Is my SWCG working right?

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Sharkygirl

Sharkygirl

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Oct 26, 2014
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Sarasota, FL
What about if you have an iAqualink, Jandy SWG. Other members talk about turning their SWG on/off and that the SWG should never be run when the pumps are not running. Mine does not have an on/off. You simply set the percentage of chlorine. My cell is not working properly and I think it is a bad cell. After reading about the on/off function of other SWG's, it makes me wonder if it was ever run properly. I was of the understanding, if your pump is off, the SWG simply does not function. It will tell you if there is "flow" or "no flow". Does the manual dosing of chlorine in your pool with bleach affect the cell's ability to make chlorine?
 
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Sharkygirl said:
Does the manual dosing of chlorine in your pool with bleach affect the cell's ability to make chlorine?
Click to expand...

No. The cell does not know the chlorine level. The cell does monitor water temperature and salt level. It will automatically shutdown if water temperature is below around 50 or salt level is low.
 
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sg,

My guess is that 80% of the time when someone says "My cell is not working", it is not the cell that has an issue... :)

Why do you think the cell is bad?

What is your FC level?

What is your salt level (when tested with a separate salt test kit, such as the Taylor K-1766)?

What is the pool water temperature?

How many hours a day does your pump and cell run?

Do you have the Aquapure 700 or 1400?

You can't "switch" the cell on or off, but with an automation system, the cell and pump are linked together and the power to the cell is removed when the pump is not running. This is the Primary safety device... The cell also has a flow sensor that will shut off the cell if there is not enough water flow.. This is a back-up or Secondary safety device.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
sg,

My guess is that 80% of the time when someone says "My cell is not working", it is not the cell that has an issue... :)

Why do you think the cell is bad?

What is your FC level?

What is your salt level (when tested with a separate salt test kit, such as the Taylor K-1766)?

What is the pool water temperature?

How many hours a day does your pump and cell run?

Do you have the Aquapure 700 or 1400?

You can't "switch" the cell on or off, but with an automation system, the cell and pump are linked together and the power to the cell is removed when the pump is not running. This is the Primary safety device... The cell also has a flow sensor that will shut off the cell if there is not enough water flow.. This is a back-up or Secondary safety device.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Jim, I have the Aquapure 700. The salt is 3550 per salt strip, the board reads it at 3700. I think the cell is bad because I have two error codes and I am not making ANY chlorine with the cell. I have two error codes telling me the cell needs cleaning (done that) and their is insufficient voltage and cell probably needs replacement. The pump runs 8 hours day from 8am to 4pm. Pool temp is 89 degrees. The new pool person seems to think he can somehow reset the computer by putting granular shock in the pool!? Last week he told me not to add any chlorine to see what the cell does!? I KNOW BETTER! But my husband (who wants nothing to do with pool maintenance) thinks I should give this guy a chance and says to me, I quote, "Maybe he knows something you don't". So I did absolutely nothing with the pool all week except for test my water. Within 2 days I had no chlorine, it was that way all week. He added granular shock to the pool today. I asked him what it was, and he said just granular shock. Is there such a thing? I thought there was trichlor and dichlor. The funny thing is, I have a new cell ready to put in!! The pool person is adamant it is probably not the cell. I disagree.
 
The way to determine if the cell is producing FC is to collect the water directly from the pool return. Just hold a cup facing downward to keep the air in it until its right on the return then tilt it to fill with fresh water. Test that. It should have a higher FC level than the rest of the pool.

Keep in mind the device isn't always accurate in measuring the salt level. I always go by my own salt test kit, which itself can have a =/- 400ppm known variation.

Maddie :flower:
 
YippeeSkippy said:
The way to determine if the cell is producing FC is to collect the water directly from the pool return. Just hold a cup facing downward to keep the air in it until its right on the return then tilt it to fill with fresh water. Test that. It should have a higher FC level than the rest of the pool.

Keep in mind the device isn't always accurate in measuring the salt level. I always go by my own salt test kit, which itself can have a =/- 400ppm known variation.

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...

You need to have the cell set to 100% or super chlorination to ensure the cell is not idle during its off cycle when you take the sample.
 
sg,

Now that I know the rest of the story it makes more sense.. :)

If that was the original cell installed in 2014, then I agree with you that the cell is most likely bad... The 700 is rated for a 12K pool.. The problem is they rate cells when running at 100% output and 24/7. This is why we always recommend a cell that is at least 2 X the volume of your pool.

If you run the pump for 8 hours and have the cell set for 100% output, it should increase your FC by about 2.5 ppm per day... This is great if your pool uses less than 2.5 ppm per day, but the average usage is 3 to 4 ppm per day.

Your new pool guy does not have a clue how a SWCG works.. You can't "restart" it using chlorine of any kind.. Maybe he is thinking what I was thinking when I said your cell may not be bad... If you have algae, even if you can't see it, it will eat more chlorine than your cell can generate.. So he is adding "shock" to fix the algae problem (so he thinks) and that would allow the cell to generate enough chlorine for your pool.. (Of course this assumes the cell is good..)

Here is what I would do... Just before dark, I would add enough Liquid Chlorine to bring your FC up to 6 or 7 ppm.. I would then run an OCLT or Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.. to ensure nothing is in your water eating your chlorine. Assuming you pass the OCLT, I would tell the new pool guy to install the new cell..

Thanks for the additional info..

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
sg,

Now that I know the rest of the story it makes more sense.. :)

If that was the original cell installed in 2014, then I agree with you that the cell is most likely bad... The 700 is rated for a 12K pool.. The problem is they rate cells when running at 100% output and 24/7. This is why we always recommend a cell that is at least 2 X the volume of your pool.

If you run the pump for 8 hours and have the cell set for 100% output, it should increase your FC by about 2.5 ppm per day... This is great if your pool uses less than 2.5 ppm per day, but the average usage is 3 to 4 ppm per day.

Your new pool guy does not have a clue how a SWCG works.. You can't "restart" it using chlorine of any kind.. Maybe he is thinking what I was thinking when I said your cell may not be bad... If you have algae, even if you can't see it, it will eat more chlorine than your cell can generate.. So he is adding "shock" to fix the algae problem (so he thinks) and that would allow the cell to generate enough chlorine for your pool.. (Of course this assumes the cell is good..)

Here is what I would do... Just before dark, I would add enough Liquid Chlorine to bring your FC up to 6 or 7 ppm.. I would then run an OCLT or Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.. to ensure nothing is in your water eating your chlorine. Assuming you pass the OCLT, I would tell the new pool guy to install the new cell..

Thanks for the additional info..

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim,
Yes my SWG cell has been running at 100% since last week. CYA is 70.
On 2/6 my filter sprung a leak in the upper housing. I did a temporary fix. Cleaned all the grids and added DE and shocked the pool because the cell didn't seem to be working and I have needed to manually add chlorine to keep levels to target.
On 2/7 the brand new pool guy tested my pool for phosphates and insisted he put in a phosphate remover. I didn't think this was necessary, but he convinced my husband maybe he knows more than me.
On 2/9 my repair failed, so we limped along adding chlorine to keep the water sanitized until 2/13
On 2/13 I put the new lid on the filter.
On 2/14 Pump running 24/7, chlorine level was 0%. Increased percentage to 100%, and added liquid chlorine.
On 2/17- I am certain cell not working. Adding chlorine daily.
On 2/16- Decided I am going to add Borates for pH rise, since for the last 5 years this has been an issue. Also figured this may help with SWG if it works at all! I did not tell pool person about borates, he has never heard of them anyway.
On 2/18- Pool person adamant he does not want me to add any chlorine whatsoever. Claims it screws up the SWG COMPUTER!! He added an algaecide to the pool today. I do not know what kind or brand. I hope it wasn't one containing metals!
On 2/20- Chlorine in pool went to "0". I left it like he told me to. It was all I could do to not correct this. It went totally against everything I have learned on this site.
Today 2/26- Pool person added granular shock. Over added MA (he did not measure!) and brought my pH down to 6.4!!! So I added 10oz of Borax to help increase pH, TA is 70 so I wasn't too worried about bringing it up. 1 hour after the pool person added granular chlorine, my Cl was 10.5 at 12:45 this afternoon.
-As of 2:30pm my pH is up to 7.2. TA is still 70. My chlorine is 9. I will keep the infinity edge going all day to aerate and bring pH up to desired 7.7
NOTE: I HAVE ALWAYS HAD BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER, MY CHLORINE LEVELS ARE NORMALLY MAINTAINED ADEQUATELY BY ME! I hope I didn't get off topic here. It doesn't seem likely that the SWG is working, does it. I will do the chlorine occult test and report back. Thank you for the advice!
 
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To answer a previous question - typically 'granular shock' is Dichlor. It adds near equal amounts of chlorine and CYA.
 

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mknauss said:
No.
Click to expand...
Okay, I looked up the different chlorines, it was CalHypo I was thinking about. So here is a question, how much does it lower the pH. I do not know how much Muratic Acid he added today, but he brought my pH from 8.0 down to 6.4. He was able to bring my chlorine level from zero to 10.5 with the "shock". I have a 10,000 gal pool. How much would that have affected my pH. Pool math says he would have needed to add 24 oz. to bring my chlorine up to 10.5 from zero. So I guess my question really is how much pH lowering should be expected from adding 24oz of dichlor?
 
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I should add here, I do not make these "mistakes"! I follow the TFP method to the letter and always use pool math with good results. My husband wants me to give this pool guy a chance, he is my fourth one, but I am really struggling to allow any more "mistakes"!
 
Sharkygirl said:
Okay, I looked up the different chlorines, it was CalHypo I was thinking about. So here is a question, how much does it lower the pH. I do not know how much Muratic Acid he added today, but he brought my pH from 8.0 down to 6.4. He was able to bring my chlorine level from zero to 10.5 with the "shock". I have a 10,000 gal pool. How much would that have affected my pH. Pool math says he would have needed to add 24 oz. to bring my chlorine up to 10.5 from zero. So I guess my question really is how much pH lowering should be expected from adding 24oz of dichlor?
Click to expand...

Let your husband know you only need equipment repairs from a "pool guy". Silly men!
 

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