Salt Water Swimming Pool Chlorine GeneratorsOne of the most important things I can say to a person considering purchasing one of the many swimming pool salt chlorine generators available is this: If you have automatic controls on your pool or pool/spa combination,or are planning to get automatic controls on your pool or spa consider getting a chlorine generator that interfaces with your automatic controls. Here are a few reasons: 1)Cost...if you add a salt system to your controls you can save 2/3 the cost of stand alone unit. The reason for this is the software to run chlorine generator is already built into the controls computer,plus the automatic controls already have a transformer inside that drops your high voltage down to 24 volts needed for salt system cell. 2)If you have a wireless control system,it will tell you when there is a problem with the system,such as low water flow or low salt level without you having to even walk back to your equipment. You can also control level of chlorine production remotely. 3)Warranty...on SOME brands,if you buy automatic controls plus a chlorine generator,this will count as 2 items towards 3 needed to get an extended 3 year warranty. Another item such as a filter,pump,heater,etc will get you qualified for the 3 year warranty. A bigger unit is ALWAYS better....a bigger unit runs less time to produce chlorine so the cell will last longer-even if you have a 20,000 gallon pool consider paying a little more and getting a 40,000 gallon unit. Having a salt system like these will save you money in the long run-in addition to not having to buy chlorine products,you will need to shock very rarely since the water going through salt cell is continuously getting shocked so no more red eyes and chlorine smell.....also other chemicals such as algaecides are rarely needed. Another very important thing:if you do NOT have automatic controls on your pool,but are running the equipment with a time clock,and you have a gas heater(especially an older style with brass or cast iron headers),make sure to put a fireman's switch on your pool pump timer! This protects your expensive investment from heat damage. More on fireman switches in the link below: page on fireman switch information
Above is a Hayward unit,also known by the names Aqau Rite and Goldline. Below left is the Intellichlor chlorine generator. It interfaces with Pentair Sun Touch/Easy Touch digital controls. It is unusual in the fact that it has a flow switch and trouble shooting lights built right into the cell. Below right is a Jandy cell which interfaces with their controls. Both units can be bought as stand alone units.
I have never installed the units below,but I thought they were interesting because they were specifically designed to be an above ground pool salt chlorine generator....the link below has more information on the large photo,and if you click the small photo you can get information on that unit-the difference between the two is the smaller photo is an inline unit that uses salt in the pool water,while the larger unit has a seperate tank that houses salt tablets to generate chlorine.
Above Ground Pool Saltwater System
The above ground unit below goes on the side of pool-no plumbing needed. (CLICK PHOTO FOR INFORMATION)
The unit below is the Ecomatic brand cell. This company does not make controls,only a stand alone unit. I was told by the factory that this unit has a gas sensor that senses when there is no water in the cell,so a flow sensor is not needed. This will keep unit from running if the pump is stuck or the pump motor is burnt out or not primed,which will protect the cell from damage. I have 2 for sale on the "hot deals" page.
This is a zinc anode. It is a good idea to install one of these with your salt water pool chlorine generator system to protect metal components in your equipment such as the copper heat exchanger in your gas heater. It works by easily giving up its ions to electrolysis in the water caused by the current from the salt generator cell. For this reason,it is known as a "sacrificial zinc anode"....as an additional benefit,zinc works synergistically with chlorine to make sparkling algae free water! Note:the copper wire going to the top of unit is connected to the bonding wire....in this installation,I also bonded the stainless steel filter to protect it from electrolysis. Salt chlorine generators work by converting a low level of salt (less than human tears) into chlorine when the water passes through the cell which gives it a low voltage charge. When the chlorine is used up,it gets converted back to salt. With this type of system,you have less by-products or chlorimines to contend with,so less shocking and no burning eyes! If you want more natural water closer in comparison to inland water such as a river you may want to look at the link below:
return from pool chlorine generators to chlorine free systems
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