High Salt Questions...

[Mrs.Biggs]

BTW, the IC40 will report a high salt error when it thinks salt is above 4500 but it will continue to make chlorine. I raised my salt level well above 5000 the first spring because the SWG kept saying low salt and I kept adding more. It worked fine all summer and I didn't have to add any salt for a long time.

So, a salt level of 4800ppm is not dangerous to pool equipment

Just to be clear.. My recommendation to not have the actual salt level go above 4K is only because I find that I can start tasting it more than I like.. I agree with dv, that the cell will work fine even with the high salt light on..

Jim R.

My salt reading is 4800ppm. That's not dangerous or risking corrosion on the pool equipment? I'm trying to figure out if I need to do a partial water exchange or at least let mother nature help us out tomorrow night during a round of spring storms?
FC-6.5
PH-7.2
TA-350
CH-300
CYA-55
SALT-4800
TEMP-65
CSI- -0.11

 

[mknauss]

As Jim said, salinity above 4K tends to mean most people can taste it. It matters not for anything else.

Up to you if you wish to drain a bit and fill with rain water.

 

[Fuldo]

I'd be most concerned about that extremely high TA number. Are you sure it's correct? It seems that PH would rise like crazy if so.

 

[Mrs.Biggs]

I'd be most concerned about that extremely high TA number. Are you sure it's correct? It seems that PH would rise like crazy if so.

Well, I am fairly sure it is correct. I followed the directions in the t-100. My readings from 11 days ago are as follows (but we have had a complete water drain and replace since then so it's probably irrelevant).
FC-2.5
CC-0
PH-7.3
TA-350
CYA-10
SALT-4000
TEMP-52

I am also very concerned about the TA and I really really don't want to drain again as our neighbors are still a little annoyed with us from the last drain. I plan on testing the house water for TA and CH when I get home. I'm wondering if the fill water is the culprit.

Thanks!

 

[AUSpool]

As Jim said, salinity above 4K tends to mean most people can taste it. It matters not for anything else.

Up to you if you wish to drain a bit and fill with rain water.

From my experience if the salt level is 500ppm above the recomended its time to consult with the manufacturer. High salt will make a SWG work harder. I found one pool under my charge to be a ~1000ppm over the recomended value and the manufacturer told me to turn it down to 80% until the salt level comes down to the recomended.

 

[pooldv]

Intellichlor doesn't report high salt warning until 4500 ppm.

 

[AUSpool]

The Intellichlor instructions (p.7) says good salt is between 2600ppm - 4500ppm, according to that your still in range at 4500ppm. The SWG I had problems with was at ~7200ppm, a lot of the older Aussie SWG were designed to run at 6000ppm.

@Mrs.Biggs I would run your full test again. The pH tends to increase with a SWG, if your pH gets up to 7.8 you can use the Acid airation method to lower your TA - no need to drain. And I’d bring your CYA up if its really at 10ppm.

 

[Mrs.Biggs]

The Intellichlor instructions (p.7) says good salt is between 2600ppm - 4500ppm, according to that your still in range at 4500ppm. The SWG I had problems with was at ~7200ppm, a lot of the older Aussie SWG were designed to run at 6000ppm.

@Mrs.Biggs I would run your full test again. The pH tends to increase with a SWG, if your pH gets up to 7.8 you can use the Acid airation method to lower your TA - no need to drain. And I’d bring your CYA up if its really at 10ppm.

As I mentioned in post #14, those results were 11 days ago and we've had to completely drain and refill due to an unrelated issue. My current readings with the new water and corrections are also listed above in post #11 of this thread. Current salt is at 4800ppm. Did a pH test this morning and the digital meter and drop test are both reading 7.3.

 

[pooldv]

Is it reporting high salt? The intellichlor will continue making chlorine even if it is reporting high salt. I had salt over 5000ppm a few years ago and it worked fine. I'd just let it drop with the spring rains.

 

[Mrs.Biggs]

Intellichlor doesn't report high salt warning until 4500 ppm.

Is it reporting high salt? The intellichlor will continue making chlorine even if it is reporting high salt. I had salt over 5000ppm a few years ago and it worked fine. I'd just let it drop with the spring rains.

Yes. It is giving me a high salt indicator. We left the cover open overnight and our area received about an inch of rain. I'm going to run the pump and pool cleaner today and see where I'm at this evening.

Also, can a ask what will probably sound like a *dumb* question? The Intellichlor uses the existing salt in the water to generate chlorine by breaking apart NaCl as it passes through the cell, correct? It does not actually generate any new salt, right? So where did the salt come from? When the PB dumped the bags in? Is it possible he added too much? (sorry, that was actually 5 questions. lol)

 

[Mrs.Biggs]

Well, I am fairly sure it is correct. I followed the directions in the t-100. My readings from 11 days ago are as follows (but we have had a complete water drain and replace since then so it's probably irrelevant).
FC-2.5
CC-0
PH-7.3
TA-350
CYA-10
SALT-4000
TEMP-52

I am also very concerned about the TA and I really really don't want to drain again as our neighbors are still a little annoyed with us from the last drain. I plan on testing the house water for TA and CH when I get home. I'm wondering if the fill water is the culprit.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Tested the house water (fill source). And the well water (just because I'm curious). We have crappy water in our area. Both tested between 300-350 TA and the well had 300 CH. The house water CH was 0 but we have a softener. So, it would seem like I'm going to have a TA that is elevated with either fill source.?‍

 

[cfherrman]

Yeah somebody added too much salt, your house salt is probably 200-500 and takes awhile to build up, every chemical adds salt but it takes awhile.

My water is 3 years old, my fill water is 200 ppm salt, I have 800 ppm salt in the pool.

Don't use Cal hypo with that fill water, try to top up the pool with the softener if it's big enough.

 

[AUSpool]

Mrs. Biggs,
Just quickly answering your questions.

“Also, can a ask what will probably sound like a *dumb* question? The Intellichlor uses the existing salt in the water to generate chlorine by breaking apart NaCl as it passes through the cell, correct?” - Close, Na and Cl are already separated (dissolved) in the water. Very simply, the cell produces bleach from the Cl ions and water.

“It does not actually generate any new salt, right?” - Correct, once used or fully reacted the Cl in the bleach is released back to the pool water as it was before. The Na ion is a spectator and can be ignored.

“So where did the salt come from?” - As Casey said, some one added too much, probably because of salt in the fill water.

“When the PB dumped the bags in?” Yes, if they where bags of salt which is most likely.

“Is it possible he added too much? (sorry, that was actually 5 questions. lol)” - Yes, in your case anything over 4500ppm.

It’s a bit late now but I would have asked for a complete list of what was added, what and how much. From your results at post #11 I suspect your fill water pH is circa ~7.2 - 7.3. Your fill water salt is most likely high too.