Is this a dumb idea with Variable Speed pump?

[cowboycasey]

Both of those will work great.. The filter will love that pressure and work better.. Does it say how much power it is using at 1350? My guess is about 100 watt light bulb..

It says Pentair but that is my exact display for my V Green VS pump... and mine works exactly the same... too funny.. I have the digital hookup so I can set different RPM's than those...

At 1100 is it skimming good or is it better at 1350?

Also, you do not have to run it 24/7, you can skip the 2 pm to 7 pm time and save even more money and those 5 hours will be fine without skimming

 

[JJ_Tex]

Rather than looking at your pressure gauge and flow meter, look at your skimmer weir doors. If 1100 or 1350 are enough RPMs to keep the weir door open and your skimmer skimming, then that is what you want.

 

[mknauss]

Also, you can change the set speeds. Look at your manual for the pump.

Monitor your FC levels daily. Your erosion Trichlor feeder changes how much it adds to the pool at different flow rates to it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

At max RPM the PSI on the sand filter is normally 15. If I shift the speeds down then it too drops. Some lower speeds don’t even register.

Casey,

Filter pressure is really backward from what most people think.. The filter pressure gauge shows the amount of effort it takes to force water through the filter.. So higher is not better.

I have a large cartridge filter and my normal pressure is about 1 or 2 lbs.. I can see that because I have a 30 lb. gauge. I still have plenty of flow back to the pool, it is just that the pump can easily push the water through the filter at a low RPM.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[IUsedToSail]

I would hold off on buying a SWG until this winter when supply will hopefully catch up with demand, the prices are through the ceiling. I bought the CORE55 in January from DiscountSaltPool and the same item is now ~40% more expensive.

I'm running my pump for 18 hours day at varying speeds - 16 hours @ 1650rpm (150 watts), two cycles of 1 hour each @ 2200rpm (350 watts) to pull out the "bubble" and help skim the surface. ~50 cents a day.

The CORE55 SWG is set at 75% and holds my FC around 4.5. The pool feels ALOT different with the salt water and that "sticky feeling" post swim is gone. I'm really glad I converted.

 

[Newdude]

Closest is 1350 or 1100.

Either works to start. I’d try the cheaper 1100 because why not ?

And when I bump it down to 1350 the PSI gauge drops from 15 to practically 0

So does your electric meter !!!! Totally fine for both.

 

[caseyrichards]

Thank you all for this incredible knowledge!

 

[red-beard]

I run my pump 24/7. I have a SWG and it needs a certain flow to keep the SWG happy, which is about 1200 RPM. Before I had the SWG, I ran the pump at 950, which was about 35 Watts. Yes 35. 1200 RPM is 75 Watts right now.

Twice a day, I run the speed up to 2400 RPM which is fast enough to make the skimmers work. So 4 hours per day at 2400 RPM (500 Watts) and 20 hours a day at about. My total usage is 3.28 kWh per day. I pay about 8 cents per kWh, so roughly about 25 cents per day. My old setup was a 1 hp pump (1776 Watts) and it ran 16 hours per day. That used 25 kWh per day or about $2/day.

If you add in my pool cleaner pump (1488 Watts) vs. my pool cleaner robot (200 Watts), I went from $915 per year to about $110. Even adding in my SWG, I use about $130/year. Your electricity price will change above.

Again, I set the pump to kick up for 2 hours or so before my regular swim times (morning and evening). This way, most of the floating debris is in the skimmers, not the pool.

On the pressure, as said above, low pressure is a good thing. The filters work better at low speeds than high speeds. Sanitation is chemicals, not filter. You pool size and pump size are very similar to mine.

 

[jtpipkin]

Feel free to kick this to another part of the forum, but this thread made me curious. Why don't they make chlorine tabs without the added CYA, or do they? Seems like they would be a viable solution for a lot of people...

 

[mknauss]

Feel free to kick this to another part of the forum, but this thread made me curious. Why don't they make chlorine tabs without the added CYA, or do they? Seems like they would be a viable solution for a lot of people...

Chlorine is a gas. It must be trapped by some material for a residential pool owner to use it. The most stable and economically viable are cyanuric acid - trichlor, Calcium - cal hypo, or water - sodium hypochlorite (aka bleach). There are cal-hypo tablets. You need a special feeder for them. They will add calcium to your water. It is the same as CYA, it does not go away without draining the pool water.

That is why a SaltWater chlorine generator is so easy and appropriate for a residential pool owner. You create your chlorine on site. Only thing you use is electricity. The device that creates the chlorine will last years if properly sized and water chemistry is properly maintained.

 

[jtpipkin]

Chlorine is a gas. It must be trapped by some material for a residential pool owner to use it. The most stable and economically viable are cyanuric acid - trichlor, Calcium - cal hypo, or water - sodium hypochlorite (aka bleach). There are cal-hypo tablets. You need a special feeder for them. They will add calcium to your water. It is the same as CYA, it does not go away without draining the pool water.

That is why a SaltWater chlorine generator is so easy and appropriate for a residential pool owner. You create your chlorine on site. Only thing you use is electricity. The device that creates the chlorine will last years if properly sized and water chemistry is properly maintained.

Interesting, thank you for the explanation

 

[caseyrichards]

Glad this peaked some interest. Just remembered some follow ups:

1. So when would I ever run the pump above these speeds and up to the max? I don’t use a skimmer vacuum since my robot already does an awesome job.
2. Until I switch to liquid chlorine or get a SWG, in addition to the pucks in the feeder, I also have a big old bucket of Leslie’s Powder Plus 76 shock. Am I supposed to be using this too with my feeder or just monitor the levels the feeder is providing?

 

[JJ_Tex]

1. So when would I ever run the pump above these speeds and up to the max? I don’t use a skimmer vacuum since my robot already does an awesome job.

The only time I run mine even close to the max is when I want to run the water features, which is rare.

2. Until I switch to liquid chlorine or get a SWG, in addition to the pucks in the feeder, I also have a big old bucket of Leslie’s Powder Plus 76 shock. Am I supposed to be using this too with my feeder or just monitor the levels the feeder is providing?

Pick your poison. I assume the Powder Plus is cal-hypo, which contains calcium. If your calcium is on the lower side, you can probably get by with using what you have, but the calcium will eventually build up and cause white scale along the pool which is no fun.

 

[cowboycasey]

You "may" want to raise the RPM during a swim or in case a bunch of junk gets in the pool.. special occasions but not on a regular basis..

 

[reggiehammond]

Glad this peaked some interest. Just remembered some follow ups:

1. So when would I ever run the pump above these speeds and up to the max? I don’t use a skimmer vacuum since my robot already does an awesome job.
2. Until I switch to liquid chlorine or get a SWG, in addition to the pucks in the feeder, I also have a big old bucket of Leslie’s Powder Plus 76 shock. Am I supposed to be using this too with my feeder or just monitor the levels the feeder is providing?

1. Max? Never really. I’ll up my speed to skim more the 1-2 times the flying ants get bad. Otherwise, it runs 1100rpm day and night.
2. You need a test kit. You need to start learning as much about pool chemistry as you just did about pool pumps. Read up on pool school and the ABC’s of water chemistry.

 

[caseyrichards]

1. Max? Never really. I’ll up my speed to skim more the 1-2 times the flying ants get bad. Otherwise, it runs 1100rpm day and night.
2. You need a test kit. You need to start learning as much about pool chemistry as you just did about pool pumps. Read up on pool school and the ABC’s of water chemistry.

Thanks I have a test kit plus a WaterGuru Sense to do the daily testing of the levels automatically. It recommends what to adjust which I find to be pretty accurate so I’ve been following its advice. I was just told by the pool store that on top of having the chlorine feeder and balancing the water chemistry it’s still a good rule of thumb to add that Cal Hypo granular once a week to shock my pool. Is that true or they just pushing product? Either way I bought a big old bucket that’s just sitting!

 

[cowboycasey]

The waterguru starts out close then within a couple months will be way off... it is a toy, I would not add anything to your pool following it, use your test kit always..

Yes, the pool store was pushing product to sell and they were getting you ready for when you have to much CYA and your pool started turning green.. that starts a habit of fixing there to much CYA right from the start.... nice of them huh

 

[Newdude]

it’s still a good rule of thumb to add that Cal Hypo granular once a week to shock my pool. Is that true or they just pushing product?

For the average pool owner it’s true.

But hear me out.

The average pool owner has no clue what’s going on in their pool. They either have a service that comes once a week (WAY too little)
or they go to the pool store every few weeks for verification. For *them* it is the industry’s belief that they should juice their FC so high that maybe (just maybe) there will still be some FC left next week for the next dose.

What the pool store gets wrong (ok ok ok ok, *one* of the myriad things they get wrong) is that they shock the pool with either CYA or Calcium based shock. (The only two choices). So every week the average pool increases either value. Both of those can only come out any significant amount by draining. Whether said pool store employee just doesn’t know this, or does know but is looking to fleece the customer with more chems, full drains, and rebalancing chems, is a case by case basis across the land. Either way it’s awful for the *average* pool owner so we hardcore recommend not following their *professional* advice.

 

[reggiehammond]

Thanks I have a test kit plus a WaterGuru Sense to do the daily testing of the levels automatically. It recommends what to adjust which I find to be pretty accurate so I’ve been following its advice. I was just told by the pool store that on top of having the chlorine feeder and balancing the water chemistry it’s still a good rule of thumb to add that Cal Hypo granular once a week to shock my pool. Is that true or they just pushing product? Either way I bought a big old bucket that’s just sitting!

Ok great - just to confirm it's either the Taylor K2006C or tftestkits.com TF100?

As the others have pointed out, once your pool is properly sanitized (and a SWCG is very helpful) then why would you need more sanitizer? You don't.

 

[Plettschner]

Stop using the chlorine tab feeder. Don't use the granulated chlorine unless you need to add calcium as well. If you want a TFP, follow the methods.