Hi, I've never had a pool before but now I have a 30 foot round 54 inch deep pool that my Nature 2 VisionPro refuses to keep chlorinated. I have a Hayward Century Pool & Spa 1081 Pool Pump Duty, a Swim Pro Voyager, and a 2HP Hayward. I was going to switch to a SWG but I was told it would not be good for the structure and that my equipment was probably not compatible. Replacing everything is so expensive that I think I want to just ditch the Nature 2 and go with a more traditional chlorinator. If a SWG is not a bad idea for an above ground pool, what is the most cost effective way to use what I have and make it a stable salt water pool?
Is a SWG bad for an above ground pool?
- Thread starter Tom Zegar
- Start date
We ran a few years with an SWG and it was nice but the pool did fail miserably - steel pipe Intex type. It completely rusted out to the point I'm not sure how it was even standing anymore. I'm sure there are/were things I could have done to help with the longevity - and truly have with the new pool even though we're not running SWG anymore.
I went "cheap" and used the Intex SWG and really, it only worked very well for the first year. After that it was pretty underwhelming in terms of output. Part of this was surely user error and chemistry issues but the rust really mad it easy for me to decide against SWG on the new pool. When we upgrade to a more permanent, vinyl type, hard wall AGP I will DEFINITELY go back to SWG. I'm now in the process of fine tuning a dosing pump system to try to hold my pool for me.
I went "cheap" and used the Intex SWG and really, it only worked very well for the first year. After that it was pretty underwhelming in terms of output. Part of this was surely user error and chemistry issues but the rust really mad it easy for me to decide against SWG on the new pool. When we upgrade to a more permanent, vinyl type, hard wall AGP I will DEFINITELY go back to SWG. I'm now in the process of fine tuning a dosing pump system to try to hold my pool for me.
Thanks for the reply. I don't want that to happen so I'll keep playing with the Nature 2 until I run out of the supplies I have then I'll switch to a different dosing pump without the minerals. Thanks again.
VinnyinNJ
Bronze Supporter
- Jul 20, 2022
- 1,050
- Pool Size
- 13500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Turbo Cell (T-CELL-5)
I have a SWG on my AG pool. There are some manufactures that claim the pool is not salt friendly but there are some that are. My pool is steel walled with resin top rail, vertical supports and bottom track and it is rated for salt. I think and could be wrong a salt friendly pool has the resin components so they don't rust out quickly but again I'm not really sure. All the other equipment should be OK.
Our old pool was Bleach, Cal Hypo and Trichlor (pucks). They were all cheap back then (pre covid) and I would only use the Trichlor in a chlorinator when we went on vacation. Using Bleach and Liquid chlorine IMO is easy. I wanted to try salt in our new pool to make it easier but have yet to use it because I screwed up with the salt last year and still have a high salt content this year ... hopefully next year! Anyway you are paying for the chlorine up front with a SWG and the size of your pool looks like an IG pool SWG is needed which can be expensive to just try it. I have to stress that the salt issue is because either my reagents were off, I'm an idiot or both! (I am blaming it on the 2nd reason!
Quite honestly, the N2 system has always been sketchy and chlorine has always been the go to chemical of choice.
Our old pool was Bleach, Cal Hypo and Trichlor (pucks). They were all cheap back then (pre covid) and I would only use the Trichlor in a chlorinator when we went on vacation. Using Bleach and Liquid chlorine IMO is easy. I wanted to try salt in our new pool to make it easier but have yet to use it because I screwed up with the salt last year and still have a high salt content this year ... hopefully next year! Anyway you are paying for the chlorine up front with a SWG and the size of your pool looks like an IG pool SWG is needed which can be expensive to just try it. I have to stress that the salt issue is because either my reagents were off, I'm an idiot or both! (I am blaming it on the 2nd reason!
Quite honestly, the N2 system has always been sketchy and chlorine has always been the go to chemical of choice.
I've had great luck with a salt water AGP. Granted, my pool is technically built to be salt water compatible, but I don't think that really matters as much as people think. The amount of salt isn't really *that* much higher than it would get to with a manually chlorinated pool. I think there are other way more important factors that cause corrosion. Keep the water well balanced and everything will be happy for a long time.
I'm on ... year three, I guess? Not a a single bit of rust anywhere on the pool or the equipment. Few more years and maybe that will change, it's still early yet, but I hope not.
I'm on ... year three, I guess? Not a a single bit of rust anywhere on the pool or the equipment. Few more years and maybe that will change, it's still early yet, but I hope not.
Not at all uncommon for "regular" pools to test at 2000 ppm salt just from all the other additions (Cl, etc). Just that nobody does until they are ready to convert to "salt water". So you may already be close to the 3200-3500 levels. If willing to spend the $40, get a Taylor K-1766 to see what your current salt level is.
Thanks all. Great information. I'm going to look at my invoice and see what pool I have, exactly. Silly me, I didn't research anything to do with pool science before buying the thing. I know it's steel with the resin that's not supposed to ever fade. I'm going to keep my eyes open for deals on a SWG and buy it if I find one. That way I'm ready to go when I'm ready to go.
I ran an SWG on my Intex for 4 years and will be doing it again on my new Intex without hesitation. Stayed up year-round. Zero issues. However, like everything, I think there is a little more to do in terms of maintenance when it comes to Intex style pools as they are technically bags of water held up by a supporting exoskeleton. During my routine twice a week checkup/maintenance I also hose the pool down, knocking off any debris, cleaning dirt, etc. I honestly think this does help if not minimally. My water is also whole house filtered and treated making it "soft" vs "hard". Typically, the issue with Intex pools and rust is due to their design. First you have poles that slip into each other that are supporting a bag of water. Because of this design there is a lot more flexing (even more so with the rectangle pools), and this is where the majority of these pools rust as the cheap coatings, they use wear off exposing the metal which is thin walled to begin with. Then you have the areas were the poles slip inside the vinyl, that holds and traps moister. The plastic caps and inserts that hold moister. It's just the nature of the beast.
As for SW the salt level is actually very close to and or less than that of the tears in your eyes. I am not sure how one could say a pool or equipment is not SW capable.
As for SW the salt level is actually very close to and or less than that of the tears in your eyes. I am not sure how one could say a pool or equipment is not SW capable.
Amazing how much bird poop on the rim of the pool. I hose it off. This morning there was a duck bathing in it. Last week I pulled a dead bird out of it...not sure what that was about.
Flying Tivo
TFP Guide
- Jan 24, 2017
- 3,100
- Pool Size
- 7500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
They might hang out on it overnight or anytime you're not watching. Look at it the right way. 4 inches over and you'd ignorantly never know. But EWW.
I’m going to play around on the Pentair website this weekend. And yes, that was my first realization of the amount of Crud in the pool! I jokingly tell everyone to wipe their butts before getting in the pool. Can’t tell that to a bird though.
I used SWG on my Intex for years. My first Intex (no SWG) lasted a little over 2 years, and my last Intex (SWG) lasted 4. I’m in Florida, land of humidity, and since moisture is what causes rust, I went with an all-resin pool for my permanent above ground pool.
I also used the Intex Pump/filter combo with SWG as my gateway SWG. it worked really well for me, thank goodness. I even used it on my resin pool for a while until it finally gave up the ghost!
I also used the Intex Pump/filter combo with SWG as my gateway SWG. it worked really well for me, thank goodness. I even used it on my resin pool for a while until it finally gave up the ghost!