Aqua Rite SWG not producing Chlorine

[Bodell]

Hi Guys, First post here, I have had this pool since we built it in 2008, it has had pretty much the same equipment as listed below since new, up until about a year ago it was almost trouble free. We have either maintained it ourselves or use a company to do weekly cleanings.

About a year ago we were in the process of leasing the house and the pool suddenly turned green without much reason, so I cleared it up and rehired the pool cleaners to start taking care of it again, since then I have not been able to be around much and just trusted the pool company to figure out the issue...

A year later the pool has been going green on a regular basis, and they solve the issue dumping in expensive chemicals every month. After months of my requesting that we need to solve the problem itself I finally fired them six weeks ago.

Working with a new guy we have decided that while all the readings on the Aqua Rite say everything is operating fine, it is not producing chlorine. The cell was replaced a few months before the problem started so I haven't suspected that as the problem.

You guys request the readings, but this has gone on over such a period we have tried many things to bring it back to normal. Just this week we shut the SWG off and are adding tablets until we find a solution. FC was at 0 when we did this.

Any ideas would be appreciated! IS there any way to test the cell without using a different one? See attached pic, readings can be normal on Thursday cleaning and look like that Monday.

Let me know what info I can provide.

 

[JamesW]

A T-3 cell is too small for your pool.

What are the diagnostic readings?

What is the actual salinity as tested with a good test kit?

 

[mknauss]

Do you have a full set of test results? Especially CYA?

The T3 is very undersized for your pool. It could never keep up with your FC needs. It will create 0.6 lbs of chlorine per day if on at 100% 24 hours per day. That is just over 4 ppm FC in 15K gallons. That is about what your pool will consume each day from sunlight on the pool.

I would suspect that your SWCG was not on 100% setting 24 hours per day, you got algae, and now it has no chance of keeping up.

Let me know if I am off base.

Take care.

 

[JamesW]

Also, how old is the cell?

 

[Bodell]

Thanks for the quick reply, actually when I used to do the maintenance myself the pump was running 8-10 hours and the SWG was set at 100%. This time around the pool cleaners had it at 50% and we got in major arguments about this...to no avail, and I upped the hours on the pump to 24 hours for the last 8 months or so.


As far as I know I always had a T-3 for a cell, it is rated at 15k gallons and that is what I've got. What you say makes sense though and I in my old age I could have replaced with a smaller cell than before.

 

[mknauss]

We recommend a SWCG rated for at least 2X your pool volume. So you should use a T15, rated for 40000 gallons. That way you can operate the pump less and not have the SWCG set on 100%.

You now need to SLAM. But you must know your CYA ppm, and have a FAS-DPD test for FC. Also a supply of liquid chlorine.

Take care.

 

[Bodell]

Hi James. Please see my reply to mknuass also. attached are pics of AR diognotics taken this morning, the unit was turned off and I turned it on to take the pics. The cell is maybe 18 months old.
diagnostics from first frame
3200
62
28.1
2.78
100p
-3100
Al-2
r 1.59
t-3



- - - Updated - - -

Thx for the info, not sure why Hayward would say this is for a 15k pool and I need a bigger one, but the symptoms match what you are saying. For some reason T15 rings a bell but I ordered for the 15k pool size, I was not there when the unit got changed out

 

[Bodell]

Hi, my reply to you got tagged on with relpy to James...by mistake.
as follows.
Thx for the info, not sure why Hayward would say this is for a 15k pool and I need a bigger one, but the symptoms match what you are saying. For some reason T15 rings a bell but I ordered for the 15k pool size, I was not there when the unit got changed out

I have requested full readings from my guy,, will update on that.

 

[mknauss]

SWCG are rated for providing 4ppm FC in a 24 hour period at 100%. No one typically runs their pool that way. So the forum stresses that in normal climates you get a SWCG rated for at least 2x pool volume and in a warm, tropical climate as much as 3x is better. Mine is 6x.

The extra cost for a larger rated SWCG is minimal.

After you SLAM Process, if you keep your pump on 24 hours and SWCG set at 100%, you should be ok. You might have to add liquid chlorine to supplement on high organic load days.

You should be testing FC daily.

Take care.

 

[cfherrman]

Test results from your guy will not work, you need to test your pool with your own kit, tf109 or Taylor 2006c. After that a slam to get rid of algae.

 

[JamesW]

Your diagnostics look ok. Check the salinity with a good test kit or meter to verify that the box is reading the salinity correctly.

The system simply is not making enough chlorine to keep your level high enough. It might work at 100% and a high run time.

Right now, you should SLAM, then maintain the fc/cya at about 7.5 to 15 %.

 

[Bodell]

Thanks again James, The salinity is reading 3140 so it's fairly inline with the reading on the box. We will SLAM it and see how that helps. While you guys seem to be spot on with this cell being to small for the pool and not being able to keep up. this is how Hayward describes the T-3 "Hayward Goldline T-3 Replacement Cell for Aquarite Chlorinator up to 15,000-Gallon Pool with 15-Foot Cable"

 

[Bodell]

Thanks for the info, I will work on getting a larger cell if we can't get this one straightened out. We seem to be keeping the algae down to a minimum now that we are running the SWCG at 100% again.
We will SLAM again and use your suggestions and see how this works.

 

[cfherrman]

Once you get it sorted, if pump run time is not enough, use bleach to add clorine to keep it at the minimum fc/cya level.

 

[JamesW]

They have a variable speed pump, so they can run continuously for low cost.

 

[Bodell]

thanks cfherrman, that's what we have been doing for the last few weeks, will keep it up.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes the Eco Star is quite affordable to run compared to the older pumps, that's the only reason why I started running it 24/7.

 

[mknauss]

Looking back, you have never shown what your CYA is. Just be sure you follow [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA].

 

[Bodell]

For reasons I don't understand the CYA is not monitored by the pool crews here, this is what my current guy responded with "Chlorine 1.0 ph 7.8 alk120 salt strip 3140 system 3200 wasnt able to test CYA ." I will get my own testing set and monitor this myself.

 

[mknauss]

Without knowing what your cya is, you have no idea what your FC needs to be.

Good luck

 

[Bodell]

Thanks, now just to be clear what should my CYA be? 70-80 is recommended in Pool School.