New member ? about shocking with an SWCG installed

[Bandit]

Hello. I've been a lurker forever but finally decided to join. I have learned quite a bit from this forum (especially the BBB method!) Thanks everybody, Another question I have regards shocking my pool. I have a IGP with a SWCG and is it ok to leave the cell plugged in when I shock my pool? I think I read somewhere that the cell needs to be unplugged before I dump all my chlorine in the pool. Will I damage the cell if it stays plugged with high chlorine levels? Just making sure. Thanks again ya'll.

James

[aylad]

Hi James, and welcome to the forum!!

I'm not an SWCG expert, but we generally tell folks to turn the SWCG off while shocking the pool--not necessarily due to damage to the cell, but because the cell has a finite amount of hours it will run, and if you're shocking with external chlorine sources, there's no need to run the SWCG and burn up cell life.

[Bandit]

Thanks Janet. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. Those things ain't cheap!

[PoolDoc]

Shocking won't damage the SWCG, with respect to the chlorine. But if you use calcium hypochlorite shock, the added calcium and alkalinity can cause scaling on the SWCG plates.

[zoffPool]

How does the Super Chlorinate function on the Aqua Rite work?

[kelemvor]

You should be starting a new thread instead of resurrecting this old one, but it sets the cell output to 100% without you having to turn the dial. Don't use it, if you need to shock then get some bleach from your favorite store or some liquid chlorine from a pool store if it's cheap. I'm guessing that in MA bleach will be far more economical. The controller on the unit doesn't really adjust how much chlorine is produced, it's more of an adjustment of how much time the cell is on or off. If you have it set to 50% and it is on for 4 hours, then the cell should be running for two of those. I'm not sure how the exact timing works out but that's a rough idea of what goes on with the percentage.