Pureline SWG Life

[Hewesman]

I have a PL7703, which is a 60k gallon SWG I bought from INYO in Nov. of 2019. Pool is around 25k. I keep as close to perfect water chemistry as possible and have never had to clean my cell, looks like new, no scale at all.

I am now having to run my cell for 19 hours at 85% to keep 5-6% FC, this is also while maintaining CYA at 60-70. Last year I was closer to 14 hours summer at 75% output. Is this cell running out of life being a generic? It is extremely hot if N FL right now. I do run the cell 24/7/365, obvoiusly much lower in winter, like less than 10% for around 8 hours. Thoughts?

 

[ajw22]

What is your salt level?

How do you test your salt level?

Is your salt level different now then last year?

 

[Newdude]

Do an OCLT to verify there is no algae (pump/SWG off). Raise the CYA by 10 and see how it does.

 

[Hewesman]

Salt level is at 3200. Test with Taylor salt kit and some strips I'm trying to get rid of I bought off Amazon, just as a way to double test.
Salt is inline with what I had last year.

OCLT is 0.

I've thought about performing a cleaning just to see what happens, even though it will take some life out of the cell.
I'm in a vinyl pool, so no calcium. I do use well water so that water is hard. Could there be some scaling from the hardness in the well water I just can't see on the cell?

 

[ajw22]

You should only clean a SWG cell if it has visible scale on the plates.

First try and use strong blasts of water to remove the scale.

You can scrape the plates with a stick, like a Popsicle stick, to remove the scale.

If the scale is stubborn then use cleaning vinegar (6% acetic acid … available in Home Depot). It’s milder than Muriatic Acid and won’t damage the ruthenium surface. Highly concentrated mineral acids are not good for the transition metal catalysts.

Cleaning a SWG cell with Muriatic Acid 10:1 diluted solution will remove some of the rare earth coating from the plates and reduce the life of the cell with every cleaning.

 

[laprjns]

How much production run time is on it? The cell is rated for 7000 hr. I also have a Purline 60K system that I bought in February 2019. I run mine for 15 hours at 40% and it keeps my 30k pool CL right where I target it. My cya is usually between 60 and 80. The cell has somewhere between 2000 and 2500 production hours on it. I have never cleaned it, but my CH is around 30 to 50 ppm.

 

[blazer58]

I have the PL7704 (heavy duty model, 10,000 hours) also installed in 2019.
I run at about 50% for 12 hours in the summer, maybe 8/10 hours in spring/fall, for my 35,000 gal pool, salt at 3700, cya @ 70
FC kept at around 8/9, which is on high end
I have never had to clean mine.
The extra hot weather we are having could be effecting your FC usage.

I do run the cell 24/7/365, obvoiusly much lower in winter, like less than 10% for around 8 hours. Thoughts?
You might be nearing the end of your cell running it 24/7

 

[ajw22]

You might be nearing the end of your cell running it 24/7

It makes no difference to the life of the cell if you run it 24/7.

The amount of chlorine generated affects the life of the cell.

Running at 10% for 24/7 uses the same amount of life as 50% for 5 hours or 100% for 2.4 hours.

 

[blazer58]

It makes no difference to the life of the cell if you run it 24/7.

The amount of chlorine generated affects the life of the cell.

Running at 10% for 24/7 uses the same amount of life as 50% for 5 hours or 100% for 2.4 hours.

My thinking was for three years running at 70% avg, he has used 4900 hours thus leaving app 2100 hours on his cell
am I figuring this wrong ?

 

[ajw22]

My thinking was for three years running at 70% avg, he has used 4900 hours thus leaving app 2100 hours on his cell
am I figuring this wrong ?

Cells life vary widely. Some die prematurely and some live a long life.

 

[laprjns]

My thinking was for three years running at 70% avg, he has used 4900 hours thus leaving app 2100 hours on his cell
am I figuring this wrong ?

No, I don't think you are wrong. The other day I did some calculations using the info that you included in your first post and came out with about 5500 hrs