So here's another new experience for this new pool owner. Here in Houston the weather has finally started to get colder. As of the last few days it's dipped into the 50's and stayed there. I checked my Jandy PDA and my water temp is at 60 degrees. It says my AquaPure is at 70%(which is what it always says), Salt 2400 PPM Check AquaPure (low Salt). So I started reading the manual and I'm confused if I need to do anything at this point? Some of the statements were remove it, or shut it down and buy a floater to add tablets of chlorine. I checked my Chlorine and it's between 3 -5 on the strip, PH is low for a first as well. Any advice is appreciated.
Winter Time aquapure plc1400
- Thread starter danman
- Start date
Add a few bags of salt. Turn the AP down to about 20%. Run the pump less to save electric. Check the chlorine levels in a week or two. The apure will stop making chlorine at 52 water temp because you hardly need any chlorine with cold water.
SWGs for pools cannot generate FC at low temps which you are approaching now, but you can supplement with Bleach if you desire. Algae won't grow as well in low temps either, but it's good practice to maintain a minimum. To know what you really have, you really need to use a good test kit versus relying on strips, especially ones for multiple analyte results. I would not suggest using floaters without knowing what your Cya (for starters) actually is.
Pool Clown
In The Industry
+1 on getting rid of the strips...
Add salt only after an independent test of the water to confirm that your level is low. When the temp drops so does the accuracy of the on-board sensor. ESPECIALLY the A/P units. One thing to keep in mind, if the A/P was running earlier in the summer with enough salt, and you have not lost a significant amount of water, chances are the salt level isn't as low as the unit is reporting. If you have a spa attached to the pool, put it into spa mode and heat it up to 70~80 and see if the unit begins to report accurate salt levels. If your level is still low with the warmer temp, i wouldn't worry about the salt until spring time, when you will need it.
Add salt only after an independent test of the water to confirm that your level is low. When the temp drops so does the accuracy of the on-board sensor. ESPECIALLY the A/P units. One thing to keep in mind, if the A/P was running earlier in the summer with enough salt, and you have not lost a significant amount of water, chances are the salt level isn't as low as the unit is reporting. If you have a spa attached to the pool, put it into spa mode and heat it up to 70~80 and see if the unit begins to report accurate salt levels. If your level is still low with the warmer temp, i wouldn't worry about the salt until spring time, when you will need it.
Thanks for the info guys. I do have a test kit and I normally use it. I bought some strips b/c my kit won't test CYA. I plan on picking a new kit up or the chemicals to test it asap. We have had a lot of rain this last week, and I have noticed my overflow letting water out to the street. I think the past 3 days we got about 3 -4 inches of rain on my side of town. then the week before I noticed it was draining as well. So I'm guessing that's why my salt level has fallen. So I know I need several things after this conversation. I need a new kit, I need a way to supplement my CYA, and I need to add some salt to the pool. Thanks!
Another question, reading my pump manual there is no winter mode, and my cell manual says running the cell in temps below 51degrees could damage the cell. Should I just unplug the 3 prong plug so the cell won't energize in that scenario?
- May 23, 2015
- 24,410
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I think you may be reading the manual wrong.
The manual states that chlorine production is "not permitted" below 51F which would imply that the controller will not allow the unit to make chlorine. The manual also states that the "SERVICE" indicator light will come on when the water temp is too low (they should really have a separate light for that other than "service" but oh well...).
I believe they are warning you about damaging the cell because the manual indicates that using "BOOST" mode can override the temperature lock out for 24 hours and that knowingly using boost mode when the water is cold can cause damage. Perhaps Jandy should not allow that kind of operation in the first place, but again, oh well....
If you are concerned about the cell freezing at all, then I would simply unplug the unit and remove it from the plumbing. Pentair makes a winterization "dummy" tube that you can pout in place of the cell in the plumbing. Jandy may have something similar. SWGs don't function well in the winter so if you keep your pool running, simply use manual chlorination with bleach. The water is so cold that you'll hardly have to add bleach. I typically use about 3 gallons of bleach then entire winter. My SWG hasn't run for over a week now and my FC has been at 4-5ppm the entire time. So there is very little FC loss in a clean, cold pool.