New Liquidator Woes

[zethacat]

Hey all. My pool is only a few weeks old and I had PC install a liquidator with the rest of the pool equipment. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked since I got it. PB had never even heard of the liquidator, nor had his plumbers.. the plumbers actually needed to call Hasa to get it installed, and I think they STILL installed it incorrect. The manual clearly states to leave 12" of tubing between each part, but it looks like they basically piggy backed them all (flow control valve, meter and check valve have no space in between them). Does anyone know if that 12" between parts should make any difference?

Next, when they originally set all the plumbing and equipment , before ever hooking up the liquidator , I was kind of upset that they didn't leave room near the pump and filter for it... so it's got to be located on the other side of the heater which is pretty far from the pump. Do you think the long distance has any ill effect?

Also, I've never been able to get more than 2 on the flow meter, and even when the flow meter indicates a flow, it doesn't always look like anything is flowing out.... Sometimes wiggling the tubes gets things moving a little bit (I can see little bubbles moving along the line), but it doesn't last long. It seems like it just always tapers off and stops at some point. This is with my pump at 2800 RPM. I don't want to run it any higher than that because that will cost a lot of electricity and that somewhat counteract the benefits of having the liquidator in the first place. In any event, I don't think a drop of chlorine has been dispensed by this thing. I added a gallon of bleach about 5 days ago and it's all still sitting at the bottom of the tank. Yesterday my pump wouldn't even prime , giving an "overcurrent" error, and it took me several hours to realize that wiggling the liquidator tube was what the pump needed to start priming. What good is this thing going to be if I'm on vacation and the tube needs to be wiggled just to get the pump to prime? I raised up the tubes a little and it seemed to start flowing again at some point, but it tapered off again and eventually stopped.

What's weird is that when I called Hasa they said I have a retrofitted model (3/8"?) and that is not the liquidator they sell, and so they can't really offer any advice (or warranty?). I guess that means their lifetime warranty is somewhat useless to me since if the parts are different, anything Hasa sends me under warranty won't fit. I'm somewhat frustrated and confused about this. Why would a supplier retrofit an original liquidator and sell it as such? They even modified the instruction manual. According to Hasa, this is not what they sell the suppliers. I didn't specifically request a retrofitted model, and so PB and I are somewhat flabbergasted at this whole ordeal.

I also spoke to their tech (Richard?) who said that I should try moving the input between the pump and filter instead of filter and heater in order to get more flow, but I don't think that input is the problem here. The tank is always full to the top.

I'm thinking about removing this thing as it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth. So I am reaching out to my fellow TFPers to find out if there is something obvious here ..

 

[mas985]

I think the lines are way too long. You should put the unit right next to the pump. Also, having the lines raised above the liquidator can cause an air lock. Do you see any air in the lines? Also, the Liquidator can have issues with VS pumps run on low speeds. Especially when the lines are that long.

 

[mikespoolfl]

It seems the more consistent chlorine injection systems use some type of peristaltic pump on a timer. Pump speed has no effect on the delivery rate or quantity.

 

[hoosierrun]

Try running the pump at full speed and see if you can get the flow rate up to 4 or higher. Also the non-priming situation may be caused from air getting in the Liquidator Lines. Getting an air-tight fitting can sometimes be a challenge. Bleed the filter housing and fix all air leaks. The fact that you can at least read 2 on your flow gauge suggests that it may be hooked up correcty (except the routing of lines above the inlet/outlet of the Liquidator valves, as mentioned). The concentration of Chlorine on the bottom is the Liquidator container would be normal (yellow), but should slowly disappear as Chlorine is used (i.e. over a few days). When you see no more yellow, it is time to slowly add more liquid chlorine through the funnel.

IIRC most people here report that a reading of about 4 on their flow gauge provides about the needed amount of diluted Chlorine to their pool, but it will vary quite a bit depending on pool sun exposure, pool temperature, pump run times, size of pool, and system suction or rate of circulation flow. My feeling is that at low speed setting of the motor, the pump may be drawing too little chlorine into the filter and out to the pool. How long are you running the pump? Do you have the capability to set a few hours of high speed during the day and low speed for the rest of the day? That might be all it needs, but most importantly, we need to see higher flows rates on the gauge.

BTW, that flow gauge need to be mounted vertical to make comparisons to other users. The ball needs gravity working against flow pressure to give a relative reading to provide some guidance of flow. A sideways or angle tilt to the flow gauge won't tell the real picture. Your photos suggest an non-ideal installation.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I suspect that your problem is your low suction head caused by the variable speed pump. Lq's shouldn't be sold to people with vs pumps. If you can get good flow through it by running the main pump on high then low head is most likely the problem.