Salt Water Pool Question - Salt Evaporation...

[FletchMan]

Greeting everyone - I hope you all are doing well. We have had a lot of rain this Summer here in Virginia on the East Coast. My water had been super clear, and I have added a few bags a month.

I was on call for work for 2 weeks and time got the best of me. I checked my salt level and it was all time low, like 1100, I am ashamed to say.The app is great and I have been using it now for several years.

However, are there any rules of thumb or experiences you seasoned pool owners can share on the rate of evaporation you see over time?

Thank you, Fletcher

PS - My water is still clear, and I appear to have got to it time. So, I will add salt, slam it this week, and get things headed in the right direction...

 

[drsipe]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you asking the evaporation rate of salt, or evaporation rate of water.

Salt does not evaporate, water evaporates. Salt levels reduce due to dilution of fill water and overflow or drain and fill, or by splash out. Typically, I achieve the salt level when I open the pool, and I never add salt during the season. This year was a little different, we had a very wet beginning of the season and I had abnormal overflow, so I had to add a few bags of salt in July.

 

[jark87]

have added a few bags a month.

I’m in a very different climate, but even when we get lots of rain, I’ve never had to add multiple bags in a month, especially over multiple months. I might add 1-2 bags at the beginning of the swim season and usually don’t need to add more until near the end of the season several months later. And even then, it’s only a bag or 2, and only if necessary. My issue during the summer is water evaporation and then refill. I run a chiller all summer long and have to add about an inch of water every 2-3 days. Even with that, I haven’t added salt since the start of summer.

If you don’t already have one, get a Taylor salt test kit and make sure your levels are accurate. You really can’t rely on your salt cell’s sensors. If you had a proper salt level and it dropped to 1100 in a 2 week period, I’d be very surprised. That would be a drop of more than 60%.

 

[jimbethesda]

However, are there any rules of thumb or experiences you seasoned pool owners can share on the rate of evaporation you see over time?

Greeting everyone - I hope you all are doing well. We have had a lot of rain this Summer here in Virginia on the East Coast. My water had been super clear, and I have added a few bags a month.

I was on call for work for 2 weeks and time got the best of me. I checked my salt level and it was all time low, like 1100, I am ashamed to say.The app is great and I have been using it now for several years.

However, are there any rules of thumb or experiences you seasoned pool owners can share on the rate of evaporation you see over time?

Thank you, Fletcher

PS - My water is still clear, and I appear to have got to it time. So, I will add salt, slam it this week, and get things headed in the right direction...

Salt doesn’t evaporate, so the rate is 0. Water evaporates.

The only way the salt levels decrease is if the salt physically leaves your pool (splash out, draining, overflow). You mentioned you got a lot of rain. It’s likely because your pool overflowed several times taking the salt with it.

 

[FletchMan]

Thank you all for the feedback and info. It has been a very wet Summer here and I think between the pump outs I have had to do, and extreme heat and evaporation, the level has gone down too much. Also, I should have kept a closer eye on the level each week - Between travel and on call for work, I think I neglected keeping it where it needed.

Like Jark87 mentioned - I really cannot trust the salt cell sensor. I have suspected this before. I will order a good salt test kit and make sure the level is where it needs to be, and that my AquaRite controller is calibrated the best it can be.

Great info here and I appreciate the help!

Best Regards,
Fletcher

 

[jimbethesda]

Thank you all for the feedback and info. It has been a very wet Summer here and I think between the pump outs I have had to do, and extreme heat and evaporation, the level has gone down too much. Also, I should have kept a closer eye on the level each week - Between travel and on call for work, I think I neglected keeping it where it needed.

Like Jark87 mentioned - I really cannot trust the salt cell sensor. I have suspected this before. I will order a good salt test kit and make sure the level is where it needs to be, and that my AquaRite controller is calibrated the best it can be.

Great info here and I appreciate the help!

Best Regards,
Fletcher

Again, the “extreme heat and evaporation” have nothing to do with your salt decreasing. Evaporation would INCREASE salt (water evaporates, salt doesn’t leaving a higher concentration of salt), adding water to compensate for the evaporation brings it back to the same level.

 

[JamesW]

I checked my salt level and it was all time low, like 1100,

This really does not make sense because the cell would have stopped working a long time ago and the pool would be solid green.

Maybe the cell is running with no flow?

Check the diagnostics in both polarities and report the results.

Basic AquaRite Diagnostics.
This is the basic information we need to know in diagnosing a problem:

• Report all readings when you..
  • Move the switch from auto to off and check all of the readings.
  • Move the switch back to auto and recheck the readings.
  • Move the switch to off for a minute and then back to auto and recheck the readings.
• What are the first seven characters of the cell and box serial numbers?
• What is the actual salinity and how are you measuring it?

Cell Diagnostics.​

Pressing the diagnostic button sequentially will display:

• Default salt display
• Pool temp
• Cell Voltage - When not generating, the voltage is about 30 to 32 volts dc. When generating, the voltage drops about 1 volt per amp of current.
• Cell current
• Desired output (% of the knob)
• Instant salinity
• Product name
• Software revision (r.XX)
• Cell type

The Hayward Aquarite Troubleshooting Guidelines explains each reading.

• Instant salt = the cells reading of the current salt PPM
• Average Salt = the average salt reading of the last 3 cycles of the cell.

To estimate the performance of the Aquarite cell, divide the instant salinity reading by the actual salinity.

If the performance is less than 75%, the cell is failing and it's time to consider replacing the cell.

You need to be sure about the actual salinity by using a salt test like the Taylor K-1766.

Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Saturn94]

Greeting everyone - I hope you all are doing well. We have had a lot of rain this Summer here in Virginia on the East Coast. My water had been super clear, and I have added a few bags a month.

I was on call for work for 2 weeks and time got the best of me. I checked my salt level and it was all time low, like 1100, I am ashamed to say.The app is great and I have been using it now for several years.

However, are there any rules of thumb or experiences you seasoned pool owners can share on the rate of evaporation you see over time?

Thank you, Fletcher

PS - My water is still clear, and I appear to have got to it time. So, I will add salt, slam it this week, and get things headed in the right direction...

Yeah, y’all on the southside have been hogging all the rain. Up here on the peninsula it’s been pretty dry.

Btw, It’s also possible you have a leak.

 

[FletchMan]

Hi @JamesW

Thank you for the help. The readings are as follows and it appears the cell has stopped working.

When the switch is in the OFF position

Default salt display - 0
Pool temp - 84
Cell Voltage - 31.9
Cell current - 0
Desired output (% of the knob) - 67P
Instant salinity - 0
Product name - AL-)
Software revision (r.XX) - r1.50
Cell type - T-15

When the switch is in the Auto position

Default salt display - 0
Pool temp - 84
Cell Voltage - 31.9
Cell current - 0.3
Desired output (% of the knob) - 67P
Instant salinity - 0
Product name - AL-)
Software revision (r.XX) - r1.50
Cell type - T-15

What are the first seven characters of the cell and box serial numbers?

cell - 4E18284
box - *5A0708

What is the actual salinity and how are you measuring it?
Taylor K-1766
3700 - More salt was added in an attempt to isolate the problem before I posted this to the tfp site....

Check the diagnostics in both polarities and report the results.

Basic AquaRite Diagnostics.
This is the basic information we need to know in diagnosing a problem:

• Report all readings when you..
  • Move the switch from auto to off and check all of the readings.
  • Move the switch back to auto and recheck the readings.
  • Move the switch to off for a minute and then back to auto and recheck the readings.
• What are the first seven characters of the cell and box serial numbers?
• What is the actual salinity and how are you measuring it?

Cell Diagnostics.​

Pressing the diagnostic button sequentially will display:

• Default salt display
• Pool temp
• Cell Voltage - When not generating, the voltage is about 30 to 32 volts dc. When generating, the voltage drops about 1 volt per amp of current.
• Cell current
• Desired output (% of the knob)
• Instant salinity
• Product name
• Software revision (r.XX)
• Cell type

The Hayward Aquarite Troubleshooting Guidelines explains each reading.

• Instant salt = the cells reading of the current salt PPM
• Average Salt = the average salt reading of the last 3 cycles of the cell.

To estimate the performance of the Aquarite cell, divide the instant salinity reading by the actual salinity.

If the performance is less than 75%, the cell is failing and it's time to consider replacing the cell.

You need to be sure about the actual salinity by using a salt test like the Taylor K-1766.

Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JamesW]

Product name - AL-)

The numbers should be Al-0 to AL-5.

Maybe a bad cell.

Check the salinity and have the cell tested.