CompuChlor Salt Cell Sizing Help

[krm123]

Hi,

I currently have a compupool compuchlor deluxe self cleaning salt generator with an A200 cell attached producing 20gr/hr of chlorine. The cell is broken, and I've just replaced it with an A300 cell.

From what I've read online it is often a good idea to upsize to a bigger size cell and turn down the chlorine production if required. I tried to contact Compupool to confirm this, but unfortunately they are not responsive and after leaving multiple messages and emails, they have not yet replied.

My chlorine generator unit has a sticker saying;

Input:
220/240VAC,
50/60HZ
9amps

Ouput:
8.5V DC
20 Amps

I assume there is a transformer or something converting the AC to DC at the electrical unit for the salt cell.

I have attached the A300 cell, and had it running on high for a couple of days, everything appeared well until this morning when it was reading '0' chlorine on the output dial. It appears one of the connections where the electrical unit and salt cell wire connect at has burned/melted. It was fixed to the connector with a screw, with a wire from the power unit and cell meeting in the middle of the connector

My question is , have i sourced a cell with too high a current rating for the generator unit, or is the burning likely down to a poorly connected wire that generated heat. I.e If i turn my chlorine dial up, does this increase the required current being pulled from the power unit to the chlorinator and hence cause the burning issue, or is it simply likely to be just a bad connection between the wires?

The specs for the A200 say 200ml chlorine/hr with 240w/1amp running costs, the A300 cell say 300ml chlorine 320W/1.2amp running costs.

I've seen other specs for this cell from alternative suppliers which says 30amp for A300, 20amp for A200. Not really sure what this current value refers to and why it is different from the 1amp or 1.2amp listed above?

Appreciate any help

 

[atttech-2]

Welcome to the forum sorry you are having problems.

I could not find documentation to prove my thought so if I am wrong hopefully someone will jump in to correct me but, it sounds like the generator is only rated for the A200. I believe the difference in the power ratings is the manufacture is giving you the whole system power usage in watts and amps/AC 240w/1 amp AC, while the alternative suppliers are giving the DC amp output rating your controller must have to support the replacement cells they sell. In round numbers If you take 240w and divide it by 8.5V DC = 28 Amps DC for Cell + generator for the A200. 320w divided by 8.5V DC = 38 Amps for cell + generator, if you assume the controller uses about 9amps (I suspect it may be less but I will go with that for simplicity) that means just the A200 cell pulls about 19amps and the A300 about 29amps way above the 20amps your controller output says it can support.

I would fix the wire and see if you can exchange the cell for an A200. I don't think the under current will have damaged the A300, so as long as the housing did not get melted perhaps an exchange will be possible.

Your original thought was correct bigger cell = less run time witch in turn should lead to more time between cell replacements, you would just need to be sure you have a power center that can support the larger cell.

 

[krm123]

Thanks very much for your help.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with the advice. I just wish compupool had good customer support, as i've been trying to get advice on sizing and ended up hitting a brick wall and jumping in blind myself.

I firstly bought an A150 cell due to their rating on the Compupool website as being upto 70,000L, but my pool is ~50,000L then when i installed that, i have been unable to get it into the 'green' zone, even with the correct amount of salt. I had downsized the cell but now realise in a sub tropical climate (Brisbane, Australia) the cell would need to run for many hours to keep the pool clean.

I then decided to upsize to the A300 , as i figured for the extra money i'd get a longer run life with the bigger cell. Unfortunately that cell looks to be too big for my system and i've burned the cable a little.

I'll get the correct cell, and try and sell the other two cells or send them back. The A300 just needs to have a new bootlace connector fixed on, which i'm sure an electrician can do for ~$10 in 5 minutes. (i don't have the crimper)

If they won't take a refund, i'm sure i can sell it on gumtree for 90% of my costs.

It's not been one of my better projects, but lesson learned the hard way

 

[pooldv]

We typically recommend sizing cells 2 to 3 times the size of you pool. So, 50kL would need a 100k-150kL cell. The hotter and sunnier the more important it is to skew to the high side. Although, we've done fine with a 40k cell on a 20k pool in hot and sunny Texas.

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

I wrote to an aftermarket cell manufacturer and they advised that CompuPool power supplies can not be adjusted for different size cells. So, according to them, you'll need to stick with the original size cell that the power supply was designed for, or change both the power supply and the cell.