Advice on location for SWG in piping (and what model fits)

[AmitP14]

Hello, I was looking to get advice on how to DIY plumb in a SWG in my piping which appears to be very tight between the heater and the outlets to the pool/spa. I've included some pictures showing an overall view and where I think the SWG should go. I was looking at the CircuPool line and/or possibly an IC40 or IC60 since I "found" an abandoned IC power center for that hanging on the wall (I inherited this pool as the new owner last year - so I guess the previous owner tried out a SWG before switching back to a chlorine pool).

For Circupool, I don't think a Core series would fit and even the RJ's would be trouble without creative piping. Maybe the SJ might fit under there, but not sure...

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Overall Pool Equipment View

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Location for SWCG?

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Heater Piping

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Pump and panel view

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

 

[Bperry]

Hello, I was looking to get advice on how to DIY plumb in a SWG in my piping which appears to be very tight between the heater and the outlets to the pool/spa. I've included some pictures showing an overall view and where I think the SWG should go. I was looking at the CircuPool line and/or possibly an IC40 or IC60 since I "found" an abandoned IC power center for that hanging on the wall (I inherited this pool as the new owner last year - so I guess the previous owner tried out a SWG before switching back to a chlorine pool).

For Circupool, I don't think a Core series would fit and even the RJ's would be trouble without creative piping. Maybe the SJ might fit under there, but not sure...

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Overall Pool Equipment View

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Location for SWCG?

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Heater Piping

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

Pump and panel view

• AmitP14
• Mar 10, 2023

They make vertical install kits for the circupool RJ series. That might be a good in this case.

Also note, the salt water pool is a chlorine pool. The salt water creates the chlorine for you. Might already know that but making sure.

 

[AmitP14]

They make vertical install kits for the circupool RJ series. That might be a good in this case.

Also note, the salt water pool is a chlorine pool. The salt water creates the chlorine for you. Might already know that but making sure.

Yes, I thought about that but I think the heater inlet piping is in the way. I was trying to avoid having to cut/relocate that too.

And, yes I know it's still chlorine. I meant that previous owner switched back to a chlorine adding pool. He must have switched back at some point before the new heater was installed as I don't know where in the piping the IC unit would have been.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

...but I think the heater inlet piping is in the way. I was trying to avoid having to cut/relocate that too.

I agree with @Bperry. I would cut out a section of the inlet pipe (shown in red) going to the heater. Extend it further out from the MP valve to clear the lines underneath. You could then fit an RJ+ cell (or your choice of cell) vertically. You'll have to confirm fitment with measurements.

 

[AmitP14]

I agree with @Bperry. I would cut out a section of the inlet pipe (shown in red) going to the heater. Extend it further out from the MP valve to clear the lines underneath. You could then fit an RJ+ cell (or your choice of cell) vertically. You'll have to confirm fitment with measurements.

View attachment 476608

Thanks! I was trying to figure out away without cutting that pipe, but I think with your cut locations I could probably reuse a part of the cut out section, just relocated to the left a bit.

 

[Newdude]

I would make my own path. (Back side not shown but would be similar)

 

[Bperry]

I would make my own path. (Back side not shown but would be similar)

View attachment 476659

Yea, I might do it this way. Make sure the cell is easy to get at and check on while it’s running. PVC is cheap so make a whole new section if needed.

 

[sbcpool]

Some people here, myself included, have reported trouble with the CircuPool units not producing nearly as much chlorine as advertised. For quite a while I chalked it up to something about my pool, but then I got a Pentair IC60 and it does produce as advertised. That's just my experience. There are others that report satisfaction with their CircuPool units.

 

[Newdude]

There are others that report satisfaction with their CircuPool units.

I know a few who have units that don't live up to the specs. But even so, they are still beasts and comparable to the other big models. It bothers me because there was no reason to lie when they had a great product.

 

[sbcpool]

I had the RJ-60 PLUS model advertised as producing 3.2 lbs per day, but my unit struggled to produce 1 lb. per day. My IC60 easily outpaces it by a factor of 2, and they were similarly priced.

I also had other problems with the unit. The collars that came with the unit would not thread on the dummy cell, something which I did not think to check before installing them. DSP folks tried sending new dummy cells, but the collars did not thread on them either. I had to re-plumb with new collars, which was a pain.

The RJ-60 PLUS also came with a very short power cord (less than 5 feet if I recall correctly) which required disassembling the control unit and rewiring with a longer cable.

When I experienced the trouble with less output than advertised I was not happy with the customer service I received from Discount Salt Pool. Their initial position was that as long as the unit was producing chlorine, no matter how much or how little, it was performing as expected. After several weeks they did relent and offer a refund, but I felt like it took a lot more work than it should have.

After all of the difficulties I experienced with that unit and the support experience I received I did not share the same impression as others of the unit or the support.

 

[Bperry]

I had the RJ-60 PLUS model advertised as producing 3.2 lbs per day, but my unit struggled to produce 1 lb. per day. My IC60 easily outpaces it by a factor of 2, and they were similarly priced.

I also had other problems with the unit. The collars that came with the unit would not thread on the dummy cell, something which I did not think to check before installing them. DSP folks tried sending new dummy cells, but the collars did not thread on them either. I had to re-plumb with new collars, which was a pain.

The RJ-60 PLUS also came with a very short power cord (less than 5 feet if I recall correctly) which required disassembling the control unit and rewiring with a longer cable.

When I experienced the trouble with less output than advertised I was not happy with the customer service I received from Discount Salt Pool. Their initial position was that as long as the unit was producing chlorine, no matter how much or how little, it was performing as expected. After several weeks they did relent and offer a refund, but I felt like it took a lot more work than it should have.

After all of the difficulties I experienced with that unit and the support experience I received I did not share the same impression as others of the unit or the support.

Yea, that’s a shame. I also got the RJ60+ and it produces plenty of chlorine for me, though I haven’t measured the output. I haven’t had to turn it up more than about 50% @ 6 hours during the high of summer.

If these units are manufactured overseas by someone other than DSP, there’s a chance that the company isn’t intentionally advertising more output than the devices produce. It may be that once the production gets set up and is stable, passing all of the ORIGINAL manufacturing requirements, that the factory starts trying to save some money without telling anyone and hope no one checks. It’s one of the downsides of farming out production of stuff to other people who don’t necessarily care about brand reputation. Happens all the time in my industry, and you have to put systems in place to catch that before customers do.

 

[markayash]

Yea, that’s a shame. I also got the RJ60+ and it produces plenty of chlorine for me, though I haven’t measured the output. I haven’t had to turn it up more than about 50% @ 6 hours during the high of summer.

If these units are manufactured overseas by someone other than DSP, there’s a chance that the company isn’t intentionally advertising more output than the devices produce. It may be that once the production gets set up and is stable, passing all of the ORIGINAL manufacturing requirements, that the factory starts trying to save some money without telling anyone and hope no one checks. It’s one of the downsides of farming out production of stuff to other people who don’t necessarily care about brand reputation. Happens all the time in my industry, and you have to put systems in place to catch that before customers do.

You mean 3.2 +/- 25% specs

 

[Bperry]

You mean 3.2 +/- 25% specs

Yes. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt that they’re not criminal until there’s no other option. In this case, there’s at least one other option that the original design possibly produce the amount of chlorine that they advertised and over time has changed.

 

[markayash]

Yes. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt that they’re not criminal until there’s no other option. In this case, there’s at least one other option that the original design possibly produce the amount of chlorine that they advertised and over time has changed.

When your “team” says it will cost us $500 per unit and a company over seas says we can make them for $100 I can’t blame companies.

 

[sbcpool]

In my case it was about 3.2 ± 70%.

I wasn't so put off by the initial lack of output. Even the best products have a problem here and there. What put me off was how I was treated when I reported the issue. When I first reported it the agent was snide and dismissive, asking me things like "how could you possibly measure the output to know it's not performing to specification?" and informing me that they weren't going to do anything to assist because as long as I could measure any FC at all they considered the unit to be performing according to specification.

I persisted and explained my methodology of first passing an OCLT and then measuring FC at dusk, running the unit at 100% until dawn, and measuring the FC at dawn. Instead of relenting, they just switched tactics. They tried theorizing that my plumbing was too short so the dwell time wasn't long enough for the chlorine gas to dissolve until they found out my plumbing was 40 feet long. At that point they just claimed there was something in my water that was consuming FC. So I emptied my spa and filled it with fresh tap water, added the salt and CYA and tested the unit there with the same results - about 0.9 lbs/day if I recall correctly. Even then they were abrasive and unhelpful until finally someone higher up got involved and just offered to refund me if I sent the unit back.

Jumping through all the hoops took weeks, and it was stressful having to still add liquid chlorine every day because the unit couldn't keep up while thinking I had just blown $1,500 for nothing. The customer "service" experience just added to it.

 

[sbcpool]

When your “team” says it will cost us $500 per unit and a company over seas says we can make them for $100 I can’t blame companies.

I know how it goes. I worked at a company that offshored a piece of hardware that was the source of constant support trouble because it would regularly fail. When I inquired why we didn't switch suppliers I was told by management it was because this supplier was $5 cheaper than others. When I ran an analysis of the support costs generated annually because of the hardware failures - replacement costs, shipping, support personnel hours - the cost was an order of magnitude more than the savings, but they were not swayed. I guess that's why I was never in management in that organization.

 

[Bperry]

In my case it was about 3.2 ± 70%.

I wasn't so put off by the initial lack of output. Even the best products have a problem here and there. What put me off was how I was treated when I reported the issue. When I first reported it the agent was snide and dismissive, asking me things like "how could you possibly measure the output to know it's not performing to specification?" and informing me that they weren't going to do anything to assist because as long as I could measure any FC at all they considered the unit to be performing according to specification.

I persisted and explained my methodology of first passing an OCLT and then measuring FC at dusk, running the unit at 100% until dawn, and measuring the FC at dawn. Instead of relenting, they just switched tactics. They tried theorizing that my plumbing was too short so the dwell time wasn't long enough for the chlorine gas to dissolve until they found out my plumbing was 40 feet long. At that point they just claimed there was something in my water that was consuming FC. So I emptied my spa and filled it with fresh tap water, added the salt and CYA and tested the unit there with the same results - about 0.9 lbs/day if I recall correctly. Even then they were abrasive and unhelpful until finally someone higher up got involved and just offered to refund me if I sent the unit back.

Jumping through all the hoops took weeks, and it was stressful having to still add liquid chlorine every day because the unit couldn't keep up while thinking I had just blown $1,500 for nothing. The customer "service" experience just added to it.

I hear you about the customer service thing and no excuses for that except that even bad customer service tends to be more people friendly than “HR” in many cases. They should be happy to hear feedback from a customer and figure out if it’s accurate and do something about it.

 

[AmitP14]

Thanks all for the great advice. I had been eyeing the RJ60+ originally, but looking at the cost of that vs. the fact that I have a Pentair Intellichlor power center I started to look into the IC60. Today I found this generic IC60 cell that I believe would work with the power center I have. I think I should be able to install it horizontally maybe with @Newdude pipe routing. I did notice in the manual it said to keep it 3 feet from the heater... is that piping length or physical distance, because I'm not sure either is achievable. Also any thoughts on this generic IC60?

 

[markayash]

Maybe some advantage of buying through Amazon. They usually are good when a seller isn’t being helpful.

 

[Newdude]

. I did notice in the manual it said to keep it 3 feet from the heater... is that piping length or physical distance

They mean pipe length but also distance if it's near the heater exhaust. My first IC60 was 90'd directly to my heat pump with no pipe before it. I had good flow and it worked fine. I believe this manufacturer rec is overkill in most situations. Just my $.02.

Also any thoughts on this generic IC60?

I am personally not a fan of generic cells. Maybe I'm the sucker overpaying for mine, but it's the backbone of my hands off pool.

That said, it only has to last 59% as long at that price and you break even. It will likely last longer than that.