Salt is at 2.8 GPL, is that fine?

[gocubs418]

I'm not going to lie, I have been pretty cruise control on my pool since I got it.

My pool is crystal clear, I do have a never ending struggle of pH creeping high, so I hit it with MA weekly, chlorine now is around 10PPM. I lowered my SWCG to 40%. I believe the pH is creeping because its a newer pool?

However, I decided to check the box and see what the salinity was and it said "2.8 gpl". My manual states 3.0-3.5 is consider optimal, anything below 2.0 gpl is bad, anything above 4.0 gpl is bad.

I have one 40lb of salt that the PB gave me. Should I try to get salt back up to 3.5 gpl? I just wasn't sure because now that we are in "winter" in Texas, its highs of low 70's and low's of 35-40. Didn't know if it was the right time to throw salt bags in.

Any help and I would be greatly appreciative!

Thanks!

 

[bmoreswim]

Can you change the readout to be in ppm (parts per million) versus gpl (grams per liter)? We are used to ppm, so it's just your numbers x 1000.

For your question, it is certainly fine to add salt now to get back up to 3500 ppm. It really makes no difference when you add it. The only reason not to is that your SWG is going to stop working soon (temps below it's operating range), and if you bump up the salt and then have overflows in the winter draining water, you will lose some of that salt concentration. But that said, salt is dirt cheap so I'd add to reach your desired concentration if it tends to drop over time for you. Turn off your cell, add the salt, let it dissolve (should be gone in short order - may an hour or two - slower in cold water) then turn the cell back on. It is better to keep it off when adding to not give highly salt concentrated water fed to your cell (via your main drain if you have one).

 

[Jimrahbe]

For my Pentair SWCG the salt readings start to go off-scale low as the water gets colder. My salt readings dropped from Ok to low, and then to very low, in just a couple of days due to the cold weather. I did not test for it, but suspect the actual salt level in the pool did not change much, if at all. Since my water temperature is now below 60 degrees, I have shut my SWCG off for the winter.

I'm not sure your SWCG works the same, but before I added any more salt, I'd want to know what the actual salt level in the pool is, not want the SWCG is reporting.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gocubs418]

Can you change the readout to be in ppm (parts per million) versus gpl (grams per liter)? We are used to ppm, so it's just your numbers x 1000.

For your question, it is certainly fine to add salt now to get back up to 3500 ppm. It really makes no difference when you add it. The only reason not to is that your SWG is going to stop working soon (temps below it's operating range), and if you bump up the salt and then have overflows in the winter draining water, you will lose some of that salt concentration. But that said, salt is dirt cheap so I'd add to reach your desired concentration if it tends to drop over time for you. Turn off your cell, add the salt, let it dissolve (should be gone in short order - may an hour or two - slower in cold water) then turn the cell back on. It is better to keep it off when adding to not give highly salt concentrated water fed to your cell (via your main drain if you have one).

For my Pentair SWCG the salt readings start to go off-scale low as the water gets colder. My salt readings dropped from Ok to low, and then to very low, in just a couple of days due to the cold weather. I did not test for it, but suspect the actual salt level in the pool did not change much, if at all. Since my water temperature is now below 60 degrees, I have shut my SWCG off for the winter.

I'm not sure your SWCG works the same, but before I added any more salt, I'd want to know what the actual salt level in the pool is, not want the SWCG is reporting.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Excellent. Thank you for the quick response. I will test the salt with the little kit in addition to the TF100.