AutoPilot

[DONNIE]

Well..............I've had a wonderful 1st year with my new pool in part to my SWG but more due to the helpful advice I recieved here. My pool was nothing but sparkling clear all year and I've really got a grasp on water chemistry. I am not closing my pool but we are already having lows around freezing. Water temp is 55 and I really don't see it getting any higher. Should I remove the cell from my AutoPilot for the winter and just use bleach as needed? It seems like the thing to do but would appreciate any advice (Sean?).

Donnie

 

[JasonLion]

You don't need to remove the cell, but you might as well turn it off. The SWG doesn't work very well at low temperatures so it is best to switch to bleach when the water gets down to around 55-60 degrees.

 

[DONNIE]

I guess the only way to turn it off is to unplug the cell. After all, thats the way I turned it on in the spring when temps came up.

 

[Poolsean]

Hey Donnie,

Like Jason said, you do not have to remove the cell, in fact, you really don't have to do anything. The Digial has the Automatic Temperature Compensation so that when the water temperature starts dropping, the Purifier % will also. When it gets down to 55 or colder, it will drop and lock on 1% output.
This way its not generating too much, but you don't have to add or switch over to bleach, and you will still generate a little bit of chlorine, which should maintain your pool over the winter. As it starts to warm my next spring, the output willl automatically start increasing.

My opinion is to just let it do what it's designed to do - automatically adjust the output so you don't have to.
Very little wear will result to the cell, at least not enough to worry about.

 

[DONNIE]

Thanks Sean! The answer I expected but wanted confirmation. You my friend are the #1 reason I am glad I bought the AutoPilot. Customer service at its finest. I mean that. Thanks!

Donnie