Glacier Pool Cooler - Help

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Last 7 days with highs above 100 and high humidity. It’s fighting back but it’s hard to keep it down in this heat wave. I normally run from 7pm to 12pm (17 hours) but note the last day here I ran nearly 24 hours straight in prep for a pool party and pulled an extra degree or two off.

Averaging 82 mid afternoon between the surface and 6 ft.
 

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SATP12 said:
Last 7 days with highs above 100 and high humidity. It’s fighting back but it’s hard to keep it down in this heat wave. I normally run from 7pm to 12pm (17 hours) but note the last day here I ran nearly 24 hours straight in prep for a pool party and pulled an extra degree or two off.

Averaging 82 mid afternoon between the surface and 6 ft.
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How are you measuring and recording the temp of your water at depth?
 
My pool has also been running slightly warmer than in years past. It will regularly hit 85° when it normally maxes out at 83°. I can actually feel that 2° temp difference. 85° is fine, but 83° and below gives me more of a shock factor when first diving in.

I’m chalking it up to higher than normal humidity. Usually when we have temps of 100+, the humidity is much lower, but not this year.

I’m still grateful for the Glacier. Without it, water temp would be well over 90°!
 
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jark87 said:
My pool has also been running slightly warmer than in years past. It will regularly hit 85° when it normally maxes out at 83°. I can actually feel that 2° temp difference. 85° is fine, but 83° and below gives me more of a shock factor when first diving in.

I’m chalking it up to higher than normal humidity. Usually when we have temps of 100+, the humidity is much lower, but not this year.

I’m still grateful for the Glacier. Without it, water temp would be well over 90°!
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I agree completely. The higher than normal . humidity is making a difference. Now, even with the chiller, the pool becomes a bit too warm after 3pm. Last summer, with lower humidity, never had that feeling.
 
SATP12 said:
Here’s the plumbing. Note the extra stuff to run a water feature.
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KevMo said:
My Glacier GPC210 arrived today and I have a question about the install. My pool was pre-plumbed when it was built (almost) like the installation manual shows for new pool automation setup as shown in the picture below. My automated 3-way valve is between the filter and the heater. The Pentair MasterTemp heater has an automated bypass installed.

My question is the same for either type of install. In the install manual it says, "Do not pre-set the actuator. Allow the actuator to open 100% for the water flow rate to the cooler and the pool." I understand the ball valve (or in my install a diveter) on the input pipe controls the flow in to the cooler. Am I right in assuming the sentences in the installation manual mean to have the 3-way fully open in both directions while operating then close off the cooler path when not? If so, wouldn't my Intellivalve actuator need to be set where the normal return is always open?

View attachment 513381View attachment 513382
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So, I have a similar question. I have a setup pretty much like the picture below, but in the instructions to the right it states, "Allow the actuators to open 100% for the water flow rate to the cooler." Should it be both 100% to the cooler and to the pool? There is no way for the cooler water to return to the pool if they are not both opened 100%. Correct?

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schazlett said:
So, I have a similar question. I have a setup pretty much like the picture below, but in the instructions to the right it states, "Allow the actuators to open 100% for the water flow rate to the cooler." Should it be both 100% to the cooler and to the pool? There is no way for the cooler water to return to the pool if they are not both opened 100%. Correct?

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The phrasing in the manual could be better. I believe the 100% is used to mean the 3-way valve should not restrict the normal flow to the pool. The 3-way valve should always allow flow to the normal pool return path. When you want run thr chiller you open the other side of the tee as well so that water would flow to both the pool and the chiller. The valve between the 3-way and the chiller is used to restrict flow so the wands do not move too fast.
 
KevMo said:
It has been extremely hot in the Houston area recently. Over the last 2 weeks the water temp has averaged 93F during the afternoon and only down to 89F overnight. I now have a Glacier GPC210 on order now. The necessary plumbing was roughed in during the build and my equipment pad was built with room for the cooler. I will post back my results once I get it dialed in. It will be A DIY install so I may be back with a few questions along the way.
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I'm in the Houston area so I'll share my experience. Our pool tops out @ 91 these days. If we have enough 99+ degree days in a row it will top out @ 92. On Thursday @ midnight I have the chiller kick on and run continuously through Sunday @ 2:30pm. Friday the pool will top out 88 and be down to 86ish by ~8pm. Saturday the pool will start @ 83/84 and top out @ 87. Sunday morning the pool will be 82 degrees. Point is, the longer you run it the cooler your results are. Nighttime is when the notable temp drops occur. Daytime running is to keep the pool temp from getting too high.

Now that I've had the pool & chiller for a year, I'm looking for possible ways to dial my chiller settings in to potentially increase the efficacy of it. I opened another thread here with a question about that very topic.

Glacier GPC 210 Pool Chiller

Our pool is now a year old and I've had enough experience with the chiller to know it's making a difference. Now that I'm a year in I'm thinking about ways to dial it in to be even more effective, and I have have a question specifically about the outlet valve. I believe the instructions note...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Now that our humidity is dropping, the water is getting cooler even with higher ambient temperatures. Pool is sitting at 82° with ambient temp at 107°. Drier air definitely makes a difference. I expect pool to be in the high 70s tomorrow morning. The downside to this drop in water temp is high evaporation rate. I’m filling almost every day.

As an aside, when hanging out at the pool, I hit golf balls into a net. Because I jump in the pool frequently to cool off, I hit barefoot. It’s getting hard to stand on the hitting mat. Here’s the current temp of my mat:

1689710557474.jpeg
 
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Jeff McGuire said:
Do all your wands have a lot of water that comes out from under the wand where it rotates on the shaft? I assume there is no sort of o-ring there as it would cause a friction point but i seem to loose a good bit of water from under the wand that just runs down that pipe and down into the bottom tank.
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That's not something I've ever looked at but I'll check it out this weekend when my chiller kicks back on and report back with my findings. To be clear, your concern is that the water in question isn't running through the riffles and thereby isn't releasing its heat, is that right? Just want to make sure I understand.
 

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Treetopp said:
An update on my Glacier Pool Cooler operation. Came home from vacation yesterday to 96 degree pool water. Turned cooler on around 4 pm and ran overnight with pump at 3000 rpm. This morning the pool temp was 86 degrees

i made the following adjustments based on input from everyone here at TFP.

First I adjusted the wands so the streams are pointing more down and just barely to the right. This allowed for a lot more water to flow into the cooler without splashing all over the place. The wands were turning about 15 to 20 rpm (which is a little higher than recommended). Because more water was going in I opened the outlet valve a little more and was able to achieve the 2-3 minute cycle of the basin filling and then the pump kicking on to push the water out. (Prior to adjusting the wands the water flow was so slow the outlet valve was practically completely shut and the cycle time was probably well over 10 minutes.)

Lastly I shut off the return water from the main drain and set each skimmer return valve to only 1/2 way open. So more cool water was being pulled by the pump to mix with the skimmer return water. This was Jeff McGuire’s suggestion and I think it really helped. I could actually feel the colder water coming out of the pool returns jets. Before making these adjustments I wasn’t really able to feel any temperature difference in the water coming out of the return jets vs. the rest of the pool water.

A big thanks to all who gave their suggestions for tweaking all the settings on my Cooler so that it is actually cooling.
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What improvements did the above adjustments lead to?
 
jark87 said:
Now that our humidity is dropping, the water is getting cooler even with higher ambient temperatures. Pool is sitting at 82° with ambient temp at 107°. Drier air definitely makes a difference. I expect pool to be in the high 70s tomorrow morning. The downside to this drop in water temp is high evaporation rate. I’m filling almost every day.

As an aside, when hanging out at the pool, I hit golf balls into a net. Because I jump in the pool frequently to cool off, I hit barefoot. It’s getting hard to stand on the hitting mat. Here’s the current temp of my mat:

View attachment 514922
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I remember reading your results last year when I was trying to figure my chiller out. I am envious of your low humidity as it appears to make a large difference in the amount of cooling you're able to get out of your chiller. I'm still very happy with my results, but I'm jealous of yours.
 
Benkg43 said:
I remember reading your results last year when I was trying to figure my chiller out. I am envious of your low humidity as it appears to make a large difference in the amount of cooling you're able to get out of your chiller. I'm still very happy with my results, but I'm jealous of yours.
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I also get the benefit of running my chiller everyday. Like you said, the longer you run it, the cooler the water gets, within limits of course. As long as your pool is refreshing - that’s all that matters!

FWIW, I sped my wand RPMs up a few days ago. I had slowed them down when I read a post that showed the recommended RPMs. Since my water was running a little warmer this year than in years past, I went back to my regular setting. The water is slightly cooler, but I suspect that’s more attributable to the lower humidity than anything else.
 
Maintaining seems to be the key with the chiller. I was running mine about 3-4 hours a day at the beginning of the month. The temps were around 82 in the morning and 84 in the afternoon.

I was gone for about 8 days on vacation and left the chiller off. The temps were up to 91 on Sunday. I ran the chiller for 3 hours over the past three days. It was around 87 this morning. I hope to get it back to 84 by this weekend.
 
jark87 said:
I also get the benefit of running my chiller everyday. Like you said, the longer you run it, the cooler the water gets, within limits of course. As long as your pool is refreshing - that’s all that matters!

FWIW, I sped my wand RPMs up a few days ago. I had slowed them down when I read a post that showed the recommended RPMs. Since my water was running a little warmer this year than in years past, I went back to my regular setting. The water is slightly cooler, but I suspect that’s more attributable to the lower humidity than anything else.
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I don't run it every day because of the expense. I'm not sure how much the chiller costs to run, likely minimal, but it's the increased runtime on the pump that's going to get me. So like I said, I accept a 91 degree pool Monday through Thursday, and then I bask in the glory of a low to mid 80s pool Friday through Sunday. Maybe I'll try running 4 days in a row one of these weeks to see what day four looks like.
 
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I've looked at power consumption. With a higher pump speed and chiller on, it uses about 750 watts more per hour. About $0.10 / hour to run. That's not that much compared to the chemicals added in the summer.
 
Yes, I just accept the cost. I’ve never even tried to calculate it. I’m in the pool almost every day, so I want it refreshing every time I dive in.
 

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