For those of you selling SWG over Stenner for lower maintenance, etc, dont SWG systems all come with pH+ drift issues, so you will have to regularly add acid anyway? Meaning it is far from lugging and maintenance free, though it is less for sure.
Stenner liquid chlorine pump - How to choose and install
- Thread starter Steve_in_C
- Start date
Yosh. This looks really clean. For clarification - does your chlorinator fill up with liquid chlorine as you have your injection tube at the top port? Do you still meter it with the valve system that you kept on the chlorinator? The reason I ask, is that I was considering 2 options
1) remove the puck holder body of the chlorinator, cap the top of the tee and just inject through the 1/2 port on the side of the tee body
2) leave the whole unit as you have done, but remove the metering tube, plug both ports on the puck holder body and just inject in the 1/2" port on side of the tee body.
I know you have to clean that puck body out real good so you do not have any residue from the solid pucks that would interact with the LC.
I use the the bleach calculator on PoolMath. I can purchase 12.5% and 10.5% and 10% for just about the same cents/ unit %
I see no reason to dilute the higher concentration chlorine. If it is diluted then you need to add move volume to achieve the same increase in FC ppm. Just put the number in Pool Math and it will indicate you need more ounces of 6% CL vs. 12.5% CL to achieve the same increase in FC ppm. This is why the bleach calculator is handy because it can tell you which is less expensive based on concentration. Hope this makes sense.
Right. Cutting bleach concentration by half extends its half-life by four times. At 77°F the half-life of 12.5% bleach is a little over 120 days, so after 120 days you have 6% bleach anyway. If you dilute your 12% bleach to 6% you will have something like 4% bleach after 120 days. If you started with two gallons of 12.5% to compare - one diluted and one full strength - at the end of 120 days you'd have 1 gallon of 6% bleach (8 ounces of pure sodium hypochlorite) or two gallons of 4% bleach (11 ounces pure sodium hypochlorite).
It's just to avoid having 8.5% bleach 30 days after starting out with 12.5%. Seems like it would be more of a pain to continually adjust the Stenner as the bleach degraded than to pump more volume, but I haven't "lived the experience" yet so it's just speculation on my part.
The Stenner run time needs to be adjusted every couple of weeks anyway as the spring turns into summer and there is more daily FC consumption from the sun and then as the summer turns into fall there’s less chlorine loss from the sun. I found I was changing the timer settings every two weeks or so.
It may also be necessary to cut the bleach depending on the timer used. I could set my timer down to the minute. I suppose someone may have a timer that could only be adjusted in 5 or 15 minute intervals and therefore may need to cut the bleach to get the chlorine they needed with larger steps in time
It may also be necessary to cut the bleach depending on the timer used. I could set my timer down to the minute. I suppose someone may have a timer that could only be adjusted in 5 or 15 minute intervals and therefore may need to cut the bleach to get the chlorine they needed with larger steps in time
colonelkirby
Silver Supporter
- Mar 20, 2017
- 166
- Pool Size
- 25500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Stenner liquid chlorine pump - How to choose and install
Has anyone here repurposed their puck feeder to inject chlorine bleach? I have a Pentair Rainbow Model 320. It seems feasible that a injection point could be added between the dial/controller and the body of the unit. Has anyone attempted this modification?
www.troublefreepool.com
How I did mine. Feel around under the body of the puck feeder for a set screw, remove it, and the body will unscrew.
When you remove the puck holder body, what is that thread that is on top of the flowline tee? Also, I see on the parts diagram that the puck body has an 0-ring on that connection. Did you have to put that oring back on the cap? The cap that you screwed on the flowline tee - is that a standard part from Home Depot? Any guidance is appreciated.
OK - I understand the math but if you are targeting a certain PPM increase - you have to use more of the 4% bleach than the 6% bleach so doesn't it all equalize at the end?
colonelkirby
Silver Supporter
- Mar 20, 2017
- 166
- Pool Size
- 25500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I can't recall re. the o-ring. If there was a guide channel for it, knowing me I used it. Everything is standard from HD.
It doesn't equalize. Bleach concentration is not static - it degrades over time. The stronger the solution the faster it degrades. If you have a tank with a month's supply of bleach and start out the month with 12.5% bleach you could end the month with 8.5% bleach. When you set the Stenner on August 1 to deliver 2 ppm to your pool, by August 31 it's only delivering 1.3 ppm because your bleach is degrading. If you dilute the bleach to 6% and set the Stenner to deliver 2 ppm on August 1, by August 31 it's still delivering about 1.8 ppm.
DanF
Silver Supporter
- Mar 17, 2019
- 610
- Pool Size
- 12500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Thanks for the clarification, @sbcpool. This is another "con" for a peristaltic pump system (Stenner or other) versus an SWCG. I'm keeping a mental list of pros and cons as I'd like to install one or the other by year's end. Here in AZ bleach degradation is a real problem, especially since I will need to store it outdoors.
DanF
Silver Supporter
- Mar 17, 2019
- 610
- Pool Size
- 12500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
There is also periodic cleaning of the cell with MA. Can't recall how often I was doing it, but it wasnt trivial.
If you have room to store it in diluted form it will be fairly stable, even at 100°F (remember to use average temperature, not high temperature - the average temperature in Phoenix for yesterday was 100.1°F). A 15-gallon Stenner tank with 4% solution will still be 3.7% after 30 days in 100°F heat. In a 15,000 gallon pool that's enough to raise FC by 1.8 ppm every day for a month.
spud
Member
I've just ordered a Stenner and am getting ready to set up after reading all the info on best practices here and on some of the other threads - it really is fantastic information and very helpful. Thank you all.
Curious on your Walmart bleach source. A few questions - how do you order 50 gallons from Walmart? Do you have it delivered, pick up or buy in store? At $1.77, that's a really good price. My Walmart source is $3.30 per gallon for 10%. But I hear you on the much longer 1/2 life benefit.
Does the Walmart bleach come in 1 gallon jugs that you then must transfer to another tank? Is that a hassle and if so, how do you deal with splash and pour risk, disposal of 50 jugs. Curious on how you work the transfer and disposal.
Needing advice on this decision also - I have access to a pool store about 2 miles away that will deliver a 15 gallon carboy of 12.5% liquid chlorine for $60 ($4 per gallon) - positive here is the delivery aspect where they will take back the prior drum, and place the new one where the old one sits - a nice convenience factor. I'm ok with the higher price given the convenience factor. But the half life issue is not sitting well with me, especially in my June- Aug heavy heat months, which will affect the dosing as potency degrades. With your experience, what do you think about this tradeoff or other issues I haven't thought of.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,640
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hey spud, no help here, as I'm an SWG guy. You might start your own thread with your questions, so as not to hijack Steve's. You'll get more and faster answers that way too, as this thread is kinda old...
spud
Member
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,640
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
@spud I'd go with the 15 gallon carboy and just deal with any degradation. You have a large pool and that 15 gallons won't last long enough to degrade much. With 40k gallons, you are looking at around 3/4 gallons of chlorine a day. It's definitely worth the trial run to see how it goes.
I have been very satisfied with my Stenner pump. Steve helped me tremendously when I put in the pool, and told me what to get a year or so ago, and it has worked very well. My only complaint is hauling all that bleach up to my ranch every 2 weeks. And of course, all those gallon empties... disposing of them. Feeling a bit badly about all those plastic jugs, I'm going to change. So I'm going to install an SWG this next spring. Since I'm off the grid, I wish they made a DC direct SWG. I understand that they are DC, but they all are AC in, then using an inverter to make the DC. With Solar panels so cheap now, I'd prefer just to put a dedicated solar panel to supply the power for the SWG. If the sun is not out, then no SWG, but so what? Oh well. I'll go from my inverters to supply the AC.