Best place to buy Pentair IC40

[Monkmullen]

Monk,

I've gone through two IC40's on my pools.. One lasted about 9 years and the other about 7 years.. The average is between 4 to 7 years in most pools.. Not sure why you are only getting 3 years..

That said, I don't run a SWCG because it is cheaper, I do it because it is so much easier to maintain a saltwater pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

I’m assuming our very hard water coupled with little to no upkeep on the unit by the previous homeowner substantially shortened its useful life.

 

[mknauss]

Roughly 15000 gal.

You should easily get 6+ years out of your IC40. There must be water chemistry issues.

 

[Newdude]

You should easily get 6+ years out of your IC40. There must be water chemistry issues

Marty please check my math above. My rough calculations have the longer Phoenix season eating up the lifespan.

it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong....

 

[mknauss]

Your consumption level is too high. We do not have 9 months of mid summer. I average about 1 ppm FC loss from Nov 1 to March 1. 2 ppm from March 1 to May 1. 3 ppm from May 1 to July 1. 4 ppm from July 1 to Sept 1. And 2 ppm from Sept 1 to Nov 1. So an average of about 2.5 ppm per day, year around. To make 2.5 ppm in a 15000 gallon pool takes a setting of 22%. So the cell should last 5 years. At least. And my FC loss is higher than Phoenix. They get more clouds in the summer.

 

[Newdude]

So an average of about 2.5 ppm per day, year around. To make 2.5 ppm in a 15000 gallon pool takes a setting of 22%. So the cell should last 5 years. At least.

Dually noted and thanks !! Deleting above for future readers.

 

[Monkmullen]

Can someone confirm my figures:

If we're starting out with a fresh fill, I'm going to need roughly 375lbs salt to bring levels up to 3000ppm. Sound right?

 

[mknauss]

Filling out your signature means we do not have to go looking for your pool details -- please Create Your Signature - Further Reading

That amount of salt will raise your salinity by 3000 ppm in 15000 gallons of water.

Be sure to test your water with your K1766 kit for salinity prior to adding any salt.

 

[Monkmullen]

Filling out your signature means we do not have to go looking for your pool details -- please Create Your Signature - Further Reading

That amount of salt will raise your salinity by 3000 ppm in 15000 gallons of water.

Be sure to test your water with your K1766 kit for salinity prior to adding any salt.

Thanks!

I haven’t had a chance to update my sig with the pool details yet. It’s on the agenda.

 

[Monkmullen]

Drain complete and refill under way.

Is there a best practice for when to add the salt? Does it matter? I’m using water softener pellets, which I understand should work fine.

 

[mknauss]

I suggest you get the pool chemistry in order before adding salt. Adjust CYA to 40 ppm or so, pH in the 7's, and FC as per the FC/CYA Levels using liquid chlorine. Once you have a day or two managing with liquid chlorine and see no need for any other intervention, then add salt, in stages, testing between each stage, until you get to your target. Then add more CYA to get to 70 ppm or so.

 

[Monkmullen]

Just about filled up. Tested the water and here's where we're at:

Ph - 7.8
FC - .5
CH - 375
TA - 160
CYA - 0

The new chlorinator is installed, and now I just need to restart the pumps and watch for leaks. I'll start adding stabilizer (87oz) according to Pool Math then.

Also, updated my signature with pool info.

 

[Monkmullen]

So we are all filled up. Chem levels below. CYA is still low but I ran out of stabilizer.


Ph 7.2
Fc 2
Cc 0
Ch 475
Ta 180
Cya 30
Salt 3000

Only needed about 240 lbs of salt to reach 3000 as opposed to the 400 I’d anticipated. The salt indicator on the SWG says low, though.

Currently the pump feeding the SWG runs for about 7 hours per day, I believe.

 

[mknauss]

Currently the pump feeding the SWG runs for about 7 hours per day, I believe.

An IC40 at 100% will add 0.4 ppm FC to your pool each hour.

 

[Monkmullen]

Does that mean this would maintain a FC level of 2.8 in the pool? Is that how that works?

 

[mknauss]

Does that mean this would maintain a FC level of 2.8 in the pool? Is that how that works?

That means the SWCG would add 2.8 ppm FC to your pool each day at that run time and % generation. That might be about your FC usage right now, but in a few weeks, it will go up towards 4 ppm use per day, which means you will need to run the pump at least 10 hours per day.
Your tested level of FC each day is based on your CYA level - see FC/CYA Levels

 

[Monkmullen]

That means the SWCG would add 2.8 ppm FC to your pool each day at that run time and % generation. That might be about your FC usage right now, but in a few weeks, it will go up towards 4 ppm use per day, which means you will need to run the pump at least 10 hours per day.
Your tested level of FC each day is based on your CYA level - see FC/CYA Levels

Thanks so much for the help.
Could I run the pump longer with the chlorinator at a lower % to achieve the same results? Will keeping the generator at a lower % prolong its lifespan?

 

[mknauss]

Could I run the pump longer with the chlorinator at a lower % to achieve the same results?

Yes.

Will keeping the generator at a lower % prolong its lifespan?

No. The SWCG has a finite number of generating hours. So 1 at 100% equals 10 hours at 10%. Most SWCG's are constructed to achieve 10000 generating hours.