Chlorine Generator causing cloudy pool

[cachis]

Hi Mark

This is good information re the air leak. Since my last post I have replaced the o-rings on the unions to the pump and plastic basket cover. I no longer have small bubbles in the pool which is great. But I do still however have cloudyness. So now its gone from 100000's of small bubbles and cloud to just cloudyness.

I did also notice that the chlorinator cycles (on and off). its set to 30% so perhaps that how it works. Like a timer. On for 10mins then off then on again. So the pool when the chlorionator is engaged by the system is cloudy then when off is perfect and then on again is cloudy.

I will look to see if I have totally resolved the air issue as this could still be contributing to the cloudyness perhaps.

Chris

[bestSummers]

I also had cloudy water when my salt generate was on. Found my problem was a small amount air getting in my return line . Fix the leak problem solved.

[mgzych]

@bestSummers, glad you found success! Nice to hear that at least one apparent cause of this issue has been validated. Hope others will benefit from this thread in the future. Enjoy the pool season!

Mark

[Aussie1]

Hi Everyone, cloudy pool from chlorine production is normally because of fat or oil buildup in your filter, as water passes through the filter it can become saturated with these fats, when passing across the salt cell these fats are broken down to an oily film which then wrap around the chlorine gas making millions of micro bubbles that all go back to your pool and make it cloudy, these micro bubbles then disappear after a few minutes as the chlorine gas breaks through the oily film

Fix is to either degrease the filter media or change the filter media

Fixed heaps of this problem in Australia and is always the problem, filter media should be changed every 5yrs for commercial and 10 yrs for domestic pools or as I said above you need to degrease the filter....pool shops have the product for this

Fats and oils are from Body fats and tanning lotions

Easy test to check this is the problem is to operate the filter in Recirc or Bypass with the chlorinator operating and you should see the problem disappear

Glenn

[Bigdavis1919]

Hey all,
I am brand new to this thread and site but i am reaching out for help. I too am a victim of my salt cell producing cloudy bubble/water. I DIY the pool and have been for years with zero issues. About 6 months ago my Pentair salt Gen went out and had to buy a new one , a week later I realized my filter was bad and had to buy a new one. The filter is StaRite DE filter. Had everything installed and works perfect. Beautiful water. About 2 weeks ago I did a black Algea treatment.. used the black algecide and the metal out like I was instructed. I let it all run for 24 hrs back washed the filter and noticed my pool was cloudy. I looked down at the return jets and about every 10 minutes it looked like milky cloudy stuff was coming out then disappeared after a minute. I had Pinch A Penny come out who installed the filter and we narrowed it down to the salt chlorinator when it cycles on. Seems to be a chemical imbalance. We did a water test and it showed zero chlorine in the pool. They called for liquid chlorine, 3lbs of alkalinity, and stabilizer and phosphate remover. Run for 24 hours then backwash filter. Anyways I’m just wondering if I am on the right track? Anyone had an issue like this? Will the chemicals eventually balance it out. I have never had this issue till I did this black Algecide treatment!! Any advice helps!!

Thanks

[Teapot]

So much added in one go who knows where things are chemically. Bad news is "metal out" doesnt remove anything it just sequesters (binds it) you are being pool shopped so go steady. What was the phosphate reading before treatment and after. The chemicals used in phosphate removers often temporarily cloud the water.

[Robmayer12]

** Fixed Problem ** I had this same issue. Cloudy water coming from jets when the SWG is running. The problem turned out to be a leak in the intake, in a jandy valve which is used to switch between the pool and spa. The leak was so small I could barely notice the bubbles in the pump basket. The challenge will be to identify where your leak is. I was lucky mine was in the valve.

The filter pump now runs with no bubbles at all. This cleared up the cloudiness immediately. The pump basket should run without any bubbles in it.

This issue is not caused by chemical imbalance, algicide, bad filter, etc

[Poolpro]

I am a pool service professional with over 40 years of experience and am experiencing this for the first time ever after replacing an old Hayward T-9 cell with an "extended life" T-925.

The "clouding" is DEFINITELY micro-bubbles and is definitely related to the new cell as it only occurs while generating. Before starting the newly installed cell, I shocked the water with Dazzle "Ultra Shock," a dichlor based shock treatment. I also added one litre of Jack's Magic "Magenta" stain and scale for salt pools.

Another variable was that a new Hayward natural gas heater was installed and working for about one week; the heater was firing when the cell was making the micro bubbles (I didn't test to see if shutting off the heater would effect the bubbles).

Other than that, all other chemical parameters were within normal ranges. I will follow up with how this progresses.

[Teapot1]

I suppose if they called it "same as everyone else's dichlor shock" it wouldn't sell so well.
See what you find out but what else is in there, possibly bicarbonate of soda to offset the pH reducing of additional cya? That could cause more off gassing. We tend to stick to liquid chlorine on here to avoid additions you don't need or want.

[Gerome_81]

Ok, this is my 2nd year with this pool, first year having to open after winterizing. Exact same problem / only when chlorine was being generated. I found 2 possible causes through various Google searches / forums:

1: Dirty filter media - oil buildup requiring media be cleaned.

2: Air leaking into the system upstream of the chlorine generator.

Given my pool is only in it's 2nd season of use I couldn't believe I had dirty media in my filter so I went out and checked the pump and it did indeed have quite a bit of air in it. Tightened up the lid thumb screws and wrench tightened the drain plug that I had previously only finger tightened. Backwashed and rinsed after blocking the inlet a couple times and air in pump head reduced to just a few bubbles.

Viola! No more bubble cloud when the SWG is chlorinating! YOU'RE ALL WELCOME!!!

[Teapot1]

Both Dennis and myself on the forum continually say the same thing about bubbles being air leaks, glad you have sorted it though.