Salt Level VS SWG Efficiency

[Julius]

Everything else being equal, does a higher level of salt in the pool cause the SWG to produce more chlorine or does an SWG create X amount depending on settings and the salt level does not matter?

Example: 3200 PPM VS 3400PPM VS 3600 PPM

Thanks,
Brad

 

[budster]

Good question. I do know that salt levels above manufacturers' recommendations can damage the cell, and cause shorter cell life, at least with the Goldline and Pentair models. The Resillience claims it does not damage their cells, but also notes that outside of the recommended ranges, the chlorine production is lessened.

 

[JasonLion]

There are two kinds of SWGs. One kind adjusts the voltage to compensate for variations in the salt level, which causes the amount of chlorine produced to be the same regardless of the amount of salt. The other kind uses a fixed voltage, and so produces more chlorine when the salt level is higher. The first kind seems to be much more common these days.

 

[Strannik]

the more salt, the more efficient SWG is

as Jason mentioned there are 2 types of SWG:

in first type the efficiency will show as less electricity used, in the second - more chlorine produced

however most SWGs have overload protection which is triggered when the level of salt is too high to protect transformer from burnout. if it doesn't then the transformer will burnout if the salt level is too high

 

[Julius]

There are two kinds of SWGs. One kind adjusts the voltage to compensate for variations in the salt level, which causes the amount of chlorine produced to be the same regardless of the amount of salt. The other kind uses a fixed voltage, and so produces more chlorine when the salt level is higher. The first kind seems to be much more common these days.

Thanks,
I have the Aqua Trol which does show voltage as one of the screens. I guess it wouldn't show it if it never changed.

Brad

 

[mas985]

I have the Aqua Trol which does show voltage as one of the screens. I guess it wouldn't show it if it never changed.

Not necessarily. I have an AquaLogic unit that shows voltage but it is considered a fixed voltage unit. The voltage will change by a small amount usually less than 2 volts out of 25 volts. A variable voltage unit will change by more than that to compensate for the change in salt.

This is what you would expect from a fixed voltage unit where the current changes with salt level. So with higher salt, the current increases and the voltage will slightly decrease because there is a higher load on the power supply. This depends somewhat on if a regulator is used in the power supply.

The thing to look for is how the amps change with salt level. If amps are fixed, then the unit is a variable voltage/fixed amp unit. If the amps change, the the unit is probably a fixed voltage/floating amp unit.