Is there any reason I can’t take a piece of 2” PVC with unions and use that instead of spending $$$ on a Hayward dummy?
Dummy SWG?
- Thread starter Neemer
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,649
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
No. You can even just put aluminum foil and rubber bands around it to seal off the ends. The 'dummy' is so you can keep circulating.
Take care.
Take care.
Thanks Marty. BTW, we’ll be spending part of our winter in your neck of the woods. We have relatives in Bullhead City.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,649
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
That sounds fun! Still not winter here. 97 today. A bit breezy. Winter comes Thanksgiving. Wind and in the 60's.
Take care -- travel safe.
Ed:
You can do what Marty suggested or try to create your own pipe. I believe the unions are proprietary, and by the time you are done, the costs savings is minimal. The pipe is good in the beginning of the season when temperatures are too cold for the SWG. Also, I take my SWG inside during the winter and did not want to leave empty space as something could break as there will be stress place on the 2" plumbing coming off the filter in where my SWG is plumbed in. The SWG is an exact fit and I purchased mine on E-Bay for $31.49 + Tax and free shipping.
HAYWARD GOLDLINE AQUARITE T-CELL GLX PLACEHOLDER PIPE GLX-CELL-PIPE | eBay
You can do what Marty suggested or try to create your own pipe. I believe the unions are proprietary, and by the time you are done, the costs savings is minimal. The pipe is good in the beginning of the season when temperatures are too cold for the SWG. Also, I take my SWG inside during the winter and did not want to leave empty space as something could break as there will be stress place on the 2" plumbing coming off the filter in where my SWG is plumbed in. The SWG is an exact fit and I purchased mine on E-Bay for $31.49 + Tax and free shipping.
HAYWARD GOLDLINE AQUARITE T-CELL GLX PLACEHOLDER PIPE GLX-CELL-PIPE | eBay
Because they intentionally make the pipe a stupid size with proprietary threads so that you can't do exactly what you proposed. I thought the same thing -- ran down to the local hardware store, figured I'd pick up a short length with some unions and viola...
Nope. You have to spend the money to get the 'real thing'.
$25-50 (depending on brand) for about 63 cents worth of PVC. Yepper...
LordNorth:
I believe you can order the unions from Hayward. Although, the pipe may be a weird size to fit the unions on the inside. You would need to be able to order at least the unions as if you had to do the plumbing all over again. Like you said, a big money maker, but some things just have to be accepted. We save enough money on taking care of the pool, so a few dollars here and there is always expected.
I have friends who do not even remove the salt cell and leave outside all winter long. Others just have empty piping and do not close them with any type of material. I stare at my equipment, so the dummy pipe had to go in. Take care!
I believe you can order the unions from Hayward. Although, the pipe may be a weird size to fit the unions on the inside. You would need to be able to order at least the unions as if you had to do the plumbing all over again. Like you said, a big money maker, but some things just have to be accepted. We save enough money on taking care of the pool, so a few dollars here and there is always expected.
I have friends who do not even remove the salt cell and leave outside all winter long. Others just have empty piping and do not close them with any type of material. I stare at my equipment, so the dummy pipe had to go in. Take care!
I got the black plugs to stick in the holes after I take out my cell. The PB gave them to me. Yeah, we do save a bunch of money using TFP... but still getting over the shock of paying for the install (just made my final payment two weeks ago....)
-Chirs
-Chirs
I live in Az and it will occasionally get down to freezing levels...if we are lucky enough, but not often and no hard freezing. I understand the SWG will not operate or will work harder than normal to produce chlorine in colder weather. My plan is to use liquid bleach to sanitize my pool during the winter month...but removing the salt cell seems unnecessary if you have a variable speed pump with the "thermal-mode" option they come with. I have a pentair intelliflo variable speed pump that will kick on if the water drops to a user defined setting of 40 deg to 50 deg Fahrenheit. So, I my question is, if I leave my salt cell in, is there any damage from the leaving the cell off and simply running the pump during near freezing temperature? Assuming my water is balanced accordingly, I do not see why I could not leave my SWG in place??? Thoughts? I'm new to SWGs and I do not want to spend money every year replacing my cell, or having to buy what Lesile's pool supplies thinks I should.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Scout101
Well-known member
What's the point of bringing it inside? Or having a dummy one there in the spring for startup? I get not using it during SLAM, but I just leave mine either set to off, or unplugged during those periods. It's blown out for the winter, so it's not going to have issues there, and it's off during SLAM, so should be good there too, right?
The manufacturer recommends it (based on a phone conversation), and also anything inside during the winter is better than outside. All a preference. My friend, who we closed his pool has left his outside for 10 years and only has had to replace the SWG once due to critters eating through something. I have no idea if the cold will weaken the cell or shorten its warranty.
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