Saltwater Conversion Planning

[tloomos]

I'm going to convert my pool (back to) saltwater and looking for some input and advice as I plan things out. My pool is around 11,000 gallons.

For a little background, when I bought my house, the pool had a saltwater system installed, but the cell was depleted, the controller was disconnected and the pool was operating as a regular chlorine pool. Then we had a hailstorm that damaged pool equipment and we replaced a bunch of it, including the saltwater control unit. We had the salt cell removed during the repairs since we weren't using it and at the time we didn't plan to.

The controller is a Jandy AquaPure (model APUREM) and the cell I got is a Jandy AquaPure PLC700. I also decided to get a sacrificial zinc anode, but couldn't decide if I liked the PoolTool or the CMP Pool Defender better, so I got them both and will return whichever I don't use. I also ordered a Taylor K-1766 test kit to help get the salt levels correct.

The questions I have are:

1. Which anode to use? The PoolTool seems very widely used and has a bleed valve which seems like it could be useful? The CMP is a little less expensive and also does water bonding, but no bleed valve. I don't really have much metal in the pool - really just the light fixtures and a couple loops for a volleyball net. I do have a heater (Jandy JXI400N) and not sure if it has an anode in it or not. I'm also not sure if the light fixtures are providing water bonding or not.
2. I assume I need to get the salt level in the pool correct before I fire things up? Can I install everything and have water flowing through the cell prior to that, and then turn the system on once I get the salt level correct?
3. Anything I should learn or do ahead of time to prepare either for the installation or for ongoing operation of a saltwater pool?

I appreciate any feedback or advice on this conversion - thanks in advance!!

 

[PoolGate]

As far as I know, the anode doesn't do much.

You can have the SWG installed and on at 0% without salt in the water. It will give you the detected salt reading as well.

There is nothing hard about installing the SWG. Should take a couple hours.

 

[mknauss]

The PLC700 is small for your pool in Dallas, but see how it goes.

The anode will do nothing for your pool. Return them and get your money back.

 

[PoolGate]

The PLC700 is small for your pool in Dallas, but see how it goes.

The anode will do nothing for your pool. Return them and get your money back.

I was going to suggest to upgrade to the 1400 but wasn't 100% sure the APUREM will support both.

 

[mknauss]

I was going to suggest to upgrade to the 1400 but wasn't 100% sure the APUREM will support both.

That needs to be checked. OP -- do your due diligence.

 

[tloomos]

The APUREM does support both the PLC700 and PLC1400 - there's a jumper I need to cut in order to use the 700. Since my pool is fairly small at around 10k-11k gallons and the 700 was rated for 12000 gallons, I thought it was the right size.

It's a couple hundred dollars more to get the 1400, but it sounds like you're suggesting that in Dallas I'd be better off with the larger cell in order to generate more chlorine if needed?

 

[PoolGate]

The APUREM does support both the PLC700 and PLC1400 - there's a jumper I need to cut in order to use the 700. Since my pool is fairly small at around 10k-11k gallons and the 700 was rated for 12000 gallons, I thought it was the right size.

It's a couple hundred dollars more to get the 1400, but it sounds like you're suggesting that in Dallas I'd be better off with the larger cell in order to generate more chlorine if needed?

I thought it supported both. It is always recommended to size your SWG at least twice the pool's size. The life of the cell is rated in hours run so the less you can run it, the better. Twice as large means it runs half as long. For sure get the 1400 replacement cell.

 

[tloomos]

I got the 1400 and I'm planning to install everything this week. I read through the install instructions and there's just one thing I have a question on.

The link from the APUREM to the Aqualink RS controller is supposed to connect to one of the red terminal bars at the top of the Aqualink RS. There are 2 terminal bars and I currently have 3 remotes (in house controller, spa side remote, iaqualink wifi). I see that one of the terminal bars is already doubled up, so I'm assuming it's ok to connect 2 remotes to a single terminal bar as long as I ensure solid connections. I'm curious if it would be better to just get a multiplex board to essentially convert one terminal bar into 3 so each remote can have it's own secure connection

 

[PoolGate]

I got the 1400 and I'm planning to install everything this week. I read through the install instructions and there's just one thing I have a question on.

The link from the APUREM to the Aqualink RS controller is supposed to connect to one of the red terminal bars at the top of the Aqualink RS. There are 2 terminal bars and I currently have 3 remotes (in house controller, spa side remote, iaqualink wifi). I see that one of the terminal bars is already doubled up, so I'm assuming it's ok to connect 2 remotes to a single terminal bar as long as I ensure solid connections. I'm curious if it would be better to just get a multiplex board to essentially convert one terminal bar into 3 so each remote can have it's own secure connection

2 devices in each. The MUX board is a lot so don't get it unless you need it.

 

[tloomos]

Did the install today. thought it went well until I tried to start it up. One note in case this is what screwed me up - as long as I was draining some plumbing to cut the pipe, I figured I'd clean the filter too (cartridge filters). I've never done this before - I had a pool company that used to do it for me. That seemed easy enough, but obviously less water in the system than usual and I'm not sure if I was supposed to do something to "recharge" or prime it.

When I finished the salt cell install, I put the pool into Service mode and tried to turn the filter on. Relay clicked, I heard the noise I usually hear when the pump is about to start, but it never started. It's a variable speed, so it doesn't just turn on right away like my water feature pump. I tried disconnecting the salt controller from the filter pump relay to see if I could get the pump going to fill the pipes, but no luck. So now I can't get my pump to start. Not sure what I did or how to fix/troubleshoot.

 

[PoolGate]

Where did you put the electrical connection for the swg? Also try removing the swg 4 wire connection and see if that allows the pump to start.

 

[tloomos]

Connections I made between the SWG and the Aqualink RS were:
* connected the 2 AC power wires to the 2nd and 4th positions on the filter pump relay
* connected the 4 wire sensor doubled up with the controller thats in the house (I have 4 remotes and only 2 4 wire terminal bars.

I just disconnected both of the 4-wire terminal bars from the Aqualink controller, and I have the SWG power disconnected also. Tried to start up the filter and I hear a click, then a little buzz, then nothing happens. The click and buzz are "normal" Whenever I turn the VSP pump on, it immediately makes a click, then theres another buzz sound, then several seconds later, I hear the pump start ramping up. So the sounds it makes don't seem unusual, it just doesn't get to the stage of actually starting the pump.

When I first turned it on, there was likely very low water due to me draining the filter. I've since opened the filter back up and filled the bottom of it and also filled the "filter out" tube. could there be a safety mechanism on the pump that was tripped due to low water or something simple like that?

 

[PoolGate]

No your pump will start even if completely empty. And it self primes too so you don't need to fill anything. Make sure the pump lid isn't leaking. The valve on the top of the filter is opened while priming to allow air to escape. Can you post pics of everything?

 

[tloomos]

Posting pics...

When I started today, everything was working fine. Here'severything I did today:

• Drained and cleaned the filter, lubed the o-ring before reassembling filter housing
• Cleaned both filter baskets, lubed the o-rings in the lids
• Installed the salt cell
• Wired the salt cell and sensors to the Aquapure controller
• Wired the aquapure to the aqualink with the 4-wire connector
• Wired the aquapure to the filter relay

Let me know if there are other pics that would be helpful

 

[tloomos]

I tried turning off the breakers to the pumps and the controller for 30 minutes and when I turned them back on to test, I checked the voltage going into and coming out of the relay. Looked as expected with 240v coming out when I turned the filter pump on. Seems like there must be something wrong at the pump, but I didn't touch anything at all on the pump today. Will open up the pump tomorrow to make sure the connections in there are good and see if I see anything odd in there.

 

[tloomos]

You were right and I'm an idiot who can't follow directions.

I thought the other 3 wires going into the 4 wire terminals were my indoor controller, spa remote and wifi. So instead of disconnecting the aquapure like you said, I just pulled both terminal bars out in the Aqualink. I forgot that I disconnected the spa remote last year when I was trying to replace it. The 3rd wire in the 4-wire terminal was to the VSPump!

I disconnected the SWG as originally requested and the filter pump is running fine again. While identifying the wires going into the terminal bars, I found that one of the wires was not securely connected - maybe it came out when I routed the wires behind the board to plug in. I think that was my actual problem all along.

 

[PoolGate]

Very cool! So everything is working now? Do you have a good salt test kit like the Taylor K-1766?

 

[tloomos]

Yep, everything is up and running now. I do have the Taylor K-1766. A few more questions...

I have it running right now with chlorine generation set to 0%. I assume it's ok to let it run like that until I get the salt up to the right level, right? Now that I have the pump going again I'm planning to add the salt tonight.

The instruction manual said I probably want to shock the pool before adding the salt and turning on the generator - is that correct? My chlorine level as of yesterday was around 2.3, so I assume shocking would be a good idea. If yes, then how long should I wait between shocking and adding the salt?

And finally, I noticed on the SWG display it alternates between showing the 0% chlorine generation and "Jo" - I don't see that code in the letter codes in the manual. Is that normal?

 

[PoolGate]

Yep, everything is up and running now. I do have the Taylor K-1766. A few more questions...

I have it running right now with chlorine generation set to 0%. I assume it's ok to let it run like that until I get the salt up to the right level, right? Now that I have the pump going again I'm planning to add the salt tonight.

The instruction manual said I probably want to shock the pool before adding the salt and turning on the generator - is that correct? My chlorine level as of yesterday was around 2.3, so I assume shocking would be a good idea. If yes, then how long should I wait between shocking and adding the salt?

And finally, I noticed on the SWG display it alternates between showing the 0% chlorine generation and "Jo" - I don't see that code in the letter codes in the manual. Is that normal?

You can leave it at 0% for as long as you like. I set it to 0% when I add salt until the salt is all dissolved.

No need to "shock" if you don't have an algae issue. But chlorine level and salt are not related you can add salt at any time. Use the pool math app to see how much salt you need to add. Test first as you most likely already have some. Keep adding liquid chlorine until the SWG is running.

https://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/jandy-aqua-pure-error-codes.pdf

‘JO’–Indicates operation is controlled by a Jandy AquaLink RS or PDA,and system is in SERVICE or TIME MODE.

 

[tloomos]

Thank you for all your help!!! I really appreciate it. I fired my pool company last year and have been learning how to care for my pool myself. These forums and the helpful people here have me wondering why I didn't do it sooner.