where to start with testing SWG

[Mk3supraholic]

I bought a house /pool that has an Eco-matic esc-36 SWG installed. The previous owner was only able to tell me that it doesnt work and that they had been using regular chlorine tablets.

the pool has no salt in it at all and the control box does turn on.

I dont want to buy a new cell and find out that something is wrong in the contol box.

how would you go about diagnosing the problem or would you just buy a new control box and cell and be done with it?

thanks in advance.

 

[Jimrahbe]

MK,

My guess is that 80% of all reported SWCG problems are not the fault of the salt system, but more a problem with water chemistry or a cell that is too small for the pool.

In your case, a 36K cell is a little on the small size for a 28K pool. It will work, but will have to be run hard and long. This means that the previous owner may have used the cell up by the time you bought the house.

Here is a link to the manual which give you some ideas on troubleshooting.... https://www.poolplaza.com/manuals/Eco-Matic-Installation-Instructions-Manual.pdf

Do you plan to add salt to your pool and try to use it or take the cell out and try to run it in a tube of saltwater, just to test it? Obviously the first thing to do is visually inspect the cell and see what it looks like.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Mk3supraholic]

MK,

My guess is that 80% of all reported SWCG problems are not the fault of the salt system, but more a problem with water chemistry or a cell that is too small for the pool.

In your case, a 36K cell is a little on the small size for a 28K pool. It will work, but will have to be run hard and long. This means that the previous owner may have used the cell up by the time you bought the house.

Here is a link to the manual which give you some ideas on troubleshooting.... https://www.poolplaza.com/manuals/Eco-Matic-Installation-Instructions-Manual.pdf

Do you plan to add salt to your pool and try to use it or take the cell out and try to run it in a tube of saltwater, just to test it? Obviously the first thing to do is visually inspect the cell and see what it looks like.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

I didnt want to add a bunch of salt only to find out that its not going to work but i never thought about testing it in like a bucket of salt water.. do i just dip it in and turn the box on?

thanks

 

[domct203]

From just browsing through the manual it looks like the flow sensor is part of the cell, it will not work without water flowing through the cell.

As far as adding salt to the pool, you should check the salt level, it may be 1/2-2/3 of the needed level as all forms of chlorine add salt, as well as muriatic acid &a body sweat.

 

[Jimrahbe]

MK,

You would have to hot wire, or bypass the flow switch, to make the bucket test work. By passing the flow switch in normal operation is a dangerous thing to do. The gas could build up and with the right conditions explode. Not a real problem with running it for short time in a bucket where the gas can't get trapped in the piping.

You would just be looking to see if the cell produces gas or not.. If working you'd see a bunch of bubbles coming out of the cell...

If this were my pool, I would just add the necessary amount of salt needed to the pool to bring it up in range. I say this because no matter what I will never own a Non-SWCG pool again.. So either the cell works, or in goes in the scrap pile and I buy a new system. One way or the other I would still need to add salt to the pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.