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Andiejj

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Jul 19, 2007
188
Katy, TX
Okay, can someone give me the dummy explaination on how swg work - actually more specifically:

I had been running my SWG at 80% and was adding a bag of salt every month - 6 weeks. Then I had issues with CYA and through the course of trying to get my CYA up, my CL level skyrocketed. For the past month I have been running it between 10% - 25% in trying to lower my CL. I just added a bag 2 weeks ago and I have been running it around 15% for that two weeks and today it says my salt is low. Does it not matter what you run your SWG at? I guess my common sense was that lower % = lower salt usage which would mean my salt would last longer?????? Am I crazy? Thanks!
 
Your salt does not get consumed. It can either be splashed out or perhaps go out of the overflow. Once at the target salt content for your SWG you should not have to add any more for quite a while, unless you are adding fresh water constantly for reasons other than evaporation. My PB started my SWG at about 60% and my CL was way high at over 7. I've since lowered it to about 20% with about 12hour runtime on the pump and it maintains about a 3 CL, my PB says I can go even lower than that. My salt level is at about 3400.

What does your SWG report your current salt level to be and how many bags (and size) have you added so far?
 
Wow, I would be concerned that your salt level is now way to high... perhaps it's reporting low salt because it simply can't measure it any more. I'd either get some salt testing strips, or take a sample to a pool store to get a salt reading. If your CL is way to high, I'd just set your SWCG to 0% until it gets back to normal, why add more Cl when it's allready way to high.

I'm no chemist, but from what I understand, the plates in the SWCG break the salt down into chlorine and a few other byproducts... the chlorine reacts with the bad stuff in your pool, sanitizing it, and then recombines back into salt. It doesn't even evaporate, the ONLY way you loose salt is by it leaving your pool with water, either by splashing, dragging, or pumping it out.

You should probably post all of your pool chemistry numbers... do you have a test kit?
 
This is a new pool (built feb/march). I just tested about an hour ago here are the results:

Water - clear and purty ;)
Temp - 93
FC - 4
CC - 0
TC - 4
pH - 7.4
T/A - 90
CH 330
CYA - ~75


I am adding 40 lb bags ( just one when it asks me to add). Mine is an intellichlor so it tells me what to do. When the salt level is good it tells me it is good. When it starts to get low it will say to add salt. I check my salt level every couple of days and it was today that told me to add salt but then realized I had just added it a couple weeks ago. I keep everything on a calander. I have been fighting high chlorine since 7/30 and been tweaking with the SWG output yo ge it down. I don't have salt strips. I might be able to take some to poll stare tomorrow but don't know if I trust them that much b/c it seems on the rare occasion I do bring a sample they are telling me all the struff I need to buy . Thanks again for any and all input. Are the strips worth buying?
 
I have both the aquachek salt strips (from the TF-100 kit) and the Taylor K-1766 drops based salt test and they are both very close to each other (w/in 200 ppm). So yes the strips work very well.
 
Do you have an overflow drain and or autofill system? If so there could be a leak that is causing frequent filling which is diluting the water. Or if you have had a lot of rain you could be getting dilution that way. Otherwise it is probably a faulty sensor in the SWG.
 
Yes, I do have autofill/drain. We have gotten a little rain but not much compared to last month. If it is a leak I would assume I would be having higher water bills which I do not. So, I may have to guess that there is something wrong with the SWG. Hmmm... perhaps I will get some strips and then wait for my SWG to tell it is low and then start testing?
 
Andrea, you need to get your salt level tested!! Once you know the #, you can adjust the concentration to the recommended level and 'Teach' the unit that the level is correct -- the way to do this is in the owners manual, I think (I pulled the way to do it off the web a couple of months ago for a pool we didn't build, but never went back to do it so the info is in my binder on the van - I'll try to remember to grab it Monday) The unit can be told that the salt level is good, even if it thinks that it's too low.
 
Andrea,
I believe THIS is what waste is referring to (Waste, let us know if I am wrong). Recalibration is not in the intellichlor manual. Defintely get a salt test done on your water and compare it to what the intellichlor says. If it is way off, you might consider recalibrating with the instructions on the website I provided.
 
Yes, I second the motion on getting your salt tested. I have an IC-20 and have only had to add 2 bags of salt at the beginning of the season and thats it. My FC has been hanging around 7 and I am running my unit at 20% for 12 hours to try and get it down.

If you go to the pool store to get the test and they tell you to buy this and that, just tell them you already have enough at home.
 

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That seems like a tremendous amount of salt - as much rain as we've had this year and the amount of other troubles with my pool, at least the salt level hasn't been a problem. I have only added 3 bags since last August.

How salty does your water taste?
 
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