SWCG vs. Liquidator

[smuggs]

JCJR - you mentioned that you ruined many shirts and shorts because of puting bleach in. This made me think of another question.....

Can you increase the flow rate on the Liquidator in order to shock? Or, will the flow rate just not get high enough in order to accomplish that, thereby requiring me to still put bleach in manually when shocking is required?

 

[Sabot]

Manual shocking...

If all things are equal... shocking is greatly reduced with the use of the Liquidator. Since I started my pool last year (BBB from the beginning) I have yet <knocking> had the need to shock. We use the pool almost daily, 2 kids and 2 adults... Weekends... many more kids...

I keep after the water balance on a daily basis though, keeping things balanced as the best as I can. I make small adjustments to the Liquidator control valve to dial in the needs of the pool. I top off the Liquidator every few days as needed. I have enjoyed the Liquidator setup so well... (No longer having to introduce chlorine manually to the water) that I am installing the Hasa PH Adjuster next week. If I had an extra $3000 lying around, I would install a CAT controller pro to automate the chlorine and acid introduction to the pool…

 

[JasonLion]

Can you increase the flow rate on the Liquidator in order to shock? Or, will the flow rate just not get high enough in order to accomplish that, thereby requiring me to still put bleach in manually when shocking is required?

The Liquidator, just as with a SWG, or puck feeder, is designed to feed a slow constant amount of chlorine into the pool. Even on maximum none of these devices can deliver the sharp increase in FC that is usually required when shocking the pool. Shocking really consists of two phases, first you need a sharp/rapid increase in the FC level up to a very high level, then you need to maintain that raised level for some period of time. You need bleach, or a powdered chlorine source, for the initial rapid increase but for the subsequent maintenance of high FC levels you can use a Liquidator, SWG, or puck feeder if you want to.

 

[plucky71]

Re:

I have enjoyed the Liquidator setup so well... (No longer having to introduce chlorine manually to the water) that I am installing the Hasa PH Adjuster next week. If I had an extra $3000 lying around, I would install a CAT controller pro to automate the chlorine and acid introduction to the pool

What percent chlorine do you use? For me, 12.5 is the easiest and cheapest but i saw jason post that 6% is best Sorry if you have already stated the answer.

 

[Sabot]

6%.

 

[chrisexv6]

I just converted to SWCG from a Liquidator a couple weeks ago.

One reasoning for doing so was looking at the fact that I don't always refill the LQ when I should. I'm using 5 gallon jugs from our nearest Namco, which is ~20 miles round trip. The 5 gallon is decently price (16.99 + 6.00 refundable deposit), but since its 12.5% I dont like having more than one or two of them at a time, since it will degrade quickly. Through a whole season Id make probably 5 or 6 trips with 2 jugs each trip. Since I only use my truck (dont want this stuff accidentally spilling in my car), at 14mpg and 4.00/gallon all of a sudden that starts to add up too. Factor in the fact that I have to work with the big jugs, make sure I dont bleach clothing, etc, and SWCG became more *convenient*.

I can do math and make the numbers better for a SWCG, but the fact of the matter is that liquid chlorine probably will always be cheaper, but not more convenient. Its also nice having a unit that will compensate for water temp as its been kinda funky up in the Northeast lately (94 one day, 80 the next, etc) so it keeps a pretty steady level without any interaction from me. I dont think the "feel" of the water changed noticeably, maybe because I was already using liquid chlor.

Since mine is so new it remains to be seen how reliable the exact system I got is, but so far Im quite impressed. Like I said, I just dont need to touch anything anymore. I keep testing the water but havent seen anything change (including the pH), so its been a good two weeks!