New Here. Going to Salt???

[kelemvor]

One other thought. The Jandy user manual says the controller is supposed to be installed a minimum of 5' off the ground. The electrian who installed my Jandy SWCG put the controller only 3' off the ground. Not sure why that matters, really, except that being lower to the ground, there's a greater chance of having rain water hit the controller, or having my lawn's sprinkler system hit the controller. When you have them do the install, be sure to tell them you want the controller installed 5' off the ground.

I believe Rain/Sprinkler moisture and of course dirt are the main reasons to keep your electrical higher off the ground. In some areas the electrical codes require them to be a certain height. You should check with your city/county and see if there are any rules about it.

[Jimmy C]

I've been a slave to the pool store for three years. I have a 29,000 gallon inground pool. Im using Nature 2 . I like the idea of the salt system keeping a steady chlorine level but the cost upfront is going to hurt a little. I am looking at the Zodiak Jandy Aqua Pure Ei. Im not finding a ton of info on them good or bad. Please go easy Ive got lots of questions. Thanks

I would hesitate before going to salt. Maybe embrace BBB, and pour liquid bleach for the rest of the season. Get a good test kit, and learn the pool chemistry needs as you wean yourself from the pool store. A typical pool owner linked to pool store advice will have run away CYA by this time of the season, that is if the primary means of chlorination is Tri-Chlor tablets. If this is the case, a partial drain and refill might be required before you get control of your pool.

Before going to salt, there needs to be a checklist of prerequisites to consider. This include: pool type, local climate (low average rainfall is bad for salt pools), pool grounding (any electrical currents flowing now between pool parts, i.e. pump, filter, heater, pool rebar, house ground, will be much worse with salt - galvanic corrosion), any metal in the water may corrode, etc. Also some heaters might cap the TDS which exclude salt systems.

Another issue with salt has to do with filter backflushing. Before switching to salt you can usually backflush into the grass. Afterward with salt the backflush will kill the grass. So what do you do? Backflushing in the street leaves a mess (IF DE) which might upset your neighbors, and discharging into the city sewer might be illegal depending on where you live.

Depending on your fill water properties, keeping the water TA (total alkalinity) < 100 ppm might require lots of acid every month. If the TA cannot be controller, then the PH will quickly and constantly rise to > 8.

Bottom line, don't drink the pool store Kool-Aid. Switching to salt has its own set of issues just like the other methods. Sometimes switching to salt might not be practical.

Jim

[Poolsean]

There's no specific code calling for 5' above ground. It's got to be 10' from the edge of the pool (for 110' volts) or 5' (220 volts), according to NEC guidelines.
I agree with not putting the controller indoor. Some will use a quick disconnect connection, rather than hard wired, so that they can remove and take the equipment indoor during the winter months.
Keep in mind that all equipment are designed for outdoor locations, but for winter snow and thaw conditions, at type of exposure would call for the need to remove and put the equipment indoor.

[BigDave]

I'm pretty sure the NEC 1999 permits placement of a recptacle for pump / circulationbetween 5' and 10' of the inner wall of the pool regardless of the voltage. As always, check with you local construction official.

[drband]

You COULD just go to an added salt pool and continue w/ BBB. The water feels better (opinion) and once you get BBB going well, your pool will reach a sort of equilibrium so that adjustments are usually minimal and you will have fewer problems keeping it balanced and sanitized. SWCG pools are not any cheaper to maintain, but may be slightly easier to keep balanced. If cost is a big factor, I would recommend sticking with regular BBB and just adding salt. You don't really need the nature2 to run a BBB pool and that is an expense you could leave off.