Looking at buying SWG. Does a 24/hr pump run time have any negative impact on cell life?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
F

Frayed

0
Aug 2, 2013
22
Eastern WA
I've been really thinking about pulling the trigger on a SWG system for my pool this season. Several SWG systems I've looked at have had notes about recommending only running the pump 10 hours/day or less to maximize the cell life. My pump is hardwired into a breaker panel with no control mechanism or timer, so I just let it run 24/7 unless I'm cleaning the filter cartridges or something. Does a great job keeping the surface skimmed too which is nice. Power here is cheap cheap cheap so I don't even notice it on the electric bill.

I was planning to run the salt system on a 120V outlet and depending on the system either set it to only run for certain amount of time, or even just put an inline timer between the system and the outlet to limit the actual runtime of the SWG. Will the moving water in the pipe over the cells even if they're off actually cause meaningful degradation of them?
 
I have a similar sized 28K pool and also run mine 24/7. I bought the Circupool Edge40 and like it a lot so far, I like the Edge because it runs at a lower power all day vs cycling on and off like most.
Right now I am running mine around 25% power and am hoping it last a very long time. My understanding is it doesn't matter if you run it 1 day at 100% or 4 at 25% but curious what others think.
But you will enjoy how much easier pool life becomes, I am out of town for 10 days and not having to hope my kids are watching the chemicals
 
I imagine, the manufacturers' statements not to run the SWG longer than 10h per day refer to running it at 100%. If you needed to run it on 100% for 24/7 to cover your chlorine needs, then you clearly needed a bigger cell. I think you should be fine running it 24/7 on a lower setting.
 
F,

Running the swg with power off is no problem. That's the way most of the installations run. There are also others that run 24/7 at low speed using VS pump. All you have to be careful about is that you always have the minimum flow required when power is on the cell and no chance it can get powered accidentally when the pump is switched off. For that reason we recommend you power it from the same switch the pump is powered by.

Our recommendation that you size the swg for 2x the pool size gives you greater flexibility to run any pool schedule you want to and still make enough chlorine to sanitize your pool. Naturally when you run it less than 100% you also get longer life. But as Jim pointed out total hours of run time are about the same.

After 5 years of liquid chlorine I changed about a year ago to salt. It's one of the best moves I've ever made on the pool. So much easier and now almost runs by itself except a little MA every week and CYA plus salt a couple times per year. Look around and check current prices plus warranty. Warranty is really important for salt systems because all manufacturers to have a small number of cell failures in the first couple of years. If you have this it's big $$$ to fix. I bought based on $/lb chlorine, warranty, and reputation here. All the major brands plus several 3rd party systems seem to work well. You can find a lot of current comparison data here. But do the calculations with current pricing. Prices and sales change frequently. Circupool and a couple of other 3rd parties seem to have good reputations here. Big advantage of 3rd party is warranty for DIY. If you're having it installed professionally this is not much of a factor.

I hope this helps.

Chris
 
  • Like
Reactions: peirek and markayash
Frayed said:
I've been really thinking about pulling the trigger on a SWG system for my pool this season. Several SWG systems I've looked at have had notes about recommending only running the pump 10 hours/day or less to maximize the cell life. My pump is hardwired into a breaker panel with no control mechanism or timer, so I just let it run 24/7 unless I'm cleaning the filter cartridges or something. Does a great job keeping the surface skimmed too which is nice. Power here is cheap cheap cheap so I don't even notice it on the electric bill.

I was planning to run the salt system on a 120V outlet and depending on the system either set it to only run for certain amount of time, or even just put an inline timer between the system and the outlet to limit the actual runtime of the SWG. Will the moving water in the pipe over the cells even if they're off actually cause meaningful degradation of them?
Click to expand...
 
I would buy a SWG that you can control the output percentage in fine increments. There are some models that allow adjustment at 20% or more increments. With running the pump 24/7 and depending on the size of cell you get you will need to go lower than 20% during the cooler months.

The amount of time that the SWG is making chlorine is by far the highest wear factor. Running water over the plates 24/7 will not degrade the lifespan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mgtfp, setsailsoon and Jimrahbe

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
mgtfp said:
Good point 👍
Click to expand...

YOU may know this but worth repeating..Avoid Cloros Salt , Walmart usually has Morton and HD has a few including water softener salt
Get the Taylor 1766 and start slow, if you go over it requires a drain and refill..I have mine at 3200 but ran at 2800 for a few months so not super picky, between 3000-4000 is good
It also seems to take salt a day or 2 to settle so once you get close to 2500 add slowly..Some make the kids jump in and splash it around :)

LIke Dt said it makes poll maint boring ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mgtfp
Just bought some at HD today. The yellow bag of Diamond Bright Soft pellets. Extremely pure and less than $5 per bag. Even though it's pellets and not granules it dissolves in 30 min. Circulate a day though; it takes a while since the salty water stays on the bottom initially.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply