HELP until I can afford new SWG Cell 15 - please

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W

what next

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Jul 7, 2013
26
North Western Wisconsin
Short version: SWG (Bioguard Mineral Springs), is no longer generating chlorine (I tried cleaning the cell and reinstalling, to no avail) and I need to know what to do until I can afford to purchase a replacement cell.

Long version: My husband always took care of the pool - but has had two strokes in past few years, and the whole pool thing has become my responsibility - have tried a few different 'pool people', but were incredibly costly, and their level of experience/expertise wasn't convincing. I've read 'pool school' several times, and still feel quite incompetent, as well the pool calculator - I don't have the numbers needed (only knew about the test strips till I found your site), but can take a water sample into a local pool store and then post the numbers. I do know that the FC is too low, the weather is hot, and my youngest children need the pool (both with special needs - it's great therapy for all of us). I need to know the 'quickest, albeit temporary fix' so the situation doesn't get out of hand- until I can replace the cell and find a way to maintain the pool.

water is currently clear, but not as sparkly as it use to be
Any help is GREATLY appreciate.

Above ground pool
approximately 22,000 gallons
sand filter
 
Welcome to TFP!

Step one is complete. You made it here. We are going to discourage you going to the pool store. They will most likely test your water incorrectly and they will point down the wrong path.

1. You need to read Pool School.
2. You need to order one of the recommended test kits.
3. You need to get some chlorine in that pool. You need to get plain old bleach or dedicated liquid pool chlorinator. You can use the Pool Calculator to give you a general idea of chemical additions until you get a test kit. It looks like 1 gal of 8.25% bleach will bump you to around 4 ppm.....minus any other issues of course.
 
Short answer: you need to use liquid chlorine (aka BLEACH) to provide the FC required to kill off the algae and other organisms. I would guess you may need as much as a gallon a day of standard bleach to offset the loss of the SWG but only DAILY testing will tell you for sure.

The strips and most store testing will not provide you the accuracy required to effectively manage your pool. The cost of the suggested test kit is about that same as one trip to most pool store and will provide you the knowledge you need to manage your pool for about two years worth of tests. It will also let you shop at your local grocery or "box store" for less expensive chemicals. if will also tell you exactly what you need, not what they "think" they need to "sell" you.
 
SWG T Cell 15 replacement question...

Purchased and added the bleach; ordered test kit; re-read 'pool school'.... now, regarding the replacement cell. Am I correct in understanding that the Aquarite Hayward Goldline T-CELL-15 Turbo Cell 40K would be the correct item? Ours is a bioguard mineral springs system, which we have had since 2006 - would love to get the same life out of the replacement. Is there any solid information on the comparison between the aforementioned and the generic version of the cell available? Dollars are tight, but I don't want to have to replace cell in a year or two...
Again, thanks!
 
ob1quixote - you are indeed correct - there certainly are good folks here!
Thank you Jason for the link about the titanium cells - the price point and warranty look great (comparatively speaking)!

I'm still trying to figure out the specific type of sand filter we have - I believe it is made by Hayward, but beyond that, I know zilch.

Should have bought more bleach than I did today - since it could be up to several days before test kit arrives. Is there anything else I should be doing to prevent things from getting out of hand?
 
Post up pictures of the filter ... is there a problem with it that is necessitating identifying it?

You just need to maintain FC in the pool, that is the best you can do until you have a good test kit.
 

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Jason - no known problem with filter/pump, just wanted to be able to add the info to the signature.

Still waiting for test kit to arrive, and have been adding bleach; initially I put in two gallons (6%). We had heavy rains this a.m. and this p.m. there was what I suspect to be algae growing on the bottom of the pool. I added another gallon of bleach this evening (found 12% at our local farm store - case was only 10.00 - better price than even WalMart) and scrubbed the floor. Have left the filter running. Water is still clear (not sparkling). Any other actions I can take while waiting on the test kit to arrive? Should I increase the amount of bleach I'm adding? If so, how much, and all at once or throughout the day?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help - today I received a bill from one of the 'pool guys' - 198.00 - he helped me pull the cover off the pool, dumped some shock in and made sure the filter was running. Had I only known about this site sooner!!! :grrrr:
 
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