Getting sick of putting chlorine in

[mguzzy]

Got the 1766 test kit in, pool tested at only 1200 ppm. Seems lower than expected, considering the 3400 ppm requirement of the SWCG. I was hoping it would already be close to the salinity of a saltwater pool per a lot of the forum threads I read. Is there a risk of speeding up deterioration with that big of an increase?

That's great! you are halfway there!.. no adding enough to get to ~3000 will not hurt anything.. So what SWG did you decide on? You can add the salt now if you wan't there is nothing that says you can't .. it just won't make chlorine without the gizmo is all...

 

[Rodex]

What would deteriorate?

Add about 2/3rds of the salt needed to go from your current salinity to your target. Let that dissolve and circulate for a day or two. Test the salinity and then add the balance needed to get to the target level.

The coping stones and especially the waterfall stones - I am likely going to replace them in a few years as they are already having issues but would a big jump in salinity speed up those issues? Cracking, that sort of thing. Being in North Texas, we can have a super humid summer or a super dry one. I understood that high heat and dry conditions plus waterfall splashing can crack those soft type stones pretty fast. Not sure if that’s true.

I do also have a pool light, of course with a metal housing, but I was assuming that plenty of other people have pool lights and I haven’t heard anyone say those are susceptible to these levels of salinity.

 

[Rodex]

That's great! you are halfway there!.. no adding enough to get to ~3000 will not hurt anything.. So what SWG did you decide on? You can add the salt now if you wan't there is nothing that says you can't .. it just won't make chlorine without the gizmo is all...

Gotcha. Going to order the Edge 25 next week, waiting to confirm the insurance actually will cover the slab leak like they said.

 

[mknauss]

The small amount of salinity in the water will have no additional effect on the stone. Low quality soft stone with water running over it or splashing on it will degrade it over time. Regardless if it is 1000 ppm salinity which is very normal for any pool versus 3000 ppm salinity which is normal for a SWCG pool.

 

[Rodex]

The small amount of salinity in the water will have no additional effect on the stone. Low quality soft stone with water running over it or splashing on it will degrade it over time. Regardless if it is 1000 ppm salinity which is very normal for any pool versus 3000 ppm salinity which is normal for a SWCG pool.

Ok thanks, that helps allay my concern!

 

[red-beard]

I have "Flag Stone" coping. It degraded for the first 14 years at a fairly standard rate (except first year!). It is not degrading any faster with my SWG installed last August. I run about 2900-3000 ppm Salt level.

From the pictures, you have a very good pipe for the SWG coming out of your filter. Nearly perfect run. I have mostly Hayward Equipment and stayed with one of those, finding a deal on Amazon for an "open box". There are a lot of good choices. Make sure you buy one that you can get spare salt cells for a reasonable price. Do not go for the cheapest (Blue Wave?). Someone last year had a link to a company (dig through the old threads) that had just about every model available. Again, you can compare the production of the different units to the price and the price of replacement cells.

Based on my usage, I expect to get 5-7 years out of my cell. I run my pump 24/7, so I run a lower percentage. With a single speed, you will only run the salt cell when the pump is running. My cell is tied to the same circuit as my pump, so it can't run if the pump isn't running.

I self installed. The Hayward unit had a dedicated control system. I could have upgraded my control system and tied it in. But it seemed easier for the standalone unit. I had a "Pool Frog" which I cut out and used that spot for my SWG and flow switch. If you install the flow switch down stream of the SWG, you can count that as part of the distance in front of the flow switch.

 

[Rodex]

I have "Flag Stone" coping. It degraded for the first 14 years at a fairly standard rate (expect first year!). It is not degrading any faster with my SWG installed last August. I run about 2900-3000 ppm Salt level.

From the pictures, you have a very good pipe for the SWG coming out of your filter. Nearly perfect run. I have mostly Hayward Equipment and stayed with one of those, finding a deal on Amazon for an "open box". There are a lot of good choices. Make sure you buy one that you can get spare salt cells for a reasonable price. Do not go for the cheapest (Blue Wave?). Someone last year had a link to a company (dig through the old threads) that had just about every model available. Again, you can compare the production of the different units to the price and the price of replacement cells.

Based on my usage, I expect to get 5-7 years out of my cell. I run my pump 24/7, so I run a lower percentage. With a single speed, you will only run the salt cell when the pump is running. My cell is tied to the same circuit as my pump, so it can't run if the pump isn't running.

I self installed. The Hayward unit had a dedicated control system. I could have upgraded my control system and tied it in. But it seemed easier for the standalone unit. I had a "Pool Frog" which I cut out and used that spot for my SWG and flow switch. If you install the flow switch down stream of the SWG, you can count that as part of the distance in front of the flow switch.

I was looking at the Edge 25 - $898 when I saw it was on sale but now it is $1048 - but could be convinced to look at another one. In the comparisons at Discount Salt Pools, the boost mode and self cleaning modes are features I am interested in and the ratings/reviews are good. It’s a $330 replacement cost for the cell, not sure if that’s good or not.

It’s 24” of 2” pipe, so looking at the Edge 25 installation instructions, I just need 11.75” plus 6-12” of straight pipe before the flow switch, so it seems like I’m good to go.
I’ll self install as well. I can wire up to my pump timer pretty easily but I’m also thinking about rewiring it all to make it look cleaner (and the pump conduits are blocking water right now and it’s pooling up right there, which is annoying). But I know I’ll also upgrade to a VS pump at some point so maybe not worth the trouble.

 

[red-beard]

The VS pump can be a huge power savings, based on the way centrifugal pumps work. Mine paid for itself in less than a year. I never "close" my pool, meaning the pumps run year round.

 

[Rodex]

The VS pump can be a huge power savings, based on the way centrifugal pumps work. Mine paid for itself in less than a year. I never "close" my pool, meaning the pumps run year round.

Wow, that’s faster ROI than I expected. I’ll definitely be looking at my usage then. I want to say the two pumps accounted for $3/day (28kWh) at medium usage, like in spring or late fall. Hard to tell in the summer when the AC is blasting most of the day. I’m sure I could go based on the rated power but it’s probably underestimated due to efficiency losses?

 

[red-beard]

My main pump was a 1hp (1776 Watts) and was running ~16 hours per day! Even if it was only 8 hours per day, it would be running 2920 hours per year, using 5185.92 kWh/yr. @ $0.09/kWh = $466.73 to run. I run my pump 22 hours a day at 63 Watts and 2 hours per day at 475 Watts = 2.336 kWh/day or 852.64 kWh/year $76.74/yr. I paid around $800 for my pump Hayward 1.85 hp VS Tristar, about 5 years ago.

If your price of electricity is higher, the savings are more.

 

[Rodex]

My main pump was a 1hp (1776 Watts) and was running ~16 hours per day! Even if it was only 8 hours per day, it would be running 2920 hours per year, using 5185.92 kWh/yr. @ $0.09/kWh = $466.73 to run. I run my pump 22 hours a day at 63 Watts and 2 hours per day at 475 Watts = 2.336 kWh/day or 852.64 kWh/year $76.74/yr. I paid around $800 for my pump Hayward 1.85 hp VS Tristar, about 5 years ago.

If your price of electricity is higher, the savings are more.

My main pump is 1.5 HP, electricity costs are around 0.10/kwH. Pentair’s calculator shows about $670 in electricity savings a year so pretty in line with what you are seeing. Welp....one thing at a time but yeah that’ll be on my radar for sure.

That being the case, should I be looking at other models that play friendlier for some reason with a newer VS pump? And is a $330 cell replacement cost expensive (Edge 25 that I’m looking at). Thanks!

 

[EricJ320]

I was looking at the Edge 25 - $898 when I saw it was on sale but now it is $1048 - but could be convinced to look at another one. In the comparisons at Discount Salt Pools, the boost mode and self cleaning modes are features I am interested in and the ratings/reviews are good. It’s a $330 replacement cost for the cell, not sure if that’s good or not.

It’s 24” of 2” pipe, so looking at the Edge 25 installation instructions, I just need 11.75” plus 6-12” of straight pipe before the flow switch, so it seems like I’m good to go.
I’ll self install as well. I can wire up to my pump timer pretty easily but I’m also thinking about rewiring it all to make it look cleaner (and the pump conduits are blocking water right now and it’s pooling up right there, which is annoying). But I know I’ll also upgrade to a VS pump at some point so maybe not worth the trouble.

To get the sale price you have to look at the Edge 15 and then select “Add Edge25 to cart for $1 more”. It shows that price is good until 4/7, but like I said before, I don’t think they’ve ever not been running the upgrade deal.

 

[Rodex]

To get the sale price you have to look at the Edge 15 and then select “Add Edge25 to cart for $1 more”. It shows that price is good until 4/7, but like I said before, I don’t think they’ve ever not been running the upgrade deal.

Yeah I do see that, $949 over the $898 it was. I’m curious what happens after 4/7

 

[EricJ320]

My main pump is 1.5 HP, electricity costs are around 0.10/kwH. Pentair’s calculator shows about $670 in electricity savings a year so pretty in line with what you are seeing. Welp....one thing at a time but yeah that’ll be on my radar for sure.

That being the case, should I be looking at other models that play friendlier for some reason with a newer VS pump? And is a $330 cell replacement cost expensive (Edge 25 that I’m looking at). Thanks!

I don’t believe it to be expensive, you had previously mentioned the RJ30, that cell is $499 for the whole cell, and $420 for just the electrodes. So $330 seems like a good price comparatively.
Also, if your pump itself is good you might consider just upgrading the motor to VS. I did that with a Vgreen 1.65HP to replace my single speed 1.5HP motor. It helps keep the cost down, and with the add on WiFi module it is completely programmable and remote controlled through their app. I’ve been extremely happy with it. Just something to consider.

 

[Rodex]

I don’t believe it to be expensive, you had previously mentioned the RJ30, that cell is $499 for the whole cell, and $420 for just the electrodes. So $330 seems like a good price comparatively.
Also, if your pump itself is good you might consider just upgrading the motor to VS. I did that with a Vgreen 1.65HP to replace my single speed 1.5HP motor. It helps keep the cost down, and with the add on WiFi module it is completely programmable and remote controlled through their app. I’ve been extremely happy with it. Just something to consider.

That is definitely something to consider - do they bolt on to any pump? I have a Jandy Stealth. That would be cool!

 

[EricJ320]

That is definitely something to consider - do they bolt on to any pump? I have a Jandy Stealth. That would be cool!

Just a quick look at INYO pools suggests you’d need a square face motor for that pump, but the Vgreen comes in a couple of different faces to fit a variety of pumps. I got mine for $380 on eBay from Backyardpoolsuperstore, they have a website too, but if I recall the motor is slightly cheaper or maybe free shipping on eBay. I received it extremely fast. Just confirm what face your pump accepts, get a new seal kit, unbolt the old motor, remove the impeller from the old motor, unbolt the back plate, then reverse the process with the new motor and you’re good to go. It really is a simple swap. And a less expensive way to upgrade to VS without replacing a pump that has plenty of life left in it.
The vlink WiFi module add on is about $300 more, but it’s up to you if you want that functionality, for me it was worth it. It works just fine without it. I travel a lot, so between being able to schedule my SWG though Alexa (with a GE zwave switch) and the WiFi module I can make changes from anywhere in the world.

 

[mguzzy]

My main pump is 1.5 HP, electricity costs are around 0.10/kwH. Pentair’s calculator shows about $670 in electricity savings a year so pretty in line with what you are seeing. Welp....one thing at a time but yeah that’ll be on my radar for sure.

That being the case, should I be looking at other models that play friendlier for some reason with a newer VS pump? And is a $330 cell replacement cost expensive (Edge 25 that I’m looking at). Thanks!

Also, check with your power company... many are offering rebates for those that convert to VSP's.. It's worth it to see what qualifies for the rebate in case it has a bearing on what you can buy...just sayin'

 

[SoCal_Pool_Owner]

Discount Salt Pool definitely jacked up the prices on April 1st. I was looking at the RJ20+ for $988 with a $10 upgrade to the RJ30+ but after April 1st the RJ20+ is now $1198 (+ $1 upgrade). I ended up with the Edge 40 since that cost only went up $50 (Edge 25 + upgrade for $1)...The first one was from a e-mail to remind me I had items in my cart. 2nd is from their website now.

 

[Rodex]

Discount Salt Pool definitely jacked up the prices on April 1st. I was looking at the RJ20+ for $988 with a $10 upgrade to the RJ30+ but after April 1st the RJ20+ is now $1198 (+ $1 upgrade). I ended up with the Edge 40 since that cost only went up $50 (Edge 25 + upgrade for $1)...The first one was from a e-mail to remind me I had items in my cart. 2nd is from their website now.

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Ok so I’m not crazy!

 

[SoCal_Pool_Owner]

No, you are not. I rolled the dice and waited to see what would happen after the sale ended. I thought the "Sale" was pretty much standard pricing for Discount Salt pool. Expensive mistake. I did e-mail them Friday with a few questions and inquired about the price change (hoping they would honor the lower price). They conveniently answered all of my questions EXCEPT the ones about the price change. Either way, I am happy with the decision to go with the Edge40 rather than the RJ30 (my pool is 15k and I know bigger is better).