Salt and Chlorine Question

[bpdunlv]

I am still relatively new at all this. My numbers yesterday were:
FC: 0.5
PH 8.2
TA 70
CH 550
CYA 50
SALT according to the Pentair App 2250

I added almost a gallon of liquid chlorine and also later added a half gallon of muratic acid so that should get the FC and pH back in check for now.
My questions are:
A) Should I add salt even though its almost November? The water temp is still in the 60s here for now but should drop a little more in about a week or so.
B) Or should I just keep adding chlorine all winter long? And if so keep doing the liquid or put tablets in a floater?
C) Should I buy a salt test kit or do they not show much of a difference from what the Pentair App says?

 

[mknauss]

Why is your Salt low? Have you drained alot of water? Do not rely on your SWCG to provide you an accurate salt reading. If your SWCG was working recently, and you did not drain water and replace with fresh, your real salt content of your pool has not changed. It could be your SWCG is having a problem. What brand and type is it?

I am still using my SWCG but am close to switching over to bleach. It is less a temperature thing as it is a sun angle thing. About Thanksgiving is when I turn our SWCG off and use bleach.

Do not use pucks. I find I have to add bleach about once a week or even less to maintain my FC during the winter. March 1 is when I normally turn my SWCG back on.

I do not have a salt test kit. But it can be useful. I know when I replace water and thus if the salt content on my SWCG changes, I know it has a problem.

Pentair SWCG most likely failures are the thermistor in the flow sensor. When it fails it shows low salt and shuts down the SWCG. If under warranty, Pentair will replace it. If not, it is an easy DIY repair and aftermarket flow switches are available.

Take care.

 

[bpdunlv]

I don't know why the salt is low. I have a Pentair IC40 SWG. It is a new pool this year and they added salt when they installed it and i have not added any since. All summer long my FC levels were fine and I never had to add bleach so I just figured it was because of the drop in temperature that is was not producing as much chlorine. The water temp is about 20 degrees cooler than a couple months ago. I cleaned it a couple months ago but it had been working fine since.

 

[mknauss]

I would call your pool builder and ask for a warranty claim on your SWCG. Your water temperature should not be much different than ours, which is right at 70F.

The drop in temperature has no effect on the chlorine generation. You need to reduce your SWCG % setting on your Easytouch or reduce your pump time to reduce the chlorine generation.

Are you maintaining this pool or is a pool service managing it? We strongly suggest you manage your pool with your own test kit. I use the TF100 from TFTestkits.net.

Take care.

 

[bpdunlv]

So you are saying I should never have to add salt unless I add water? It is a large surface area pool so I do have a lot of evaporation and fill water added all the time.

I am managing my own pool and do have the TF100 kit. I am going to do the overnight FC loss test tonight to make sure there is no algae. My temps have been in the low to mid 60s in recent days.

 

[mknauss]

Salt does not leave the pool through evaporation. Only by removing the salty water from the pool via draining. You lose very small amounts due to splash out. You do not show what type of filter you have but a DE or sand filter will lose some due to backwashing.

Calcium does not leave the pool either. So your calcium will build up over time. I drain and refill my pool about every 16 months due to calcium hardness reaching 1000 ppm. As you have a gunite pool, so you only want to drain your pool in the winter or you could damage your plaster.

Good idea on the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Take care.