SWG not generating

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ventura43

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Mar 19, 2008
10
I have not been getting a reading on Cl so I took a look at the SWG. The display said it was generating...all solid green lights. (Aquarite). I ran the pump 8-9 hours in a 6500 gal. pool at 10%. Last year that would have put me over 5.0 for FC.
I used brand new reagents to test and still get 0.

Next day, no Cl, same green lights but this time I toggled through the digital display. According to the manual, the system will show 22-25 volts when making Cl, 30-35 volts when not....I show 31 V.

Cell current should be 4.5-7.8 when making Cl, I show 0. If I switch to superclorinate the readings as as they should be. When I switch back to normal mode the voltage is about 25 for 5-10 minutes and then swiched to 31.

I have no trouble lights or flashing lights. Cell looks good. Any ideas?
 
CYA is OK . Here are my numbers:

Cl= 0
pH = 7.6
TA = 85
CH = 440
CYA= 90
Water Temp = 76

I use a Taylor drop kit for testing and have new reagents.

The voltage drops (signifying Cl generation as per manual) for about 10-15 minutes then clicks off. I don't think the system cycles. I thought that as longa as pump was running you are supposed to be generating Cl.

Thanks
 
The percentage setting on the SWG controls what percentage of the time the cell is actually active. If you have it set to 10% then the cell will only be active 10% of the time. The SWG does this by turning the cell on for a little while and then off for a little while.

It may be a little tricky but you can verify that the cell is working by getting a water sample from a return while the cell is energized.

The second most common cause of low chlorine with a SWG is a low level algae bloom. It is possible to have algae even when the water is clear. The algae and the SWG very nearly cancel each other out, the algae can't really get going because of the SWG and the SWG can't build up a chlorine level because of the algae. You can resolve this by adding chlorine with bleach up to shock level to kill the algae and the SWG should be able to take it from there.
 
ventura43 said:
The voltage drops (signifying Cl generation as per manual) for about 10-15 minutes then clicks off. I don't think the system cycles. I thought that as longa as pump was running you are supposed to be generating Cl.

Thanks
Click to expand...
No, unless you are in superchlorinate mode the cell cycles on and off. What output percentage are you set on? In the Goldine units that is the percent of every 100 minutes of operation the cell will be on. In other words, if you are running at 25% output the cell will be on 25 minutes for every 100 minutes of pump run time. It will cycle off and then reverse polarity the next time it cycles on. If you chlorine is low try shocking with bleach and then seeing if the SWG can maintain your chlorine level after the shock. If the FC is low most SWGs cannot get the FC up high enough but if the FC is at the proper level they have no problems maintaining it.
 
Thanks for the info. I was under the mistaken impression that the generator was "on" any time the pump was running. I didn't realize it cycled.

I'm going to take the suggestion of shocking and then seeing if the SWG can maintain.

I always appreciate the wealth of knowledge here.
 

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vegas_dp said:
Set it to 50%.

10% is to low for warmer water. Adjust every couple of days based on test results until you get it "dialed in".

You will probably end up around 30-40%.
Click to expand...
Actually, with the 6500 gallon pool that ventura43 has I would say that between 10-20% output would be more in the ballpark with about an 8 hour pump run time, assuming proper pH, CYA, and other water balance parmaters.
 
I never had the setting above 10% all last summer to maintain a 3-5ppm of FC. At only 6500 gal. it doesn't take much!

I superchlorinated last evening and had the FC at 3% this morning. I dialed the control back to about 20% for the 8 hour run today and I'll see where we end up.

The only thing I added "out of the ordinary" was the calcium hardness reducer that Waterbear suggested. It's bringing the hardness down. Would that also affect FC?

Thanks again for all the suggestions.
 
is it making salt

you can also check by looking at the water in the cell it should be cloudy after it passes through the cell i had the same problem 2 weeks ago clear water but no chlorine { but i had a feeling the water did not look right] so i put half gallon bleach in. next day the water was perfect and swg caught up been great since
 
ventura43 said:
The only thing I added "out of the ordinary" was the calcium hardness reducer that Waterbear suggested. It's bringing the hardness down. Would that also affect FC?

Thanks again for all the suggestions.
Click to expand...
No, it's just a sequesterant actually helps prevent scaling of the cell. Have you checked the cell for scale deposits and have you cleaned it with acid recently? You might want to clean it again and see if it makes any difference.
 
Another possible test is if you have a pool light. At night, with the light on, look at the beam of light 90 degress from the beam direction. Thismis actually a measure of turbidity. If you can see the beam of light, then your water is turbid. Try shocking for several days, and see if it cleans up.
 
ventura,

I superchlorinated last evening and had the FC at 3% this morning. I dialed the control back to about 20% for the 8 hour run today and I'll see where we end up.
Click to expand...

This thread seems to be lot's of guessing while not eliminating the obvious. Your quote above (How high did you "superchlorinate"?) tells me you have a good dose of aglae in your pool which has been eating up the Cl your SWG has produced.

Put Cl in the pool in the evening, test the ppm, and turn off the SWG for the night. Next morning, test for chlorine again. If it has dropped more than around 1ppm you have algae.
 
I'll try the "light test" this PM.

When I say I superchlorinated, I just meant I ran the generator at a high rate for the rest of the run time. I had 3 ppm in the morning. I dialed the generator back to 20% with a 7 hour run time and after 24 hours I still tested at 3%. This morning I dialed back to 10% (what I used to maintain all last summer) and I'll measure in the AM.

If I drop off significantly than I would agree that I have algae.

What FC level do most people try to keep with a SWG?
 

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