I'm at odds with your assessment that phosphates don't matter. In looking at the manual for my Intellichlor SWG, it says that phosphates will interfere with the operation the SWG and effective chlorination of the pool. Intellichlor recommends keeping the phosphates below 100 ppb. If I ignore the phosphate concentration, I must add chlorine to the pool directly. If I am doing that what is the point of having a salt water pool? Thanks for the advice and help.
GB,
To help set your mind at ease, I take care of three pools... all three have the Intellichlor IC40 cells... All three pools have been running over three and a half years without a speck of algae and I have never added PhoFree or any other 'Magic' pool store chemicals to my pools and they all sparkle...
I believe the reason that Pentair sets a low limit on phosphates is not because that phosphates themselves cause a problem, but if you ever get algae, then the phosphates allow the algae to quickly grow. When this happens, the SWCG cannot produce enough chlorine to eliminate the algae..
Since the TFP process prevents any algae from ever starting in the first place, phosphates are just not a problem...
In my opinion, your biggest problem is not phosphates, but it is the fact that your cell is a little too small for the size of your pool..
If you can , please answer the following questions...
1. What level do you normally keep your FC?
2. What output level do you run your cell in the middle of the summer?
3. How long do you run your pump in the middle of the summer?
4. What is your stabilizer (CYA) level?
I assume that you have been battling algae and that is what brought you here.. Is this correct?
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.