Sizing SWCG for 60k gallon pool with cover - do I need a second cell?

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M

Mouserat

Bronze Supporter
May 22, 2022
7
Central California
Pool Size
60000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi all, first of all - I am so thankful to have come across the TFP community during a google search and I have learned volumes from you all!

About a year and a half ago I purchased a new home with 60k gallon pool in Central California. The seller had installed it about 7 years back and had gone all out with nice pebbletec, automatic pool cover (under the coping), and solar heater. The PB also sold him on a UV and ozone system. My pool service took over and recommended a trichlor tablet feeder which I had him install as he claimed it would make maintenance easier and safer on my pebbletech than anything else (great example of you don't know what you don't know).

I've struggled with a couple algae blooms in the last couple months and the pool servicer blamed it on various things (high swimmer volume - not true, my vacuum not working correctly, algae in my solar system, etc).

Well I SLAM'd it clear within a week and have kept it crystal clear since finding TFP - needless to say I will be getting rid of my pool servicer and looking into adding a SWCG.

Does anyone have any input on how to size my system with an automatic cover in place? I was thinking of getting two 60k rated SWCGs and plumb them in paralell. I am fairly confident in plumbing and electronics so will do the install myself, but I am not sure if two 60k rated SWCG will be overkill as we typically keep our pool with the automatic cover closed about 95+% of the times - basically it is only open if we are actively swimming or I am testing water chemistry/brushing etc.

On a related note, I am very interested in home automation and run a fairly extensive Home assistant deployment (an open source platform that allows integration of many home automation platform); I am trying to decide between the Circupools and the Pentair Intellichlors; I am leaning toward the Intellichlor because it seems that I can more easily build and install an opensource pool controller system that will interface with the the Pentair SWCG over the Circupool ones. Anyone have any feedback on this? Is changing your SWCG % something I should expect to do frequently with a automatic cover? I expect yes, but I am not sure as I don't have any real world experience with them yet.
 
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Welcome to TFP.

I think one 60K cell will do fine on a pool with an autocover. You will have a small amount of daily FC loss with the cover closed.

If it turns out to be a problem you can add a second cell but I doubt you will need it.

What is your pump runtime now?

What model pump do you have?

Please create your signature with details of your pool and equipment.
 
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Welcome.

I ran a few numbers for you on FC production using the Old Pool Math Webpage link below. The Circupool RJ 60 claims to produce 3.1 pounds of chlorine per day. In your pool, that will raise FC by 6.2 per day, if run 24/7. IIRC the ic60 produces 2 lb of chlorine per day, which will increase FC by 4. Most pools, during summer peak times, will require 2 to 4 PPM of chlorine per day. As Allen mentioned, with the cover, your FC loss should be significantly less.

It sounds like you may have the Knowledge and Skills to build your own pool controller using Raspberry Pi. Here's a link you can review to get started.

github.com

GitHub - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController: An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers.

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController
github.com github.com
 
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If the nodejsPoolController is not for you, check out the low-budget automation link in my signature. It's kind of an automation for dummies set up, which uses budget-friendly relays and Alexa as a controller. It should integrate well with HA.
 
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Thank you both for the replies, very helpful. I appreciate the reassurance that a 60k SWG will suffice with the cover... glad I asked as you both probably saved me from overbuying and overplumbing!

I will look into the nodejsPoolController; I do really value home automation integrations (I recently rebuilt my hot tub controller for this exact reason).

I currently have a Hayward eCommand 4 system i believe but I've not been very happy with its control of the solar actuator valve so I actually wired my own wifi controlled relay (not unlike your relay solution Mike), to control the solar valve.

Currently I run my variable speed Hayward pump on high for 7 hours and low for 17 hours. Its a huge electricity cost that I am hoping to significantly tune down; I am not sure why the PB and prior owner had it setup this way, but with the algae blooms I experienced I was too fearful to cut back on that time.

I'll add my pumps and controller etc to my sig when I get home later today. I was looking into switching to a pentair solution and perhaps using a local automation solution such as OPNPool, but I am not sure if it's worth the hassle. I would really love to be able to control my pumps/solar/SWG under the same device/platform and integrate that into my Home Assistant.
 
Mouserat said:
Currently I run my variable speed Hayward pump on high for 7 hours and low for 17 hours.
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You run the pump for a reason. You likely need the high RPM to erode the trichlor tablets in the chlorinator. With a SWCG, you will likely only need to run the pump a few hours per day to create the FC you need. As the pool is covered, skimming is immaterial, so no need to run the pump when closed if not creating chlorine.
 
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mknauss said:
You run the pump for a reason. You likely need the high RPM to erode the trichlor tablets in the chlorinator. With a SWCG, you will likely only need to run the pump a few hours per day to create the FC you need. As the pool is covered, skimming is immaterial, so no need to run the pump when closed if not creating chlorine.
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Ah yes, I was thinking the same as well; thank you for the insight! Was hoping I can get away with far less pump time with the SWCG (my electricity bill will thank me)
 
Mouserat said:
Ah yes, I was thinking the same as well; thank you for the insight! Was hoping I can get away with far less pump time with the SWCG (my electricity bill will thank me)
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I would suspect you can eliminate the low speed right now.
 
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I have a 25k gallon pool with an auto-cover and IC60. Currently, I run my pump 24 hours with the IC60 set at 30%. That generates 2.9 ppm FC. So, I’m in the middle of the normal FC loss of 2 - 4 ppm a day.

In a few weeks/days I have to run my Glacier Chiller to keep the water temp at 85 - 86 degrees. (Today the water is up to 86 which is perfect for me.) I have to raise the percentage to 60% and the pump runtime down to 12 hours with the Chiller on to produce the same 2.9 ppm FC. (Can’t run the chiller more than 12 hours, the water will get too cold)
 
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Thank you again everyone for the help.

I went with the IC60 and finished installing it about a week ago. Working great so far.

However, it seems that it may be a bit undersized for my pool. Looks like running my IC60 full bore (100%) with the cover closed during summer and pump running 24/7, I can net an increase of about 0.4 ppm FC. I don't mind the electricity consumption of running my pump that often, but am wondering if it would be beneficial to add another SWCG in series (or possibly even parallel?) in a Master/slave configuration? That'd allow me to dial back on the amount of abuse I am putting on my current SWCG... not sure if that would be best or if I should just keep running my SWCG at 90-100% and use liquid chlorine to boost my FC levels after big swim parties/high swimmer loads?

Any advice or wisdom?
 

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Mouserat said:
Thank you again everyone for the help.

I went with the IC60 and finished installing it about a week ago. Working great so far.

However, it seems that it may be a bit undersized for my pool. Looks like running my IC60 full bore (100%) with the cover closed during summer and pump running 24/7, I can net an increase of about 0.4 ppm FC. I don't mind the electricity consumption of running my pump that often, but am wondering if it would be beneficial to add another SWCG in series (or possibly even parallel?) in a Master/slave configuration? That'd allow me to dial back on the amount of abuse I am putting on my current SWCG... not sure if that would be best or if I should just keep running my SWCG at 90-100% and use liquid chlorine to boost my FC levels after big swim parties/high swimmer loads?

Any advice or wisdom?
Click to expand...
Are you sure there isn’t an algae bloom or some other thing going on that is only allowing 0.4ppm? You can likely turn the pump way down while running 24x7 and it’ll save power. I don’t even notice a difference in my power bill doing that, but it may be because the AC is on so much as well.
 
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Hi Jim, the commercial is not controllable via Intellicenter though, correct? would prefer to stick to a solution at least partially intellicenter-controllable (due to home automation integration)
 
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I believe the comsys units are designed to be controlled via an ORP control panel. This switches the cells between 0 and 100% based upon ORP demand. I have never seen one on operation but there is only one RS485 port on the units and the 2 unit is supposed to be slaved to the master.

However, njsPC will allow you to multiplex or parallel as many chlorinators as you like with separate control on the same body. Interestingly even the Pentair i10D dual body controllers only allow one chlorinator. Much of that is because the chlorinator comms protocol does not identify the address of the chlorinator like other equipment does.
 
Running 100% 24/7 will produce 2 lb per day, which is 32 oz or 4 ppm for 60,000 gallons.

With a cover, you should lose less than 1 ppm per day.

In fact, you're at high risk of overchlorinating.

How are you testing?

What are the pool dimensions?

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