thoughts on autopilot SWG level

i have a bit of a challenge. i have yet to start my autopilot as my chlorine level up until today has been way high from the shocking prior to installation. i will start to run it by tomorrow and my guesstimate is i'll be about 3ppm (it was 5 yesterday) the challenge i have is i'm out of town for a week starting monday, and i'm trying to get a sense of how high to set the output level while i'm away. i've read 50% is not a bad place for startup..but i'm guessing that that'll be high given it will be at 3 level when i fire it up. my pool is about 12,000 gallons, cya level of 60-80 if anyone has advice? i want to keep it up so i don't get algae, but don't want it really high of course for sake of other equipment and why run it higher than i have to? if it helps, i note that it is expected at this point between 14 and 24 next week (celcius). enough reason if it gets that cold to shut my heater down before i leave, anyway:)

thanks

T

So if you err on the side of caution and run it high, that will still be a lot lower and less chlorine than wiping out an algae bloom would take.

... or get some jugs of bleach and have someone dump one in the pool every second day as an interim measure until you have a better feel for the system.

Run it high, 50% or so. Much easier to let the chlorine go away than to build it up.

I have recently run into much higher chlorine levels with my Aquarite because the water temp has dropped dramatically due to the rain and we have started putting the cover on due to colder nights. FC went from normal 4 to about 11 or 12 over 3 or 4 days. I just turned the SWG way down and opened the pool, with the sunlight on it, the FC will drop by itself, even with a high CYA.

sounds like good advice guys..thanks..i was more concerned i might get 30ppms or something at 50%:) silly me i guess..thanks!

hmmmm, at cell power 3 you will way overchlorinate. Drop it to cell power 1 @50% while you're away. When you get back, you can play with the % at cell power 3.

damn..i had an edit all written up and hit the wrong button..so, riddle me this:

- power level 1 extends cell life..i think i get that. why would i ever want to run it on any other power level..unless, my guess is a higher power level is required to maintain output level as the cell gets older, gets scaled, etc.

-is it a fairly safe correlation to say for example, that a power level 1 setting of 5 volts divided by power level 2 6.4 volts x the output setting in % (i.e. 50%) is an ok ballpark relationship to make. doing the math on this example, 50% on power level 2 is 40% of total available output on power level 1.

-is it easier on cell life then to run it at power level 1 and say 60% than it is to run it at power level 2 and 50%..(assuming those are fairly equivalent chlorine output levels resulting)

i had had it on power level 2, about 20% given my chlorine level was 3-4 ppm today..but i've now switched it to power 1 and 50%.

also, i don't understand any recommendation to set the cell at power level 3 to play with it ...no offense intended..i assume this is akin to the commerce of selling razorblades to a certain degree, but i never intend to set it to power level if i can avoid..if i want to shock,it's always going to be with liquid bleach as necessary..now, i am making an assumption that power level 3 is never necessary under normal circumstances..but haven't had the unit long enough nor will it be running in the hot dog days of summer this year to prove my theory:)

more i think about it,it sounds like it's really designed to cover a variety of conditions...cool weather, hot weather, no evaporation, lots of evaporation and wind..and adjust for a person's particular circumstances as necessary:)?

Here is what is recommended for the Pool Pilot system:

Set the Purifier % at 50% on the factory setting of Cell Power 2. Adjust the output up or down as needed, depending on the chlorine level.
IF you end up at 25% or lower, Lower the Cell Power to 1 and start again at 50%.
IF you end up at 75% or higher, Increase the Cell Power to 3 and start again at 50%.
Make your adjustments again, depending on the chlorine test results.

This should keep you in the middle range so that there is a good amount of fluctuation for the Automatic Temperature Compensation to adjust up and down as the temperature changes.

If you're starting with an upsized cell, you can start off at Cell Power 1 and 50%.

my cell isn't upsize, so that's not an issue (12,000 gallons and the sc-36 cell)

sorry sean..don't know what you mean by "if you end up 25% or lower" etc. i assume you mean after playing that if the setting for the chlorine level i want (say 2-3ppms) corresponds with 25% setting on autopilot at power level 2, then look at power level 1 -50%..correct?

if so..then hot damn, that makes sense..

otherwise, it's going to have it's first full cycle tonight..i'll check my level tomorrow and go from there. i'll leave it at power level 1 and 50% tonight but i likely won't get a good sense i imagine on where to go until monday in which case i would likely just set it for 50% until i return as we will get some hot weather this coming week before it cools off latter part of the week.

just want to ensure i don't have an algae bloom to delay shutdown in a few weeks.

would this be a normal function of the autopilot that i had the setting at power level 1 and 50%..the pool went from 80 yesterday morning to 77 today (done running heater aside from if it freezes) and the autopilot i noticed this morning is one led lower than the 50% and i hadn't touched it.

so my guess is that it was done by the autopilot to temp compensate? also, if that is the case, does it compensate for temp rises up as well as down? and what is the approximate variance of temp that causes the autopilot to do so..(i.e. 3 degrees?)