Original SWG dying?

[CarlD]

I don't know the Intex SWCG, and I'm not the SWCG expert, but I'll bet you've been running your unit 'WAY too high! With a CYA of 70, your FC target is 3.5ppm or more, not the 5ppm -10ppm range in the Best Guess table.
Generally, you do NOT want to depend on your SWCG solely for chlorine generation for just that reason: You shorten the salt cell's life. So you should be adding bleach or liquid chlorine when you need additional, and run the SWCG to keep the maintenance level, and no more.

I don't like to say bad things about Intex, and I won't because I happen to think they make a GREAT product for what it is: Inexpensive starter pools and equipment, even though filters tend to be inadequate. My first pool was an Intex donut and it gave us 3 great years and didn't owe us a dime. BUT...their mechanical equipment isn't robust, isn't designed for being pushed to its limits and is always a bit suspect. I suspect you've pushed your SWCG far beyond its capability.

[Hermskii]

Agreed. Thank you for your response too. I have taken my FC back down to target of 5 and will supplement with Clorox as needed. Thanks again! I did the math too and here is what I found and a few others stepped in and helped with this also:

If I want my SWG to replenish the 3.0 FC I lose each day PoolMath dictates I need it to produce 2.2 oz of chlorine gas. There are 28.3495 grams in 1 oz of chlorine gas. If I multiply that by 2.2 oz
it equals 62.3689 grams of Chlorine gas. I then need to divide that by the amount of chlorine my SWG can produce being 12 grams/hr which is the same as saying 62.3689 divided by 12 = 5.19 hours.
I found my SWG can't be expected to do this. Also I need my FC to be about 5 so I run it for 3 hours and get about 1.5 FC which it is expected to produce each day. I'll add the rest myself via Clorox.

Thanks again!

[Hermskii]

The replacement SWG died too around March 1st. Intex replaced it under warranty but made me send in the old one first which cost me about $40 to get it there via 2 day ground. The new one is installed and working well so far. I bought some plastic shelving and have it inside of it by the pool. No direct sun hits in a very little rain coming in sideways touches it. I'll be doing more to keep it dry over the next week so. I'm glad to see this forum is back up. I lucked out and checked and it was up and running again. I know about the other big pool forum out there but feel that having more than one choice is good. Please keep this forum running.

[kelemvor]

So that's about 8 months, right? Seems like an extremely short lifespan. Maybe that's how Intex SWCG are, I don't know. However since we don't see massive numbers of people here complaining about short lives of intex SWCG I'd start looking at your electricity. Do you have frequent brownouts/power surges? It MIGHT be worth checking out. Blackouts themselves shouldn't be a big deal but a brownout or a surge would.

If you still use any incandescent light bulbs, do you have to replace them often? Do you have an unusual (in your own opinion) number of electronic failures in your house? Those can also be symptoms of power problems.

[Hermskii]

You make an excellent point. I will do that and report here if I find anything odd. Thanks!