SWCG output?

[larry2338]

Does anyone know the approx. chlorine output of a typical swcg in, for instance, mL/hour?
Note: Aqua Rite says it produces up to 1.45 lbs. per day. I'm not a math whiz but it seems to me that could be converted to mL/hr somehow?

[PatL34]

If you check out the Autopilot website, there is a graph on page 11 that can help you.

http://www.autopilot.com/apm/AP%20Manual%20LS%201000-1500-2000.pdf

Pat

[Poolsean]

Are you sure you're looking for ml/hr? lbs/day is a solid measurement, whereas ml/hr is more of a liquid flow measurement. However, basic math says that you can convert this to liquid measure.
A salt chlorine generators lbs/day is similar to gallons/day, as one lb of chlorine generated by a salt chlorinator is equal to one gallon of pool store bleach (10 - 12%). This means that if the salt chlorine generator is capable of producing 1lb/day, this is one gallon per day = 128 oz/day = 5.3 oz/hr = 156 ml/hr.
For your question, 1.45lbs/day = 232ml/hr

[larry2338]

The reason I asked:
In reading through this article (http://truetex.com/poolcontrol.htm) I was not so interested in his computer controlled direct injection of chlorine set-up as I was his opinions on CYA and running a pool with 0% CYA.
I was wondering if my pool could be run with very little CYA, perhaps 10ppm, with the SWCG set on a high level running 8-10 hrs/day during daylight hours. Simply trying to figure out if a SWCG has the capacity under these conditions to maintain a chlorine level of 1%-2% in my 20,000 gal pool.( It appears that he determined he needed an injection of 250 mL/hour of chlorine during daylight hours into his 27,000 gal. pool.)
So, I was just curious as to the feasibility of running very low levels of CYA in a SWCG pool.

[PatL34]

Yes you can, but only in winter. In summer you need the CYA. I generally run from 40-50ppm.

Hope this helps.

Pat

[Poolsean]

To be more exact. You can run low cya, but the chlorine will be consumed rather quickly when it goes into the pool. Which means that your swc will have to run at a high output almost of the time. Which also means that the cell will wear out rather quickly.
The fact of the matter is that running it this way will also mean that your pH will remain fairly steady.

[Looony2nz]

I think this is related...our CYA is 60ppm, however, TC, FC and CC are 0.
(new pool, salt level says 3100, has been reading 3200/3300 past 2-3 weeks since startup), thinking cell isn't producing chlorine.
It was 0 the other day, added a little liquid chlorine, it went up obviously, then 4 days later at 0 again.
Until Aquarite tech can come out (??, possibly wed.) we've added some chlorine again.....but figure the SWG isn't making anything if we have sufficient CYA.
?

[waterbear]

I think this is related...our CYA is 60ppm, however, TC, FC and CC are 0.
(new pool, salt level says 3100, has been reading 3200/3300 past 2-3 weeks since startup), thinking cell isn't producing chlorine.
It was 0 the other day, added a little liquid chlorine, it went up obviously, then 4 days later at 0 again.
Until Aquarite tech can come out (??, possibly wed.) we've added some chlorine again.....but figure the SWG isn't making anything if we have sufficient CYA.
?
Just curious, what is the output percentage that you have your cell on and how many hours a day is the pump running? Are any of the lights on the unit on?

[Looony2nz]

<<Just curious, what is the output percentage that you have your cell on and how many hours a day is the pump running? Are any of the lights on the unit on?>>

hi, output percentage has been at 90 percent (actually, when you click the readout a few times to get the actual readout, I believe its actually at 98%) since startup 3 weeks ago. Pump/filter running 9am - 5 p.m. The only lights on are the 2 green lights ("generating" and "power" or whatever) Nothing blinking or anything.

[Poolsean]

How large is your pool? Have you added anything to your pool for any algae treatments? Or any other chemicals other than chlorine and acid?

[Looony2nz]

Hi -
Pool is 10,560 gallons. Have only had to add some acid (and the chlorine) up until this point.
Just yesterday, in addition to finding out the chlorine is still zero, we JUST added some alkaline increaser (baking soda equivalent) as the alkalinity was off a bit. Is this a result of no chlorine being produced?

Otherwise, no, even last week, when the TC,FC & CC was 0, we hadn't added anything else besides acid and chlorine, everything was fine for a two weeks. The pool has only been running for 3 weeks, 8 hours a day on the pump/filter - water is crystal clear.

[Looony2nz]

have not added anything else and it is 10,560 gallons

[Simmons99]

This may be a stupid question, but what are you testing with? I have heard from others that a high Clorine level can bleach the test so that you think it is zero. Is it a drop test that will register more than 5?

[Looony2nz]

yes, I am sure it is a high quality drop test. (pool stores) but 3 different places couldn't all be wrong.

[waterbear]

Many pool stores use the Talor Water Lab or the LaMotte Waterlink. Both of these use the DPD test for FC and TC and both can bleach out with high levels of chlorine. These are not the same as the FAS-DPD titration tests for chlorine. Many test strips also bleach out with high chlorine levels...depends on the reagent that they use.

My suggestion would be to get a cheap OTO test kit (color turns yellow in the presence of chlorine) at walmart or some place like that. An OTO/pH kit can usually be had for about $5 or $6 dollars. Test the water and see if you get a reading. Post the results. IF the color on the OTO test turns dark yellow, orange, or brownish it means that your cholrine levels are VERY high and that will make a DPD test bleach out and show 0 ppm FC and TC!

[Looony2nz]

I see your point, however, we added 1/2 gallon of chlorine day before when this was an issue and now chlorine (yesterday) was at 3. so...?if it was truly sky high and was "bleaching out", then when we added the chlorine, it would just continue to show as 0.
It now reads as 3. (store test).
The aquarite tech is supposed to be out this week....I'll let ya know what happens. Actually, its just a tech from the PB, as we called Goldline and they said they can send someone out, but if its chemical related, they'll charge us.