Getting the right chlorine level with SWG... also a PH question

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Texaspoolmariposa

Texaspoolmariposa

Active member
Apr 27, 2019
40
western Texas
We just got everything started. After install of the pentair SWG the tech had the output at 20 which wasn't enough and the chlorine was barely registering. We did a boost mode to get that up which brought us to FC10. So we settled at an output on the SWG of 50. Last night when I tested the FC was 4.5 and this morning it was 7.5. Should I take the SWG down to 40?

Also our PH was high so we added acid which is now has our PH too low (ugh ugh). Will running my waterfall get the PH up enough or will I need to add something?
 
What is the pH?

Are you running your pump 24/7? Is that what you want to do?
Poolmath can help you determine what settings will work for your SWCG based on FC loss per day. Try it
 
mknauss said:
What is the pH?

Are you running your pump 24/7? Is that what you want to do?
Poolmath can help you determine what settings will work for your SWCG based on FC loss per day. Try it
Click to expand...
I think pH is right at 7.0-- the color matches with the 7.0, but wasn't sure if that is really 7.0 or just anything below that?? . We just had a VSP pentair pump installed and it is running 24/7
 
A pH of 7 is fine. It will rise with aeration and your fill water.

Hopefully you are running your VS pump at a low rpm. Just enough to close the flow switch on the SWCG.
 
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I would say run the pump at 1200 rpm all the time if the SWCG is still generating. All green lights on the SWCG at 1200 rpm, right?

Only reason to run the pump at a higher RPM is for skimming or a suction side pool cleaner.
 
mknauss said:
I would say run the pump at 1200 rpm all the time if the SWCG is still generating. All green lights on the SWCG at 1200 rpm, right?

Only reason to run the pump at a higher RPM is for skimming or a suction side pool cleaner.
Click to expand...
yes green lights are on when it is running at 1200

Ok so I should go change the settings to run at 1200 all the time, and just bump it up manually when I want to vacuum or run the skimmer
 
If the pool is operating fine at 1200rpm, then no reason to run higher than that. Just bump it up if you need to vacuum or something.

There is also rarely a need to actually run a pump 24/7. Generally a pool only needs a few hours (although usually at a higher RPM) to adequate circulate, you might need more run time so the SWG produces enough FC and the SWG would be at a very high output % to reduce the pump run time.

On the other side of the spectrum are the people that like to run the pump at a low RPM 24/7. If you choose this method, you will need to run the SWG at a much lower % output to maintain proper FC levels. You will always see the FC rising over night when there is no loss to the sun and the dropping during the day. So you might want to test just after the sun is off the pool, which is likely to be your lowest FC, to make sure the FC level is still above the minimum for your CYA level.
 

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jblizzle said:
If the pool is operating fine at 1200rpm, then no reason to run higher than that. Just bump it up if you need to vacuum or something.

There is also rarely a need to actually run a pump 24/7. Generally a pool only needs a few hours (although usually at a higher RPM) to adequate circulate, you might need more run time so the SWG produces enough FC and the SWG would be at a very high output % to reduce the pump run time.

On the other side of the spectrum are the people that like to run the pump at a low RPM 24/7. If you choose this method, you will need to run the SWG at a much lower % output to maintain proper FC levels. You will always see the FC rising over night when there is no loss to the sun and the dropping during the day. So you might want to test just after the sun is off the pool, which is likely to be your lowest FC, to make sure the FC level is still above the minimum for your CYA level.
Click to expand...

So what is ideal-- run it for 8-10 hours a day and shut if off or run in 24/7 at a lower speed? Or is it just personal preference?
 
In the CA heat, I tend to run it 12 hours per day in the summer and can lower to 8 hours in the winter. During these seasons, I have it running from 6:30am to 12:30pm at 1250rpm with a jump to 2100 rpm for the last 30 minutes... this all starts again at 6:30 pm with 2100 for the first 30 minutes and then back to 1250rpm until 12:30am. I can do this and still maintain the proper CL level set at 60% in the summer and like 25% in the winter.
 
Killer95Stang said:
I think the 24/7 thing has more to do with how many trees or debris get in a particular pool. I don't have any trees that drop leaves in my pool in the summer, so I don't need the 24 hour skimming.
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Thank you. We have a decent amount of dust from the wind and there are some trees in the neighbors yard that peak over the wall, but not too bad. Will have to see how bad it gets.
 
I think I saw that your SWG will produce 1 pound of chlorine in 24 hours, so for your pool of 12k gallons, running for 24 hours at 100% output, that would generate 10ppm of FC.
Most pools only need 2-4ppm in a day. So if you are going to run 24/7, the output might need to be around 20-40%.
If you decide to only run for 12 hours, then you would set the output around 60%.
And the minimum you might be able to run the pump with the SWG at 100% output would be around 7 hours to generate around 3ppm of FC.
 
Texaspoolmariposa said:
High of 91 today -- so if I want to let my kids swim in it for the first time and I want to turn the heater on-- do I need to do anything to the valves, pump, etc before turning the heater on?
Click to expand...
Depends on how things are plumbed, but generally you should be able to just turn on the heater ... there is a minimum flow rate for the heater, so you might need to ramp up the pump speed a bit?
 
Texaspoolmariposa said:
High of 91 today -- so if I want to let my kids swim in it for the first time and I want to turn the heater on-- do I need to do anything to the valves, pump, etc before turning the heater on?
Click to expand...
You may have to increase the pump rpm to satisfy the pressure switch in your heater.
 

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