SWG and cold weather

[Poolsean]

You should be able to increase the salt to the highest level of their recommend range to compensate for the colder water temps. This may not work in all cases, but should help out some, before the temps fall way too low.
The reason for shutdown is to protect the cell.

[tphaggerty]

Most SWG's shut off when the water temp falls below a certain level, doesn't matter what the salt level is (my Aquarite manual says 55).

As for what to do for winter, the cell should have unions at both ends. I take everything in for the winter here in NY (fillter housing and pump go in the outside shed; filter grids, SWG cell and filter valve go in the basement). All of the electronics stay outside in there weather proof (I hope) boxes.

[Poolsean]

Think about it...if the system does not have a specific temperature sensor, how does it know what the temperature is? Well, MOST salt systems rely on what the system is putting out as amps and volts. Amps and Volts are largely dependent on the Salt Level, Cell Condition (worn out or scaled), or water temperature. These three parameters determine the conductivity level in the water. If water temperatures fall, increasing salt will compensate. Again, keep within the recommended salt range. You are correct though, most systems do shut off when it gets too cold, or more correctly, when conductivityq reduces.

[mas985]

I know that from my experience last year, once the water dropped to below 60 degrees there is very little chance of algae so I dropped my chlorine level to < 0.5 ppm all winter (no freezing here) without any algae growth. So if you can't use your SWG, then just keep a low residual with liquid chlorine or a floater.

[tphaggerty]

Well, since my Aquarite tells me what the pool temp is when it is running, I would assume that it DOES have a temp sensor. Whether is shuts off because of temp or because of conductivity, I don't know, but I'm just passing on what is in the manual.

[Poolsean]

Sorry Moderators. I don't mean to make this an issue or to have it go to the China Shop. I'm just trying to clarify the information, as in my prior position of Research and Development for AutoPilot, I had to cut apart other systems to see what they do. They do not have a temperature sensor, in spite of showing the water temperature.
They also show the salinity level, but is there a salinity meter?
*the answer is no.

Which leads back to my initial response of being able to compensate somewhat by increasing the salt level to the upper range of their recommended salt level.

[mas985]

Sean,

Although not directly related to your response, I am pretty sure that the Goldline unit has an independent temperature sensor in the cell as I have seen it protruding out just in front of the cell but inside the housing. Also, the unit will give you the cell temperature even when it is in the off cycle (i.e. not generating chlorine) which would not be possible if it did not have also have an independent sensor.