Solar Powered Swimming Pool Ionizer

thingiverse

7/21/20 - Newer design is at: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4548210 7/17/20 - Intermittent usage with design 2 works. Still redesigning with a filter bag. Until that happens, I've uploaded the design 2 pictured. The cage contains oxide, but it still needs to be pulled and emptied daily. For design 2, print two cages, inserts, bar4's, and an extender if desired for spacing and resistance. Cut two 3" lengths of copper pipe. Inserts keep the copper positioned in cage. I added snip-away supports inside the cage, so you don't need support material. Cut two 1 inch pieces of pool noodle. Put inserts inside on cage bottoms, and stuff noodle sections into tops of cages for flotation. Zip tie together as shown in the picture. BTW... I've gone from 4 bottles of chlorine per week to one bottle every 2 or 3 weeks. Water looks great. Go with a smaller solar panel to reduce oxidization speed, and maintenance. I've avoided adding circuitry, but might do so later. 7/6/20 - Still working on redesign. Until available, I recommend using for short periods, and regularly scraping away oxide. 7/1/20 - I redesigned, and tested. The new model works better. But, I've still more work to do. I'm adding a cage and aquarium filter bags to keep the oxide contained. Haven't uploaded yet. Stay tuned. 6/25/20 - After a week, this thing works too well. If I leave it in too long, it rapidly eats the anode, and drops copper oxide flakes in the pool. So, I can only leave it in for a few hours at a time. And, I need to regularly clean the anode. If that works for you, then cool. But, I want a system I can drop and forget. So, I'm redesigning to control the copper distribution and catch any falling oxide. We live in AZ. Years ago, we rented a salt system for our in ground pool. It was failing. So, we traded for chlorine & self service. We recently considered going back to salt before discovering mineral pools and ionizers. Based on positive reviews, some YouTube videos, and the prospect of saving 800 bucks a year on chemicals, we bought a $300 Ionizer on Amazon. Next came piping it into our system. But before that happened, I found DIY instructions for a solar ionizer with no structural mods. $20 to $40 including 12V solar panel. That's about the price of one bottle of copper sulphate. And, if I don't like it, I can return the solar panel. SOLD! I built the prototype. Fired it up with a 12 volt adapter. Dropped it in the pool. Worked like a charm. Now my cheap self was willing to risk 30 bucks and 30 miles to Harbor Freight. Here's what you'll need: 2 - 2 inch diameter pieces of pool noodle cut 2 inches long. 2 - 6 inch sections of 1/2 inch copper pipe (Home Depot, Lowes, Etc.) 2 - 1/2 inch hose clamps 1 - 12 volt solar panel with leads. Print two brackets and one connecting bar, solid. Fit together. Glue in place. (I used a glue gun, since I had great results with PLA and a glue guns above water.) Carefully squeeze the pool noodle pieces into the holes as shown. These hold the copper pipes in place, keep the unit floating, and keep the PLA frame at water level to prevent softening and deformation by the sun. Attach 1 hose clamp to the end of each copper pipe section, and tighten. This keeps the copper pipes from eventually slipping out of the unit should the plastic or foam degrade. Carefully screw pipe sections into the compressed noodle holes as shown. Hook up the panel, and drop in the water. Under direct sunlight, you should see bubbles rapidly form. So far, unit works, and water looks great. This is a low voltage system. I can touch the electrodes to no effect with wet hands. Use a wire brush to clean copper electrodes as needed. Very clear water during test period. I probably over did it with a 7 watt panel. I'm thinking the cheaper 1.5 watt would have done just as well. I'll follow up after a longer trial. I plan to eliminate cable clamps, connect wires directly to electrodes, and add a smooth cover, so you don't see pipes or connectors. Another potential improvement is a basket around the anode to keep the copper oxide from dropping into the pool. Replacement electrodes for the commercial ionizer are about $100. They supposedly last 1 - 2 seasons. So, If I need to rebuild the submersible component next year for a couple dollars, I'm way ahead.