PSA : Rain and SWG

[Newdude]

Folks I've stumbled upon something that I now believe is more common.

Twice this week, and 5 times this season (maybe more), a deluge of rain hit during my SWGs 12 hour self check and it tripped the low salt alarm. Had I not caught it, I would have lost 12 hours of production until the next self check.

I've been paying closer attention this year as my first full season with the new pool and that's the only reason I've noticed. Last year I set the SWG to 60% in June and the FC was great whenever I checked so I didn't pay much more attention than that. It could have happened just as often but a few days or a week later the FC had built back up and went undetected.

I did not know this could be a thing, especially for those of us running 24/7.

While not an everyday thing, alls it takes is a heavy rain at the wrong moment. Given enough chances, it can hit a few times a season.

And it's a perfect example why I run hot.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Folks I've stumbled upon something that I now believe is more common.

Twice this week, and 5 times this season (maybe more), a deluge of rain hit during my SWGs 12 hour self check and it tripped the low salt alarm. Had I not caught it, I would have lost 12 hours of production until the next self check.

I've been paying closer attention this year as my first full season with the new pool and that's the only reason I've noticed. Last year I set the SWG to 60% in June and the FC was great whenever I checked so I didn't pay much more attention than that. It could have happened just as often but a few days or a week later the FC had built back up and went undetected.

I did not know this could be a thing, especially for those of us running 24/7.

While not an everyday thing, alls it takes is a heavy rain at the wrong moment. Given enough chances, it can hit a few times a season. And it's a perfect example why I run hot.

I have to say that the whole salt thing is interesting to me. I put enough salt to get 3000 PPM at the beginning of the season and since I didn't have to turn on the SWG I never checked it until last week when I used the last of the LC that I bought back in May. I was totally surprised to see that my 3000 PPM went down to 1400 PPM and I can only attribute it to the rain after TFPers posted on my thread. I went out and put another about 180 lbs of salt in the pool and was waiting for 48 hours to check. We got more rain and when I checked the salt it was 1800 PPM - again way too low. I had kept the pool water a little higher but after the last reading I took about 2 inches of water out of my pool. I bought more salt but with more rain - I'm waiting!!! It has cost me more in salt than chlorine at this point!

 

[markayash]

I have to say that the whole salt thing is interesting to me. I put enough salt to get 3000 PPM at the beginning of the season and since I didn't have to turn on the SWG I never checked it until last week when I used the last of the LC that I bought back in May. I was totally surprised to see that my 3000 PPM went down to 1400 PPM and I can only attribute it to the rain after TFPers posted on my thread. I went out and put another about 180 lbs of salt in the pool and was waiting for 48 hours to check. We got more rain and when I checked the salt it was 1800 PPM - again way too low. I had kept the pool water a little higher but after the last reading I took about 2 inches of water out of my pool. I bought more salt but with more rain - I'm waiting!!! It has cost me more in salt than chlorine at this point!

Mine does that also, never really understood why because my pool doesn’t have an overflow drain.

 

[Newdude]

It has cost me more in salt than chlorine at this poin

Ha !!!! Just bought some tonight to have on hand. ($7.84 at WM). 5 bags of salt is equal to 7 gallons of bleach.

I can only attribute it to the rain after TFPers posted on my thread

Rain or reagents. And you got 2 ft of rain give or take since Jan 1. Map below in inches

I went out and put another about 180 lbs of salt in the pool and was waiting for 48 hours to check.

Give it more time if it's not registering yet. You added 1600ppm. If that doesn't register, it's your bottle tip or the reagents screwing it up.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Mine does that also, never really understood why because my pool doesn’t have an overflow drain.

I believe for me the pool filled up about 2 inches which diluted the salt in the water and was oozing it out more than I anticipated. I left the water at the higher level, more rain more dilution more oozing and less salt. I didn't lower the water when I added the last batch of salt more rain more dilution and again less salt. I learned my lesson going forward, I probably could have had my chlorine bill to about $50 for the season if I didn't pay for the salt let alone a SWG that I haven't used yet!

 

[markayash]

I believe for me the pool filled up about 2 inches which diluted the salt in the water and was oozing it out more than I anticipated. I left the water at the higher level, more rain more dilution more oozing and less salt. I didn't lower the water when I added the last batch of salt more rain more dilution and again less salt. I learned my lesson going forward, I probably could have had my chlorine bill to about $50 for the season if I didn't pay for the salt let alone a SWG that I haven't used yet!

Not sure why you’re having that big of an issue. Mine never stopped making chlorine.
That’s one reason I try and keep mine around 3500 so I have a buffer.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Ha !!!! Just bought some tonight to have on hand. ($7.84 at WM). 5 bags of salt is equal to 7 gallons of bleach.

Rain or reagents. And you got 2 ft of rain give or take since Jan 1. Map below in inches



View attachment 515944




Give it more time if it's not registering yet. You added 1600ppm. If that doesn't register, it's your bottle tip or the reagents screwing it up.

Thanks for this! NJ DEP says our zone is somewhat hurting for water - It's all in my pool! I let it mix for a few days it should have registered. My reagents are in date - sometime in 2024 for 1 of them and 8/2023 for the other. My experience with other reagents is they don't go bad quickly; I bought the reagents last July for the new pool and for this year from TFTestkits so hopefully they are fine. I had a 40lb bad, added it and the next day the pool had 1600 PPM so it was registering something (Pool Math said it should have added 354 PPM - measurement was close enough!). I then added 140 lbs of salt and it rained, did I say it rained, not to mentioned it rained and by the time I tested it it read 1800, if I have a chance tomorrow I'll test again.

My WM only carries Morton or Clorox salts and after reading the horror stories I decided to get Diamond Crystal Solar salt at Lowes but it's like $9.50 a bag. I saw my local Ace might have had it for $7.99 but I went in there once and they told me the on-line in store indicator isn't exactly working but they could order it for me ... it wasn't worth it to save $8. I think I'll try tractor Supply to see what they have.

Like I've said once before I'm not feeling it with this SWG thing. I have it, want it to work and am looking forward to the day the salt is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

 

[Newdude]

NJ DEP says our zone is somewhat hurting for water

Well, yeah. Some counties are down almost 4 inches, and imagine how many gallons it would take to flood the county by as much. So the water table may be hurting, but your pool still picked up 20 inches. In the North, they are up a couple.

this year from TFTestkits so hopefully they are fine.

I would imagine it's the tip(s) and not the reagents. Those two are particularly stable when capped and stored properly.

My WM only carries Morton

That's what I went with. I'll inspect it good before it goes in as Mortons issues were noticeable, unlike the iron in Chlorox.

I have it, want it to work and am looking forward to the day the salt is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

Not for nothing, but that's on you.

We will happily Welcome you to the club when you're ready. We don't want you before that.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Not sure why you’re having that big of an issue. Mine never stopped making chlorine.
That’s one reason I try and keep mine around 3500 so I have a buffer.

I originally bought 4 gallons of chlorine that I used the last of it last weekend, I haven't had to turn the SWG on at all this season and was preparing to start it up when I found low salt. My pool is not going through chlorine with a high CYA for the SWG and it is covered 95% of the time with a solar cover and I've kept my FC at over 5 most of the time. My SWG says maximum salt 3200 and based what I've read here that Hayward SWGs don't like high salt (3200 being high per TFP) or they have issues; I believe the the cell draws more current. So I was shooting for 2800-3000 to keep it on the lower side of normal for the SWG.

Honestly there are only 2 variables as Newdude and others have said - rain or reagents. Drop test is easy 10 ml, 1 drop of 1 reagent - turns yellow, add drops of 2nd reagent until it turns a milky salmon color, count drops and multiply by 200 - if water sample if a little off, either drop size is off then the PPM will be off by +/- 200 PPM. Until I get a handle on it it's a mystery to me!

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Well, yeah. Some counties are down almost 4 inches, and imagine how many gallons it would take to flood the county by as much. So the water table may be hurting, but your pool still picked up 20 inches. In the North, they are up a couple.

I would imagine it's the tip(s) and not the reagents. Those two are particularly stable when capped and stored properly.

That's what I went with. I'll inspect it good before it goes in as Mortons issues were noticeable, unlike the iron in Chlorox.

Not for nothing, but that's on you.

We will happily Welcome you to the club when you're ready. We don't want you befote that.

I expected plug and play! I check the tips to see if there's anything up with them. I wanna be in the club ... I did have it running for 3 days last year!

 

[Saturn94]

Folks I've stumbled upon something that I now believe is more common.

Twice this week, and 5 times this season (maybe more), a deluge of rain hit during my SWGs 12 hour self check and it tripped the low salt alarm. Had I not caught it, I would have lost 12 hours of production until the next self check.

I've been paying closer attention this year as my first full season with the new pool and that's the only reason I've noticed. Last year I set the SWG to 60% in June and the FC was great whenever I checked so I didn't pay much more attention than that. It could have happened just as often but a few days or a week later the FC had built back up and went undetected.

I did not know this could be a thing, especially for those of us running 24/7.

While not an everyday thing, alls it takes is a heavy rain at the wrong moment. Given enough chances, it can hit a few times a season.

And it's a perfect example why I run hot.

Interesting.

I’ve never experienced a temporary low salt alarm due to a heavy rain with the Aqua Rite (T15 cell) despite having many deluges over the years (since 2004).

Do you have a main drain? Perhaps it’s just a different in how the Aqua Rite works?

 

[Newdude]

I’ve never experienced a temporary low salt alarm due to a heavy rain with the Aqua Rite (T15 cell) despite having many deluges over the years (since 2004)

I never had one in 8.5 years at the old place. But I wasn't checking it for 13 days at a clip either. So.

Do you have a main drain?

I do. And it aided in proving it because two days ago when it happened I thought it might actually be low salt. I mixed it well and tested 3200.

Today I reset the breaker and it came up low salt again, soon after raining. So I switched to the main drains and reset the breaker again. It came on from the drains.

 

[PoolStored]

I'll add that it can happen when you add water with a hose. My water was low and I added about 1.5" in the corner of the pool, close to the closest skimmer to my pad. It tripped the low salt warning.

 

[markayash]

I never had one in 8.5 years at the old place. But I wasn't checking it for 13 days at a clip either. So.



I do. And it aided in proving it because two days ago when it happened I thought it might actually be low salt. I mixed it well and tested 3200.

Today I reset the breaker and it came up low salt again, soon after raining. So I switched to the main drains and reset the breaker again. It came on from the drains.

My CPA non technical wife said rain is on top and pulled from the skimmers when it happened to me

 

[kellyfair]

@Newdude My faulty memory believes you have your SWG wired to run when your pump runs, and you run your pump at low speed, 24/7. Do I have that right? What percentage do you run on your SWG? Oops, looked at your post again and saw you have it at 60%.

 

[Newdude]

you run your pump at low speed, 24/7.

Correct. I actually run 500+ RPMs above where I need to skim, because I like the look of the moving water more. So it costs me *2* light bulbs worth a month instead of 1. I'm a high roller.

 

[kellyfair]

What effect do you think this has on the life of your salt cell?

 

[Newdude]

What effect do you think this has on the life of your salt cell?

Zero effect. The cell's lifespan is 10k hours 'on'. (Petfect conditions, YMMV, yadda yadda yadda)

On for 50% of 24 hours, or on for 100% of 12 hours is the same time off it's lifespan.

 

[markayash]

This site was shared with me here and is cool to actually see what energy cost.
I used to stress over my pump using 300 watts and running 24/7 ( I have a overflow spa and like to move a lot of water ) until i plugged the number in

Energy cost calculator

Electrical energy cost calculator and how to calculate.

www.rapidtables.com

 

[VinnyinNJ]

This site was shared with me here and is cool to actually see what energy cost.
I used to stress over my pump using 300 watts and running 24/7 ( I have a overflow spa and like to move a lot of water ) until i plugged the number in

Energy cost calculator

Electrical energy cost calculator and how to calculate.

www.rapidtables.com

I just got a energy use printout from our energy company, PSEG, and it told me I used $89 more electric this mid May/mid June than I did last year. Typically is shows we are about as energy efficient as the most energy efficient houses around our area.

We started our pool mid May, had in running 24/7 for a few weeks but it was also warmer and we go from heat to AC, very rarely do we open windows due to allergies. So a warmish day would have us turning on the AC. This report doesn't break out our various uses. I look at it as I bought the pool and I need to absorb the expenses of owning a pool so if it costs $90 a month in electric to own 4 months a year so be it. My electric bills typically aren't huge so no big deal for us.