Was I Oversold

[tonygret]

Leslie's Sold me a Swimpure Extreme 40. Unfortunately for me, I didn't do my homework and didn't know the system was designed for pools "Up to 40,000 gallons". The problem is my pool is barely 8,000 gallons, and I am having trouble keeping the chlorine levels down. It started with a setting of 50%, then day by day, I brought it down to where it is now, at 5%. Even at that setting, I am turning the unit off completely for a day at a time. I have a two-stage pump, and I run it on the low setting for about 9 hours and the low setting for 3 of those 9 hours.

I also notice bubbles coming from the return line at low speed. The bubbles only occur when the salt system is switched on. Here is the video of the bubbles. iCloud

I went back to Leslie,s and they say you will need this size in the summer in South Florida. Besides the extra cost, I think this is way too large of a system, and I have to tend it more than a chlorine system. What to you think?

Thank you!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Tony,

You can almost never go too big with a SWCG.

I agree with Leslie's (I never thought those words would pass through my lips.. ) Just wait for summer... If you have the cell set 5% then just reduce your pump run time.

Since you are a pool store guy, I suspect that you are trying to keep your FC at 1 or 2 ppm, which is way low.

We recommend that you keep your FC in the proper relationship with your CYA. Check out the saltwater section of this chart. FC/CYA Levels

I suggest that you take a good read through our pool school and see what we are all about. Pool School

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Wow, you received accurate advice from Leslies...do yourself a favor and buy a lottery ticket. Better yet, go to vegas.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP. Hope all is well in your area after Hurricane Ian. That was a massive storm that covered much of Florida.

At TFP we recommend oversizing your salt system to allow more flexibility on pump times and SWCG % settings.
Having a 2 speed pump is not as good as a variable speed pump but still workable. Is there a reason you are running your pump for 9 hrs? You don't need to be concerned about turnover but run your pump to either produce chlorine or to skim or to run a water feature,
I would suggest only running your pump for 7 hours at low speed and adjust any time you need to run at the higher speed.
I could not find info on your specific SWCG so if you know the output of it we can help with balancing run time at 5% setting.

 

[johnnydot]

Leslie's Sold me a Swimpure Extreme 40. Unfortunately for me, I didn't do my homework and didn't know the system was designed for pools "Up to 40,000 gallons". The problem is my pool is barely 8,000 gallons, and I am having trouble keeping the chlorine levels down. It started with a setting of 50%, then day by day, I brought it down to where it is now, at 5%. Even at that setting, I am turning the unit off completely for a day at a time. I have a two-stage pump, and I run it on the low setting for about 9 hours and the low setting for 3 of those 9 hours.

I also notice bubbles coming from the return line at low speed. The bubbles only occur when the salt system is switched on. Here is the video of the bubbles. iCloud

I went back to Leslie,s and they say you will need this size in the summer in South Florida. Besides the extra cost, I think this is way too large of a system, and I have to tend it more than a chlorine system. What to you think?

Thank you!

Those bubbles are Hydrogen gas, a byproduct of the salt/ chlorine conversion.

 

[Saturn94]

I could not find info on your specific SWCG

According to the Leslies site, it’s 1.45# a day. I assume they are getting this number from Hayward.

Hayward Swimpure Extreme Control and 40K Cell | Leslie's Pool Supplies

The Hayward SwimPure Extreme Salt Chlorine Generator will keep your swimming pool clean and clear without the use of harsh chemicals.

lesliespool.com

 

[Newdude]

No worries Tony, everybody's UV is getting minimal in the northern hemisphere.

We are more than halfway to the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. Once the sun angle and duration start increasing, that oversized unit is going to be a big asset in FL.

Also, future you is gonna love it too because upsizing is wallet friendly. Doubling from a 20k unit to a 40k unit gets 100% longer life but only costs 20% more. So you basically bought 2 units, for 1.2 times the cost.

 

[Mdragger88]

Does your swg have its own timer or an external timer that is separate from the pump timer? If so just reduce your swg run time only if you still want to filter & skim for 9 hrs. If not that’s an easy add.
It is advised to have the swg wired in such a way that it cannot operate without the pump running & not just depending upon the flow switch of the swg to turn it off & on. The flow switch should only be the backup fail safe.
Got any pics of the set up?

 

[tonygret]

Thank you for all your responses!

I will try and answer all the questions raised here.

I don't consider myself a pool store guy. I take care of the pool myself and buy chemicals at Home Depot or online, with few exceptions. My CYA is a bit high right now, hovering under 70, and is dropping. I am not sure how this happened, but for the first six months of this pool's life, which is 20 months old now, Pinch-a-Penney was taking care of it while I was not living here. I fired them after checking the chemicals for the first time. An example would be they had my chlorine levels a 15 and the alkalinity near ZERO.

I have been running the pump at 8-10 hours on low speed (total) and 3-4 hours of that at high speed. My pool heater doesn't come on unless it is on high speed, so that's why the high speed has been on for so long. I got the pool installer's 8-10 hours recommendation for the summer months. The SWG is wired to the low-speed timer.

The bubbles increase the higher I have the system set, which makes perfect sense about the hydrogen bubbles.

1.45# of chlorine a day is way overkill for this small pool. I have the unit set at 5, and I still have to turn it off completely one or two days a week to keep the chlorine levels down to 5 or 6. It's still in the 90 here, so summer drags on for some time in my area. When it starts to really cool down, I have nowhere to go with the settings other than shutting down the system.

So here is the issue for me. I got the SWG, so I didn't have to go out every day and see if the tablets were dissolved to the point of needing another. Now, I am going out there daily to check the chlorine levels, fiddle with the SWG settings, and turn it on and off completely as needed. While I understand the advantages of oversizing the SWG, I swapped one set of problems for another. It seems to me that having a system five times the capacity recommended by Hayward is the cause. I called Hayward, and they say the t-15 cell that comes with my system is way overkill and said a T-9 system would still be 3X the capacity and more than I need. In other words, I could set it at 25 instead of 5 and not have to turn it off completely.

Based on this new info and the attached images, do you all still think I should stick wot this system?

System Images -

Thank you again!

 

[mknauss]

It is hard to believe that 8 hours at 5%, which is adding 0.3 ppm FC to your pool per day, is too much chlorine. Is this pool indoors? My pool, here in the desert, still is using nearly 3 ppm FC per day.

 

[tonygret]

It is hard to believe that 8 hours at 5%, which is adding 0.3 ppm FC to your pool per day, is too much chlorine. Is this pool indoors? My pool, here in the desert, still is using nearly 3 ppm FC per day.

My pool is outdoors and faces due west. It has morning shade.

 

[Saturn94]

How are you testing? Pool store tests, strips, and some kits are known to be unreliable. What FC level are you trying to maintain?

As mentioned earlier, you should be following the the Chlorine/CYA chart (Salt Water Generator tab).

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

Also, as mentioned earlier, you can reduce pump on time to reduce daily FC production.

 

[Saturn94]

It is hard to believe that 8 hours at 5%, which is adding 0.3 ppm FC to your pool per day, is too much chlorine. Is this pool indoors? My pool, here in the desert, still is using nearly 3 ppm FC per day.

Yeah, something doesn’t seem right.

 

[tonygret]

How are you testing? Pool store tests, strips, and some kits are known to be unreliable. What FC level are you trying to maintain?

As mentioned earlier, you should be following the the Chlorine/CYA chart (Salt Water Generator tab).

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

Also, as mentioned early, you can reduce pump on time to reduce daily FC production.

To be sure I was getting accurate readings, I used two different brands of test strips and the HDX test kit sold and HD. They all are in sync at about 5ppm. That's with the setting at 5% and shut off a couple of days a week. I did look at the chart, and it seems that at my CYA levels, 5 to 6 is OK. But when the CYA levels come down, which they will, that will be too much.

 

[mknauss]

I used two different brands of test strips and the HDX test kit sold and HD.

you need a proper test kit.

5 or 6 ppm FC is not too high. With a CYA of 70ppm, which you should try to maintain with a SWCG, those are the target levels.

 

[randytsuch]

test kit info

Don't trust strips. And the HDX kit won't give you reliable data at your recommended FC level.
At a CYA of 70, I'd maintain about a 7 ppm FC. Even higher won't hurt anything.

I bought my test kit from tftestkits

EDIT: Its pretty likely you can run you pump for less time too, to reduce your SWG output. Pool builder numbers look like overkill.
pump run time

 

[Toxophilite]

To be sure I was getting accurate readings, I used two different brands of test strips and the HDX test kit sold and HD.

I use the cheap OTO (Yellow) like that one on back porch just to see if have some chlorine and what immediate action might be needed. It's way off, but faster, so I only know that darker than 5.0fc and I have some time. If it reads 5.0, I can test with my reliable Taylor kit and that's actually about 2.5 - 3.0. Test strips are worse. You need a real test kit that is accurate and one for those higher maintenance levels.

 

[tonygret]

you need a proper test kit.

5 or 6 ppm FC is not too high. With a CYA of 70ppm, which you should try to maintain with a SWCG, those are the target levels.

Well, that's good news. I have about another 12 days to return this SWG system. Ill keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

So that does leave me with one question, why does Hayward sell systems for 15, 25, 30, and 40K gallon pools when everyone suggests you get the biggest one, regardless of the size of your pool? I would assume the 15K version, double my pool's volume, would be more than adequate.

 

[mknauss]

Because that is what pool builders want. But think about it, the larger cell will create more chlorine. For far less cost per unit of chlorine.

Your pool has got to be using more than 0.3 ppm FC per day.

I have a Pentair IC40 for our 6000 gallon pool. Works great.

 

[mgtfp]

Days are also getting shorter now, and the sun is not as high anymore. It's the time of the year where we all (well, not me, I'm starting to crank up, spring has finally arrived here ) have to reduce SWG output.

But definitely still more than 0.3ppm per day. Your FC might be high enough so that it all looks the same on those strips, which could hide that FC is actually dropping.