Intellichor Low Salt

[bk406]

The way I read it it sounds like a cell will generate more chlorine at a higher salt concentration, I always wondered that myself, which I think makes sense, but I'll let Cadillac confirm

Ok, I got it now. I think some other brands do work that way, but the Pentair puts out the same amount of chlorine at 2500 ppm or 3500 ppm, it just pulls more power at a lower salt level. At least thats what Pentair told me when I asked them about a year ago. But that being said, I've read that the Pentair WILL reduce output with lower salt, but that was not from the Pentair manual or Pentair paperwork.

 

[Pool Clown]

Thanks everyone. Good stuff. PS test today showed 2800 ppm vs 1650 ppm from IC40. Water temp is 61F. I put in one bag of salt. Will use bleach method this winter.

If you are going to add Cl by hand anyway over the winter, I wouldn't add any salt till spring when it warms up, and you can get a more accurate count of salinity with out having to work a formula to get the count.

M2C

 

[cadillac]

The more salt the more chlorine can be produced. The cell is splitting the salt so more salt means more splitting.

 

[bk406]

The more salt the more chlorine can be produced. The cell is splitting the salt so more salt means more splitting.

Not exactly. It has to do with the conductivity of the water and how much salt needs to be in the water for the unit to pull enough current to generate chlorine. Lower salt levels causes the generator to pull more current. When the current gets too high (i.e. lower salt) it shuts down. With some SWCG, if the salinity is lower than optimal, the current running across the plates is lowered until it shuts itself off. I'm not sure which models operate which way, but the salt levels really have little to do with how much chlorine is made per se. It's the current that matters. In fact, a few companies are working on a generator that will make chlorine at lower than 1000 ppm salt. They just have a way to make Cl₂ with a lower current.

A SWCG does not "split" salt. When you add salt to water, it's "split" in chloride and sodium. Chloride is an ion, where chlorine is Cl₂ and is a gas. When the gas is generated across the plates, it gets converted to HOCl, or hypochlous acid (bleach) when it hit the water. Google up how a SWCG works and you can see the exact chemistry. Or wait until chem geek comes along and let him derive all the where for's.