Intex saltwater water system salt ppm woes and general Rust prevention questions?

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theskyisthelimit99

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Jun 28, 2016
426
Pittsburgh, pa
I was about to install the saltwater system in my pool, however i have been reading a lot of bad stories both in general and with the saltwater system about rust. Is it a good idea to do this use the saltwater system or is there some preparation to avoid the rust (and once the pools already up is there a way to prevent rust) in my case it's already up. I read something about putting special tape on the metal may help

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

I did see some are also using something called fluid film.. not sure how long this lasts, but maybe with this + saltwater system i'm good to go.. (year or bi-yearly coat)

I read something on here about grounding with an 8 foot copper rod, but i'm unsure on what this entails ( i dont think its related to rusting either).
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

It is true, the salt content in the water will make things rust faster, it's not the SWG itself that does it. That said, clean and paint any bare (or poorly painted) metal with a rust inhibitor. Keep an eye on areas that could be a problem. Hopefully Intex fixed the issues they had in the past. I wouldn't bother with anything else but I dunno about the ground rod for that type pf pool. In my area it is code to have a ground wire around the pool and maybe to ground the pool too? Sorry, memory is foggy on this seeing it's been awhile since I installed our pool. I do get more corrosion with the SWG but it is worth it.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

Again, I ask where did you read that a SWG caused rust in an Intex pool? I have seen no evidence of that in this forum, only a lot of speculation and second hand rumors. The water in a SWG pool is not salty (i.e. not like seawater). You cant even taste it, the concentration is so low. It is the chlorine that causes rust, not the very limited amount of salt. The Intex pool will rust just as much without salt in the water.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

Mickelin said:
Again, I ask where did you read that a SWG caused rust in an Intex pool? I have seen no evidence of that in this forum, only a lot of speculation and second hand rumors. The water in a SWG pool is not salty (i.e. not like seawater). You cant even taste it, the concentration is so low. It is the chlorine that causes rust, not the very limited amount of salt. The Intex pool will rust just as much without salt in the water.
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I saw varied posts on here related to rust + SWG.. i agree though, hard to say without a control, whether or not the two are definitely connected..

So that said.. shift focus to rust prevention in general..

Like i said above.. my pool is already up.. so i guess all i can do for now is to use the Fluid Spray to coat the existing and visible bars.. and also, maybe prior or after or both, i was going to use this Rescue clear tape around the joints.. hopefully this is good enough for now since i cant take them apart.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

Something else to keep in mind is that if you are chlorinating with bleach, you have salt water in your pool already. A byproduct of adding bleach (or any liquid chlorine product) to your pool is salt.

Before I ever added salt this year for my new SWG system, I tested my water for salt. I had previously only maintained it with bleach. I already had 800ppm of salt in the pool. And I had filled over half the pool with fresh water this spring.

If you've been maintaining with bleach for some time and haven't had significant water exchange, your level may already be significantly higher than that.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

911medic said:
Something else to keep in mind is that if you are chlorinating with bleach, you have salt water in your pool already. A byproduct of adding bleach (or any liquid chlorine product) to your pool is salt.

Before I ever added salt this year for my new SWG system, I tested my water for salt. I had previously only maintained it with bleach. I already had 800ppm of salt in the pool. And I had filled over half the pool with fresh water this spring.

If you've been maintaining with bleach for some time and haven't had significant water exchange, your level may already be significantly higher than that.
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I havent hooked up the SWG yet.. nor poured in the 4.5 bags of salt.. prior to now (over about 2 weeks), i've only used about 3.5 of the 3" HTC style chloronating tabs in a floater (ph around 7.2).. my real test kit isnt here yet.. i ordered salt test strips too.. are you saying i should maybe NOT add all 4.5 bags until i check the PPM? if its already up a little maybe 1 bag less etc?

I'm about to pour in 4.5 of this: Shop Diamond Crystal 40-lbs Salt Solar Crystals at Lowes.com

Someone else said they had used these before with no issues.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

theskyisthelimit99 said:
I havent hooked up the SWG yet.. nor poured in the 4.5 bags of salt.. prior to now (over about 2 weeks), i've only used about 3.5 of the 3" HTC style chloronating tabs in a floater (ph around 7.2).. my real test kit isnt here yet.. i ordered salt test strips too.. are you saying i should maybe NOT add all 4.5 bags until i check the PPM? if its already up a little maybe 1 bag less etc?

I'm about to pour in 4.5 of this: Shop Diamond Crystal 40-lbs Salt Solar Crystals at Lowes.com

Someone else said they had used these before with no issues.
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From experience, bring the salt level up slowly. I added 120lbs of salt per the instructions, (actually the instructions read to use 125lbs.), now I have a hi salt error and need to drain water. One thing about the Intex SWG's is when/if you get an error code, it doesn't generate any chlorine. I've been adding a little at at time until I can get things right.
 

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Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

CR172 said:
From experience, bring the salt level up slowly. I added 120lbs of salt per the instructions, (actually the instructions read to use 125lbs.), now I have a hi salt error and need to drain water. One thing about the Intex SWG's is when/if you get an error code, it doesn't generate any chlorine. I've been adding a little at at time until I can get things right.
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Ah nice thanks for the tip.. i suppose maybe i should add 40lbs at a time, check the readout and move on if needed.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

theskyisthelimit99 said:
Ah nice thanks for the tip.. i suppose maybe i should add 40lbs at a time, check the readout and move on if needed.
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You say you have 4 1/2 bags. I'd probably do 3 then check. It takes ~24 hrs for the salt to dissolve and get circulated and thoroughly mixed. Ours didn't throw the error for several days.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

btw, the fluid film spray material may work well (time will tell), but its very messy (doesnt dry, leaves sticky residue which attracts bugs), probably best kept at the hinges and or where you see bare metal and no paint.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

theskyisthelimit99 said:
Ok cool.. is there any harm in using the water/swimming in the meantime, so long as the levels are generally in check/water is clear, after adding the salt (say 12 hours later maybe)?
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As mentioned, swim to your hearts content as long as your chlorine levels are good. The ocean has way more salt then you will see in the pool. Some say it's good to vac the pool before adding more salt if you are close because sometimes it hasn't completely blended with the water. Vacuuming helps move the water from places that are slow moving.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

I'm a little confused.. for testing the salt i was using the Aquacheck strips scooping some water in a cup then testing.

Initial test, the bleach line was well below the very smallest reading possible.. basically nill.. so i added 2 of the 4.5 bags that should be required.. tested again a few days later.. having run the swg system after waiting the 24 hours for a few days.. that test of salt then showed about 0.8 or so on the scale..

Now i decided to add the rest.. 2.5 more bags.. ran the regular sand filter for 24, turned off the swg.. tested the salt now.. its around 2.1 which is something around 500 ppm.. i'm puzzled.. am i doing something wrong.. should i still be turning on the SWG for 4 hours per the instructions at this point.. or do i really need to add more salt bags.. by my count i'd almost end up needing 8 bags if this trend were accurate, double the lb value in the instructions.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

Something doesn't seem right. The test strips can be bad if old. You also need to let it sit in the water for a bit. I wouldn't run the SWG until you get the salt number correct or it could harm the unit although they usually tell you low salt when it is low in ppm's.

How much water does your pool hold? If 8000 then 200 total pounds to get to 3000PPM from 0. You may just need to run the filter more to get it mixed better. No need to try and conserve the test strips, they probably won't be good next year so keep testing by getting water from different areas and depths.
 
Re: Intex saltwater water system + ultra frame 18 by 52 bad for rust? Prevention?

MikeInNH said:
Something doesn't seem right. The test strips can be bad if old. You also need to let it sit in the water for a bit. I wouldn't run the SWG until you get the salt number correct or it could harm the unit although they usually tell you low salt when it is low in ppm's.

How much water does your pool hold? If 8000 then 200 total pounds to get to 3000PPM from 0. You may just need to run the filter more to get it mixed better. No need to try and conserve the test strips, they probably won't be good next year so keep testing by getting water from different areas and depths.
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This pool holds 6900 or so i think.. i think the value in the manual said around 170lbs.. i forget.. when i tested i just took a cup and scooped off the top (both times).. i had just got those strips off amazon, maybe i should order the drop kit for salt testing instead, yeah its $26 but maybe the numbers would come out differently.. the swg unit never said low or high salt either when i did run it.

I also used the 100 test kit and tested the chlorine.. its showing "clear", i guess none? (eek).. but the ph is 7.2.. perhaps this is also a factor.
 

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