Pool Chlorination
 

I've migrated from puck (to many cyanuric acid problems) to liquid (too much measuring, testing, lugging).

Time to simplify (maybe), I'm too tied to my pool in the summer, I'd like to be able to walk away for two weeks and know the chlorine level is good.

Are the saltwater systems generally trouble free? And who makes a good one?

2 weeks? A floating tablet dispenser will handle that.

You know, every so often you just have to empty the thing and start over. Salts build up if you use liquid chlorine and you keep adding acid to maintain pH.

If I shock it and put the solar cover on it mine will last two weeks. I have a in-line chlorine dispenser and a timer on the circulation pump - on 8 hours a day.

I have salt system and love it. Costs out probably around the same, as the chlorinators are good for 2-3 seasons and then require replacement. There are $300 alternatives to the $800 Hayward units, and mine seems fine.
The Hayward system is pretty much the industry standard, haven't investigated beyond that.
Although the pool is still chlorinated, it seems "softer" and there's no odor.

Agree with you 1990C4S, shock ups the cyanuric acid leading to long term issues and having Leslies tell me I need to drain my pool. I am sticking with 2 tabs in floaters, one in the pool, one in the spa and using liquid. Typically I am needing about 1/2 gal every week. Usually need a bit of acid to adjust the PH. I will start getting hot, really hot, here in Scottsdale and I will need to up the dose. If you want to leave for a couple of weeks and no one is using the pool, then over chlorinate using liquid and let it burn off.

Clearly depends on the pool size. Mine is around 18k gals

Given the price of liquid chlorine these days, it may makee sense to invest in a salt water chlorine generator. What I did at my last house was buy a 15 gallon plastic tank (home brew supply shops sell these as does Uline, etc) and a Stenner pump with a timer and injected chlorine while the pool pump ran to maintain proper chlorine ppm for the CYA level of my pool. Work great at a fraction of the cost of a SWCG. At $6/gal for liquid chlorine/bleach these days, it's not QUITE the same "bargain", but I would probably do this again.

This is 100% accurate.... I used to have Pentair chlorinator instead of Hayward, but got tired of spending that much every 2-3 years in replacing the unit, so now I have an in-line chlorine tablet dispenser that works just as well and it's a one time $200 deal. Not much difference (locally) in monthly supply cost (salt vs. chlorine tablets), so the extra expense of replacing the chlorinator was simply not worth it to me, especially taking into account that it's on a home that I rent out.

I switched from liquid chlorine to salt/chlorine generator about 5 years ago and would never go back. It's mostly a no-brainer. At least for me it can sometimes be fiddly, especially when you get a new cell or when seasons change, lots of rain, and/or chlorine demand significantly changes. According to my manual, a cell inspection is called for about every 3 months but I push that to 6. Removal is as easy as unscrewing the couplings, pulling the salt cell, and rinsing it out IF it has some scale. As mentioned already, it's not very expensive and it is mostly set it and forget it. I agree that the water quality seems much improved with salt -- it definitely feels softer and it's definitely easier to float!

We're on our 5th year using a Pentair Intellichlor. Would never go back. Based on the onboard monitor our cell still has >60% life left (9,000 gallon pool and spa).

We have a lot of minerals in our water so I have to drain and refill annually to keep the calcium levels down. I use 4 bags of salt ($32) a year.

Salt cells lose some efficiency with colder water (<60 F) and shut off below 52 or so. I use a floater with one tab at a time during the winter. I go through 4-5 tabs each winter.

How are you measuring chlorine, CYA, etc? Sticks?

Cab says he switched to salt for correcting the same problems you have experienced. Has had it going on three years and loves it.

CircuPool salt generator.

I love my salt water pool. I rarely check the parameters and never worry about adding chlorine. Check out troublefreepool.com It's the pelican parts of pools, meaning lots of experts and info and maintaining your pool the easy way.

Yeah, should have mentioned that. I check it once every couple weeks, and occasionaly run a "super chlorinate" (usually the generator runs for a % of the pump run, mine's at 50) which runs 100% pump time for 8 hrs, and don't worry. I do add acid 1x or 2x season.
Almost never shock. 3-4 bags of salt a year, more if it rains a LOT and we get bad dillution.

In going on 4 years we've never had any issue related to pool chemistry at all. Shock when we close in October, open in April, water's clear. Start pump and go.

The stability of the system is a great advantage, really. So with the 3-400 every say 3 years and the salt, my cost to run is 150/yr plus mechanical maint.

I know that the cheap generators are available for Hayward, I'd look to see if they're available online for any other system you'd consider.

could you post a link to this system? How you installed, etc?

I invested in a Taylor test kit very much like this one: https://www.amazon.com/TAYLOR-TECHNOLOGIES-K-2006-CHLORINE-FAS-DPD/dp/B004BGF7TI/ref=sr_1_3?sr=8-3

test strips are notoriuosly inaccurate. The reagents for the Taylor kit are expensive but MUCH cheaper than the "free" water tesing Leslie's provides (in the long run anyhow).

I've got pictures of the system I installed that I'll try to find but in the meantime, I roughly followed this primer: https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/stenner-liquid-chlorine-pump-how-to-choose-and-install.169591/

I also think the caveat about using a salt system if you can is a good one with the dramatic increase in chlorine prices post-Covid.