Intex SWG

[mudrider420]

sometimes cold water will throw off the salt count. what is the temp of your water?? i read that it wont properly work at temps below 55 degrees. also is there anything restricting your water flow? there is a screen at the base of the swg and if there is anything in it, it will also throw it off. im sorry the swg is not working out for you but im sure it is one of the best investment in a pool.

 

[gonefishin]

sometimes cold water will throw off the salt count. what is the temp of your water?? i read that it wont properly work at temps below 55 degrees. also is there anything restricting your water flow? there is a screen at the base of the swg and if there is anything in it, it will also throw it off. im sorry the swg is not working out for you but im sure it is one of the best investment in a pool.

Thanks for the suggestions!


I did just take the unit back for a refund today so I won't be able to try anything other than what I have already done. When I checked the salt level in the pool water it was checked twice. Once right away and once at room temperature, both were near the same reading on the salt strips. Also, when the unit started giving me the "low salt error" I opened everything up to ensure that the water flow was clear and clean. Everything checked out good.

After the unit started giving me the "low salt error" I could power it off and then on to "reset" the system. Once the system was reset it would run giving me a green light and no error codes. But some time during the cycle it would send out the low salt error. I had my cycles set to run for four hours and it couldn't make it thru one cycle. Sometimes it would run for a couple of hours...but it wouldn't make it the whole cycle

Thanks again,
dan

 

[MikeInTN]

Hey mom,

I've decided this year to go with an Intex unit, too. It should be in tomorrow. Even though the ChlorEase worked reasonably well, I just never did like the way it sat under the side rail. Plus, it was a bit of a pain to take apart and put back together for cleaning.

 

[Likesspace]

Hi guys....
I ordered one of these units last night and plan on hooking it up in the next week or so. I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance on what fittings I will need for the job. My current setup is 1-1/2" Sch40 PVC ridgid piping with solar heaters installed. I think I have my piping route figured out but I'm not sure what I will need to make my connections to the unit itself. It is my understanding that this unit has some odd connections that will have to be rigged to work with PVC pipe. Any help that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.
Dave

 

[Gregc73]

I just received my Intex unit last night, and it looks like they are now shipping them with a bunch of different fittings so that you can use them with any existing plumbing. My advice would be to wait until you receive the unit to go buying anything. Chances are, they will have what you need in the box.

 

[MeSue]

Has anyone measured the chlorine output of the Intex for their pool? I found I was having to run it far less than what the manual suggests for my pool size and temperature. Probably because we keep a solar cover on and usually only have 1 or 2 swimmers a day (if that).

So I tested chlorine before it ran, let it go for one hour, waited another hour and tested again. One hour of run time gave me an increase of 1ppm. That's easy to remember and should help so I don't have to make a guess and then adjust time up or down.

I imagine the production will vary some according to how much salt is the water.

I will probably have to increase the run time during the hotter months, but for my pool, two hours a day seems to be the most I can let it run without the chlorine going too high. In fact I am increasing my CYA some just to compensate for the output of this thing.

 

[MikeInTN]

Has anyone measured the chlorine output of the Intex for their pool? I found I was having to run it far less than what the manual suggests for my pool size and temperature. Probably because we keep a solar cover on and usually only have 1 or 2 swimmers a day (if that).

So I tested chlorine before it ran, let it go for one hour, waited another hour and tested again. One hour of run time gave me an increase of 1ppm. That's easy to remember and should help so I don't have to make a guess and then adjust time up or down.

I imagine the production will vary some according to how much salt is the water.

I will probably have to increase the run time during the hotter months, but for my pool, two hours a day seems to be the most I can let it run without the chlorine going too high. In fact I am increasing my CYA some just to compensate for the output of this thing.

Hey Sue,

I think NWMNMom found out the same thing last year, that she didn't have to have the unit running near as long as the manual suggested. That's a good thing.

 

[MikeInTN]

Hi guys....
I ordered one of these units last night and plan on hooking it up in the next week or so. I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance on what fittings I will need for the job. My current setup is 1-1/2" Sch40 PVC ridgid piping with solar heaters installed. I think I have my piping route figured out but I'm not sure what I will need to make my connections to the unit itself. It is my understanding that this unit has some odd connections that will have to be rigged to work with PVC pipe. Any help that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.
Dave

My plumbing is 1 1/2" sch 40 as well. I bought some fittings today and found out that the inlet and outlet of the unit appears to be 2". They show a way in the book to use their connectors, hoses, and a couple of clamps to make it work with 1 1/2" plumbing, but I think I'm going to take my unit with me tomorrow to Lowe's and find the proper reducer to bring the inlet and outlet both back to 1 1/2", and then use two unions on either side so I can take it apart easily.

 

[MikeInTN]

Hi guys....
I ordered one of these units last night and plan on hooking it up in the next week or so. I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance on what fittings I will need for the job. My current setup is 1-1/2" Sch40 PVC ridgid piping with solar heaters installed. I think I have my piping route figured out but I'm not sure what I will need to make my connections to the unit itself. It is my understanding that this unit has some odd connections that will have to be rigged to work with PVC pipe. Any help that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.
Dave

My plumbing is 1 1/2" sch 40 as well. I bought some fittings today and found out that the inlet and outlet of the unit appears to be 2". They show a way in the book to use their connectors, hoses, and a couple of clamps to make it work with 1 1/2" plumbing, but I think I'm going to take my unit with me tomorrow to Lowe's and find the proper reducer to bring the inlet and outlet both back to 1 1/2", and then use two unions on either side so I can take it apart easily.

OK, here are two pictures of my unit plumbed in:

It turned out pretty good. I ended up having to use 2" female threaded adapters w/ 2" - 1 1/2" slip fit bushings for both sides of the unit to get the pipe diameter back down to 1 1/2". I also used two unions (one on either side) to make it easy to take everything apart come fall.

 

[Likesspace]

Thanks for the information and the photos. As long as I can use threaded fittings to adapt to Sch40, it should be a piece of cake. My main problem now will be sanding off the black paint I've used on my ridgid piping. It's a pain sanding that stuff off but it does make the piping look nicer for the solar panels.
Thanks again for your help. Looking forward to giving this thing a try and looking forward to not having to buy/lug bleach to the pool.
Dave

 

[MikeInTN]

Thanks for the information and the photos. As long as I can use threaded fittings to adapt to Sch40, it should be a piece of cake. My main problem now will be sanding off the black paint I've used on my ridgid piping. It's a pain sanding that stuff off but it does make the piping look nicer for the solar panels.
Thanks again for your help. Looking forward to giving this thing a try and looking forward to not having to buy/lug bleach to the pool.
Dave

Glad to help. Yep, a 2" threaded female adapter w/ a 2" <-> 1.5" slip fit bushing gets you back to 1.5" sch 40.

I just Googled "Intex SWG", and one of my posts in this thread was the first article listed! Too cool! 8)

 

[Gregc73]

Has anyone else noticed that these are now coming with a 2 year warranty? I just read through the manual today and it looks like they increased the warranty by a year. I'll certainly take that.

 

[Likesspace]

Hi all....
Well I'm hooked up and making chlorine with my Intex SWCG. At least that's what the green light tells me.
I'm really hoping this thing works well for me. I've been buying my 12.5% sodium hypochlorite for about $29.00 per 15 gallon so the expense of the chlorine hasn't been bad at all for a season. The expense has been in replacing clothes that I've ruined over the years and taking the time to pull a few gallons off of the carboy.
Also, it's such a pain to ask someone to take care of the pool when we go on vacation each year.
My father in law has been fantastic as far as making sure everything is okay, but I hate asking him to do it. Now, with my solar controller (installed this year) and the SWCG I should be set.
Thanks again to everyone (especially MikeInTN) for the help in hooking this thing up. Due to my setup it did take about an hour to complete but all in all it went smoothly.
Wishing you all a great swim season.
Dave

 

[MikeInTN]

Hey Dave,

Yep, seeing that green light come on sure feels good, doesn't it? You're more than welcome for the help. See one, do one, teach one..

Enjoy your season too!

Mike

 

[MeSue]

What are all you Intex SWG people doing for your CYA and FC levels? Last year I kept CYA at 30-40 and had no problems. This year I went with higher CYA and have had a couple of algae outbreaks.

 

[MikeInTN]

What are all you Intex SWG people doing for your CYA and FC levels? Last year I kept CYA at 30-40 and had no problems. This year I went with higher CYA and have had a couple of algae outbreaks.

Last time I checked, my CYA was right at 40, and my FC stays right around 3.8 - 4.0; so far, no CC's, water's nice and clear, temp's right around 80-ish.

I was wondering if I needed to bump my CYA up or not, but I think I'll let it ride for now and see how it goes.

 

[launboy]

Has anyone seperated the unit so it would fit their system better? Mainly, remove the cell(I think that's the name of the part the water pip connects to) from the rest of the unit?

Here's a picture of my setup...
The PVC thing on the wall, with the pipe going to the roof is my homemade diverter valve to the Solar Heater panels. The PVC pipe going under ground to the pool(avatar). The one on the left(closer to camera) is the suction(from pool) and the one on the right goes to the diverter(return to pool). Where would the best place for me to mount the Intex SWG be? Also, everything except the diverter valve is 2" PVC, the valve is 1 1/2".

Thanks in advance,
Adam

 

[Strannik]

Best place would be on the return pipe going from the wall down into the ground.
Also considering the way your pipe is hanging, I would incorporate a gas trap, so hydrogen that is produced in a cell doesn't accumulate in your heater core. Gas trap is made by directing the cell inlet pipe down below the cell level.

 

[No P in my ool]

Has anyone seperated the unit so it would fit their system better? Mainly, remove the cell(I think that's the name of the part the water pip connects to) from the rest of the unit?

Here's a picture of my setup...
The PVC thing on the wall, with the pipe going to the roof is my homemade diverter valve to the Solar Heater panels. The PVC pipe going under ground to the pool(avatar). The one on the left(closer to camera) is the suction(from pool) and the one on the right goes to the diverter(return to pool). Where would the best place for me to mount the Intex SWG be? Also, everything except the diverter valve is 2" PVC, the valve is 1 1/2".

Thanks in advance,
Adam

Per the instructions the unit should be the last in line on the return line.

 

[launboy]

Thanks for the advice, I guess I'll mount it just before the PVC(return line) when I get one that is.

So I'm guessing nobody has seperated the cell from the base? Could anyone take some closeup pics of the unit, top view and maybe the wiring please? :angel: :bowdown:

Also, what is the life expectancy on these units? How long have you had yours?

Thanks,
Adam