I’m gearing up to DIY a salt chlorine generator on our inground pool. I purchased a 40K Aqua Rite Pro from inyopools. My question is the following: Do I have to have a timer for the pool pump and chlorine generator. We don’t have one and never have had one. We’ve always just had an on/off switch for the pump. Any insight to this would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Dennis,
Per the AquaRite Pro Owners Manual it states you do need a timer. We would strongly reccomend a timer like the T104P3 Timer if your pump is wired 240V or the T101P3 timer if your pump is wired 115V.
Going with a timer is going to give you full functionality of your AquaRite power supply meaning that you can set the salt cell to produce chlorine only at say 50% of the time when your pump is running. For example if your pump is running for 8 hours you cand set to just product chlorine for 4 out of the 8 hrs.
If you stayed with the switch then whenever you turn on power to your pump your Aquarite will be producing chlorine which will lead to over chlorinating your pool and you will see shorter life out of your cell. The replacement salt cells are pricey so you don’t want to be going through these at a fast clip.
We have a Guide on How to Install a Pool Timer as well as a Video on How to Install an AquRite I think you will find both of these helpful. Let us know if you have any questions.
Thank You
Patrick
Patrick,
I understand you only want the salt chlorinator running when the pump is running but our pump is running 24 hours. We can’t shut our pool pump off because we would lose prime and have to constantly be priming it to get it going again. So my next question is this. Should I just hook the AQR Pro to the timer and adjust the timer setting accordingly?
Thanks
Dennis
Dennis,
You shouldn’t loose prime when the pump turns on and off, could you post a few pictures to this thread of your plumbing so we can take a look at what’s going on.
Thanks
Patrick
Patrick here’s some pictures of plumbing with the pump and filter. They are in our garage. Keep in mind that there is about 4 feet of drop in elevation from the pump/filter to the pool. Let me know what you think.
Thanks
Dennis
Hi Dennis the big problem with the plumbing set up is the two 90’s on the suction side those are really decreasing the flow of your pump probably by half. If possible if you could swap where the pump and filter are so you have a straight shot of pipe into the intake of the pump and a straight shot of pipe on the outake of the filter.
I realize that is a lot of re-plumbing, so if that is not an option to swap the location of the pump and the filter then you might try cutting out the 90’s on the intake side of the pump and going with flex pipe and use no 90’s, you would then use flex pipe on the discharge of the pump to the filter.
Let us know how it goes and if you do re-plumb we would love to see photos.
Thank You
Patrick
From Dennis
Patrick,
Completely understand the 90s. I’m going to take a look at rearranging our pump and filter. If I go to the flex hose, do you carry that or do you have a source for the house and fittings.
One other thing, the straight vertical section after the filter was where I was going to place the salt cell and flow meter, so I would rather not change it to flex hose and probably shouldn’t. If continuing to use PVC, would it help if I changed the 90s to sweeping elbows.
Thanks
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Yes staying with the rigid PVC on the discharge side for the salt cell would be good. Whenever you can use 45’s instead of 90’s even if it is 2 - 45’s you will be in better shape. The sweep elbows will be better than the 90’s but 45’s would be better than the sweeping elbows.
The area where you will see the most bang for your buck will be switching from the rigid pipe to flex pipe, for both going into the pump and going out of the pump to the filter valve. We do sell 50’ Rolls of Flex but that is probably way too much for your needs. I have used FlexPVC.com and they have Flex Pipe By the Foot I hope this helps.
Thank You
Patrick
Patrick,
One more question, should I also be looking to install a check valve somewhere in our pump/filter system? Please let me know. We don’t have one currently.
Thanks,
Dennis
Patrick,
This is the last question (I think). How much does a typical pump need to run or how do people typically set their timers to run? Our pool is 20’ x 40’ inground and is used very often by our kids so it stays stirred up that away too.
Thanks
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Normally a pump is sized to circulate all of the water in your pool in 8 hours, so an 8 hour run time is typical. So you would be looking at saving quite a bit on your electrical bill as you would be cutting your run time by 66%, I think my math is right =) Some people have it kick on at say 8AM and run until 4PM, other have it run for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening. Some areas of the country have off peak hours for electricity where electricity is less expensive so they run the pump in off peak hours to save more money. Also just keep an eye on the water if it is just not looking as clear as it normally does then increase the pump run time by an hour or so.
Thanks
Patrick
When we test the Salintiy of the Pool it reads 3300ppm…Computer shows to be at 2700ppm…We dhave done a reset but the computer continues to go back to the lower value. Is there a part that could be bad that needs to be replaced.
Hello Jhudachko - In our experience, it’s usually the salt cell that is going bad when the wrong salt reading is being displayed.
We’ve also seen instances where a customer replaces a cell rated for 40,000 gallons with a cell that is rated for 20,000 gallons. If they don’t change the cell type at the control box, incorrect readings can be reflected.
We have a SP-18/T-Cell-5 we need to replace. Which would you reccomend?
Does this company allow pick ups and are they in Orlando?
Hey InYo Rob,
can we do pick up if your in Orlando?
We do not allow local pick ups. Everything is shipped.
Hooked up the new generator I just purchased. The clock on the timer isn’t working? Any ideas as to why? Thanks Dave Bates
