SWG/Start up Advice

[combsone]

We're coming up on 1 mo. of having our pool built and I need advice on how to start up my SWG. All the help that I have gotten so far has been great, but I need some more. I haven't and probably don't have too much time to research and do as much searches on this site since we just had an unplanned 2 yr old drop into our lives out of the blue (I'll spare you the details). So any hand holding will be greatly appreciated.

Thus far, I've been keeping my FC at 3 and my pH around 7.6 - 7.8. I also have my TA - 110, CH - 275, CYA - 30. I've only added the CYA, monitored FC and pH, brushed, and vacuumed per NPC start up guide. Do I need to start messing with other chemicals to adjust other things per Pool Math? Now to my SWG....I have that Taylor Salt Water Test Kit so do I need to test the water for salinity first before doing anything? Do I just turn on my SWG on my ScreenLogic app on my phone? Settings? I probably will have more questions so please feel free to let me know of anything else I need to do. Although my time is limited on researching multiple threads as I have in the past, I don't mind reading links. Thanks again!

COMY

 

[ajw22]

Raise your CYA to 60-70.

Add salt to get your water to around 3200 ppm. That will take about 360 lbs of salt. Nine 40 lb bags. You don't need to test fresh water for salt. Don't get Clorox pool salt as it has been known to stain pools. Salt - Further Reading

Add 2/3 of what yout hink you need, let circulate for 24 hours, and see what your salt level is. The IC40 will be happy and turn on its green light with salt level at 2800 ppm or higher.

Keep your SWG off while adding salt, let salt dissolve for at least 24 hours with pump running before turning SWG on.

What is your pump daily run time? Running your IC40 at 40% for 12 hours a day will give you 2.5ppm of chlorine.

 

[combsone]

Ok. So do I add 2/3 of the 360 lbs. of salt so 240 lbs. first? Right now I run it at 2200 rpm from 8 to 5. I don't know if that is ok. It's what the PB scheduled it for although, he said I can change it to run higher at 3000 rpm for 5 hours. I also turn on the spillover at 1600 rpm. I don't know if you needed to know that, but I just mentioned it because I know that it affects the circulation of the water.

Also, I noticed on the ScreenLogic app that for the IC40 it's set at 50% pool output and 0% spa output. Do I leave that? What's Super Chlorination? Thanks for the help.

 

[ajw22]

240 lbs is right on target for 2200 ppm. So a bag of salt is giving you 366 ppm. Add 2 more bags to get around 2,900 ppm.

IC40 at 50% for 9 hours will give you 2.3 ppm/day. You can start with that and if your FC is dropping then bump the % up a bit.

0% spa output is fine.

If you select super chlorination it will run your SWG at 100% for 24 hours. With your 9 hour pump runtime that would give you 4.6 ppm of chlorine.

Your pump speeds are fine.

 

[mguzzy]

Raise your CYA to 60-70.

Add salt to get your water to around 3200 ppm. That will take about 360 lbs of salt. Nine 40 lb bags. You don't need to test fresh water for salt. Don't get Clorox pool salt as it has been known to stain pools. Salt - Further Reading

Add 2/3 of what yout hink you need, let circulate for 24 hours, and see what your salt level is. The IC40 will be happy and turn on its green light with salt level at 2800 ppm or higher.

Keep your SWG off while adding salt, let salt dissolve for at least 24 hours with pump running before turning SWG on.

What is your pump daily run time? Running your IC40 at 40% for 12 hours a day will give you 2.5ppm of chlorine.

yo Allen.. this is about the best, and most succinct SWG start up procedure I've seen posted.. ya'll should make an WiKi entry for it (if its in there I couldn't find it) considering how often this is asked...thx
-Bring up CYA
-Bring up NaCl
-Bring up CL
-Turn it on, and calculate runtime.

 

[ajw22]

yo Allen.. this is about the best, and most succinct SWG start up procedure I've seen posted.. ya'll should make an WiKi entry for it (if its in there I couldn't find it) considering how often this is asked...thx
-Bring up CYA
-Bring up NaCl
-Bring up CL
-Turn it on, and calculate runtime.

It is actually all here with a few more words around it...

Water Balance for SWGs

Saltwater pools are becoming more and more popular. We discuss How salt generators work and water balance tips for SWGs to run them.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mguzzy]

Yeah that's it... I guess was looking for something more specifically titled "SWG Start up" since it seems to be a common question...

And thank you to Comy for letting me commandeer your thread to ask this.

 

[combsone]

Yeah that's it... I guess was looking for something more specifically titled "SWG Start up" since it seems to be a common question...

And thank you to Comy for letting me commandeer your thread to ask this.

No problem! BTW I'm turning 40 on your anniversary date! I read that Water Balance for SWG article. It says keeping my TA from 60-80 is important. But then I've also read where you don't lower TA to reach a target. So is it important only if calcium scaling is an issue? Also, I was going to pick up the $5 Diamond Crystal Water Softener Salt Crystals in the blue bags from HD. Those will suffice, correct? Thanks!

COMY

 

[ajw22]

I read that Water Balance for SWG article. It says keeping my TA from 60-80 is important. But then I've also read where you don't lower TA to reach a target. So is it important only if calcium scaling is an issue?

Your overall water chemistry and CSI as calculated by PoolMath determines how much you need to focus on adjusting your TA. These things are not one size fits all which is why you see conflicting recommendations in different areas.

It is better to be preventative, if you can, then wait for a scaled cell.

In some pools getting TA down is easy, so do it. In other pools, usually due to high evaporation and high TA fill water, it is a losing battle.

Your CSI runs in the positive. It would be better if you got it below 0.

What is the pH and TA of your fill water?

 

[combsone]

When it first filled it up, the ph was 8.0 and the TA was at 160. But Im not sure I knew how to test the water yet because the following day the TA was 120 and I had done nothing to it. Ph was 8 still.

 

[ajw22]

Fill water TA of 120+ will make it a losing battle to maintain a TA of 60-80. So you do the best you can and see how your SWG does.

 

[mknauss]

Fill water TA of 120+ will make it a losing battle to maintain a TA of 60-80. So you do the best you can and see how your SWG does.

Not a losing battle, but a consistent acid add regimen! My fill water TA is 130 ppm with about 1 to 1.5% water loss each day due to evaporation during the summer. You just have to add acid regularly to reduce pH and maintain a lower TA.

 

[Dtkokay]

At the risk of telling you something you already know, your FC of 3 with a CYA of 30 is just above the recommended minimum. The minimum and target FC rises as CYA rises.

As for how long to run your pump and SWG, keep in mind that the amount of chlorine generated by the SWG is dictated by the % you set the SWG and how LONG you run the pump. Increasing the pump speed will not increase the chlorine generation by the SWG (although the SWG does need a minimum pump speed in order to operate).

For a concrete example, your are currently running your pump at 2200 rpm. Once you convert to your SWG, running the pump at 3000 rpm will NOT generate more chlorine by the SWG (assuming that 2200 rpm is above the SWG's minimum flow speed).

 

[combsone]

Not a losing battle, but a consistent acid add regimen! My fill water TA is 130 ppm with about 1 to 1.5% water loss each day due to evaporation during the summer. You just have to add acid regularly to reduce pH and maintain a lower TA.

I don't think I would have an issue adding acid regularly, especially since the chlorine part should be technically take care of. Should I reduce my ph to the 7.0 - 7.2 range when I add the acid?

At the risk of telling you something you already know, your FC of 3 with a CYA of 30 is just above the recommended minimum. The minimum and target FC rises as CYA rises.

I believe (but could be wrong since I'm a newbie) that I was just at the minimum because I was still in the 1st month of my pool build. So now as I raise my CYA to 60-70 I will just follow the recommended levels on the FC/CYA chart. Am I on the right track?

 

[mknauss]

Should I reduce my ph to the 7.0 - 7.2 range when I add the acid?

I typically lower my pH from 7.8 to 7.2 or so when I add acid. That keeps my TA at around 70 or so most of the time. You do have to do the add acid / aerate dance to drop the TA at first. I only do that when I exchange out my water for high CH.

 

[bmoreswim]

Also, I was going to pick up the $5 Diamond Crystal Water Softener Salt Crystals in the blue bags from HD. Those will suffice, correct? Thanks!

COMY

That works perfectly. It should say Solar Naturals.

 

[combsone]

Since it was a 3 day weekend and we had company over, I held off on the SWG start up. I did buy everything needed today and started adding the CYA. Do I have to wait for the CYA to dissolve for the 24 hours before I add the salt? Or can I add everything at the same time? I haven't researched adding the salt, but are there any tips on the process? On a side note....should I add some calcium chloride to raise my CH up from 275? Thanks for any help.

COMY

 

[mguzzy]

You can add the salt anytime. make sure you test first so you don't over shoot your target. Add about 3/4 of what you calculate to make sure you don't go over. I found if I add it to shallow end and sweep it to the deep end most of it is dissolved before it makes to the other end of the pool. Then run you pumps to ensure good mixing.. that's it.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

My advice after just starting up a SWCG is to first measure the existing salt level. It might be almost none because your pool is so new, but I would do it anyway. My pool was completed in September 2019, and it was already up to 800 ppm salt just from what was already in the water plus the bleach from TFP. So in my almost the same sized pool I only have to add 7 bags. Especially if you run water softener salt you want to stop short a bag or so and let it mix up for several days. I finally settled in at an almost perfect for my cell (Circupool) of 3500 PPM but my measurements varied widely for several days (+/- 400 PPM!). I almost added another bag... I am glad I didn't. If you are at a point where the cell is generating, stop. If you then want to adjust for the center of the range, wait at least a week or two before topping it off. You pool might circulate and mix better than mine. But there is at least on other member here who had issues with the mixing of the salt in recently... it's always better to have to add some more than to have to drain water. The conservative approach here is the correct one. Good luck.

 

[combsone]

My advice after just starting up a SWCG is to first measure the existing salt level. It might be almost none because your pool is so new, but I would do it anyway. My pool was completed in September 2019, and it was already up to 800 ppm salt just from what was already in the water plus the bleach from TFP. So in my almost the same sized pool I only have to add 7 bags. Especially if you run water softener salt you want to stop short a bag or so and let it mix up for several days. I finally settled in at an almost perfect for my cell (Circupool) of 3500 PPM but my measurements varied widely for several days (+/- 400 PPM!). I almost added another bag... I am glad I didn't. If you are at a point where the cell is generating, stop. If you then want to adjust for the center of the range, wait at least a week or two before topping it off. You pool might circulate and mix better than mine. But there is at least on other member here who had issues with the mixing of the salt in recently... it's always better to have to add some more than to have to drain water. The conservative approach here is the correct one. Good luck.

I just added the salt in this evening before I saw your post. I had bought 9 bags and decided to go conservative and dumped in 7 of them. I guess it's a good thing I was cautious. I didn't measure the salt level prior though. I'll keep everything else you said in mind. Thanks!