Better Solar Swimming Pool Ionizer
Description
8/11/20 - It's best to cut the height of the filter to the height of the filter cage. This lets gas bubbles escape, keeps the assembly upright in the water, and reduce rust on electrical connections. Added salt to the pool water to measure effect on chlorine generation. Stay tuned. Also tested stainless bolts to see how rapidly they ablated in water. They held up pretty well. I'm seriously considering designing a solar salt water chlorine generator that just drops into the skimmer. 8/7/20 - Added a shorter filter cage (#6). This allows enough space for 1-1/2 inch length of pool noodle in cup. You'll need to increase the length of copper pipe by about 1 inch. It keeps the top of the cup and electrical connections our of the water to reduce rust. 7/26/20 - After a week, the new design does a better job trapping and controlling oxidization. I can leave in the pool for a day or two. It's easier to clean. Just unscrew tops. Drop filter, filter cage, floats and the anode into bucket of water. rinse a bit, and reassemble. I'm probably going to switch to stainless hose clamps, and increase the length of pool noodle sections to 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 inch, to raise electrical connections out of the water, and decrease rust. This is a better version of my first pool ionizer. It distributes copper ions into the water to kill algae. I've used some version of it for about a month. AZ summers require a lot of chlorine to keep a pool looking good. I went from 4 gal/week, to less than one. The water looks great. 4 years ago, we dropped a pool service and removed a rented failing salt system. An unexpected benefit of the ionizer is that it electrolyzes salt back into chlorine. Test strips show ample chlorine, despite adding only 1 gallon over a 3 week period. So, I think this system is working in two different ways. This version has a filter to contain copper oxide that flakes off during operation. It has a screw top for easy assembly and cleaning. (Old version here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4477293.) You'll need a cheap solar panel. I got mine at Harbor Freight. It cost $30 for the 7 watt unit. It's over-powered. I could have gone with the fifteen dollar 1.5 watt version. You'll need a length of 1/2 inch copper pipe & a couple of hose clamps (Ace, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.), a foam pool noodle, some fine mesh aquarium filter bags (PetSmart, Amazon, etc.), and a few zip ties (5mm). The whole thing should cost around 30 bucks. Print two of each part. Cut two 3 inch pieces of copper pipe. (Cut a bunch to replace the anode when it disintegrates.) Assemble as shown in the pictures. Hook up the solar panel. The hose clamps connect the panel to electrodes, and keep them from slipping out of the unit. The spacer bars are supposed to add electrical resistance to control the rate of electrolysis. I also figure the longer the path the ions have to travel thru the water, the greater the absorption. The unit works a little too well. So, I drop it in for 1/2 day every other day. I may eventually add a micro-controller or 555, so I can leave the unit in the pool for a week or two. Alternatively, I might look for a less ablative anode, and just use it as a chlorine generator. Stay tuned.
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