Intex SWG

[NWMNMom]

Anyone know anything about these? Supposedly for all AGP. They are not the passive cells, they are inline and have controllers on them. I have seen on Ebay pool suppliers for $169 but I think the Intex site had them around $189?

 

[Godiva]

We used one for the past two years with our Intex "bubble pool," and I loved it. The longer it's turned on, the more chlorine it pumps in. I generally ran it for about 2 hours per day, but if the chlorine levels were low, I'd turn it on for longer.

Rhoda

 

[kmb997]

I'm about to buy a 18'x48" metal frame today and I just noticed this for Intex. Is this good enough to keep the pool at right levels? I've been recommended to upgrade the regular pump and filter that come with Intex. Is it worth it to get an aftermarket SWG for the Intex pool? If I decide to get this SWG from Intex or another brand, should I still upgrade the pump and filter?

Thanks

 

[kimrst]

We have had our frame set pool for over 3 years and I still love it. But I'd upgrade my filter if I could. The filters on the pools are usually barely adaquet, IMHO. Buy extra filters whenever you see them as they become scarse after it gets hot out. I don't know about the SWG as we just use pucks and chlorine. I am going to add something to the bottem of the feet of my ladder so it doesn't ruin the liner of the pool with all the putting in and taking out that we do. Maybe a pair of kids water shoes? Good luck with the pool you are going to love it . Kimrst

 

[centexpool]

kmb997

The best thing you can do for that new pool is upgrade the filter system.

I went with a doughboy sand filter, it is awesome, no changing filters and always buying more. It is WELL worth the investment.

 

[kmb997]

Centexpool, I will look into the doughboy. Did you do any plumbing modifications or did you just put the doughboy in place of the intex pump/filter?
Thanks kimrst and centexpool for the help.

 

[kmb997]

NWMNMom, I apologize for the changing the subject of this thread. I am curious to know if anyone has used the SWG from Intex, also?

 

[NWMNMom]

Looks like you just put it back on track is all. interesting to hear more about these from Intex.

 

[Jond]

I purchased the combo pump/generator not long after getting our pool mid-summer last year. After learning from post at the Pool Forum I decided to go with a bigger pump/filter unit also, so cost of generator and pump upgrade was cheaper with the combo versus buying them individually. Had I researched the online manual a little more thoroughly and understood the operations better on the combo unit before I purchased it I would have bought them separately.

When programming the unit it works in whole hours 1-12, after completion of the cycle the unit goes it a sleep mode and will resume 24 hours after the original start time. If the unit is switched off or looses power it looses the programming also.
You can turn the unit on and not program it and it just runs the pump non-stop. My problem with the combo unit is the generator time and pumping time are linked together. So if I want to generate 3 hours a day(example not reality)of chlorine, it completes the cycle and shuts down the pump and generator until the next 24 cycle. To get more filtering time I had to add a timer to turn off the unit then turn it back on for the hours I want to run the pump. But I have to reprogram each day for chlorine use. Since I test water each day it not that big a deal, just an inconvenience.
Had I gone the 2 unit route I could have synchronized my unit times and only would have had to adjust generator during extended use/weather changes.

As far as the stand alone chlorine generator the Intex fittings are non standard so you will have to patch them if used on a non-Intex setup. The inlet side can possible use the CG screen adapter fitting with a flex hose/rubber coupling, the outlet may require use of one of there hoses fittings cut off and connect via a flexible solution of your choice.

For a cheap SWG this meets my need. On other non-Intex type systems I would look closely at ones pump pressure on the fittings that you would use to mate to this unit.

Thread back on track.

 

[MikeInTN]

Mom,

Thanks to another thread on here, I found out that Cabela's have them for $144.99. http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0030731017455a.shtml . Per that same thread, which actually linked to another pool guy's blog, these units put out 24 grams of chlorine per hour, which according the the pool guy, rates right up there with the output of the bigger units.

Sorry I don't have any first hand info on them.

 

[NWMNMom]

Oh good to know! I didn't even know cabelas had stuff like that! I just so happen to have a cabelas card AND some points to use, hmmmmm.

BTW Mike, update on yours?? Any better with adjustments?

 

[MikeInTN]

Oh good to know! I didn't even know cabelas had stuff like that! I just so happen to have a cabelas card AND some points to use, hmmmmm.

BTW Mike, update on yours?? Any better with adjustments?

Right now, I can keep my FC around 3-4 ppm running it 12 hours w/ the pump, but the CC's aren't staying at zero like with the inline units, so I'm having to shock the pool w/ 6% to get rid of the CC's. Oh well..at least i'm not having to add chlorine every day to maintain my FC.

 

[NWMNMom]

Hey, the SWG arrived Friday and was installed last night, turned on today. Unfortunately, I did not have any salt testing equipment or stips so do not know what my ppm is at - I spaced it out completely and there is no place locally that sells that so I will have to order - we have always had salt in our pool just for the feel of it so this is complicated.

1) We had about 120# last year mid summer (so some water added/some pumped out during seson) all before draining down below skimmer for the winter.
2) We added water at opening this spring along with 160# salt -
3) THEN we have proceeded to get over 13" of rain into the pool and pumped that much out.
4) I added 120# of salt last night and plugged in the unit today to give it a test drive. Surprisingly, it did not give me any error codes (Hi salt or Low Salt) So I'm hoping I am right in my range anyway of 2500-3000 ppm. I do have more on hand in case, but wanted to be conservative and go up from there sparingly if I have to.

Tomorrow, I will actually run it for the full 12 hr span to see how it works. It ran for 3 hrs today and appeared to be operating well. My FC was standing at 3ppm at covering tonight. The water was a balmy 90deg, but now its cooled off and raining so we'll have to see how it goes. I am anxious to see how well it does on a regular basis.

Leaving for vacation tomorrow night with a teenager in charge, so maybe just leave it on auto with an emergency backup jug of bleach for him? He was given instructions on what the errors codes are, when to check it and what to do if he can't figure things out. (add bleach/cover, turn everything off if there are any problems and close the valves if there is a leak)

 

[NWMNMom]

UPDATE on Intex SWG

Ok, we got it on 7/9, all the salt was in and the SWG was installed, our FC and other chem levels were already balanced correctly before turning the unit on. I shocked the pool well up to 10ppm before switching it on actually as I was leaving on vacation the evening of 7/10 and had just brushed the bottom after a storm went through and dumped leaves and Crud into the pool, water temps were up to 92 deg F. The unit was set to 4 hours in 24 hr period from 12 noon - 4pm. So we have been gone since 7/10 and upon returning just 2 hrs ago, we find that our FC levels are 4ppm. The PH is a bit low at 7.2, but other than that, I'm thinking its doing OK at maintaining levels. I'm not sure I would have had the same results with only 4hrs per day or even close if I had just plugged it in and left it to bring the level up and hold after that storm. I'm sure I will need to study the results under all circumstances from here on out, but so far its a thumbs up.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

woohoo! no more bleach jug lugging for NWNMMom!!

Glad it seems to be working for you!

I will be interested to hear how things are doing in a couple years (mostly regarding the dreaded salt in the water/corrosion issues)

(How long has your pool been 'lightly' salted?)

 

[NWMNMom]

This is our second pool we had used salt water in and the second year on this pool. The only thing I have noticed with regard to corrosion is that my pool brush has some noticable pitting on the metal part. The remainder of the pool looks good so far but a good rinse goes a long way to removing the salt and with all the rain we get CONSTANTLY here, it has been rinse rinse rinse!

 

[MikeInTN]

Hey mom,

Did you have any issues with plumbing the Intex into your existing arrangment?? I thought I'd read somewhere that they used odd sized fittings.

TIA,
Mike

PS - my Chlorease is still holding a FC of around 3.4 ppm, and no CC's now.. :-D :-D

 

[NWMNMom]

No plumbing problems but then we use the black rubber connector fittings on everything anyway. The SWG is connected to the solar diverter outlet and the return. It does come with a variety of alternative fittings so you can plumb to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 plumbing. It took all of 5 mins to connect/set it up.

 

[NWMNMom]

Ok, adjustment needed. My FC jumped to 10ppm! We had some very cool nights, pool was covered, filter running 12hrs, swg 4 hrs. Yikes. I am guessing that it was not losing FC due to above conditions but kept producing? I reset to 2 hrs to see if that would help. My ph has also dropped a very appreciable amount so I need to get that up without raising Alk. I have Borax on hand but the BC program will not show me how much to use for that purpose, only for algaecide. Anyone know how much to use to raise it up 1ppm? Pool size is in my siggie

 

[JasonLion]

You can use my pool calculator, see the link in my signature, to figure out chemical quantities.

To raise PH by 0.1, I estimate two cups of borax.