Intex SWG /w inground pool

[bcorrie]

I have a 30000 gal inground gunite pool and am considering using a swg.

I have a few questions and hope that someone can answer.

1) Does converting to a salt water pool introduce a new set of issues to water chemistry/water balance?
- Does salt water corrosion play a role?

2) Has anyone used an Intex SWG in an inground pool with good results, or is the INTEX too small?

3) which is most economical SWG?

4) Do any of the SWG's allow you to dial a cholrine level?

Thanks for your assistance

 

[MikeInTN]

I have a 30000 gal inground gunite pool and am considering using a swg.

I have a few questions and hope that someone can answer.

1) Does converting to a salt water pool introduce a new set of issues to water chemistry/water balance?

Yes it does. When using a SWG, you normally have TA lower than normal, and CYA higher than normal. Lowering the TA helps combat the pH rise inherent with using a SWG (the SWG aerates the water by releasing lots of little bubbles of gas from the cell plates.). The higher CYA helps prolong the life of the cell.
- Does salt water corrosion play a role?

It is a definite possibility. I've heard from both camps - those folks that have never had an issue, and those who have had problems.

2) Has anyone used an Intex SWG in an inground pool with good results, or is the INTEX too small?

I would think it's too small. I'm wanting to say that the maximum pool size recommended for the Intex is 18,000 gallons, but i'll have to get my manual and look it up.

3) which is most economical SWG?

I have no idea which one of the big boys is more economical. PoolSean or Josh should be able to help you out with this question.

4) Do any of the SWG's allow you to dial a cholrine level?

I'm pretty sure most (if not all) of the bigger models allow you to set the percentage of runtime, which translates into amounts of chlorine generated.
Thanks for your assistance

 

[launboy]

You could just run 2 Intex SWGs in parallel. Just T off the return pipe before the generators, the T back into one pipe after. This would also reduce some of the head created by the (apparently) small I.D. of the Intex cells. I think using 2 Intex cells is still way more economical then one non-Intex SWG. $300.00 would buy you 2 Intex's and I think most other SWGs for a pool that size are $800.00 and up.

HTH,
Adam

 

[sevver]

If I am not mistaken, the Intex Pool SWG's are rated at maximum 10,000 gallon pools. If he were to invest $300 on two of these and it was not enough to keep the chlorine levels up, then it is no longer a small investment. He will be out the money, and will still have to pony up $800 for an SWG.

 

[New2Me]

The Intex are rated for 18.000 gal. Most of the SWG cells are over-rated, ie they use a 24 hr. run time for CL generation, where as most people only run them 6-12 hours. I've seen here where people with a 24,000 gal. pool are suggested to get a 40,000 gal rated cell, they do, then it only runs at 10%? These Intex units are relatively in-expensive, and can be very cost effective. A SWG is just a battery charger and some metal plates-for what they charge for some of them they should have a lifetime warranty! If three Intex units give 54,000 gal treatment, all three may not be needed to run, giving an installed spare(for $600!) I haven't seen a replacement cell cost for an Intex, but at $200 for the whole shootin' match it is still half of any other SWG cell! Intex rates the cell as making 24g/hr, or 1.24 lb/day-the same as some of the others. If you want a Made in the USA set-up, look at the Intermatic-
http://cgi.ebay.com/PE40K120V-Inter...photoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
it appears to be made by Resilience-
http://www.saltpoolguys.com/products/salt-chlorine-generators/resilience-salt-pool.htm
and is HALF of the price(with one/fifth of the warranty-your milage may vary) for a very well respected unit. Shop around, and compare Cl generated/$ spent, factor in maintenance, warranty and usability, replacement cell cost, YOUR time and get what works for you! Usability may be a KEY factor, the Intex is a very simple(dumb) unit, it will run for the set number of hours every 24 hours, and only displays numeric status indicators(one number means salt low, another salt high, etc..) It has no SUPER CHLORINATE button,( although most people here report that SWG units with such a button are not able to generate chlorine fast enough to "SHOCK" a pool anyway.) It does not communicate with automation systems. It does "Self Clean" by reversing the applied charge to the cell. Several more expensive SWGs do not self clean on the entry level model. You don't necessarily get what you pay for, you pay(with research time and $) for what you get! Anyway, Best Wishes & Good Luck!!

 

[bcorrie]

Wow, Thats a lot of info. Thanks guys

New2Me - what ppm does 1.24lbs translate to for a 30,000 gal pool?

As a SWG is a relatively simple concept, has anyone built their own salt water chlorine generator?

 

[New2Me]

Q. New2Me - what ppm does 1.24lbs translate to for a 30,000 gal pool?

A. I don't know, but from
http://www.poolcalculator.com
(one of the best internet sites EVER for a pool owner!) :-D I put in 19.84 oz of 48% Cal-Hypo for 30000 gal and got "raise FC by 2.3, raise CH by 2, and raise Salt by 2." Now a SWG will not raise CH and Salt, and I have NO idea if the 1.24lbs/day is 100% pure CL, (it should be) will raise FC by 4.6 for you, but it looks good on paper!

Q. As a SWG is a relatively simple concept, has anyone built their own salt water chlorine generator?

A. The very first ones had to be!, but seriously, you're talking about lethal electricity mixed with water. There is a reason for the cost, -SAFETY! Intex just seems to have figured out that they can make & sell more units at a lower margin to satisfy them, where as the others like to make & sell fewer units for more margin, through their channel sales partners, you know, the guys that own pool stores.

Wal-mart.com has the Intex for $178 delivered free to a store nearby, and they can be found on Ebay for less, as can some of the "name" brands. Installing any SWG is not for the faint of heart, you are going to need to cut some pipe, strip some wires and exercise some electrical circuit breakers. If you're too busy to do that, then you can rig/plumb the intex from an in-pool return eye (like hooking up a fountain) and plug it into a GFCI outlet and you're done lugging bottles for a while. It may look cheap - IT IS, but you can always unscrew it, unplug it and no one will ever no it was there! If it craps out in a year, maybe more money spent on a "name" brand would have been a better investment? TCO will vary with costs for parts, installation, etc...
Best Wishes!!!

 

[MikeInTN]

Wow, Thats a lot of info. Thanks guys

New2Me - what ppm does 1.24lbs translate to for a 30,000 gal pool?

As a SWG is a relatively simple concept, has anyone built their own salt water chlorine generator?

As New2Me pointed out, safety is a concern; electrolysis uses DC, so you would have to have a transformer and rectifier to get the DC, plus waterproof your transformer and rectifier so that it couldn't get wet. Then there's the matter of the titanium coated grids, the housing for the grids, the controls needed to adjust run time and also to reverse the polarity to the grids to clean them, etc. It could get fairly complicated, and fairly expensive I would think.

 

[New2Me]

From earlier...

If you're too busy to do that, then you can rig/plumb the intex from an in-pool return eye (like hooking up a fountain) and plug it into a GFCI outlet and you're done lugging bottles for a while. It may look cheap - IT IS, but you can always unscrew it, unplug it and no one will ever no it was there! If it craps out in a year, maybe more money spent on a "name" brand would have been a better investment? TCO will vary with costs for parts, installation, etc...

1 picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's 3000-[attachment=0:2y8gk6oq]Dcfc0003.jpg[/attachment:2y8gk6oq]
The white hose came with, as did the hose clamp and outlet fitting on the SWCG, the black/white hose is for my pool vacuum, I had it and the fittings for the in pool part already, so I put them to use. It takes no tools, and about five minutes to set-up, or put away. Best part is, I didn't have to cut any pipe, or splice any wires.

 

[New2Me]

I really wanted to know the correct answer to this question myself -
New2Me - what ppm does 1.24lbs translate to for a 30,000 gal pool?

So I went searching, and found this thread -
http://www.troublefreepool.com/how-...uced-from-a-swg-t6335.html?hilit=pound to ppm
where JasonLion was nice enough to show how pounds of Chlorine equate to ounces of 6% Bleach. If I did the math right, 1.24 pounds of chlorine is equal to 308 ounces of 6% bleach, which will raise FC in a 30,000 gallon pool 5 ppm. If you know what your pools chlorine demand is, in ounces of bleach/day, you should be able calculate hours of run time needed by dividing it by the 12.83 equivalent ounces of bleach that this SWG generates/hour.
MAJOR ERROR!!!
It has a maximum run time of 12 hours, which is ~154 ounces of bleach. I was in error earlier when I calculated 1.24 pounds/day, I should have stated 1.24 pounds/24 hours of run time If you power it on/off you can get it to run almost 24 hours. Hacking the controls might be possible, but I have not needed to look into it yet. Hope that I didn't lead anyone astray!

 

[bcorrie]

Thanks for the info New2me - you are a powerhouse of information.

if the output is equiv to 308 oz of 6% bleach every 12 hrs, I would have to run the generator for 4-6hrs/day only as I have
a low bather load.

Though I am confused as why its rated for 18,000 gal only. Anyone know why SWG have a gallon size rating
instead of being rated by chlorine output only?

 

[JasonLion]

The average person knows how many gallons their pool is but has no idea how much chlorine they need. Vendors like to list numbers that consumers can actually understand. Unfortunately, there is no standard way to convert chlorine production into maximum pool size, so different manufacturers gallons ratings are not directly comparable and should only be used as vague guidelines.

 

[New2Me]

bcorrie wrote:
if the output is equiv to 308 oz of 6% bleach every 12 hrs, I would have to run the generator for 4-6hrs/day only as I have
a low bather load.

Please note my above post, that 308 is 24 hrs of generation. The Intex can only be programmed to run 12 out of every 24 hours, so maximum daily generation is equivalent to only 154 oz of 6% bleach. And that is theoretical maximum production, your actual generation will be less, and will taper off as the cell gets dirty and degrades, same as all cells will.