Need help picking out new pool pump, filter and Salt chlorine ator

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Randomguy81

Active member
Jan 1, 2020
39
Jensen beach Florida
So we just bought a house with a pool and I’m figuring I may as well replace the equipment because it looks poorly installed and pretty old - plus it was in my budget and if I don’t spend it my wife will...

it’s a rectangular pool 28 x 14 and I’m guessing average depth is going to be between 5-6ft just going off internet averages (you can’t see the bottom and we bought it right before the holidays and promptly left to visit family). So I figure 18000 gallons give or take.

I’ve looked at pentair and was leaning that way until I came across Circupool and then this forum which seems to point to them being a decent brand. I had a chat with discountpools and they recommended the following based on my pool size

smartflo 1.5hp pump
Rj 30 salt system
Cj150 filter

would love to know if this is a good start for me or should I be going up a spec on the pump and /or salt system.

As I delve into the world of pool ownership, salt systems and pumps, it seems the recommendation is to size up.
Am I sized up enough at their recommendations?

thank you for any guidance here as I start this journey of pumps filters and chemicals
 
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I would think before you start guessing that you figure out exactly what the depth of the pool is at both ends. You may have less gallons in there than you think, if the end is at 4 feet.
 
Randomguy81 said:
Even with less gallons I still figure that the pump and chlorinator I am looking at would work being oversized.

I am however hoping I can get a measurement today for depth as I have someone swinging by later
Click to expand...

You want to go typically 2x your pool volume for the SWCG.
 
Randomguy81 said:
s I delve into the world of pool ownership, salt systems and pumps, it seems the recommendation is to size up.
Am I sized up enough at their recommendations?
Click to expand...

81,

I believe that you are not even close to "up-sizing"... :mrgreen:

Going with your assumption that the pool is 18K, then you need a SWCG that is at least 2 x the pool volume... so you will need a 40K or larger SWCG. This is because cells are rated when running at 100% and 24/7... Buying a bigger cell lets you run the pump less or reduce the output percentage.. Discountpools has sales all the time where you buy one model and they will upgrade you to the next higher unit for a buck...

Your pump will work, but again it is bare bones... There is no such thing as too large of a VS pump. They really should be called variable horsepower pumps, as that is what they really are. You just adjust the speed to match the situation. The larger the pump, the more water they will move at a lower RPM. Since your choice is buying a new pump, or your wife buying new cloths, I would move up to the 3 HP pump. :) That said, this is just nice to have and if you do not have any water features, it is not necessary for the pool to run well.

You are in Florida, the land of the dinky filters... Unless you have a screen room, I consider your filter way too small.. Will it work, yes, but you will have to clean it way more often than you would if you had a larger filter. I have a 520 Sq. Ft. cartridge filter on my 17K pool.. You can not have too big of a filter,,

I am a highly biased Pentair kind of guy.. I almost always recommend Pentair products.. But... unless you are going to have a Pentair automation system, I never recommend using a Pentair SWCG... In a manual system I would use either CircuPool system or a Hayward T-15 system.. I have no experience with pumps or filters from Discountpools, and have not read any negative or positive reviews of their equipment here at TFP...

If this were my pool, I would probably buy a Pentair pump, the "gold standard" when it comes to VS pumps, and a large Pentair Cartridge filter.. The downside to this is that the three main players (Hayward, Jandy and Pentair) do not offer much of a warranty, if not installed by a "Pool Professional"..

Thanks and good luck with your equipment upgrade.

Jim R.
 
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Thank you Jim for all that info - going to look at larger pumps / salt chlorinators and will take another look at pentair (the warranty with self install is what had turned me off)

So thats going to be the inteliflo with regards to pentair

We do have the pool screened in so with that knowledge I take it I am going to be ok with that size fillter? The screen is being completely replaced so there will be no holes etc.
 
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Rand,

Welcome to TFP and congrats on the new pool! Here are my thoughts on your plans:
  • I think your choices are great as far as the brand goes.
  • All 3 major manufacturers have good equipment and I think you'll find more of our experts like Pentair a little better.
  • If you're going to DIY warranty is a bigger consideration. All reduce it and Jandy eliminates it for the equipment you're talking about.
  • If automation is in your future there are some advantages to using the same brand in terms of the ease and level of control.
  • For the salt system I think warranty and price/$ are very important since it seems sometimes the salt cell can fail early (I think a LOT of this has to do with how well you maintain the chemistry balance). I did a very extensive look at swg and found Circupool to be the best choice for me in terms of $/lb Cl production, warranty, reputation here. So I made the same choice you have. But there are a LOT of people here that get great results from Pentair's Intellichlor. The only control issue I have with Circupool is that I can't change % power remotely but once it's dialed in you can make adjustments with run-time using any of the automation systems available. Once dialed in I really only had to change run-time once per month anyway.
  • TFP recommends 2X your pool size and it seems to work very well. There are a LOT of examples of 3-5 year cell life using this recommendation
  • Over size your cartridge a LOT. This will have longer times between cleaning the filter and lower operating cost due to reduced pressure drop
Do keep us posted and please ask any questions that come up. One of the best things about TFP is we sell nothing so all you get is superb advice from experts and experienced pool owners that just want to help. We're never conflicted and there aren't many places that offer advice that can say this.

Chris
 
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Thank you Chris will do that when I get home in the next couple of days and can investigate my pool a bit more :)

If the pool is screened do I need to worry about the filter size too much?

Good info about the circupool, I hadn't seen too many reviews about it until i came across this forum and peple seem to have had positive experiences and the warranty is a huge bonus to me.

I really appreciate everyones responses and information
 
Rand,

You're most welcome. I have a fully enclosed pool in Florida very close to you and the enclosure definitely helps but going large is still a good idea. I have a 200 sq ft filter for my pool and I find it needs to be cleaned about 2 times per year. Sizing a filter is kind of half art for pools since there are a lot of sizing variables that people just don't have good information about to size them using strict scientific calculations so the sizing guides are mostly flow rate and pressure drop based with built-in assumptions about particle loading. Information such as particle size distribution and maximum loading are very dependent on location. If you're in a dusty area your filter size would need to be much larger than the same sized pool for a low dust area. Since larger doesn't hurt it's always good to go large. Cleaning the filter isn't a huge job but it is a little messy... takes me about 20 min with a hose and filter cleaning comb attachment. Even so, every time I do it I'm glad I don't have to do it a lot.

I hope this helps.

Chris
 
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It does help - thank you

I will just go up whilst I have the budget - plus now I dont have to live with the god awful vanity my wife wanted for the bathroom as I'm spending that part of the budget :D

3hp Pump, 45k Chlorinator and for the filter I am leaning towards the 150 coupled with circupools pre-filter that seems to work like an 'oil / water separator' which I would think works very well for sediment which is going to be the biggest contanimant of my screened pool?
 
Looks like everyone is getting you set up with the equipment! THANKS ALL :hug:

@carnivalday has a the right idea in needing to dial in your pool size. Once you get the measurements then you can plug it in to Pool Math (the link will be in the set of links I am going to post below) to get close to the proper gallons.

Another VERY important you will need to properly care for your pool is a good test kit. Yeah I know the pool store will test for free BUT most of the time they get it wrong and the stuff they sell to "fix" any problems they might think needs fixing is VERY expensive. One of the links I am going to share will show you the grocery store stuff we use! Neat huh? Here is a link to the different test kits:
www.troublefreepool.com

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com


Pool care links:
Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
Trouble Free Pool
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Kim:kim:
 
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Ok I have some measurements from a friend and used the pool math link - thankyou @kimkats

My pool is 14,600 Gallons

So armed with this information it looks like a

1.5hp pump
30k chlorinator

Would those be ok? Am I misunderstanding here? The chlorinator at 30k would be twice the capacity required so thats good and the pump capacity is 25000 gallons max which is plenty over my amount

Or should I at the least up that pump
 
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SWEET! Getting closer to getting everything set up. That is a very important piece of the puzzle.

So how does the water look right now? Are you living in the house yet? Does the equipment you have now work?
 
The pool is a dark green - can't see the bottom. It does hold water though along with a bunch of tadpoles. The house was sadly a foreclosure so we have no history on the equipment or when it was last ran.

The equipment I am just tearing out and replacing - I budgeted for that at the beginning so I wouldn't have to worry about it all later.

I haven't attempted to run it for a few reasons - tadpoles, no ideas what else is in the pool, I had to replace the main electrical panel first (I did this on thanksgiving) but still have to replace the sub panel for the pump and chlorinator and the main reason is we just havn't been there.

I am planning to empty the pool to clean and check to see if it needs resurfacing and thats when I figured I would install all the new equipment ready for it.

I was hoping to order my equipment whilst they were on sale
 
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Randomguy81 said:
I am planning to empty the pool to clean and check to see if it needs resurfacing and thats when I figured I would install all the new equipment ready for it.
Click to expand...

Be very careful emptying a pool if you have a shallow water table. You can float the pool shell out of the ground.
 
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