I’m new to caring for a pool. It’s salt water. Just replaced the salt generator and power unit and it seems to be unable to keep up with the chlorine. Is that normal during this time of year to have to add additional chlorine every couple days. I’m on the SC coast. Phosphate is good. CYA is good along with salt.
Salt pool and chlorine
- Thread starter Tanker Toad
- Start date
Hootz
Bronze Supporter
- Feb 5, 2018
- 374
- Pool Size
- 24000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
It is suggested that the swg be rated at least 1.5 times the capacity of the pool water. How many gallons is your pool rated and what is the model of you swg equipment?
This morning. CL barely 1. Cya 30. Alk 70. Calcium hardness 450. Ph 7.4. Pool is clear. 25,000 gallon. Salt was at 3000. Pentair. IC40. Phosphate check said it was OK. I’m taking a sample in to the pool store to double check.
TT,
The IC40 is a little small for your pool, but will work.. But it won't work if your CYA is only 30.. The sun will burn off more FC than your cell can generate.
See this chart under saltwater... FC/CYA Levels
The other question is what SWCG output % are you using and how long are you running your pump?
Your cell will increase your FC by .28 ppm per hour at 100% output. Most pools use 2 to 4 ppm of FC per day. If we use 3 as an average, then at a minimum you will need to run your pump for 11 hours a day and have the cell set to 100% .. The lower the % the longer you will have to run your pump.
Thanks,
Jim R.
The IC40 is a little small for your pool, but will work.. But it won't work if your CYA is only 30.. The sun will burn off more FC than your cell can generate.
See this chart under saltwater... FC/CYA Levels
The other question is what SWCG output % are you using and how long are you running your pump?
Your cell will increase your FC by .28 ppm per hour at 100% output. Most pools use 2 to 4 ppm of FC per day. If we use 3 as an average, then at a minimum you will need to run your pump for 11 hours a day and have the cell set to 100% .. The lower the % the longer you will have to run your pump.
Thanks,
Jim R.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,828
- Pool Size
- 28000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Tanker,
Welcome to TFP and pool care! This is just the right place to learn how to do it right. Please read my link below for beginners and if you haven't done so already please read Pool School. You'll soon learn how to do TFP by yourself. In the meantime, we'll be here to help you get up to speed. TFP is a methodology that is based on very sound science and has been demonstrated by thousands of pool owners like yourself. We rely on tests you can do yourself very reliably and we use cheap generic chemicals you can get at big box stores. You don't need any special pool store potions. You don't need to double-check results with pool stores. Skip the trip to the pool store and get your test kit ordered. Often stores are less accurate and even more often their advice creates more problems. At the very least their "free tests" and interpretation can be conflicted by the fact they make money by selling you stuff. Don't get me wrong, not all are like this but a lot of them are. And you don't know which one you have 'till it's too late. We don't sell anything here. We are just volunteer experts and enthusiasts that enjoy helping pool owners take control of their own pool.
If you want to do TFP methods you need a recommended test kit asap. It's the basis for your pool care. Until you get one of these add enough liquid chlorine for 5 ppm FC and then maintain this 'till your test kit comes. Then post a complete set of test results and we'll go from there. If you're testing CYA with strips your number is almost certainly wrong and low. Please add make and model number of your chlorinator. We'll quickly be able to find out how much chlorine it produces and what's wrong. If you have an algae bloom in the making you'll be able to stop it in its tracks with a SLAM. But it all starts with the test kit.
I hope this helps, and we're looking forward to your response.
Chris
*** Whoops, missed the IC40 model number. Sorry! See Jim's comment.**
The other thing to look at here (and I fought with this too) is your CYA is low for salt water. TFP (and I think most SWG manufacturers) recommends around 70 for CYA. The chlorine generated by the SWG is unstabilized, so bakes off pretty quickly in the Sun. You need the CYA to keep it from doing that.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,828
- Pool Size
- 28000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Craig makes a good point. For years I tried to run low in the range on CYA when I was using liquid chlorine so I'd have room to use pucks if I needed to be out of town (happened frequently with my consulting work). So when I initially switched to salt I didn't rush to raise the CYA. I had some granular but never used it since I was always able to keep it high enough with pucks when out of town. When I added it everything got way better. Even though I have a screened in pool, FC loss dropped dramatically and pH seems to be even more stable (I added borate shortly after conversion to salt to help stabilize pH).
Chris
Chris
