Salt Water Pool Conversion

[waterbear]

Ah-h-h. The downside of autofill units!

I think you need to fix the leak, get fresh test strips, re-dose with salt . . . and try again.

And don't forget to get the CYA back up where it belongs (for you unit that would be 100 ppm. It is best to have the CYA at the maximum of the recommended range for technical reasons (and with your autofill and backwashing filter it can even be as high as 120 ppm as long as you maintain the FC at 5% of the current CYa level so you will need to test on a regular basis with a good test kit. I strongly recommend the Taylor K-2006. Don't get a K-2005 even though it is slightly less expensive.)
I would also look into disabling the autofill. IMHO, they create more problems then they cure. One of the biggest problems is that they mask leaks until the water bill comes in!

[jskins2000]

Yeah I am nervous about the upcoming water bill. You said, "IMHO, they create more problems then they cure." What other problems does an autofill create besides masking a leak?

[waterbear]

Yeah I am nervous about the upcoming water bill. You said, "IMHO, they create more problems then they cure." What other problems does an autofill create besides masking a leak?

Isnt that enough?
Seriously, since they are constantly adding water and most have an oveflow also (as a safeguard for when they malfunction and don't shut off--notice I said when and not if!) then it means that your chemical levels might (will) mot be as stable as a pool without one. Scenerio, 4 or 5 people in pool splashing around, water level rises and water drains out overflow, autofill adds more water, salt and CYA just went down, repeat daily. IMHO, this makes maintenance of a salt pool much harder since you need to watch the salt, CYA, and borate if you use it (highly recommended btw) than without the autofill.

[PoolDoc]

Shorter version: auto-fill units hide problems you need to know about, like leaks, and create problems you don't know about, like the chemical issues Waterbear mentioned.

Ben