Just installed SWG, questions on salt level

[noworries]

I just installed a Aqua Rite Goldline SWG. My pool is in ground. My pool is about 35'x15' rectangular. It's 8' deep in the deep end, and the deep end is about 2/3rd of the entire pool. I used 6' as the average depth, and guess the pool is about 24,000 gallons. I just bought the house (with pool) a few months ago. Since then I've installed a new pump (Pentair 1HP Whisperflo) and now the SWG. I also drained the pool, chlorine washed it, and then filled it up again.

I bought 600lbs of salt, and dumped 500lbs in the pool yesterday. I had already plumbed the unit, so I let the salt sit and finished the wiring and powered it up. It showed 2600 ppm. I use my brush to mix the salt up and after a while, I checked it again and now it shows 1600 ppm. I have dumped the last 2 bags in.

So in summary, I've dumped 600lbs of salt in the pool, and my ppm hasn't budged from 1600. I can taste the salt in the water--so I'm hesitant to add anymore. I want to get a fancy test kit, but am unsure where to order them since everybody orders the kits from this site--but in poking around it seems there's long shipping delays.

Any advice? Could I have a really high salt level and that's what's causing the low reading? I'm guessing I should get the water tested?

[mas985]

Yes, the pool store should be able to test it for you. Also, sometimes it takes a day or two for the salt level to stabilize.

[noworries]

Went to the pool store. The container I had the pool water in fell over on its side and leaked, so I didn't have enough for a complete test.

What I did test:
Salt = 3900
FAC = 0
TAC = 0
pH = 8

Came home, still indicates 1600. Turned it to Super Chlorinate and 100% since I have no chlorine, and it said it was generating. Went over and turned the water on to fill the pool (it was low and I obviously need to dilute)--came back and it was no longer generating, but the indicator had changed to 2200.

Why do these units read inaccurately when the salinity is high? I saw another post on here about a guy who's reading was 0 or 400, and when he got it tested it was like 4000.

[roll tide]

From my viewpoint, which is that two months ago I knew nothing about pool chemistry, you should lower your ph a little and the chlorine will show up. I had 8.2 ph and 0.3 chlorine. After a lot of grief and studying, I added enough acid to lower my ph to 7.4 and it raised my chlorine to 1.9 or so.

[waste]

Noworries and roll tide, welcome to the forum, good choice - with what you can learn here, pool ownership will be easier and your water will be better (the only downside is that your spouce will want to take an expensive vacation with all the money you save ;) )
Noworries, you started out fine only adding 5/6 of what you thought was the recommended salt (aparently your pool is less than 24,000 - try using 5' as the av depth). The 2600 you first saw was the factory preset - every unit shows 2600 when you first turn it on - even if there is no salt in the pool. Where you lost your POP (pool owner patience) was when you added the other 100 lbs before verifying that the 1600 readout was accurate. With salt at 3900, the unit may decide that it doesn't want to make you chlorine (High salt light on steady means it won't generate, if the light is flashing the unit will still make chlorine but it'd prefer less). You can add more water to the pool to dilute it some (if the light is just flashing), though it seems to me that a partial drain and refill (using the 'plastic sheet method' discussed here will reduce the amt of water you need to drain).
I'm done scolding and will now (hopefully) enlighten you as to how to play with the generator. The number you see when you first open the controler is the average salinity over the last 100 minute cycle that the unit has run. If you get a 'screwy' number on the display pannel press the 'diagnostics' button next to the display 5 times
(what the presses represent, by # of press:
#1- Water temp
#2- voltage to cell
#3- Amps to cell
#4- % output -ie what the knob is set to
#5- Instant salinity (the ppm of salt in the water passing through the cell RIGHT NOW) for some reason it has a "-" in front of it))
(If the unit is not generating #2 - 5 will show as '0', when this happens turn the knob to 100 and wait a minute)
The 'instant salinity' is useful because it shows what's going on right now. Salt water is heavier than fresh water so if you've just gotten an inch of rain and only the skimmer is on, the salinity will show as low because you're pulling fresh water off the top of the pool. Always let the water circulate,constantly - drawing off the main drain, if applicable, for 24 hrs after adding salt before
making any more salt adjustments. Try to record the increase per bag when adding new salt the first few times, it'll give you a very good idea of your gallonage and what X lbs of salt adds to your pool.
I hope I've covered your ? but if you need more help, or just want to bounce an idea off of me, I'll be here :) -Waste

ps - did you add cya, if not get 5 lbs into a sock or a ladies 'knee high' (if you use the kneehigh it will probably take 2 to hold 5 lbs) and drop it in the skimmer (tie off the top so the cya doesn't escape).

[noworries]

I had the feeling that the salt display wasn't current. I've found that by moving the switch from OFF to AUTO or SUPER does get it to update--but now that I know where to get the instant reading that's ideal. The display shows 2500 now, instant is 2600, and it's generating chlorine.

I added a 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid and a bunch of water. So now I'm just going to let it run and see where it settles to. I'm also going to take another sample to the salt guy.

Thanks for the info. I must have glazed over the instant reading in the manual... I did find out that the Diag button changes the display to display those other things--but hadn't seen that instant salt reading in there!

[waste]

Noworries, no worries ;) The manual doesn't read very well. Don't worry about adding more water if you are at 25 - 2600, you actually want to add more salt. (You are at a level that will generate chlorine so add the salt slowly and wait a day or 2 and see what the increase is, the display goes in 100 increments so adding 40 - 60 lbs at a time will give you a better idea of what each bag of salt will do) Please don't forget the cya - I like 30 -40, but there is some debate on this site as to what level is optimal, especially for SWGCs - also Goldline wants you to keep 60 - 80, if you tie the cya to salt at a ratio of 1lb : 100lbs you should fall within my range, but just double it to get to theirs.

[noworries]

I took some water in this morning. Here's what they tested:
Chlorine = 0.5
pH = 7.8
TA = 180
Calcium = 150
CYA = 50
Salt = 3600

The instant salt display on the SWG read 3000-3100.

They tested the salt with both an instrument (digital) and a strip--and they were both 3500-3600.

I ran the pool almost all day with it set to 100%, and added the other 1/2 gallon of acid. Tested the pool this evening myself, and the chlorine and acid levels are in the ideal range.

I'm not sure what I should do about the salt reading being off. At least it appears to be generating chlorine now--but if it reads so innacurate that it shuts itself off when it shouldn't--any recommendations?

I guess I should call the mfg on Monday?