at Australian members help needed on SWG for 12x24x52 AGP

[AusPhil]

The question is what do OZ people use for SWG and any specific comments on Eco Chlor RJ45 Salt Water Chlorinator | 100-180,000 Litre | 7-Year Warranty
The Zodiac LM3-40 is also on the short list

Happy to have advise though from the specialist here though on the general area of sizing

I have a Bestway 12x24 x 52 pool. I'm getting ready to move the current pump and filter to a new pad behind the garage about 20' away from the pool. the two outlets have already been enlarged for 2"/50mm plumbing.
I have a 21" sand filter and have just plumbed in a Pentair enviroMax 800 pump.
All piping will be 2" (50mm)
It seems like the logical time to plumb in a SWG and the larger the better

I realise the ones i'm looking at are considerable oversized based on the 2x rule but based on poolmath a 40 unit will allow me to generate all the chlorine i need in 3hrs max and likely less at 100 and easy meet needs at lower rates over the normal pump run times.
Current run times are around 11am to 6pm in summer as this aligns to my solar panel generation and allow most of the day skimming ... yep fully aware turnover is not relevant.

Thanks in advance
Phil

 

[gonfishin]

Going larger than 2x your pool size in addition to your point about pump runtime to generate the chlorine you need means the SWCG should last longer.

My pool isn't too much larger than yours (only about 1000 gallons) and I also went with a RJ45 sized SWCG.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Phil,

You can never go too big on a SWCG... As long as your are 2 x or larger, you are fine.

Keep in mind that a lot of cells only have large increments in their output levels, like 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%.. If the cell is very large it means means you will need a way to shut the cell off if you want to run your pump longer for skimming or for some other reason.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Fuldo]

The only downsides I see of greatly oversized SWGs are the extra up-front cost and the fact the cell might outlast the electronics. I'm under the impression that cells typically die before the controller but haven't seen any data for such. It's also not clear to me if repairing or replacing controllers is practical and/or cost effective. Maybe some of the more experienced members could comment on this.

 

[AusPhil]

Going larger than 2x your pool size in addition to your point about pump runtime to generate the chlorine you need means the SWCG should last longer.

My pool isn't too much larger than yours (only about 1000 gallons) and I also went with a RJ45 sized SWCG.

I expect that any SWCG of sufficient sizing will outlast this pool One of the key things is that we often head away for a few weeks during swim season and i just want to remove the concern on who can dump in some chlorine for me when i'm away.

Phil,
You can never go too big on a SWCG... As long as your are 2 x or larger, you are fine.
Keep in mind that a lot of cells only have large increments in their output levels, like 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%.. If the cell is very large it means means you will need a way to shut the cell off if you want to run your pump longer for skimming or for some other reason.
Thanks,
Jim R.

Yeah all the reading on here points to.. it really can't be too big unless your demand is too small .... The two i'm looking at can be varied in 10% steps and as i have no automation to worry about i'm happy just to add a second mechanical timer to run the SWCG.
The pump currently runs from one so just just add a second.... they will stay in sync even after a blackout

The only downsides I see of greatly oversized SWGs are the extra up-front cost and the fact the cell might outlast the electronics. I'm under the impression that cells typically die before the controller but haven't seen any data for such. It's also not clear to me if repairing or replacing controllers is practical and/or cost effective. Maybe some of the more experienced members could comment on this.

Over here in the great southern land of all this stuff is significantly more expensive generally the difference between the smallest and the biggest within a model range is often no more than 20% for a 50 to 100% increase of chlorine generation capacity
Example LM3-24 - $799 , LM3-40 - $899 so from 24gms per hour to 40 for an extra 100 bucks

 

[AusPhil]

The only downsides I see of greatly oversized SWGs are the extra up-front cost and the fact the cell might outlast the electronics. I'm under the impression that cells typically die before the controller but haven't seen any data for such. It's also not clear to me if repairing or replacing controllers is practical and/or cost effective. Maybe some of the more experienced members could comment on this.

I actually do a lot of electronics design work and it may be interesting to to investigate if i could design a basic cell controller built around Pic32 and network connected with web based management of the controller.
The DC power even at the higher currents is easy to deal with and it may be easy to provide true digital proportional switchmode control of the cell with either constant voltage or constant current control. There is a lot of info out there in the hydrogen generation circles on accurate control for the hydrolysis power