Chlorine Generator (salt) for above ground pool?

Question

We have a metal framed $350 pool. Loved it last summer, but it was a task keeping it chlorinated with the tablets. We are considering getting one of the $200 salt water chlorine generators for above ground pools, but I'm not convinced I want to spend that kind of money when it's almost what I paid for the pool itself. Anyone used these? Are they worth it? Anyone know where to find some reviews on these?

Answer 1

I would not recommend switching to salt water or chlorine generator sanitation. Pool Supply salesman love to sell these things and they are very popular but that does not mean they are any good.  Pool service people love them because it represents another profit center in cleaning and maintaining them.

For the salt pool the water must be brought to 3,000ppm salinity for the chlorine generator to work.  If you cannot taste the salt you don’t have enough salt in the pool!   Did you notice the word chlorine generator? Salt pools are chlorine pools in disguise, they really want you to think there is no chlorine in them but the fact is they still have to maintain 1-3ppm levels to properly work. Guess what? Plain old chlorine pools are also 1-3ppm.

Have you ever gone to the beach and gotten out without toweling off. Your skin starts to crawl - It’s the salt!  (Average Ocean Salinity is 35,000ppm).  

A salt pool has every chemical in it that a plain chlorine pool does, acid to balance the pH, cyanuric acid to protect the chlorine, already mentioned chlorine, algaecide, what ever is likely to be dumped in a chlorine pool will be put into a salt pool and even more. More acid to balance out the chlorine the generator makes also more cyanuric acid to protect the paltry amount of chlorine they produce.

They say you don’t have to shock the water.  Chlorine generators make barely enough chlorine to replace the residual (1-3ppm) lost since the last filtration run. Not very much but it is a proven fact. They are not strong enough to superchlorinate your pool by any stretch of the imagination. But what about that superchlorinate button on the unit? All that does is put the cell into 100% production 24/7 of a paltry amount of chlorine. You will find it does not work after you paid for it.

No green hair.  Not.  Green hair comes from copper piping, very rare to see today except on old pools, or excessive amounts of copper sulfate algaecide (very common).

Oh! the water is so soft and luxurious!  Yes, that’s why the pool guys love em they charge you another $50 to clean the accumulated calcium deposits from the electrodes so they work right.

Your suit will last longer than a season.  But I’ve had mine since I was, oh whatever, so long ago it does not fit anymore.  Why? Because I don’t wear a suit in my chlorine pool!

No more red eyes and itchy skin. They want you to think their units are the magic bullet and a cure all for maintaining your pool. They are not; red eyes are likely caused by to much chloramine or combined chlorine in the pool water. This can even happen in a salt pool!

Shocking or superchlorinating removes the chloramine and the smell we associate with chlorine. To shock add enough liquid chlorine to raise the concentration 10 times the measured residual. For example, measured 1ppm: raise chlorine to 10ppm.

Actually chlorine does not smell at all in 1-3ppm concentrations. Most people cannot sense the smell until 14ppm. A whiff off the bleach bottle, it’s about 2,000ppm!

They don’t tell you about the damage you are doing to the metal parts in your pool.  Pumps, Heaters, Pool Cleaners and light rings all take a beating.  How about flagstone coping spalling and cracking.  Better seal and plan on resealing your expensive coping and stamped colored concrete decks.  Professional maintainers say they are noticing more damage to the pool structure today than in years past.

The units only last 3-5 years before you have to replace the unit.  

Chlorine Generators are not install and forget which many happy owners say they do.  You still need a good test kit to do water testing and particularly pH to use to make adjustments to the unit’s chlorine production rate.  And the unit shuts off when the water temps fall below 53-55°.  If you lived in Florida with more constant temps you could install and forget your cell, not anywhere else.

My advice, save your money, buy a good test kit, read your labels and always ask "Why" a lot!

Oh, when you drain your salt pool did you ever think where all that salt water goes. Do you think it evaporates? Not. It goes down the drain to the treatment factory, but they are noticing the increased salt levels in their water. Salt is easy to put in but very expensive to remove. A lot of that water makes it back to the tap!

The salt guys ought to be kicked out of the gene pool!

Answer 2

heres a page with three different types of above ground pool salt water generators: http://www.swimming-pool-information.com...  they are about halway down the page....I have never installed above ground units,but I have installed plenty of in ground units....the over the side unit looks good to me easy install...If you purchase one please give me your opinion of it good or bad..no matter where you get it!