Thinking of making a solar powered chlorine dosing system for my pool. Advice?
 

I'm considering buying a solar panel, charge controller, battery, timer, and 12 volt pump. The controls and pump would be placed in a box under the deck along with a 30 gallon holding tank. I figure I'd need to run the pump about 2 minutes twice a day to dispense about 1/2 gallon of bleach daily to keep my free chlorine in the 3-5 ppm range once my stabilizer is up to par. I'm just not sure how to size the panel and battery. Any advice?

https://www.amazon.com/SUNER-POWER-Watts-Solar-Panel/dp/B07L8G42ZP/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_pm?crid=2R91H86DCLT4M&keywords=sol ar+12+volt+battery+charger&pd_rd_i=B07L8G42ZP&pd_r d_r=43cbbd17-52e8-4f6f-93f2-5999e3c9109e&pd_rd_w=CG9Dk&pd_rd_wg=3JILr&pf_rd_p= 64aaff2e-3b89-4fee-a107-2469ecbc5733&pf_rd_r=TCKA5VEJ5XB6Q64CH0F5&qid=1560 457355&s=gateway&sprefix=Solar+12+volt%2Caps%2C171

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Priming-Peristaltic-Aquarium-Chemicals-Additives/dp/B07J2JDT54/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=12+volt+dc+peristaltic+pump&qi d=1560458142&s=gateway&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.com/12v-10Ah-SLA-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B004WENYYE/ref=sr_1_3?crid=255VUVBCD1UEZ&keywords=12+volt+10a h+rechargeable+battery&qid=1560458266&s=gateway&sp refix=12+volt+10+ah+rechargeable+battery%2Caps%2C1 69&sr=8-3

Have you considered a Liquidator?

https://hasapool.com/liquidator-feeder/

Why not convert to salt. Best thing I ever did. Once you add the initial amount pretty much done

Agree. I've been swimming all my life and the saltwater type is so much better.
If you haven't compared the two, try one out.

I have been looking at all sorts of ways to chlorinate my pool and I am going to convert to saltwater.

Connect it to Azure and use IoT sensors to measure the chlorine so it can adjust the dosage. :)

I'm considering a SWG. I was told to buy a system roughly twice as large as needed so I'd need a about a 40K setup (pool is 18500 gallons). The price doesn't bother me but I was told to figure on replacing the cell every 5-7 years which is another 4-$500 and I'm not sure if there isn't a bit more maintenance to a SWG than there would be to my dosing system. As to softer water, I put about a bag of pool salt in my pool (scatter it around the pool over a few days) so the water is soft. No dry skin for me or my kids!

That one looks interesting! I'll have to research it until I'm paralyzed and can't make a decision and then allow it to go by the wayside (my normal mode of operation when buying something)

Sell your house to someone that has never had a pool before. Buy a new house without a pool. Get your life back.

+1000000

Maintenance really isn't that bad. I have a pool robot that I drop in 2 or 3 times a week. While I'm working in my shop.. or doing nothing at all, it's wandering the bottom of the pool picking up stuff. The extent of my chemical addition is, walk out at around 7 pm, pour in 1/2 gallon of chlorine, walk back in the house. Once or twice a week I check Chlorine and PH. Once or twice check to make sure stabilizer is right, check total alkalinity about once per season. I really don't spend much time on or even in the pool but my wife and kids do.
I figure building the dosing system just eliminates me walking out each nigh to add the chlorine. I don't get why people think a pool is so much effort and time?

You are correct in buying a larger cell than needed but as for maintenance I have used both chlorine and salt in my pool and salt is way less maintenance. I have had the salt system for about 10 years and have not had to replace the cell. But even at 7 years how much would you spend on chlorine. I spend $35 a year on salt my pool is 14,000 gallons and I use 5 bags at the beginning of every season.

Chlorine costs me about $200. What system do you have?

Mainly because there’s a lot more to routine pool maintenance than what you are doing. I’ve had one for 22 years, so I’m well-versed in what a pain in the ass they can be. It’s mainly a decorative object now, I haven’t swam in it all year, the kids are long gone, etc. I have one dog that uses it as a water bowl and a place to cool off when it gets hot, which is probably the only use it gets.

My reply was mostly tongue-in-cheek, if you didn’t get the humor.

I figured it was intended that way. Kinda like the two happiest days of a boat owners life.

I have used the Liquidator for 4+ seasons now. Sounds like you already know that liquid chlorine is superior to the pucks for continuous disinfection, particularly because you aren’t constantly adding CYA/stabilizer until the levels are off the charts. The Liquidator works very well, and is a very simple device. I recommended it to a close friend who also has had great success. Mine is outdoors, and I do get salts build up on some parts of the device which need cleaning once or twice a season. My friend’s pool equipment is in a pool house out of the sun, and he reports he hasn’t gotten the same level of salts build up in his Liquidator.

After 4 seasons, I need to replace the valve which controls water flow through the chlorinator. Otherwise its a simple and effective liquid chlorine dispenser for your pool.

I'm on my 3rd or 4th season with the Liquidator and the valves are ok but one of the tubes connecting the John Guest fittings went hard and started sucking air causing my pump to lose prime. Instead of replacing all the plumbing I'm going to a Stenner dosing pump and 15 gallon storage tank. I will be nice to be able to store chlorine in the tank and only fill it once or twice a season instead of pouring in bottles every other day or so.

https://www.poolweb.com/media/catalo...4STAA-img1.jpg

I looked at various systems. By the time I bought and put everything together, the cost for liquid dosing would be around $500 plus the cost of liquid chlorine per year. The SWG is going to cost around $700 including the controller. I will need to buy about $250 worth of salt.

I was using tri-chlor. I have to drain my pool and refill because of the stabilizer buildup. I think they are designed for "northern" pools that only run 3 months, never get too warm and are half drained every year. Don't use on year round pools!

I am presently using cal-hypo 3" tablets which are fine, but are kicking the hardness up, which is fine as I started "low" on purpose. Cost is about double that of Tri-Chlor. I have a 45 days supply of cal-hypo, and expect to switch to SWG by the end of July.

~24k gallon gunnite IG Northern pool here. Open about 4-5 months per year, but only drained to below skimmer. After 2 seasons on Tri-chlor my stabilizer level was >100ppm. After 4 years on only liquid, last season was the first time I had to add stabilizer.

I’m actually starting the season on Trichlor this year because I need to increase stabilizer level anyway.

I only use the "pucks" or the tablets when I'm going on vacation. I typically don't add any stabilizer until after I get back from vacation because the tablets add CYA (stabilizer). I normally check and add stabilizer to get to the recommended level (around 40 ppm IIRC) and leave it alone after that. No draining and filling, just have to add chlorine. The SWG's seem like a nice way to go from the reading I've done. My problem is, for this year I'm already all in since I bought my chlorine for the season.

Will,
I considered going the stenner pump route but those things get expensive based on the searching I've done. By the time I buy a stenner and tank setup it looks like I'm fairly close to the cost of a salt water generator.

The reason I'm not a fan of pools is you just mentioned your routine maintenance requires 13-15 times a week to check on or do something to the pool. Maintenance isn't all that hard, but for something I hardly use, like yourself, I don't want to have to check on/adjust/maintain dozens of times per month no matter how little time or easy it is.

The bigger issue for me is I have a SWG and that just adds to the number of things to break. In addition to routine maintenance, there is always a pump, a filter, a skimmer, a float, a cleaner, a controller, a cover, a cell, a leaking pipe, etc, etc, etc that needs to be fixed it seems.

And just when you've replaced damn near everything and are ready to enjoy, summer's over and it's time to winterize:D

Cheaper and less painful to just have a close neighbor with a pool!

My stabilizer level increased from 35PPM to 65PPM in 6 weeks! Stupid Tri-chlor

65 ppm is fine. I used to keep mine at 80 to 100.

Ecosmart user here, chlorine free ... odor free...still can turn your blond hair green tho.

I got my new Stenner pump hooked up today. What a disappointment this thing is.

The motor runs all the time (not quietly) and the pump rollers only engage on occasion with a loud click when it needs to meter out fluid. Sort of like leaving your car running in the driveway at 3000rpm just in case you need to go for a drive later.

I guess I'll use the tank and re purpose a dosing pump I used have on an aquarium. I feel like an idiot for throwing away so much money on this thing.

[QUOTE=greglepore;10491875]Ecosmart user here, chlorine free ... odor free...still can turn your blond hair green tho.

Copper and whatever sanitizers you're using attached together turns hair green.

If you use a copper base algaecide stop! Metal in pool water doesn't get filtered out..

I've never had a problem with my pool turning blond hair green. My youngest daughter has the blondest of blond hair and it never got that light hint of green like it does at the local pool.

This is a game I have played for a very long time. If you do it right, pool maintenance only requires about 15 min per week to keep the pool clean and sparkling, with no chlorine taste, smell, or other negative side effects. Test the water weekly and pay attention to the results. Adjust dosage as needed. If you ignore the pool it will get ugly and swimming will get pretty uncomfortable.

My recommendation: K.I.S.S.

-Get an auto cleaner, a VS pump, and a good quality filter system, and run it long enough.
- Use 3" tabs for residual chlorine levels and shock treat monthly, or after a swim party in summer with liquid. Test every week and adjust your dosages as needed. Adjust pH as needed maybe once a month or less.

After 20 years working with salt chlorine generator systems I am less enthusiastic about them. When everything is working perfectly they do work but they are very expensive compared to traditional CL2 methods. They do require a lot of cleaning, fiddling, and repairing when the cell scales, the cell fails, the board fails, the flow switch fails, and if you ignore them they are very scale forming and will quickly make the pool very uncomfortable to swim. Certainly more expensive and every bit as labor intensive as not owning a salt system. There are just as many green pools out there with failed salt systems as green pools out there with failed maintenance routines.

Most other alternative sanitizer methods work well as long as you are diligent with your maintenance routine but are 5-10x more expensive to use. Whatever sanitizer you choose, test weekly and be diligent with your routine. This is far more important than whether you choose traditional Cl2, salt chlorine generator, Biguanide, mineral, ozone, UV, or any other sanitizer. They are only as effective as the person applying the technology.

Seems appropriate to revive this thread in light of the "chlorine shortage". I saw a thread in PARF about a shortage of chlorine. I haven't bought my supply of chlorine for the season. I went to Rural King to buy some and they were sold out with a sign that read "limit 2 cases". So the panic buying will be here for pool shock.

I bought a new SWG system for my pool today. Circupool RJ30. Has the same chlorine generating capacity as most systems rated for a 40,000 gallon pool.