SWG Update

[setsailsoon]

There sure seem to be a lot of people switching to salt pools and I've had mine about 15 months so thought I'd give an update:

• The unit I installed is a Circupool RJ30+. It has been running at 40% the whole time after leveling out in the first week or so and has no problem staying at target or higher FC.
• I opened the cell at 6 months and 1 year to inspect and it looks band new. So I haven't acid cleaned it yet. I think this may be partially due to the fact that I watch my water balance closely. I stay within TFP ranges and stay slightly negative on the calculated CSI using Pool Math.
• I've been averaging about 3400 ppm salt shortly after install.
• I started with salt test strips but switched to the Taylor K1766 as soon as the strips ran out. This test is very easy to do and very repeatable.
• I don't check salt that often since it doesn't seem to change much at all... maybe quarterly or so now.
• Recently I decided to raise the salt from 3400 to 3600. Pool math calculated 21 lb. So I purchased a 40 lb bag of Morton's water softener pellets and weighed out 21 pounds. They completely dissolved in 30 minutes! Tested a few hours later and result was exactly 3600 ppm. Pool Math has been very accurate in predicting my chemical adjustments and swg settings. So why raise the salt level? Seems to make sense that running a little on the high end would be better for the chlorine cell and I've heard the TS recommend running higher in the range.
• Even with all the rain we get here salt loss seems to be about 5 lb per year or maybe a little less. Since the salt is not consumed in the pool this must all be due to the pool needing to be drained a LOT during rainy season.
• I'm really surprised at how much easier pool care has gotten with the salt system. Not sure why, maybe I just didn't realize how much trouble it was to haul jugs to the pool store and then add to the pool every other day or so.

I hope this helps and please feel free to ask any questions I haven't addressed in this post.

Chris

 

[mguzzy]

I'm really surprised at how much easier pool care has gotten with the salt system. Not sure why, maybe I just didn't realize how much trouble it was to haul jugs to the pool store and then add to the pool every other day or so.

-I can tell you why... The SWG continuously adds Cl to the water whenever the pump is running or controller is on depending on how you have it wired. I noticed when I put my SWG in I suddenly didn't have so many chem adjustments to make just cause I chucked a jug of Cl in. pH seemed more stable as well as the other levels. It just provides a more stable environment chemically.
-The amount of time you save is immense! and I am not just including time getting chlorine, that was always a quick trip for me. I can easily say the time I saved on the pool maintenance easily paid for the SWG in the first year... that's an easy calculation for me since in my job I bill hourly.
Once I got my SWG dialed in for the season most Cl adjustments were done with just a turn of the knob.. how easy is that!
-All these observations were pre TFP... and I didn't test daily back then.. only once a week. And I chlorinated twice a week. after the SWG went in and I figured out how the chemistry worked I was testing every other week unless I saw something that gave me cause to check it. Now, Its so stable sometimes I think I can test once a month.
-you didn't say anything about the quality of the water. That was a huge thing. Yeah the saltwater feels different, It turned out my daughter has very sensitive skin, and our pool was the only one she can swim in and not have skin reactions..
-So yeah I noticed a lot more people seem to be switching to SWG's this year.. or is it just me?