About ready to install a Hayward W3AQR15 on my 20,000 gallon pool, questions about how to make sure I don't screw up and get a green pool

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caliskier

caliskier

LifeTime Supporter
Aug 24, 2014
435
Oklahoma City, OK
All,

So about to get this baby hooked up. I have read two pool school articles about what it is in general and how to water balance so I think I will be able to roll once I get it hooked up from a PH, CYA perspective, but I have some general questions of ignorance.

1. What salt do I buy, just pool salt from home depot, Lowes or Atwoods?
2. How do I put the salt in the pool (Vinyl)? Dump it in, dissolve it first?
3. I assume I should watch it like a hawk for the first bit making % adjustments / time adjustments, to make sure the chlorine levels are holding and supplement with bleach, correct? I do not want my pool to go green with a high CYA.
4. The cell I have for it is used, maybe has 1-2 years left on it. I assume I should clean it first like I am opening the pool, yes?
5. SIDE Comment, I just saw on Amazon the cell W3T-Cell-15, is $489 vs $600 back in April when I was originally pricing these. Is this typical at the end of the year or does this like never happen. I am inclined to buy it today and install it 2 years from now to save the money (I do this with a lot of things. Buy things you know you will need when you see it on sale way before you need it because when you need it, you will pay full price)

Thanks guys! Best forum community on the net
 
You can spend the extra on pool salt if you wish. Do not buy Clorox brand salt. I use plain water softener salt.
Add the salt around the pool. Pump running. Brush. Let the kids swim and play with the salt. Anything to get it dispersed. We recommend adding only 2/3rds of what you expect you need, get that fully dissolved and dispersed, test, and then add the balance.
I suggest you start the SWCG with the setting to generate 4 ppm FC per day. Add bleach at the start to raise your FC to the upper range for your CYA. Test daily and see if your FC goes up or down. Adjust as necessary.
Look inside the cell. If necessary, use a strong stream of water to clean it. Last resort is to acid wash. That reduces the life of the cell.
Prices for equipment varies. I would not buy a cell if I did not need it very soon. But up to you.
 
mknauss said:
You can spend the extra on pool salt if you wish. Do not buy Clorox brand salt. I use plain water softener salt.
Click to expand...
Thanks MK, curious why not Clorox? where can I find plane water softener salt?
mknauss said:
Add the salt around the pool. Pump running. Brush. Let the kids swim and play with the salt. Anything to get it dispersed. We recommend adding only 2/3rds of what you expect you need, get that fully dissolved and dispersed, test, and then add the balance.
Click to expand...
How much? and in what unit of measure?

Thanks for the rest of the help, very informative.
 
Clorox brand pool salt has caused iron stains as reported on the forum.

I get my salt at Home Depot.

You can use Poolmath to see how much salt you need to add. You need a Taylor K1766 salt test kit to see what level of salt your water currently has.
 
I just bought salt from Home Depot. It was the water softener salt, but the "crystals". About $5 per 40 lb bag.

Definitely test your water for salt before you add, and actually before you buy. My water was 1000 ppm salt and I changed my water in May of this year. Pool math said I needed 11 bags. I bought 11 and put in 10. My measurement is 3000 PPM. The SWG is saying 2900. Minimum on the Hayward system is 2400, so I'm leaving it where it is.

I did not intend to let my salt circulate for 10 days, but it was suggested to let it circulate for a couple of days.
 
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I bought water softener salt from Costco. I found the pieces to be a bit jagged so instead of spreading around the pool (as I was worried that if I used a brush to push around the salt, I might cut into my new liner), I dumped the bag in the shallow end on top of my plastic pool stairs and pointed the jet at it. I found this sped up the the time needed to dissolve the salt drastically.
 
Thanks all... Additional question(s) as I am using the labor day weekend to begin the install process...
Hayward directions say: If the pool does not have new water, add 1 quart of metal remover and algaecide. I get the non-copper algaecide, in case the system does not chlorinate well it does not turn your pool green. Why the metal remover
 
Unless you normally use a metal sequestrant, no need for it. It does not 'remove' metal, it just ties it up from staining.
No algaecide is ever needed. Add liquid chlorine.
 
caliskier said:
Thanks all... Additional question(s) as I am using the labor day weekend to begin the install process...
Hayward directions say: If the pool does not have new water, add 1 quart of metal remover and algaecide. I get the non-copper algaecide, in case the system does not chlorinate well it does not turn your pool green. Why the metal remover
Click to expand...
I installed mine last weekend. Exactly what Marty said, keep using the liquid chlorine until you get the unit turned on and you can check that it is functioning. I checked mine in the morning, dosed to the higher end of the target range, ran the pumps for an hour to circulate, then shutdown to install.

Focus on the flow switch and the Salt Cell. Once they are installed, you can turn the pumps back on and check for leaks! Then get the power/control unit installed. Turn the pool off at the breaker and hook up the wiring. I used a 25 foot armored cable. It is only a 3 wire hookup. You are either doing 240 (2 hots and ground) or 120 (Hot, neutral, ground).
 

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One final note, make sure the jumpers are set for your pump voltage. They are supposed to come from the factory set for 240/230/220VAC. Just make sure they are.

And when you are gluing the PVC pipes together, make sure the sealing ring nuts for the SWG are installed! I had to run to the pool store for a new flow switch body and a salt cell union...

Final final note, if you DO screw up the direction of the flow switch, you can remove the switch, wrap more teflon tape around it and re-install so that it is the correct direction!
 
Thanks red-beard, I almost screwed that part up, the PVC part. Bonding system? My pool does not have one, or at least I don't see a ground wire comming off the pump to somewhere else. I just have the typical ground. Do i need this bonding wire?
 
It does not like something I did, keeps throwing the breaker. I installed it exactly as the directions said, jumper and everything. My setup is a time clock and a 1.5 HP pump on 240v. I have the wires on the hayward side at 1 and 4, there was no jumper so I added a wire before I gave it power. On the clock side there are 6 wires. Power is the first two, then line 1, load 1, line 2, load 2. 1 on hayward is hooked to load 1, and 4 is hooked up to load 2. The pump is also connected to load 1 and 2.
 
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Thanks, BTW Can I just go to 120V with this unit and plug it directly into the wall socket that happens to be immediately below?

Its a Intermatic ET1125C. I believe it allows for two different loads. I typically don't have an electrician do any work for me, but we were leaving on a trip several years ago and needed the timer. He wired it like you see. Per the directions, this setup is 240VAC DPST load with jumper set to SIM, for multiple load support simultaneously. The directions say that you can only do this if the input and load voltages are the same.

I had the white wire installed in the 3rd position from the right (4 in the diagram) and the red on in the first position from the right (6 in the diagram). That was tripping the breaker, I disconnected it so I can run the pool and liquid chlorinate tonight.

Top two specs are for the timer, red X is not valid for my model, the other 4 boxes are, and the circled one is the way it is wired for the pump. The Hayward diagram only shows 4 screws and the ground for the timer, not 6 like mine
1599185787874.png1599185609945.png1599185701470.png


IMG_0238.jpgIMG_0240.jpg
 
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The red and white wires should be going to 4 & 6 in the Timer. If you have a volt-ohm meter, Verify you have 240 between 3 & 5 when breaker is closed and that you have 240 VAC between 4 & 6 when the pump is running.

Change the Volt-ohm meter to Ohms. With the power removed, check the resistance between 1 & 4 on the SWG Control unit and check each terminal vs. ground. I can't tell from the photo, but that looks like stranded wire. Make sure there is not a strand that has gone astray.
 
caliskier said:
It does not like something I did, keeps throwing the breaker. I installed it exactly as the directions said, jumper and everything. My setup is a time clock and a 1.5 HP pump on 240v. I have the wires on the hayward side at 1 and 4, there was no jumper so I added a wire before I gave it power. On the clock side there are 6 wires. Power is the first two, then line 1, load 1, line 2, load 2. 1 on hayward is hooked to load 1, and 4 is hooked up to load 2. The pump is also connected to load 1 and 2.
Click to expand...
Pardon the intrusion! But please take a moment and review the AQR TB1 jumper setting. As mentioned by red-beard in post#12, the Aquarite is supposed to come from the factory set for 240/230/220VAC. Just make sure they are.
Correct, brand new AQR's are shipped with two metal jumpers (one on top of the other) between terminals 3 and 4 (see the below pic). Not sure if you moved them but looks like yours is wired for 120VAC with the metal jumper installed upside down between terminals 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 respectively. If you indeed applied 220V, you're lucky to get away with just a blown 20A fuse.
But to make things worse, you added a jumper wire between 2 & 3. Thus, created a closed circuit! Oopsss...breaker trip?

I hope I am wrong! But please explain the pieces of metal on your TB1 compared to the other pic?

TB1.jpg vs AQR_TB1.jpg

edit: pics cropped and resized
 
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