Help! Heater, Pump, SWG, Automation. Head spinning

[The Home Hunter]

Hi all,

My first post, but I've been reading a lot of this forum. Thank you to all contributors, it's been very helpful.

I bought a house last year, and inherited a 16'x32' oval pool (24000gal). No heater, old pump, chlorine pucks. I used it for the remainder of the year, but now I'm replacing the equipment and have some questions. I've already bought the Hayward H250FDN Heater and the Ecostar SP3400VSP pump. I'd know like to add a SWG and maybe basic automation. Nothing has been installed yet, as I'm waiting for a new liner. So:

-Do you recommend using a Hayward SWG so that everything (in theory) will work better together?
-Do I get the Aqua Rite, or the Pro Logic P4, or is even the OnCommand sufficient?
-Anything else you recommend doing?

This partly seems like overkill as we only have a 5 month season up here, but we go away to the cottage for extended periods so I want something that works well on it's own and that will keep the water clean.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Since you already bought the Ecostar, you should stick with the Hayward automation (if you think you need it), and if you are getting that should likely stick with the Hayward SWG cell that is controlled by the automation.

The AquaPlus and the ProLogic P4 are identical controllers, the former includes the SWG cell.

 

[The Home Hunter]

Thanks for the quick reply. Two other questions:

-I really only want to be able to turn up the pump when the heater comes on, as I plan to set the temperature and leave it. Do I need automation for this, or can the heater and pump talk to each other?
-Do I need a T-15 or T-9 SWG?

 

[jblizzle]

I do not believe they can communicate directly.

 

[Hayward Pool]

The pump will only operate itself unless there is a controller hooked up. Take a look at our website for controllers. www.hayward.com If you buy a Hayward ProLogic or OmniLogic you will be able to plug the cell into the controller and not need to buy a separate SWG controller. I would stick with the TCELL-15 as it has the longest life.