The new casa de bludroptop has an in-ground pool - salt system.
Here's what bludroptop knows about pools: they are a lot like boats (throwing money into a hole) except you want to keep the water is inside the pool, and outside of the boat.
I've been running the filter a few hours a day and playing with the pool-bot, whose sole mission seems to be tying itself into a knot. The water is clear and blue, but I have no berkeleying clue what I'm doing. Where should I start?
I don't do salt systems and have an above ground ... but there are two places I go ...
and
I've got a spa.
I want a salt system on the new unit when we buy it.
From what I understand, the system uses an ozoniser to make chlorine from sodium chloride.
That's what I know.
Shawn
I have a pool with a salt water system. They are great. The do make chlorine from sodium chloride.
You should have a control unit mounted somewhere - mine has an LED display on it that shows certain functions (temp, salt level, etc.). Find it and check your salt level. It should be around 3%.
Get some test strips for salt pools. Check your pH and chlorine level. If chlorine is low, increase the production level (it should be adjustable on the above mentioned control unit). You also need to check your alkalinity. The strips I use give you all 3.
Chances are if the water is clear and doesn't smell, you aren't too far out of adjustment.
Enjoy!
I had an above ground. I'm glad I don't any more. I got tired of fishing the suicidal squirrels out of it.
I never had a pool.. but a couple of years ago when the house next door got forclosed upon.. the bank left the pool filled all summer. I hooked up an extension cord to run it and had free pool all summer!
I was sad when I came home one day and found it drained
mad_machine wrote:I never had a pool.. but a couple of years ago when the house next door got forclosed upon.. the bank left the pool filled all summer. I hooked up an extension cord to run it and had free pool all summer!
I was sad when I came home one day and found it drained
Hey, my house next door has a pool, too! Except it's in the basement, it's only about 3 feet deep, and most of one of the 2 story walls is in it. And mosquitoes. Lots of those, too.
No swimming pool expert am I. But I do have a few friends with pools.
Those with conventional chlorine pools spends a good bit of time and money on chemicals, and the pools stink and burn a bit.
Those with the salt or silver systems don't spend time fiddling, and the water feels real nice.
If I were to ever buy a pool, I'd be awful interested in either the salt or silver systems.
I'm interested to see if anyone else with experience chimes in. Just yesterday I picked up an above ground pool off of CL. Its' 18' in diameter and 4' deep when filled. Don't have a salt system for it though.
First order of business is filling the damn thing. Holds 5000 gallons of water. My house has a well. Going to call the local fire company to see if they'll fill it...
Had I 27' above found put in last year. We do salt in the pool and chlorine in the hot tub. The pool OS way easier to care for. I have the pump and salt system on a timer and run it 12 hrs per day. I've got the system set to produce at 60%. I take water samples by the pool store when I think about it and the sell me stuff to list in it. Usually, my levels are good. Getting the levels right to start the season took a boat load of salt but I usually just add the maintenance stuff weekly .
Have fun.
Anyone here have any info about the chemistry of salt fed chlorine generator systems? Does the non-converted salt do some of the sterilization? Do you still need stabilizer? What Cl- levels do you aim for? What is the method for controlling PH? Etc...
I was in the same position a couple years ago...first house with an in-ground pool and no experience taking care of it. The best thing I've done is get to know the folks at my neighborhood pool store (Pinch-a-Penny). They do free water testing and have been great about advising me how to get and keep the pool ship-shape. Now that I've been at it a couple years, I keep the pool pretty happy with very little effort or maintenance... a bit of chemicals every once in a while and a bit of skimming and brushing, and let the pool-bot do its thing.
I have an in-ground with a salt system, and would never, ever ever go back to cholorine. Basically I do nothing to the pool anymore except swim and test the water occasionally. If you haven't already, get a sample of your pool's water, from about 18" deep or so, and take it to your local pool store and have it checked. They can tell you what it needs if anything. You do have to maintain a certain salt level and keep the PH in check, as well as use an algicide occasionally, but that's it.
The cleaner getting tied up in knots is probably due to the hose being coiled. Lying it flat in the sun may help, or it may need new hose. I hand vaccum mine sometimes, it's relaxing.
Seriously, having a salt system makes the pool just a fun experience rather than a wallet draining pain in the rear. Enjoy!
I had a fresh water pool @ a past home and I managed a condo. complex with another one. My solution was to call in a pool specialist company to do a thorough analysis of the water and recommend the type and quantity to balance the chemicals. I seldom had problems after that. I don't see why the same approach wouldn't work for a salt system. After the visit, which I wasn't charged for, I took water samples periodically to the chemical supplier to be tested and get recommendations. Make sure you know EVERY chemical necessary to balance the water and why it's needed. Then keep them within tolerance. I assume a salt system has a test kit. Make sure you know how to use it correctly.
Re: the pool bot, there too, knowledge is your friend. Mine had drive wheels and the only real problem I had was tuning the steering jet so that it would always go straight. After that, it no longer got tangled because it ran a random pattern.
I enjoyed my pool very much and used it almost everyday in the summer. I spent about 15 min. each morning for maintenance before going to work. The commercial pool took an average of 1 hr./day or less because it was much bigger, had much more traffic, and was about 300 ft. from the Gulf of Mexico. Since it was exposed to so much hot weather and had so much traffic I encountered more problems by far. All of them were correctable though, and even there I learned how to keep the water crystal clear.
Another reason I think that I had success with my pools was that on the recommendation of the pool specialist, I ran my filter system continually.
Have fun with your pool and enjoy it.
I miss having a pool, enjoy.
Oh, one other thing about filter running time...I would suggest a minium of about 8 hours a day. For most sizes, that is the time to roughly turn the entire pool contents over once. Running it 24 certianly couldn't hurt, and will keep your water nice, but it does add to the costs as it shortens the life of the generator cell. I run mine about 10 hours a day, and it is never cloudy, never turns green, and is always spot on chemical-wise.
Except for testing your salt content, a decent cholorine kit will test everything you need to do weekly. I take a sample to my local store once a month for an indepth analysis though. It only takes a few minutes, or like Grafin10 said, some stores will come out and test for you. Around here they don't do it for free though, there is usually a charge associated with it, but they can adjust it while on site.
Have you checked it for bodies?
We put up a 15 foot above ground pool at my mother's house three summers ago. Before filling it, I plumbed in an Intex saltwater generator (about $200) and that thing works great. Once the pool is opened each spring, maintenance is very minimal. For that size pool, the generator only needs to run about 3-4 hours when the chlorine level tests low. She tests the water a few times a week and runs the generator probably weekly.
The only specialty chemical she's had to purchase is cyanuric acid (chlorine stabilizer), but hardly any of it is needed so the 2lb bottle will last a few years. She gets the salt from the pool store too, but you only need to add any if water is lost. For controlling the other aspects of the pool, you need baking soda (pH up/total alkalinity), soda ash (pH up) and muriatic acid (pH down) which are all available at the hardware store.
MrJoshua wrote:Anyone here have any info about the chemistry of salt fed chlorine generator systems? Does the non-converted salt do some of the sterilization? Do you still need stabilizer? What Cl- levels do you aim for? What is the method for controlling PH? Etc...
I can't help too much on the chemistry, but we have a salt pool and it's pretty easy. I virtually ignore the thing and it keeps the pool pretty much in check. As someone else in the thread mentioned, I too utilize the service at Pinch a Penny to have my water tested every 2 weeks or so. 100% of the time the PH comes back as high when tested, so I am instructed to add a few cups of muriatic acid (~13,000 gallon pool). They also suggest stabilizer every so often, and, on rare occasions, calcium hardener. I check the salt level too, and dump a 40 lbs bag of salt in every few months.
In reply to dyintorace:
Do you recall what level Chlorine and PH they get when the water is tested?
MrJoshua wrote:In reply to dyintorace:
Do you recall what level Chlorine and PH they get when the water is tested?
I don't, but I will keep the numbers from my next test. I'm headed up to P-A-P this weekend.
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