Advice for how/when to run salt cell & filter

[Luric]

With the warmer weather finally, we are ready to switch from LC to turning on our salt cell. We have a 30k gal pool surrounded by tons of trees. Every year we struggle with the best plan of when to run our VS pump on high or low (and what RPM those should be) and which setting to have producing chlorine. We use high to clear the pool usually at least twice/day (more in shoulder season). We got the VS of course to save money and have more control, so I want to be sure we're being prudent. All these years of pool ownership later, and I don't really feel like I'm any more "skilled"

This is what I was thinking, all thoughts welcome:
RPMs
High: 2500
Low: 1200
Salt cell runs while on HIGH @ 60%
HIGH: 8am-10am & 4pm-6pm
LOW: 7pm-7am

 

[PoolGate]

I don't understand your "high low" methodology. Set it at a speed where the SWG flow switch is happy and run it 24x7 at that speed. I can't believe 4 hours of runtime produces enough chlorine for your pool. Mine runs 24x7 at 50%.

 

[Newdude]

+1. My SWG turned on so low I had to up the RPMs a few hundred for skimming. I let it run at that speed around the clock, skimming, filtering and adding FC non stop. I like to say I had 2 'times'. Summertime and wintertime.

 

[ajw22]

If your low speed at 1200 is not skimming the pool or generating chlorine then why are you running it at all? What do you think it is accomplishing?

I have a similar setup to yours and need 1700 rpm for heater to work and to generate chlorine. I run it there 24/7 and occasionally increase it for skimming the pool.

 

[Luric]

We must run on high several times per day or our pool becomes almost covered in debris. It looks like a marsh. 24/7 low isn't an option, and 24/7 high is unnecessary. We took a screenshot of what we did last year (ScreenLogic app)...and now can't find it, so I'm trying to recall what we did and looking for suggestions. But again, unfortunately we do need to switch between the 2 speeds multiple times. I know we did try to run the salt cell on low and had trouble producing chlorine. It worked at 1200 until it didn't then we switched to 1800 which wasn't that much lower than the 2200 our hgih had been. WE bumped high up so it would clear faster...it's just a lot of numbers and setting that are really overwhelming for me. Is your suggestions to run the salt cell on low 20 hrs/day and just kick up to high for the 2 blocks to clear? I feel like we tried that we were ove

I don't understand your "high low" methodology. Set it at a speed where the SWG flow switch is happy and run it 24x7 at that speed. I can't believe 4 hours of runtime produces enough chlorine for your pool. Mine runs 24x7 at 50%. View attachment 411611

 

[Luric]

If your low speed at 1200 is not skimming the pool or generating chlorine then why are you running it at all? What do you think it is accomplishing?

I have a similar setup to yours and need 1700 rpm for heater to work and to generate chlorine. I run it there 24/7 and occasionally increase it for skimming the pool.

It was my understanding that it is best practice to filter water and keep it moving in general - even those w/o a salt cell to worry about have min amounts they must move their water (we converted to salt and used to be one of those LC pool owners - we ran our pump more than just to skim or to mix chemicals).

Also - I had no idea RPMs matter for the heater?? We barely use ours, so I guess Ive never noticed.

 

[PoolGate]

This is my schedule. I run the VSP pump 24x7 for chlorine production (Filter Pump which is 2k speed) and at 3k for an hour to help with skimming. I could bump that 3k/1 hour longer if needed. I also kick on my waterfalls once a day to keep the lines fresh. Do you have a scheduling option?

For the heater my system automatically runs at 3k and returns to 2k when the heater is off.

 

[ajw22]

It was my understanding that it is best practice to filter water and keep it moving in general - even those w/o a salt cell to worry about have min amounts they must move their water (we converted to salt and used to be one of those LC pool owners - we ran our pump more than just to skim or to mix chemicals).

If you are talking about turnover that is a myth and has no scientific validity.

Moving water with no purpose makes no sense. You move water to skim, chlorinate, or heat. Otherwise don’t bother, you are just wasting energy.

Also - I had no idea RPMs matter for the heater?? We barely use ours, so I guess Ive never noticed.

Your heater requires at least 40 gpm to work properly. 1200 rpm probably does not do that.

 

[ajw22]

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Luric]

I guess the idea of stagnant water is troubling to me? I always thought it needed to move a little to keep things circulated every so often (more than just upon introduction), not turn-over persay, but just as I guess I little "freshing up". So in theory if there's no need to skim debris - a pool with no plants/etc nearby - a LC pool could just run the pump for ~an hour to mix in chemicals and that's it? I don't think I will ever really "get" pool ownership...

If you are talking about turnover that is a myth and has no scientific validity.

Moving water with no purpose makes no sense. You move water to skim, chlorinate, or heat. Otherwise don’t bother, you are just wasting energy.



Your heater requires at least 40 gpm to work properly. 1200 rpm probably does not do that.