Intex Salt Water Generator (SWG) for in ground pool (IGP) Model ECO 8110 28669EG

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paulnx

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Bronze Supporter
Jun 10, 2016
84
south florida,fl
Here is my implementation using the Intex Above Ground salt water generator (Model ECO 8110 28669EG ) for an in ground pool. I just finished this past week. I bought the the SWG in May 2015 from walmart for $100 a piece. this month I took the time to put everything together. The basic philosophy is to keep the INTEX unmodified in case I have to get warranty service. I have two units in series because of simpler plumbing layout. The previous owner of the house originally had plumbing for a solar heater long since gone so I was able splice this in. Right now (summer) It gets hot and rainy in florida so two units will be running,then I intend to run one unit the rest of year. The intex plugs into a weather resistance GFCI outlet which wired to timer switched output. Another words the intex swg powers on whenever the pool pump turns on. I have picture of this but I have exceeded upload quota.

If one unit breaks, then I can always order a replacement ($120 to $150) from Amazon (2 day shipping). The broken unit will be either in transit for warranty service or if out of warranty becomes spare parts to fix the other unit. I used FLexible SPA PVC to hook up the unit. I can easily bend the pipes using heat gun/hair dryer should Intex drastically change their input/output water ports in future revisions.

There are few key posts from troublefreepool that got my ideas from. They are worth reading
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threa...mbedded-photos
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/34871-Twin-Intex-SWG-installation-Modded-to-run-24hrs
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/82940-Intex-SWG-with-IGP-review

Also I had to unglue my existing PVC. The previous owner poured concrete around pool plumbing so I had to be extra cautious.
https://youtu.be/HuWuxVfHJ6o
https://youtu.be/1DGRKMfUbwQ

One project I need to do is replace the intex hose that connects the two Intex unit in series with Flexible PVC. The other is to replace the makeshift concrete block shelf to hold the intex units with something "better"

20160610_195143.jpg20160610_195159.jpg20160610_195231.jpg

6/24/2017 ****Update****
Note: If I route all the water flow to the Intex SWG, I read an increase of 3 PSI
IntexSWGs.jpg
 
I have 16000 gallon in ground pool. Currently I have it running 3 hours a day and may have to cut that down to 2 to 2.5 hours. My current thought is to leave both intex units in series all year round. That way if one fails, the other will continue producing chlorine. I see calcium builtup but don't expect to need to clean until couple months from now. I plan to update this thread as I encounter problems to share the reliability history of this setup.
 
Quick update, So far I have been impressed with this setup. I have had no problems to date. There is some scale built up,but no need to clean it with acid yet. The scale is mostly my fault as I had not maintained my proper PH. I never realized how often acid had to be added to combat the the PH increase through the salt water system. I am guessing that some of the negative reviews on amazon about calcium scale is from newbies like me not maintaining proper PH. The price swings on Amazon goes as low as $54 dollars see chart below. I was tempted to buy spare units at $54 but I have no place to store them in my garage.

During the summer, I knew I had Overnight FC Loss. Pool School principal says to SLAM. I didn't bother because I maintained sufficient chlorine production and now in the Fall, its no longer a problem.

IntexPrice.jpg
 
quick update: I've decided to clean both intex units today for the first time. I was planning to use vinegar per recommendations in manual but I found less calcium deposits from months before. Turns out I was able to use tooth pick, guitar pick and my finger nails with garden hose jet to dislodge all the deposits. Properly maintaining the PH makes a difference. I left both units in place during the winter months with reduced hours. By June 2017 the setup should have paid for it self (not counting my labor). So far its working great.
 
Very interesting setup. How did you convert that. That's the intex 'nut' that comes with the pool right? Then what parts did you use and how did you attach it? What I did was I bought a 2 inch pvc female coupler that I screwed into the intex and then a pvc reducer slip from 2 inches to 1.5" that I used PVC glue to attach. Then I will thread in my pentair 1.5" adapter. But I like your set up better? how did you do that
 
The thread below explains how:
https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/58841-Create-intex-adapters-Step-by-step-Lots-of-embedded-photos

The key item is to look at Home Depot in the electrical section 1.5" Box adapter like the one below:
http://www.cesco.com/b2c/product/Carlon-E996H-Non-Metallic-Box-Adapter/334544

Then fasten the intex nut + box adapter + pvc cement + union or elbow + pvc cement + pvc pipe/flexible hose

With this configuration I can easily detached the SWG for repair or drop spare one that bought for $50 last year (they were so cheap I couldn't resist!).
 

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Mostly unrelated story: I can't take credit for that. When I first signed up I lurked for quite a while, reading and learning. One day someone referred to his similar setup as RAIC and I had to make my first post just to comment on his clever name. So I credit the term RAIC with getting me active on the forum, if not for that I might be lurking to this day.

On a more topical topic, if you are still having some trouble keeping pH in range and have already brought your TA down you might consider adding borates to the water. It helps slow pH rise as well as a provides a few other minor benefits.
 
I had running since June 2016. It can easily keep up in hot florida summer months. The question I have is the reliability and longevity compared to higher priced systems. Based on Compare and Review Saltwater Chlorine Generator Prices and Features The each intex produces .63lbs per 24hr. So theoretically with two I have 1.26lbs capacity. Compare this to Pentair Intellichlor IC40 capacity at 1.4 lbs at $900 price point. If my setup becomes more trouble then its worth, then I'll swap out with something like a Circupool sj-40 So I'll be documenting my experience here.
 
Just a helpful tip. Since the 'boost' function just keeps the salt water generator on longer and doesn't actually up the chlorine output, some people (including myself) supplement it with bleach. I usually only do this when its blazing hot for a week and a heavy bather load and my chlorine is down to 1 or 2.
 
Hey Paulnx, your rig looks really nice & affordable. I'm thinking of doing the same in my 20,000 gallon pool. Do you mind answering these questions?

1. How many hours a day do you run the two generators?
2. What's your constant FC level?
3. What's your CYA level?
4. What's the power usage (kW) of these two generators? (if you ever checked it with a power usage meter)
5. I can see you did some manual pipe work because Intex has different standards. My sand filter is connected with flexible hoses. Will I need to build an adapter or it's just a plug & play? Back in 2015 the seller on Amazon wrote: "It comes with unions that attach to the flexible 1.5" pvc or flexible pvc that attaches to most pools. It is very simple to hook up. Thank you for looking at our products."

Just to make sure - you have the 15,000 gallon rated Intex, not the 7,000 ones, right?

Thanks!
 
Right now about 5 hours. I'm in south florida so we get afternoon showers (chlorine consumer). For June we have temps range 82 to 89 degrees (it will be hotter in July-Sept) I'm also screened in (less debris and cuts out the sun light).
>1. How many hours a day do you run the two generators?

Not sure. I use cheap $4 three way test and make sure the color is about "right". Every so often month I go to pool store (5 minutes away). On May 7 pool store test, I had 5ppm FC with CYA about 50. On that visit I bought some stabilizer from the pool store raise CYA level (maybe 70 now?) I need my pool store to survive for emergencies so I'll spend $5 to $15. I follow the trouble free pool principle however my measurement system is not precise but "good enough"
>2. What's your constant FC level? 3. What's your CYA level?

Just measured with my Killawatt meter: so about 100watt per generator / 200 watt total. My electric rates are $0.13 kilowatt hour. So about $0.13 per day so far.
>4. What's the power usage (kW) of these two generators? (if you ever checked it with a power usage meter)

Not sure about your plumbing. However if you plan to use standard PVC hard plumbing you will need to make adapter using those Intex "nuts". I have read somewhere that people have tried to use standard PVC adapters screw them to point where you don't crack anything but also use "liquid" tape.
>5. I can see you did some manual pipe work because Intex has different standards. My sand filter is connected with flexible hoses. Will I need to build an adapter or it's just a plug & play? Back in 2015 the seller on Amazon wrote: "It comes with unions that attach to the flexible 1.5" pvc or flexible pvc that attaches to most pools. It is very simple to hook up. Thank you for looking at our products."

Yes 15,000 gallons intex model.
>Just to make sure - you have the 15,000 gallon rated Intex, not the 7,000 ones, right?

I also I recently "borated" my pool so that's helping keeping things under control.


***6/24/2017 Pool Store Test Update *****************************
TC 5
FC 5
CC 0
PH 8
TA 75
CH 275
CYA 40
SALT 2400

I know I have some adjustments to make. We had torrential rain storms these past 4 weeks and I have been draining the water.

*****************************************************
 
Thanks for the answers. $4/mo in electricity, not so bad at all. But - someone on Reddit just told me using muriatic acid in SWCG pools is a must. I dug into it and looks like he's right. How much muriatic acid (or pH downs) do you add a week or a month?
 
I think I add 8 oz muriatic acid a week before borating the pool (2 weeks ago). I don't have enough weeks in to see what the pattern is after the borate.

A few notes: I have two returns path to the pool and the SWG is on one of them. The intex swg circumference seems smaller that other SWG... A single path "might" increase head pressure???? or reduce flow???. My pressure gauge is broken so I can't measure that.

Another cost factor: amount of time you need to run the pump longer just for the SWG, beyond what your pool needs.... Cost me $0.25/hour to run my pump. HOwever the SWG so far does not force me run it longer than what I need to clean the pool.

Longevity and reliability is another unknown.
 

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