Figuring out how long everything runs?

[davelinde]

We are in the process of stumbling into getting our pool set up and approaching the point where it might make sense to sit down and make a plan. But I'm not 100% sure of what I'm planning here?

Initially someone told me to run the filter 8 hrs/day at low speed... so I do that. But then when the solar was installed we also enabled solar to run any time there is sun and as long as the pool is not too warm, so we did that - so it is running half the day or more at high speed (only dropping to low speed again if it gets cloudy).

As soon as I get a few things straight I'll be adding salt and starting the chlorinator. Does that need a minimum number of hours/flow per day to work properly? And yesterday our neighbor stopped by and said that they adjust filter run time based on average temperature outside and will soon be increasing it. Oh yes... and I also need to put the robot on a timer and let it run, and it seems to want a lower flow rate so I'm thinking that needs to be at night when the solar can't kick in? How long and how often for the robot?

I think I'm looking for more rules than I have thumbs?

 

[JasonLion]

Divide and conquer. You don't need to take all of these things into account all at once, you can deal with them one at a time.

The SWG has a minimum run time to work correctly. Just what that is varies with the relative size of your pool and SWG, but generally won't be an issue and can be ignored unless your SWG percentage gets up to 100% and you aren't getting enough chlorine.

Solar runs whenever solar wants to run and that is generally way more than you would otherwise need it to run in total. Ideally you want to turn off the non-solar run time when solar is active, but cloudy days mess things up as none of the controllers I know of are smart enough to figure out to run the pump at night only if solar wasn't run enough during the day. The net effect is you generally ignore the solar run time and write it off as the cost of solar heat.

The ideal filtration runtime is best figured out by experiment, as it varies from pool to pool. The correct way of doing this is described in Pool School. However, it is tricky to do that while solar is running as solar adds extra filtration which invalidates the measurements. It also varies with water temperature as mentioned by your friend.

The pool robot part I don't understand. Pool cleaning robots (not directly connected to the plumbing) don't generally care what the pool pump is doing. And pool cleaners connected to the pump aren't generally called robots and generally want a higher flow rate. So I have no idea what you are talking about there.

 

[davelinde]

Divide and conquer. You don't need to take all of these things into account all at once,...

The pool robot part I don't understand. Pool cleaning robots (not directly connected to the plumbing) don't generally care what the pool pump is doing. And pool cleaners connected to the pump aren't generally called robots and generally want a higher flow rate. So I have no idea what you are talking about there.

That makes sense.

For the "robot"... I may be using the wrong terminology - I updated my sig for the thing we have. It is a little track driven do-dadd that connects to a dedicated suction line. The install instructions warn about not letting it run with high flow, suggesting using the skimmer to divert flow if needed. With a VS pump I figure I can just dial it in? But only if none of the other programmed items kick in and over-ride the pump speed...

 

[JasonLion]

Got it. I call that a suction side cleaner. Generally such a cleaner needs a medium speed. The lowest speeds don't generally provide enough power for the cleaner to move properly. If you have a spare valve that your automation system can control you can have it turn off the line running to the cleaner when running at higher speeds (ie when solar is on).

 

[davelinde]

Got it. I call that a suction side cleaner. Generally such a cleaner needs a medium speed. The lowest speeds don't generally provide enough power for the cleaner to move properly. If you have a spare valve that your automation system can control you can have it turn off the line running to the cleaner when running at higher speeds (ie when solar is on).

yep - per the instructions it seems to want a moderate flow.

hmmm... it's not clear to me how I can program the automation to flip off the vac line when the solar kicks in but I'll look into that. The vac line is currently on it's own valve along with an actuator under the control of the automation.