Considering moving to SWCG - Laswim EC20?

[sultanoswing]

I've spent the last few days avidly reading up on SWCG options, which are limited at present as; a) I live in NZ and b) many of the commonly quoted options here on Amazon are currently sold out.

Basically our liquid chlorine & acid feeder (Chemigem DM52) has annoyed me for the last time. Given its fiddly parts which keep needing to be replaced and semi-regular vacuum-leaks, I'm looking to change over to a salt pool, which our neighbour swears by (rather than at!).

Here in NZ we have a decidedly temperate climate - average daily high temp in swimming season is around 23-25C (73.4-77F), and with a heat pump and pool cover, I keep the summer water temps at around 25-26C. In winter, water temps get down to around 11C (51F). Pool is ~50,000L (13,209 of your American gallons), in-ground, concrete and plaster, with a Davey VSD200 variable speed pump and Waterco S600 sand filter. I currently run the pump for 12 hours / day, aiming for 1.5-2 turnovers. I'm happy managing the other chemistry (CH, CyA, TA, pH). I'm also happy to DIY the PVC plumbing needed, having done so recently to refit the new pump.

I'd like to get an "inline" SWCG design for ease of plumbing. Many of the locally available options are on two "stalks", which would require two right angle joins to be placed in the line, which doesn't seem the best for flow, not to mention more fiddly plumbing.

I don't need a fancy timer or internet controller, as it'll be running off a Home Assistant-controlled smart plug set to run similarly to the one which runs the pool pump.

The cheapest such option which is stocked is the Laswim EC20 (Salt Chlorine Generator Ec20 Above Ground Pool Salt Water System for ≤ 26K gal | eBay), which appears to be similar to the EBTools EC20 available from Walmart (Verify your identity).

I do wonder if the EC20 might be a tad small for 50,000L, given it's rated up to 85,000L, and the advice seems to be "go double or go home".

In addition, there are no reviews whatsoever for the EC20 - but I'm keen to hear your expert thoughts and/or other options.

 

[Bperry]

I've spent the last few days avidly reading up on SWCG options, which are limited at present as; a) I live in NZ and b) many of the commonly quoted options here on Amazon are currently sold out.

Basically our liquid chlorine & acid feeder (Chemigem DM52) has annoyed me for the last time. Given its fiddly parts which keep needing to be replaced and semi-regular vacuum-leaks, I'm looking to change over to a salt pool, which our neighbour swears by (rather than at!).

Here in NZ we have a decidedly temperate climate - average daily high temp in swimming season is around 23-25C (73.4-77F), and with a heat pump and pool cover, I aim keep the summer water temps at around 25-26C. In winter, water temps get down to around 11C (51F). Pool is ~60,000L (15,850 of your American gallons), in-ground, concrete and plaster, with a Davey VSD200 variable speed pump and Waterco S600 sand filter. I currently run the pump for 12 hours / day, aiming for 1.5-2 turnovers. I'm happy managing the other chemistry (CH, CyA, TA, pH). I;m also happy to DIY the PVC plumbing needed, having done so recently to refit the new pump.

I'd like to get an "inline" SWCG design for ease of plumbing. Many of the locally available options are on two "stalks", which would require two right angle joins to be placed. in the line, which doesn't seem the best for flow, not to mention more fiddly plumbing.

I don't need a fancy timer or internet controller, as it'll be running off the same Home Assistant-controlled smart plug which schedules and runs the pool pump.

The cheapest such option which is stocked is the Laswim EC20 (Salt Chlorine Generator Ec20 Above Ground Pool Salt Water System for ≤ 26K gal | eBay), which appears to be similar to the EBTools EC20 available from Walmart (Verify your identity).

I do wonder if the EC20 might be a tad small for 60,000L, given it's rated up to 85,000L, and the advice seems to be "go double or go home".

In addition, there are no reviews whatsoever for the EC20 - but I'm keen to hear your expert thoughts and/or other options.

The ratings for size are when the unit is running 24x7 at 100% output. So beware of that and is why the recommendation to go 2X your pool size. You want to be able to run it less than 100% so you have room to turn it up on occasion or simply not run it 24/7.

 

[sultanoswing]

Update.

I've decided to go with the EC20. My calculations and reading of Aussie pool forums (where it's warmer and sunnier) suggests I'll need around 130g/d of chlorine production in my pool. This equates to ~7 hours of the EC20 (20g/hr) running at 100%.

Given I like to run my VSD for 12 hours to get two water turnovers, this should allow for plenty of spare capacity, and I should be able to turn the EC20 down as required.

Will let you know how it all goes once she's up and running an a few weeks. Worst case scenario, I end up having to run two in series (which would still work out cheaper, since I don't require a timer / controller / flow switch, just a basic SWCG).

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Go Big or Go Home, as they say!

Pump turnover is a myth. Determine Pump Run Time - Trouble Free Pool

 

[sultanoswing]

Go Big or Go Home, as they say!

Pump turnover is a myth. Determine Pump Run Time - Trouble Free Pool

Heh - I may yet have to go for weight of numbers with two 20g chlorinators in series.

As an outdoor pool with quite a bit of leafy debris, the pool seems clearer since increasing pump time to 12 hours per day at lower flow with the VSD200 (which the linked article speaks to). I haven't done detailed flow rate calculations, and 50k litres is a best guess measured estimate, so there are a few unknown moving parts.

Still, it should work with 20g/hr SWCG - fingers crossed!