Installed Intellichlor SWG today, white flakes immediately after installing, LSI -.06

[Nonyabiz]

Hey all, as title says I finally got around to installing my brand new SWG today to learn/get it dialed in before summer heat is here. After installing I plugged it in to be sure it was working before adding any salt. I let water run through it while to pool ran for 3 hours, and also ran/heated the spa for an hour. Planned to add salt tomorrow but after the 3 hours there were tiny white flakes all over pool and spa surface, here are my chems:

TA: 80
CH: 600
CYA: 36
Temp: 54
PH 7.5
FC 3 PPM
LSI -.06

As I am new to the SWG, I am assuming it is creating calcium carb flakes due to my high CH level. I am hesitant to continue with the SWG as I live in Southwest and our water CH 300 out of the tap, 600 is inevitable again in 6 months. Any help or insight is appreciated here.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to the world of salt. We have thousands of members in the southwest who are SWG owners, so you are not alone. Yes, the CH is an issue, especially after about 12 months, but by keeping the CSI level on the low end it helps tremendously to prevent scale build up in the cell. But a couple things in your comment caught my eye:
- How are you testing your water? Your CYA of 36 is odd.
- Cells are not supposed to be turned on until salt has been added to the water and allowed to acclimate for at least 24 hrs.

 

[Nonyabiz]

- How are you testing your water? Your CYA of 36 is odd.
- Cells are not supposed to be turned on until salt has been added to the water and allowed to acclimate for at least 24 hrs.

Taylor kit for testing, visual loss just prior to 40 so called it 36.

So what is causing the flakes in a brand new swg? Doesn’t seem like adding salt is going to cure the current new issue. I keep my chem number incredibly tight and never fall out of acceptable CSI range.

Thanks

 

[ajw22]

Lower your TA to 60 and possibly add borates to the pool.

Read TA - Further Reading

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Texas Splash]

So what is causing the flakes in a brand new swg?

As I think about your situation a bit more, your cell "should" be off or throwing a low salt error if you have no salt in the pool (yet). If that's true, I find it unlikely the SWG has anything to do with the flakes. However I wonder if perhaps running the heater for a bit with a lower CSI may have released some calcium. @mknauss what do you think?

 

[mknauss]

With a CH of 600, you must be more diligent on the TA and pH. Keep lowering TA until the flakes stop. It would be best to immediately begin using softened water for make up water due to evaporation.

I would also suggest diluting the pool water sample 1:1 with distilled water for the CH test. Then use 10 ml of the combined sample and perform the CH test. Double the result.

 

[ajw22]

Test the water salt level using a salt test kit before adding any salt.

It sounds like you have a good salt level in the water from the salt in various chemicals used.