salt chlorinator

[rico]

I have a 10 x 5 salt chlorinated pool with a cartouche filtration system. The Sterilor chlorinator has a problem and may cost several hundred euros to fix.

I have noticed Chlore slow release galets that you put into the skimmer basket every week at very little cost.

Does anyone know if this will produce the same results for chlorine levels as would the Sterilor.

[Théière]

Rico, You don't put tablets in the skimmer basket unless you want an expensive repair bill for that too.

You can use a floating dispenser (flying saucer) with tablets inside BUT! these tablets contain cyanuric acid stabiliser and over a season in addition to what you have in the pool already you will end up with an over stabilised pool which will be difficult to control chemical wise and require you to part empty (75%) your pool each year.

What's actually wrong with the Sterilor? most parts are available

[AnOther]

[quote user="Théière"]What's actually wrong with the Sterilor? most parts are available[/quote]

Yes but "may cost several hundred euros to fix" could be a clue !

Even if regularly cleaned I believe the electrolytic cells have a finite life of up to 5 years.

Salt pools are frequently sold as 'fit and forget' which is a total

misnomer as they can end up actually requiring MORE attention rather

than less. Certainly friends locally have had enormous problems with

theirs largely brought on by a 'fit and forget' mindset. They have only

recently brought it under control by replacing 50% of the

water and the fitting of a new cell (roughly 5 years old) at a not inconsiderable cost.

http://scooter78.hubpages.com/hub/Sat-Chlorination-for-your-pool-Pros-and-Cons

[Théière]

Ah yes but may or may not, depends where one shops.

The 50% water replacement cured the problem, what was the problem?

With a lot of france having hard water due to limestone if you get your water correct (this can only be done with a proper pool tester not strips) then you don't necessarily want to give up too much of that water. This in the case of your friends for instance. They have a new cell and nice fresh water (50% of it) which may be quite hard water so the cell starts getting plated in calcium quicker than with the old softer water.

"Alkalinity should be checked on a regular basis. Normal levels should be between 80ppm and 130ppm. Higher levels on a Fiberglass or Vinyl Liner pools". 

Wrong, vinyl can run with a much lower Alk which keeps the pH from rising saving more on acid. Be careful what you read.

[Wils]

Stop putting salt in the pool and start putting multi-function gallets in the skimmers (or chlor lent ones). I had exactly the same problem 4 years ago and did this, no problem since, however do watch how much multi function you use or cyuranic acid levels can be a problem.

[Théière]

Multi-function or choc and lent gallets are all manufactured to be highly acidic so their addition controls the pH in the pool.  If you add them to your skimmer and do not run your pump 24/7 the gallet will continue to dissolve but the acid will attack the skimmer, the plumbing, the pump etc leading to even more expense in the future. 

All the pre packed gallets in all forms contain cyanuric acid except calcium hypochlorite versions so there is no getting away from over stabilisation.  Calcium hypochlorite adds too much calcium to the water and as the majority of water in France is already hard, limescale build up is very likely and that is hard to shift.

As the cyanuric acid level increases so must the level of chlorine to ensure a supply of free active chlorine to kill algae and bacteria, where will the additional chlorine come from? If you use twice the amount of gallets you'll also be getting twice the amount of cyanuric acid so it becomes a vicious circle.

If you go down the route of partial replacement of water then that cost should be added to the cost of multi action gallets and over 5 years that won't be far off a new salt cell

When you reach the correct CYA level (not tested with dip strips as they cannot accurately test this) switch to using Eau de javel 9.6% from a Brico. You will also need pH- to control the pH.

[osie]

We just had our pool DASS tested and for the first time it was perfect!!

Last year I used just chlor lent tablets and the CYA was already too high by August.  This year I didnt need to add any more CYA so it was just as teapot said... javel 9.6 and HCl to balance it all out; couldn't be easier.... fingers crossed.

ohh.. and I use to have a salt chlorinator but binned it when the cell broke... bloody nightmare.

[Théière]

Thanks Osie,

You should see what I can do to reduce the electricity bill for the pool, Pump 160watts = around €0.18 per day!

[Chezstevens]

There're,

What are your thru life costs for the 160W pump. €0.18 per day is great but not if the pump costs twice as much :) You have mentioned Eco pumps before, it would be nice for forum folk to have an idea of costs rather than PMs.

[osie]

With the amount of things that can go wrong round here I prefer not to touch anything until there are signs of trouble ahead... however it would be good to know the options ahead of time to be implemented in case such trouble shows its head.

[Théière]

[quote user="Chezstevens"]There're, What are your thru life costs for the 160W pump. €0.18 per day is great but not if the pump costs twice as much :) You have mentioned Eco pumps before, it would be nice for forum folk to have an idea of costs rather than PMs.[/quote]

I am putting together some info on the very subject, I realise that some regions may pay more for electric than others so some idea, maybe your electricity prices for starters.  Yes the pumps cost more, how much more depends as there are very cheap pumps around then there are regular (average ) price pumps.  Generally I would say that the pumps cost 50-70% more to cover a very wide range but the savings are sufficient to pay back the extra in a season or just over and then the savings grow to the point of complete payback.  The fact that the fine tuning results in less stress on the motor also should mean a very long life as the components i.e. the bearings are far better made than cheap pumps.

Happy to supply the data later but by way of comparison the old pump .75cv 22,000 l/hour used 713 watts and the new pump running at approximately the same 22,000 l/hour was 287 Watts but that's not the whole story as really 22,000 l/hour is too fast for the best filtration and energy conservation hence reducing the rpm of the motor and therefore the flow to a lower level reduced the consumption to 157 watts and that easily allows for the pump to run for a couple of hours extra to fully circulate the water.  It is much better to have the water circulate for longer as mixing of the chemicals and circulation of fresh chlorinated water is more important than fast turnover then stationary water because cost is the issue.

Being able to tune the pump to suit the plumbing is where the savings are made together with the pump being nearly twice as efficient as ordinary pumps.

[Wilko]

Theiere

You said "With a lot of france having hard water due to limestone if you get your water correct (this can only be done with a proper pool tester not strips)"

Which pool tester are you talking about, I find the strips a right bluddy pain, how much do they cost, and will they check everything ?

As ever thanks for your help for the technologically challenged.

Wilko

[Théière]

To comply with forum rules I will send a PM.