Autopilot help

[dgde4x4man]

We had an inground pool installed late last summer with an Autopilot Salt System. They basicly set up the pool and got it ready for winter since we were not moving into our new house anytime soon. We just moved in and I started to get the water all clear now. But I noticed there is no chlorine being measured on my strip test. I have the right amount of salt added and the water is pretty balanced. I had to had 3 gallons of myratic acid to lower the PH and added 4lbs of Stabilizer.

I had to set up the Auto pilot myself as the installer way to busy to return my calls. I set the pool valume to 24,500. But what cell power should I have it set at, plus the purifier level set at what level? Also how often should I do a Force Reverse and self cleaning? So many questions and hope ya'll can help me out on this.

Pool is 18x36 Digital Autopilot system with heat pump. My cell is sc-36...The dealer said that is what I should have instead of the higher SC models...is that right?

 

[Bama Rambler]

I don't have a SWCG so I'll let others field those questions.

I will address the fact that you're using strips. You really should do yourself a favor and get a good test kit. Even with a SWCG you need to be able to test accurately. Of course my fav is in my sig but you can see a comparison of the recommended test kits here.

 

[lovingHDTV]

What power level you need totally depends on your chlorine consumption and how long you run the SWCG. Your cell is "oversized" for the pool size with is good IMO.

The best way I have found to set it, is to setup your pump schedule based on water turnover and water quality. After you have figured out how long you want to run your pumps/filter you can then start setting your power level. I would start on 1, then up your chlorine % (shown on the display) until you either get the residual FC you want, or you hit ~80%. At that point I would reduce the % to 50% and increase your power level to 2 and repeat. I did this until I hit the right power level and % level to maintain the FC in the pool.

Also make sure you have your CYA levels set appropriately, I keep mine around 90, but that is considered on the high side.

Hopefully this process makes some sense.
dave

 

[RocKKer]

+1 on the suggestion of getting a good test kit.

I would attend Pool School and there are 2 articles on SWCG:

Pool Equipment discusses "setting the Percentage", the next discusses water balance.

I got my Autopilot Poolpilot several years ago, so going from memory here a bit, my Autopilot Poolpilot has 3 power profiles, I believe it came set on power setting 2 and 50%. In my case that was very close, only changed the percentage to 45%. I believe the manual gives you some startup directions as well as specific advice on when to change the power setting. It may take a few days to get it dialed in so excercise a little Pool Owner Patience while going thru the process.

If you don't have a Poolpilot manual get it from www.autopilot.com (website seems to be down at the moment though).

 

[dgde4x4man]

Okay so I found out I had a different cell type than was was installed on the Installation Menu. Fixed that and ran boost for 24 hours. Chlorine levels are good now. But the SWG display now shows WARNING! Check or clean cell. I opened it up and it looked okay to me. Should I do a Force Reverse on it now? Plus why did this happen after running it for 24 hours. Also on eother question does this SWG clean itself automaticly or do I need to do it every few days with a force reverse. Thanks again all from the noobie!

 

[dgde4x4man]

I tried to do a force reverse it said it did...cell reversing. (i chose the 2 hours) now I have a dot on the display next to the ON. Is that right or should the dot not be there. I'm afraid I screwed it up. Just wanted to be sure I did not do something wrong here. In normal operations is the dot there or not? DO i need to re-reverse the force reverse...my head is spinning. Is poolsean out there? Help a fat man out

 

[JasonLion]

A number of the installer settings are not meant to be changed by the user and are poorly documented. You should leave most things at their defaults and not be worrying yourself about them.

You should never need to do a force reverse. It won't really hurt anything, but is really intended for use in diagnosing a possibly broken unit.

The self cleaning time should normally be 4 hours. You can make it longer if your CSI level is reasonably negative all the time. Longer times give longer cell life but can aggravate calcium scaling (which shortens cell life).

Getting a larger cell would have been fine and saved you a little money in the long run, but doesn't really matter at this point.