Ready to move to SWG from BBB

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

culdeus

0
Nov 30, 2012
34
My pool was built with SWG. When I bought the house they had pulled out the SWG electrode and were on chems. I've been BBB for most of the last year and I'm already seeing the cost of bleach is getting to the point where converting to SWG even at 2x the cost of bleach might make some opportunity cost sense.

Even a service is getting near the cost of all this bleach and testing supplies and muri. My time is still worth something....

Can you run SWG during swim season and go BBB during off season? Is this a proven method? That's my main question. Even if the answer is no, then math wise it still may be worth it to me to put the system back in.

i am advantaged in that the controller is still functional so my upfront cost is much lower than a straight install.
 
Once its in the pool, chlorine is chlorine is chlorine. So to answer your question - yes. SWG is just an automated way to add chlorine. You can add it with liquid manually at any time. You may want to do closer monitoring/testing while you "get to know your pool" in the off season...
 
Don't worry....you still can claim BBB. :cool: Just like frustratedpoolmom said...chlorine is chlorine. As far as the cost savings goes, most of the time it's a wash. The convenience factor is a big plus. Since you already have the controller that is some savings for you.

One other thing which I think is even more of a plus, is that a SWG chlorinates the water differently. Essentially, it super chlorinates (chlorine gases) the water as is passes though the cell. Many think that is another benefit.

I was looking over your other post and it looks like you have a 15,000 gallon pool in Dallas. What brand/model controller did they leave behind?

As far as off-season goes, you will most likely have to shut off the SWG anyway due to too low water temp. Not an issue at all. I only needed 1.5 gal of 10% bleach to hold levels until April.

When you have sec, throw pool info in your signature line and update your location in your profile
 
dafuzz said:
Sounds like you may have issues with your CYA and TA.
Click to expand...

CYA is fine. I'm at about 50. I had to add some CYA directly from a jug to get it up from 30 about a month back. The pool store guy was pretty shocked. They don't get many requests for CYA in a bottle perhaps.

TA is a tad higher than I have been wanting it lately at about 110. City water is about 50 so it has been slowly dropping. When I added the straight Boric Acid the TA went up a bit higher than people had let on with that step. That's the only time I've seen it north of 70-80 in a year is after that.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
UN1017 said:
culdeus said:
It is a goldline controls inc controller. I do not see a model number.
Click to expand...
What size cell were they using? Is it still attached as well? I'm curious if it appropriately sized.
Click to expand...

The cell is gone. What are the good sources out there on the net for replacements? I assume the pool contractors are going to charge a large markup.
 
I find that Amazon has great prices on pool equipment. Look at the Hayward Aqua Rite T-Cell 5 and T-Cell 9. The 5 would probably work for you but it is recommended to size up on these, so the 9 is probably the best bet for little increase in price.

Your pool store will mark these up about 50%.
 
It looks like they are out of the newer labeled T-Cell 9 on Amazon and a 3rd party is selling it.

You can find it under a different label at Amazon for $375:

http://www.amazon.com/Hayward-GLX-CELL- ... +9+hayward

Or under the original Goldline label here for $338:

http://www.amazon.com/Hayward-Goldline- ... s=T-Cell+9

Size is related to the amount of chlorine it produces, so I would think the 9 would do the job for you. I'm not an expert at this by any means, I've just been doing a lot of research recently and had a T-Cell 15 installed on my 28,000 gallon pool. I have it set to run about 50% of the time currently and my chlorine is still high, so I am slowly throttling it down.
 
culdeus said:
would the 9 keep things better controlled when it gets hot in Texas, or is the size not related to the ability to keep up with CL demand?
Click to expand...
It's really all about chlorine consumption (sunlight exposure and bather load). Generally it is recommended to oversize 1.5 to 3 times the rating of the cell. So, in theory, you would want one rated for 22,500 gallons all the way to 45,000.

Minus any other mishaps (sun damage or being hit by a foreign object), the less a cell has to be "on" the longer it lasts. To add to the equation, a 20K does not cost twice as much as a 40K.
 
I've been doing some research and also discussed some things with the pool vendor that previously serviced this pool and the SWG.

From our conversation his comments were:

-With the water effects this pool was heck to keep in PH with the SWG running. It was also eating the rock work.
-He strongly suggested against going back to SWG without a acid feeder as well
-He suggested scrapping the whole system and going to a Jandy EI +Acid feed if I did want to go the SWG route.

Doing further research perhaps a liquidator system may achieve the same results with less risk. The results being flatter and lower FC levels and water quality. Maintining a 4000ppm salt level achieves most of the water feel SWG stuff perhaps.

I do wonder if doing a liquidator it wouldn't make sense to do an acid feeder also. That way both systems are "dialed" in rather than dosed. I have done some searching on this forum and have not seen many people that use this approach.

Outside this forum there are some that would say running CYA of 30-50 makes you more prone to PH swings from injected FC from any sources. Maybe running a higher CYA level with a chlorinator would flatten out the ph rises I get. I don't see anyone saying this is true in this forum at all, however.

Still thinking on this. 1300 for an EI system over 4-500 for injectors seems like the choice for me on the table with of course status quo still out there.
 
I have an older Goldline unit. It was installed about eight years ago. Unlike the newer units, it can't be reprogrammed to work with a number of different cells. Mine originally came with a T-15 cell and that's what I had to replace it with. It's a good unit. I got 6+ years out of a cell, and that's in Tucson with a 20k pool that is open year round and used from late April until Thanksgiving. It's not only more convenient than hauling liquid chlorine, but based on replacement cost of the cell vs cost of chlorine it's actually cheaper.

Since all the cells are rated based on how much chlorine they are capable of producing over their life, I would recommend you purchase the largest cell your system is capable of using. It will last much longer and you will be running the system at much lower settings. Get the model number off the control unit, look for the service manual online, and be sure of what cell or cells the control unit will support. If there is any doubt, contact the manufacturer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply