My Salt Generator Is Not Making Chlorine.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
chiefwej said:
This is incorrect. There doesn't need to be any chlorine in a pool for the SWG to produce chlorine. It works by releasing chlorine from the salt that is in the pool. But, it releases it slowly. The chlorine it produces may not show up in your test, if it is not enough to overcome the rate at which chlorine is being consumed. The reason we recommend starting out on bleach is that allows you to quickly bring the pool up to the required chlorine level. Once the pool is properly balanced and initial chlorine demand has been met, the SWG is turned on and hopefully can maintain the proper chlorine levels.
Click to expand...
So is a SWG a waste of time? I can keep a saltwater pool without a SWG. Should I do that instead?
 
Tell ur pool "specialist " to take a long walk on a short peer n get ya a test kit.... I had this happen when I first bought my house with my first pool... the POOL GUY said my salt system wasn't working so I took off the salt generator n had it tested it was in need of a cleaning but they said after that it was producing just fine.. so then a few weeks go by n they were telling me it's not producing chlorine like it should that's why my pool isn't looking to good...Even tho the levels on the read out were reading Great, they said it was total garbage get a new one..????... so not knowing the age of the system And a Super Sweet deal my local pool store was running I bought and replaced the Whole system(only hundred bucks or so more than a new cell, crazy sweeet deal) It wasn't hard considering it was a unhook.. rehook up deal... months went by n I fired them cause they didn't do what they said they were doing ( thank u gate code memory, when someone enters my property they use a gate code n I can find out when they come n go lollololol most gatE do that so watch ur back..shady ones) Anyways it's been great for over a year. Than my son buys a house with a pool... so I hook up my complete old system (that "didn't work") to his pool. I figured Ok if I have to replace the cell only at least he has the rest ready to go... that was 1.5 yrs ago it's still working great for him... ya remember it was total garbage ... I guess it just didn't work in My zip code or somethin... keep this in mind not all pool specialist are trying to rip u off. I have a guy know that doesn't take care of my pool but has redone my whole pool n the deck n added a Awesome deck for a spa that has helped me Way over n beyond. He's a great guy that I can trust completely. I try not to bug him but it's hard when ur newer to these things..hope that helps its only my/a single persons experience nothing more
 
smallsmx3 said:
So is a SWG a waste of time? I can keep a saltwater pool without a SWG. Should I do that instead?
Click to expand...

Wait...what?

A SWCG is a device that makes chlorine from the salt that you put in the water. The salt doesn't do anything else except taste salty. If you get rid of the SWCG, you would need to add chlorine manually every day. The whole point of a SWCG pool is to get rid of that every day chlorine addition. Its not magic, it (simplified) breaks the salt, sodium chloride, into sodium and chlorine and after the chlorine does its sanitizing, recombines with the sodium to become salt again, giving you an almost unlimited source of chlorine.

Why would you want to get rid of that?
 
smallsmx3 said:
So is a SWG a waste of time? I can keep a saltwater pool without a SWG. Should I do that instead?
Click to expand...
If I didn't have a SWG, I don't know that I would want to own a pool. When every thing is balanced and working right, it is the easiest and one of the cheapest ways there is maintain a pool. To increase or decrease chlorine, I just turn a dial. No buying bleach, no hauling and adding it. The only "pool chemical" I ever have to add is a bit of muriatic acid once a week or so, to lower pH.

Sure, you could have a saltwater pool and chlorinate with only bleach, many do just that, but it's much easier to use a SWG. You can use a bit of bleach, as needed to supplement (if needed), but all your day-to-day needs are taken care of by the SWG.
 
Even with the appropriate CYA values, you'll need to add chlorine every day. However, you'll only need to add MA about once per week to control the rise in pH due the carbonation effect of an SWG. I totally agree with chiefwej, I would not own a pool without an SWG.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
smallsmx3 said:
It was a question. Not a joke. The answer is yes. I'm adding acid instead of chlorine. What's the difference.
Click to expand...
A bit of acid every week or two vs bleach every single day is the difference. I can leave on a vacation for a week or even two and my pool looks just fine when I get back. If you get your TA right, most pools can be balanced to reduce or even eliminate the acid demand. But if you prefer dosing with bleach every day that works.

Time to discontinue this discussion, as it does nothing to address the OP's issues. Instead of treadjacking, start your own thread if anyone wishes to continue on this topic.
 
Steve71, we're focused on you in this thread and will ignore any further discussion of how a SWG works, unless you ask. To those that are hijacking Steve71's thread to discuss how a SWG works, or how to use bleach and saltwater, please start your own thread.

I've done a bit of reading on the specialized products you're using, and you're likely to save a fair bit of money once you get switched over to TFPC.

To buy a K-2006 in Canada, you can call Lowry and order: Complete & Service Complete Kits with FAS-DPD - Lowry and Associates Canada

Their website is a brochure style with no up-to-date ordering methods, so I think a call might be the handiest. Last year, you could use this form, and maybe that's still working.

Let us know how it goes because it's been challenging helping Canadian members with test kit stuff.
 

Attachments

  • LowryCanadaResidentialOrderForm2016.pdf
    184.2 KB · Views: 2
My apologies as well Steve. I started out trying to help direct you to a proper test kit then became curious of the saltwater. I didn't mean to highjack the thread and I apologise.

Good luck, the experts here will most definitely get you squared away!
 
To add to that: the Taylor test kit is way too expensive up here.

you can have the tf100 shipped to a mailbox company in a border town in USA and pick it up. It is made in the USA so is NAFTA exempt from all duties and tariffs. If you have a friend going to the US soon, it won't even count against their exemption. You will have to pay GST on it though.

It's summer, so I'm sure you know someone going across the border for a weekend?
 
LFrankow said:
The amount will depend on the strength of your "liquid Chlorine". We prefer to use plain old bleach unscented, plain not the splashless kind.
On the bottle there should be two numbers, concentration 5-12%, normally 8.25% and date it was bottled, avoid stuff that is over 90 days in the bottle as it does decay.
Your pool holds roughly 10,400 gal, recommended FC level of 4 for a pool with cya of 60. Using the calculator heading for a FC of 5 I came up with an addition of 77 ounces of 8.25% bleach. Add it in and brush what you can.

While you are waiting for or just finding a Taylor kit, you could use the simple 7$ OTO kit walmart and Canadian Tire sell. Not that accurate but it does indicate the presence of chlorine.
Click to expand...

As far as what to do in the meantime, this is a good suggestion, and coming from another Canadian which should be helpful as well. You need chlorine in the pool to hold the algae at bay until you can kill it, and an OTO test will help you keep some chlorine in the water, and you should get a sense if it's getting too high.
 
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