Using a Peristaltic pump for Chlorine

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T

Tdog

0
Oct 26, 2007
41
Va Beach, VA
I have been considering either getting a LQ or trying a peristaltic pump to automate my chlorine. I think there are a couple of people using a peristaltic pump for acid injection, is anyone using it for chlorine?

I have several questions about using a peristaltic pump.

1. Will the "white stuff" develop in the peristaltic pumps tubes?

2. Will a pump placed inside a rubbermaid deck box outside in high humidity survive?

3. How hard is it to use a peristaltic pump?
 
Tdog said:
I have been considering either getting a LQ or trying a peristaltic pump to automate my chlorine. I think there are a couple of people using a peristaltic pump for acid injection, is anyone using it for chlorine?

I have several questions about using a peristaltic pump.

1. Will the "white stuff" develop in the peristaltic pumps tubes?
possibly and probably
2. Will a pump placed inside a rubbermaid deck box outside in high humidity survive?
with proper maintenance, yes
3. How hard is it to use a peristaltic pump?
Click to expand...
not hard but they are fairly high maintenance, hardly something you just 'set and forget'
 
I have had my RolaChem for 10/11 years and never had any problem with it. Winter time I bring it into the cellar. Spring time I lub the tube per instruction. I wouldn't even think of getting an LQ. If this one dies and I can't fix it; I'll buy another. I buy 5 gal chlorine containers(12.5%) at the pool store. I have the RC-252 model. It's more expensive than a LQ; but no white stuff; dial the amount of chlorine I want to go in the pool, or turn it on to off timer. I just set it and forget it. When I check the chlorine readings of the pool, I may adjust it alittle. Depends on day temp and the pool load. I don't use it for acid or use any of their other fancy equiptment; just the Model RC-252 for chlorine.

The manual for their pumps is here.

http://www.rola-chem.com/manuals/ROLA_C ... MANUAL.pdf
 
We use Stenners at the commercial installation that I maintain and we are constatnly having problems with them. Well, not really problems but they do require maintenance on a regular basis. We use them for both chlorine and acid. The acid pumps give us fewer problems than the chlorine pumps. We do need to replace the feed tubing on a regular basis on both the chlorine and acid. The chlorine lines tend to scale and the acid lines develop leaks. Nature of the beast. We use them on both pools, both spas, and the splash zone play area.

Don't get me wrong. They work great but we do inspect them daily to make sure they keep working.
 
I use a ton of peristaltic pumps on commercial pools as well, mostly Stenners. I also have them on my home pool along with an ORP/pH controller.

Maintenance on a peristaltic pump can be high but is generally directly proportional to how many hours it is run. On a residential application it's so low compared to commercial that maintenance isn't as intense.

I usually replace the feed tube once per year on a PM basis and inspect the tubing (suction/discharge), rollers, and all connections as well. That eliminates most problems. If I get lazy and don't do this though, a broken feed tube will make a big mess.

"White Stuff" isn't an issue with peristaltic pumps. It probably exists but the orifices are large enough to where it's not a problem. You can get salt blocks on the chlorine injection point and lines over time, particularly if you have air in your system but again on a low use residential system it's probably a once every 2-3 years scenario.
 
Sabot said:
Is your Peristaltic pump hardwired into your pool timer box? How does it know when to turn on and off? Interesting stuff! :)
Click to expand...

For me...... I have the 115 volt model that just plugs into an outlet. If I wanted to run my pump less than 24 hours a day, I have a timer that plugs into the outlet (cheap $9.99 speacal from Lowes) and the pump plugs into it. RoloChem has a Model RC-252 that is 230 volt that you can wire into your system. Just remember to calculate the amount of fluid per day. (The RoloChem has 8 settings) (Ex..... setting on the RoloChem is .5 GPD and you are running the RoloChem 12 hours a day, you are only putting in .25 GPD in the pool.

In the RoloChem, there is a timer to start and stop the motor depending on what your selected output (in my case chlorine) is.

The only spare parts I keep is the tubing assembly and an extra input nut assembly.

Note.... I may be wrong .... someone tell me if I am .... but wiring a 115 volt item using one hot and common (tapping off 115 volts) on a GFI 230 volt circuit, could cause the circuit (230 volt) to be prone to tripping.
 
Hotrod30 said:
Note.... I may be wrong .... someone tell me if I am .... but wiring a 115 volt item using one hot and common (tapping off 115 volts) on a GFI 230 volt circuit, could cause the circuit (230 volt) to be prone to tripping.
Click to expand...

I have a 230V main pump, 115V chlorine pump, and a three function timer. I use the first two functions for my 230V main pump, and the third for my chlorine pump.

I am just using one of the hot lines from the 223V, along with a neutral that was available, to create the 115V for the chlorine pump.

I was worried that it might cause problems, drawing more power from one of the 220V hot lines, but has not caused breaker to trip, or any other problem that I can see.

It took my a while to get everything set up and working right, but it is nice now that it is, don't have to worry about adding chlorine, for the most part. It's been working for a few weeks now.

Randy
 
Interesting timing for this to come up. I am in the process of putting together a low cost peristaltic pump for dosing CL while I am away on trips.

I have flown RC planes and helicopters for many years and have a 12v peristaltic fuel pump http://www.slimlineproducts.com/online_ ... r_pump.htm to fill the fuel. $49.99. It pumps right at 12 oz/min and my pool uses around 20 oz/day right now. Intermatic sells a 24 hour timer at Lowes for $14.99 that can program down to 1 min increments. Lucky for me that I have a 120v to 12 v power source but the plan is to have it come on for 2 minutes per day and pump into the pool direct during the time that the pump is running. In the RC world this pump handles all of the nitromethane fuel and oils perfectly. As I only plan on using this for out of town trips and vacations I plan on flushing it out with water when I return. I should have my second pump this week and will let you know how it works out. They even make a version of this pump that screws right down over your 1-gallon bottle (actually that is what I use for my fuel) but I wanted a larger storage capacity. I will be in Japan, China, and Thailand in June so I want to have this worked out.

Oh and the best part is the timer also has a batter back-up power so if you have a power outage it stays on schedule. The only catch would be if you had a power outage during the 2-min cycle time.
 

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AV8TOR said:
Aquaman95 said:
For $50 you could pick up a chemical specific pump on ebay that is rated for acid/chlorine.
Click to expand...

I looked and did not see any under $150. You have any links?
Click to expand...

You got me. Normally there are quite a few used peristaltics going for cheap. I don't see any right now. The only one I see under $150 right now is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-Pool-Chlorine ... 1|294%3A50

I don't know much about this pump...I've never seen one in the field and I don't know how easy parts would be to get. Hannah is a reputable company though.
 
Aquaman95 said:
AV8TOR said:
Aquaman95 said:
For $50 you could pick up a chemical specific pump on ebay that is rated for acid/chlorine.
Click to expand...

I looked and did not see any under $150. You have any links?
Click to expand...

You got me. Normally there are quite a few used peristaltics going for cheap. I don't see any right now. The only one I see under $150 right now is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-Pool-Chlorine ... 1|294%3A50

I don't know much about this pump...I've never seen one in the field and I don't know how easy parts would be to get. Hannah is a reputable company though.
Click to expand...


I still don't know much about this pump but I do see they have PVDF heads and teflon diaphragms so they should be very chemical resistant. They don't appear to be self venting so maybe not a good choice for bleach, but should work fine for acid.

They're only $118 here with free shipping:

http://www.easymeters.com/cart/catalog/ ... c-193.html
 
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