New 40k gallon Saltwater pool/jacuzzi owner

Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I would like to get some advise.

My wife and I recently moved in to our first house which has a beautiful saltwater pool and jacuzzi (one of the main reasons we selected it). The previous owners told us that the pool guy stops by once a week or so for regular maintenance and checking etc, and the cost was about $70/month. When I finally met him he was polite and seemed honest and straight forward. A bit later he began to tell me that the pool light has water in it and to fix it would be about $400. He also mentioned that the salt levels were fluctuating a bit and he suspects the salt cell might need to be replaced soon as this one is about 4 or 5 years old. The price tag on that was $1000. These seemed a big high to me so of course I took to the internet to do some research. Turns out the salt cell (Hayward T-CELL-15) can be purchased for about $420 and is a snap to install. The light, however, might actually be $400 if he was planning on replacing the entire fixture. I did some tests and when I turn the light on, nothing happens. I made sure the breaker/GFCI was on when I did this and it remained on after I powered the light. I believe both the pool and jacuzzi light are wired and run together. At one point a few days ago I was able to get the jacuzzi light to power on, but was unable to light it again maybe an hour or so later. The breaker was still on, which is puzzling me as I would think the water would short the line and flip it, but it's not. Note that the water is about 35% high in the pool light. There is no water at all in the jacuzzi light.

Anyway, on to my questions. Regarding the salt cell, is it really as simple as it seems to replace it? If so, why would he charge me $1000? Is that a typical markup to have a professional install something this simple?

Secondly, regarding the light, since it obviously needs to be replaced, I would like to upgrade to a 3G J&J Electronics Color Splash LED Bulb. This would be perfect for our 14 year old daughters quinceanera coming up and neat to have for pool parties in general etc. This repair/upgrade seems relatively simple and not too expensive as well. Basically the cost of the bulb, and worst case scenario a new fixture as well. Assuming I would have wanted to simply replace the pool light bulb, does the original estimate of $400 seem unreasonable? I can understand paying a little extra for the labor, but neither one of these jobs seems like they should take over 30 mins to do.

Thanks!

(Sigh!) Yes, you should be able to EASILY change your cell. If you don't have cutoff valves on either side of it, you'll need to plug the return first and, if you have a sand filter, turn it to "CLOSED". In other words, you don't want to have a flood. BTW, 4-5 years of life for a cell is normal, so that's reasonable.

As for the lights, I can only guess. He may WELL need to replace the whole fixture--if it's leaking.

You should start reading here about pool maintenance. Go to our sister site Poolsolutions.com and read!
Also you should get a good test kit. We recommend the Taylor Technologies K-2006 and K-2006C (same, just larger amounts of test chemicals). Your pool service will hate us! :)

. . . membership updated.

Matt, I checked the address you registered with in Google Maps (I do this to exclude bogus registrations and spammers). See if Google has your house correct. If that IS your pool, unless the Google photo is WAY distorted, your is not close to 40,000 gallons. Measure the length, average width, and the depth 3' from the wall at both ends . . . and I'll help you come up with an approximate volume.

Matt,
Just did a DUMB thing that you should avoid: When changing the SWCG cell, only hand-tighten the new cell in, don't use a wrench.

Today, I did just that and cracked the top union ring (facepalm). Luckily, Autopilot (my SWCG brand) has seen this many, many times and rather than having to replace a $500 cell, they make a replacement repair kit for roughly $20....but now I have to wait for it to be shipped...

Arg-g-ghh!

I did say a number of unprintables! :) LUCKILY the repair kit is a split ring and hose clamp. Still....

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

. . . membership updated.

Matt, I checked the address you registered with in Google Maps (I do this to exclude bogus registrations and spammers). See if Google has your house correct. If that IS your pool, unless the Google photo is WAY distorted, your is not close to 40,000 gallons. Measure the length, average width, and the depth 3' from the wall at both ends . . . and I'll help you come up with an approximate volume.

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Hi Ben,

Yes, google maps has it correct. I was told by the pool guy that it's around 40k gallons, which is why it requires a T-CELL 15. I'll see if I can take measurements like you suggested later tonight. I would like to know for my self the approximate size of the pool. Maybe I only need a 5 and can save some more money there, who knows. How do I add the jacuzzi into the measurement since it pours right into the pool? It's not too big of a jacuzzi but should comfortably fit 6-8 adults.

Thanks,

-Matt

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Originally Posted by CarlD

Matt,
Just did a DUMB thing that you should avoid: When changing the SWCG cell, only hand-tighten the new cell in, don't use a wrench.

Today, I did just that and cracked the top union ring (facepalm). Luckily, Autopilot (my SWCG brand) has seen this many, many times and rather than having to replace a $500 cell, they make a replacement repair kit for roughly $20....but now I have to wait for it to be shipped...

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Thanks for the tip Carl. Luckily I don't think I own a wrench that large so that shouldn't be too much of a problem for me.

-Matt

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Originally Posted by Matt -- HB Cali

How do I add the jacuzzi into the measurement since it pours right into the pool?

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I don't have that map up now, but I think it was round? If so, diameter of spa + depth at seats AND approx. diameter of foot well and depth of foot well.

One more quick question. I see that in order to use the newer Hayward cells (T-CELL-3 for instance) it requires a software revision.

<snip>

Product Note: New cells require software revision: Aqua Rite Pro 1.10, Aqua Rite 1.50

<snip>

How do I check my current software version? And if I need to upgrade, is this something I can do myself or would I have to pay my pool guy $1k for it?

Thanks,

-Matt

That's a "call Hayward" sort of question: 908 355-7995 or 908-351-5400. (One of those should work.)

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Originally Posted by Matt -- HB Cali

Thanks for the tip Carl. Luckily I don't think I own a wrench that large so that shouldn't be too much of a problem for me.

-Matt

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In 12 years I never broke one, and today I broke 2! One on the cell, and another ball-valve union. Luckily for the second, I had a duplicate one and could even reuse the O-ring. Water pump slip-joint pliers can work on them, and there's a Channel Lock Oil filter/PVC pliers that's great--but that's what I was using. The Schedule 80 rated ball valve unions are tougher.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt -- HB Cali

One more quick question. I see that in order to use the newer Hayward cells (T-CELL-3 for instance) it requires a software revision.

<snip>

Product Note: New cells require software revision: Aqua Rite Pro 1.10, Aqua Rite 1.50

<snip>

How do I check my current software version? And if I need to upgrade, is this something I can do myself or would I have to pay my pool guy $1k for it?

Thanks,

-Matt

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On my Aqua Rite pressing the Diagnostic button repeatedly cycles through temp, salt level, etc, and firmware version (it will show "r1.xx).

Hope this helps.

The main board on my unit had to be replaced in 2009 and apparently came with the current firmware.

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Originally Posted by CarlD

In 12 years I never broke one, and today I broke 2! One on the cell, and another ball-valve union. Luckily for the second, I had a duplicate one and could even reuse the O-ring. Water pump slip-joint pliers can work on them, and there's a Channel Lock Oil filter/PVC pliers that's great--but that's what I was using. The Schedule 80 rated ball valve unions are tougher.

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Now you have me scared! I've always used channel locks to tighten the cell just little more than I can with my hands without any problems. Let's hope this season my luck doesn't run out (I plan to open the pool in a couple weeks).

Well, the repair kit came the next day (thanks to Salt Pool Guys) and went right on nicely! We were leaving the next day and the next morning the salt level was high enough to leave it running...in the Bahamas at the moment for a week and we have a really Really, REALLY large zero-maintenance tidal salt water swimming pool here...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CarlD

Well, the repair kit came the next day (thanks to Salt Pool Guys) and went right on nicely! We were leaving the next day and the next morning the salt level was high enough to leave it running...in the Bahamas at the moment for a week and we have a really Really, REALLY large zero-maintenance tidal salt water swimming pool here...

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Can we come? :D

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Originally Posted by JimK

Can we come? :D

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Sure!