Question on pump and output settings

[superdave5599]

I guess this is somewhat theoretical. But now that I have a new, larger capacity SWG Cell headed my way I wonder... For the purposes of the question, I'm making numbers up.

Lets say that I could run the pump for 6 hours with the SWG set at 100% to maintain my chlorine needs. (That's about what the old one was set at for the past month or so as it got really hot, with some extra pump running here and there for extra cleaning.)

Or I could run the pump for 12 hours with the SWG set at 50%

Or I could run it at 24 hours with it set at 25%

At the end of the day, do any of those combinations have a better or worse effect on the new cell's life? Or does that all wash out the same? (Because it is either on or off, right? The percentage it is set to is simply the amount of time the cell is flipped "on" by the controller, right? It isn't powering up and down--e.g. running at 25% of the full voltage for the full time, right?)

Part of the reason I'm wondering is simple curiosity and part of it is because I only have a single speed pump, so if I can run it fewer hours to get the job done, that saves me some electricity.

Put another way, is there any benefit to running the pump longer with the SWG set to a lower percentage than there is running the pump for less time with the SWG set to full blast while it is on?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Dave,

From the cell's point of view it does not matter... One hour at 100% is the same amount of use as 10 hours at 10%.

From the pool point of view it is better to run 24/7 at the lowest possible setting, rather than running at 100% for the shortest amount of time.

This is because when the pump shuts off, your FC needs to be high enough to still be in your target range when the pump comes back on.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[superdave5599]

Thanks. That makes sense. But given that I never had issues with the FC levels prior to the cell wearing out, and running my current pump would use a lot of energy, I think I will probably seek to dial it in primarily with reduced run times.

Thankfully, in my area they don't charge differently for time of day, so I can run the pump and generate chlorine during the sunniest part of the day, so it is being generated at the same time the sun is killing it! Which seemed to keep the levels fine so far this summer.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Dave,

Or you can get a VS pump and run 24/7...

I run a 3 HP VS IntelliFlo pump 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM, for less than $20 bucks a month... My pump is 10 years old and not near as energy efficient as the newer pumps you can get today.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[superdave5599]

Yeah... For now I think I will have to work with the pump I have. I had to spend a bunch of money this spring making the deck compliant with Department of Children and Families regulations and having the circuit panel replaced in part to make the electrics of the pool safer. And I know I should replace the filter at some point. Not to mention that while I got some money off the new cell because of leftover warranty, it was still over $500.

So the pump is only a few years old (think it has a date sticker saying 2020) and works fine so I probably need to make due with it for a little while more!