My set up ... so far

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RonsPlc

RonsPlc

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May 31, 2015
1,051
Gaylesville, AL
Pool Size
14000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
This picture was taken earlier today...

OP3dQtX.jpg


Now for the tricky part... trying to get the quote here right...

Pool Amateur said:
Hi Ron,
Not to hijack the thread but nice set-up, How is the Stenner pump doing, did you install yourself, I am planning an upgrade and torn between SWG and Stenner, and just when I eliminate the liquidator I read something good about that. I read about 1 person getting a Stenner online for $200 bucks, that is darn good price and leaning that way, but SWG still seems the least work. I have been doing adding liquid chlorine manually when home and when I go away I use the chlorinator and then adjust to new CYA or replace water. What are your pro's and cons on 2 speed vs variable speed on pump. If we take this for more than a post or 2 we can start new thread, sorry PoolID for the little hijack.

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Also what is the pvc pipe for that is banded to the pool support at the far right of the picture
Click to expand...

I actually spend a lot of time on E-Bay... and came across the Stenner for $85 "New but the box had been opened" with shipping included, so I couldn't resist! Yes, I did the install myself, it was EASY!
I love the stenner... I don't have to worry about low salt/high salt/low flow warnings that a SWG will give you... it just works!
I get my bleach (12.5%) from a local chemical supply house 55 gallons at a time. I buried the first barrel beside the equipment pad (the black circle you see in the picture between the uprights for the electrical) to try to keep it cooler in the Alabama heat. From there, I just siphon into it to re-fill. I also bought a cheap hand pump for the barrel so I can open one of the bungs, and pump out bleach if the wife needs some for the house, or a neighbour needs some for their pool.

On the electrical station in the picture, you see 2 timers (One on each side of the outlet). The one on the left is for the Stenner... the one on the right is for the pool pump. I have the Stenner set to come on 15 minutes after the pool, and run for 1/2hr. This happens twice per day, once in the AM, and again 12 hrs later in the PM. The pool pump comes on at 6, the Stenner comes on at 6:15 then shuts down at 6:45 The pool pump shuts down at 10. (The pool pump is set to LOW speed). I figured that I would get the flow started... then the Stenner could do it's thing... then 3+ hours of nothing but pool water going through the pipe would be PLENTY to ensure that the chlorine was in the pool, and not sitting in the return pipe. The only time the pool pump goes to high speed is if I am doing a manual vacuuming, or if I need to backwash the filter.

With me running the pump this way, I estimate that the pool pump, and the Stenner are costing me less than $15/mo to operate, so it is a WIN!

The PVC pipe that you see banded to the pool supports my over the wall skimmer... since I added an overlap liner, and run my water as HIGH as it will go, instead of the regular... (52" pool = 48" water)... my pool is actually 51.5" water level. (I am trying to figure out how to make it into a "Dunk Pool" with a 10ft depth... 52" above ground, and the rest under ground). If I didn't Raise the bracket for the skimmer, the floating weir would just float out of it. (The skimmer would sit too low in the water)

I welcome any further questions/suggestions.
 
Nice. Where did you put the injection point?
Which timers did you use for the pump and Stenner? How do you like the timers?

I installed my Stenner a couple of weeks ago. I love it so far. I just need to put a timer on it&pump to finish the automation. I'm debating on going WiFi or not. That holding up my decision.
It's nice that I don't need to bother with or care about the salt levels.
 
Hi Ron thanks for making the thread, I am jealous a Stenner for $85, guess I need to hang out on ebay more. My pool takes between 1 and 2 quarts a day. How do you adjust for the fluctuations based on weather temp and bather load, do you have to adjust as the summer gets hotter then re adjust as it get cooler?
55 gals would last me for a couple seasons how long till looses it potency and any problems adjusting there. How long have you had it up this way? Also how much for 55 gals of chlorine 12.5, if cheap enough who cares if it looses it potency to half.
 
The woods timers make it easy to make adjustments on the fly, and I check my levels about 3 times per week, just to make sure that everything is in line.
The timers also have a count-down timer function... I might use it for a pool party once it's over.... I have it set to 1/2 hour for the Stenner, and 45 minutes for the pump, but I can adjust it accordingly.

As far as the cost... I pay $135 for 55 gallons, plus tax here comes out to $150. The barrel I got last year acted to open my pool this year, and carried me through until I got the new barrel.
But I DID have to cut down on the timer once I introduced the new bleach to the system. The old bleach was still strong enough to bleach out a couple of pairs of jeans... I accidentally spilled some on my wife's jeans the week before I got the new one... it took 30 seconds to see it... oops! :rolleyes:
 

3 things come to mind here—>

First one: Wow. Just...wow. That is amazing. All the thought that went into that whole setup; must’ve taken you a couple summers from beginning to end? When do you take time to eat?

Second: What’s a Stenner? Is that instead of an SWG? Probably like a chlorine administrator? Again, wow. Burrying that barrel was clever. I would enclose that, maybe a box and start THERE with the deck and work your way around. Probably goes against some EPA code but, I’m on the same level.
I had to modify my skimmer just like that last year. Pool was lopsided due to the rotation of the earth or something...it was old and now it’s a slip-n-slide!
And C: Roll Tide.
 
G.K.W.H.inthatorder said:
3 things come to mind here—>

First one: Wow. Just...wow. That is amazing. All the thought that went into that whole setup; must’ve taken you a couple summers from beginning to end? When do you take time to eat?

Second: What’s a Stenner? Is that instead of an SWG? Probably like a chlorine administrator? Again, wow. Burrying that barrel was clever. I would enclose that, maybe a box and start THERE with the deck and work your way around. Probably goes against some EPA code but, I’m on the same level.
I had to modify my skimmer just like that last year. Pool was lopsided due to the rotation of the earth or something...it was old and now it’s a slip-n-slide!
And C: Roll Tide.
Click to expand...

THAT pool went up (Used) in late 2014. I got it for $150 from someone that was tired of dealing with a green pool, and spending a fortune in the pool store for chems. Before that, I had a 18X48 Intex.

Spring of 2015 is when I opened to a green pool, and thought "There HAS to be a better way!", and I found this site.

2016 is when I put the overlap liner in place, and replaced about 1/2 of the "T" posts due to them having been rusted out before I got the pool. Later that year I got the Stenner, and decided to bury the barrel. Everyone at work thought I was nuts when I told them that I was going to do it with a pair of post-hole diggers! It worked out well though, as I got the hole PERFECT the first time. My wife asked me how I intended to lower a 400+ pound barrel of chlorine into the hole without busting it open... my response was to fill the hole with water after digging it, then setting the barrel into the hole, and let it displace the water as it sank... Gently into place!

A Stenner is a peristaltic pump used to inject chemicals. Before I got it, I had been using an aquarium dosing pump to inject my chlorine, (and replacing it yearly... no big loss, I think it cost me $12).

Last year, my pool project was to bury the electrical to the pool pad, (100 feet of wire buried by hand digging 18" down with a matic) and hooking it up to a ground-fault dual trip breaker. THAT was WORK for a 55 year old man with 4 fused vertebrae! Then I replaced the 3 ply poly twine holding my liner in place with paracord.

This year comes the deck! feel free to come and help out!

I have to do all of this by myself, and having a bad back, and limited funds, tends to make for slow progress... But I keep going.

If it wasn't for this site, I wouldn't have ANY funds to keep making upgrades! This site ROCKS!
 

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“My wife asked me how I intended to lower a 400+ pound barrel of chlorine into the hole”
i had wondered the same.
I smell what yer steppin in my friend. I put up ours (and tear down) every year for the last 6 yrs by myself and like the story of the goose who makes bread, everyone wants to eat it but no one wants to help make it. It’s been a long and lonely road with storms taking our pool into the sky like we were in Oz, tilted poolwater due to earth’s rotation and NOT due to the installer’s inexperience. We’ve had green water so often my kids think it’s supposed to look like that. (Big ole sand filter this year).
In the end, the very very very end, the look on their faces and all those pearly-white teeth smiling back at me makes it worth every drop of sweat and every bag of frozen peas I wear.

Your ideas are giving me ideas and even though I’m done with the full install (thank you fernco fix-all coupling) I am still “working” on a solar power project to run the lights and pump and the rest.

I just arrived here at TFP and I am never leaving. Ooh Rah! I love the smell of chlorine in the morning!

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RonsPlc said:
My wife Likes the Roll Tide!

I am originally from Canada... she didn't like it there! LOL
Click to expand...

She had to “take off ey?”
 
RonsPlc said:
That would be fine... if my wifi reached the pool from the house, and if you are controlling it from an app on your phone, what if you aren't home at the scheduled time... will it still turn on?

Let me know the results.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can be out of the country and it will turn on. However you cant adjust any settings or override on or off if you aren't on the same wifi as the plug.
 
Hi Ron. I'm considering a budget Chlorine injection system and eyeing up what you've done (both this and the simple aquarium pump). I'm balking at the price of the stenner pump and assuming you've only upgraded to the stenner pump bacause of the good price you got it for? I may still start with the aquarium pump to get something going. What's your setup these days and any advice/recommendations now that it's been a few years?

Thanks,
-Garry
 
garrybunk said:
Hi Ron. I'm considering a budget Chlorine injection system and eyeing up what you've done (both this and the simple aquarium pump). I'm balking at the price of the stenner pump and assuming you've only upgraded to the stenner pump bacause of the good price you got it for? I may still start with the aquarium pump to get something going. What's your setup these days and any advice/recommendations now that it's been a few years?

Thanks,
-Garry
Click to expand...

The aquarium pump needed to be changed out every year due to it rusting out internally.
I had been searching for a Stenner for a year or so at a good price, so when I saw one come up cheap, and new, I jumped at it.
If my Stenner went down today, I would be buying one tomorrow to replace it. both it, and the original Woods timers are operating perfectly.
I had to change out the pool 3 years ago due to the uprights rusting out on me. It is now a 24' XTR frame pool, and is going strong so far.
 
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