has a high bather load of small kids and a dog and gets LOTS of intense sunlight so I definitely want to be over-sized. Anyone have thoughts plus or minus on this unit??
Article Reference:
Full Market Comparison of Salt Water Chlorine Generators for Swimming Pools

Another question I had... I was also looking at the liquid chlorine pumps. They looked like they may be an easier retro-fit. My question is they use liquid chlorine or bleach and there is lots of comments in these forums that chlorine loses it's potency as it sits. How does that affect the chlorine pump? Thoughts on one vs. the other?
 
My curcupool has been a rockstar, I really like it and it does create some major amounts of chlorine.. there have been some really nice stenner setups and they work just as well but you will be hauling massive amounts of bleach unless you can get 12.5% delivered and store it, one person buried a 50 gallon barrel in the ground and used that.... :)
 
My curcupool has been a rockstar, I really like it and it does create some major amounts of chlorine.. there have been some really nice stenner setups and they work just as well but you will be hauling massive amounts of bleach unless you can get 12.5% delivered and store it, one person buried a 50 gallon barrel in the ground and used that.... :)

That crazy person would be me ;-)

There is no denying the convenience of a SWG. To me there were uncertainties with that path: 1) reliability (seems to be becoming less of an issue). But when I made my decision, I was concerned by the number of people (who undoubtedly represent a small percentage of overall SWG users) who reported circuit board problems, cracked cell housings, low-flow errors, low salt errors, high salt errors, etc. I was probably put off on SWG unnecessarily; 2) capacity for larger pools like yours (RobbieH though has a 44,000 gal pool and an RJ60 that runs at 30%, so that may be changing too), but I figured that at 35,000 gal I was on the cusp of what would be safe with a SWG (if one takes the double the size rule literally); 3) addition of acid. I wanted to avoid an FC delivery system that required tweaking any variable except FC. SWG generate FC, but they create a need for acid correction. It seems that by lowering TA, one can reduce the need for acid addition, but not eliminate it. I wanted something that could operate with rock-sold stability for months at a time. With 50 gallons of 12.5% LC in my cistern, I should be good for ~12 weeks--no manual LC additions, no acid additions. This is an experiment in progress, but so far, so good. Some folks with a SWG add a Stenner for acid addition but I often wonder why not just use the Stenner for LC injection and then they wouldn't need the SWG plus the Stenner? No need to buy bleach is obvious, but they are still buying MA; 4) Maintenance. Nothing is maintenance free, but the Stenner requires only a yearly change of its tubing. It is a robust delivery system. A SWG requires frequent cleaning of the cell and has a finite lifespan. Stenners are a simple system with no sensors to fail, no circuit boards to fail: robust; 5) freedom to program the Stenner for LC delivery independent of the filter pump. Sure, the pump needs to be running to deliver LC, but the Stenner doesn't care about flow rates and will work regardless of temperature, salt concentrations. The SWG is tied to pump run time and it would seem any time one wants to tweak pump run times, the SWG parameters also need to be tweaked; 6) I can see it working. If the tubing is good and the pump is turning, I know I'm getting LC into the pool. Some SWG cells have clear windows to show that electrolysis is occurring. Most do not. I like the visual feedback. I like things simple.

My strategy only works because of the LC stability offered by an in-ground storage solution. Some people cannot bury a 55 gallon drum next to their equipment pad. For me, I had plenty of space. It is not even an expensive solution. The HDPE drum with a sealed top and two bungs was $30 on Craigslist. The hole cost $100 to dig by my gardener. A 1/2" x 2' x 8' piece of rigid foam to wrap around the top 2' of the barrel was $10. The pump was $208 from Lockewell. A WiFi connected timer was ~$30 from Amazon and now I can program it using my phone (very easy to make tweaks to run time). All in for the basics was ~$380. The cost to fill it with 50 gal of 12.5% was $150. For ~$60 and some 1/2" hose, one can add a ShurFlo transfer pump that can directly pump from the back of your car (that has your 50 gal of LC) to the barrel. It goes fast: 50 gallons takes about 15-20 minutes. No funnels, no splashing. The hard part is keeping up with the pump to open new bottles fast enough. I will probably spend $250/season on bleach, but I can live with that given that I know my pH is unlikely to budge (nor really any other parameter except FC). Two trips to OSJL per season seems like a reasonable trade off for not having to mess with MA or worrying about whether my cell is clean, getting old, has enough salt, too much salt, etc. BTW, I'm not particularly concerned about the effects of salt (damaging coping, corrosion, lawn damage) as most of those issues seem unfounded. In fact, I am considering adding 2000 ppm salt just for the water feel (at the behest of my better half).

This sounds like a manifesto (maybe it is kinda because I'm pretty stoked about our solution to bleach storage and delivery) but I only wanted to show that there is more than one way to skin a cat. SWGs are great. Stenners are great if you have a storage solution (and there are many others out there other than ours).

Good luck. What ever route you go, you are going to have a beautiful, sparkling pool if you keep following the gurus on this site.
 
Thanks Casey! I completely agree. There are a ton of innovative folks on this site and I love reading about their solutions to various problems. This community is amazing.

For what it's worth, we've had our first really hot 10 days of weather (high 80s to mid 90s) and the cistern still sits at 56°F. It is edging up, but at that temp, the bleach degradation is still negligible. I'm hoping it will maintain less than 70°F through early-mid July. That would mean that the remaining contents would only lose about 10% from mid July to end of August when it would be time to refill for the final stretch of ~ 6 weeks.

Mouse, if you don't have a convenient place for a buried cistern, your best bet may be a SWG. One can easily poke a hole in a concrete pad with the right tool. I used my Bosch breaker/hammer to crack through the basement floor to dig sump holes in the basement of my former house, but that may be more work than you want to take on. My strategy only makes sense if digging a big hole is easily done.

Good luck with what ever you choose.
 
Jay, how much bleach do you actually go through in a week? if I do the math it looks like about 1/2 a gallon a day. Im intrigued by your setup but dont think i would do a 55 gallon drum...LOL...but adding 6 gallons to a small container every 2 weeks doesnt seem that bad to me...

Thanks
 
I'm curious as to and pros and cons of the stenner setup versus a SWG from a pool chemistry or water maintenance stand point. Assume I don't mind adding bleach every few weeks or I will bury a larger drum like Jay.

Are there benefits or drawbacks just on one over the other?
 
wmmallette, I'm still not clear on that myself. In the posts and links to other posts Jay indicates one of his goals was to stabilize his PH. I'm still not sure how that is achieved. I've been adding LC to mine at a rate of about a 1.5 gal per day and my PH goes up pretty quickly. In SoCal, especially the IE, it can stay hot into November and warm up again by March, with very hot (90 plus) stretches of days in the winter as well, so chlorine demand can be high even in the off season. For this reason I think my LC cost for the pump setup would be higher than Jay's, even if I could bury the drum. If you get 5+ years out of the SWG, I think costs would be close if not cheaper for the SWG, but I haven't done any math. The other downside to the pump is the labor involved.

Jay, any comments on the PH part?

- - - Updated - - -

With my own case, my RJ-60 plus is on the way. I just bought 12 bags of salt. I'll need more but that's all I could handle in one load. Couple of questions:

1. Can I start adding the salt now, before install?
2. I'm looking at a vertical install, issues? thoughts?
3. Can I rely on the unit's salt readings or do I need a tester? If so, suggestions/recommendations?
 
You will love a SWG :) at 1.5 gallons a day you were getting a workout

1. not really, you really need a test kit before you add salt because you are probably already at 1500 to 2500 PPM, the nice thing about the RJ is it allows above 3500

Grab the Taylor salt test Amazon.com : TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-1766 DROP TEST CHLORIDE SALT WATER : Swimming Pool Liquid Test Kits : Patio, Lawn Garden

2. Here is how I did mine
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I have purchased it. Hit Discount Salt Pool one day and they were running the $1 upgrade so I jumped. Got the RJ-60 plus for ~$1,150. Had it for a couple of weeks not, got the pipe and fittings and now just need a few hours to install. Hopefully this Sat. I'll update when I do. For now I'm just going to fit it where I can. At some point I'll replace my filter and pump and re-do all the plumbing at that point.
 
Looking forward to learning about your install and hopefully some pictures.

I've been very seriously thinking about getting the RJ-60 plus after my new construction pool is up and running.

My PB won't talk about any SWG now and will start-up with the inline chlorinator. I don't think I'll be able to get him to install the RJ-60 or if he did would charge me an exorbitant amount. So I will have to install it myself or get someone to install it. Won't be easy as the PB used 2.5" plumbing and I'll have to get adapters to 2" Also he installed (without asking me) a U shaped loop into the ground and back up to "keep chlorine from flowing out of the returns overnight".
 
Hi IrwinK,
I finally go my RJ-60+ installed. You can see it here:
My RJ-60 Plus Install

It's pretty straight forward. In looking at your build thread I think you could get in there OK. From you equipment pic I can't quite tell where your underground U comes back up. No spa, correct? You could easily do a vertical install where your inline is or just swing it out horizontally to the side.

One other thought. The 60 may be more that you need.
 
Hi IrwinK,
I finally go my RJ-60+ installed. You can see it here:
My RJ-60 Plus Install

It's pretty straight forward. In looking at your build thread I think you could get in there OK. From you equipment pic I can't quite tell where your underground U comes back up. No spa, correct? You could easily do a vertical install where your inline is or just swing it out horizontally to the side.

One other thought. The 60 may be more that you need.

Thanks for posting the links to the pics. I was able to view them all.

I don't have a Spa and still hope that U will be removed by the PB but might have to remove it myself along with the chlorinator. All the extra plumbing and valves are because the PB did not listen to my request and his plumbing diagram and put the deck jets on the circulation pump instead of the feature pump.

Still would like the 60 even though more than I need. It will have fewer hours pump running, longer life and high output if I need it.

Good luck with your RJ-60 Plus and hope you keep us updated.
 
How happy have you been with the RJ-60+? I'm in a similar boat as you. Big pool, currently with an T-Cell 15 that keeps dying. Looking for a larger solution with better output. How many hours a day do you end up running it in peak summer?
 
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