On 2/25/2014 3:02 PM, KC wrote:
On 2/25/2014 1:55 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2014 1:32 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:


What little I have read of this thread reinforces my long-held belief
that owning a swimming pool requires more effort than it supplies
fun.


Naw, we are just debating how a pool gets chlorinated using a salt
system.

I am no pool expert but curiosity has prompted me to try to understand
the process. That said, and having had three conventional pools (two in
Florida and one up here) and one salt based system at our current pool
the advantages of the salt system are crystal clear to me (pun intended).

1. Far less maintenance. Pretty much automatic.
2. Cheaper to operate. Salt is cheap. Pool chemicals aren't.
3. Clearer water.
4. Softer water.
5. No need to inventory or store dangerous chemicals.

Only disadvantage is a higher initial cost.

I should mention however that all salt systems are not the same.
Some are manual systems and need more checking, adjustments and
intervention. We opted for the fully automatic, microprocessor based
system that senses and adjusts as requirements and demand dictate.

At the beginning of the summer season the cell is operating
approximately 55-60 percent of the time that the pool pump is on.
By the middle of the season it has dropped to about 45 percent of the
time and towards fall it is operating about 30-35 percent of the pump on
time.





Like I said.. there have been dozens of pools tried in my neighborhood
for 40 years... 99% fail because of the area and conditions. I am the
only one with a pool on our street, and coincidentally the only one of
three that has survived more than a year / I am the only one using a
salt system....

We did have one problem with the controller at the beginning of last
year. The cell for generating chlorine wouldn't work. This is the
reason I removed the cell, inspected and cleaned it for the first time
in 7 years. Turns out the cell was fine and I re-installed it.

The problem was a bad solder joint connection on the controller's mother
board. There is a relay that applies the voltage and current to the
cell and, from doing some research on the 'net, I found that there was
a known issue with the solder pad for the relay contact deteriorating
over time.

It took about 5 minutes to pull the mother board out, find the bad spot,
clean it and re-solder it. Put it back together and it worked fine
again. Meanwhile, the controller manufacturer had quoted $999.00 for a
new motherboard which, according to them, was the only fix.

That's the only problem we've had with the system since it was installed
8 years ago.