Extending Life of SWG

[briansturgeon]

What are some of the most important factors for extending the life of a cell? I have the Pentair IC40 and I have my pool opened from around early May through Sept or so. Here are some questions that come to mind.

1. Is it better to run it for a shorter period of time at a higher % or vice versa?
2. Should I remove my cell in the winter?
3. Do I really need to buy one of those cleaners and use it on my cell?

This is my first full summer with our pool as we finished it halfway through last summer.

Thanks.

 

[harleysilo]

If/when i need to go through the shocking process, I plan to do it with bleach vs. trying to use the Super-chlorinate feature. In fact i don't plan on ever using the super-chlorinate feature.

 

[tcm]

Pretty sure the percentage is the percentage of the time the SWG is on while the pump is running, And not an output percentage. Some will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[JasonLion]

1) No difference. Total chlorine produced is what matters. It doesn't matter how you get there.
2) Doesn't matter much.
3) Not unless you get scaling, and if so, you should rebalance your chemistry so you don't get scaling in the cell.

The main effect on cell lifetime is maintaining proper chemical levels, especially PH and CYA. Avoiding anything that might require cleaning the cell also helps. If you have to clean the cell then you have to clean the cell, but don't get into the situation in the first place if you can avoid it.

 

[bk406]

I ageee with what jason said.

As a reference, Ive had my IC-40 for 4 pool season, April-september. I've never cleaned it not once. Doesnt need it. But then again I have very soft water and keep almost no calcium in the water since i have a vinyl pool.

 

[briansturgeon]

Ok. I had thought I heard somewhere that the total run time (amount of time producing chlorine) is what determined the cell life. But I also have heard that using super chorinate feature and running higher % effected the life so I didn't know what to believe. That is why I was curious if I'm better off to run it at 100% for say 8 hours instead of say 50% for 16 hours in terms of cell life. But then again I guess the electric bill for the extended run time would offset any future cell savings.

My chlorine levels are fine but I'm just trying to fine tune things now to make it the most efficient it can be.