FYI,

Water temps changes the SI so as the water gets colder it may show incorrect readings. Also TDS may not be your true salt readings. You always want to subtract some from the TDS do to what i call bad salt (sweat, pee, etc)

here is something I found out that had help a lot and kinda shows why salt readings can jump around a few 100ppm

I use whats called 77\77

what these mean is if the water is 70F then 70 - 77 = 7 temp def.
7 x 77ppm = 539ppm

3600ppm - 539ppm = 3,061ppm

Every test you run will not be true, always + or - 200 to 500ppm

3,061ppm is not even counting your SI or what I call bad salt so your cell could be showing low salt.

adjust your CH and drop your PH to 7.2 and it should show a little better.

In any even you can always replace the flow switch (includes the water sensor) The only true way to tell is to wand the cell.
I showed you all of this (in your case call pentair) bc most people call me saying there cell is not working when its not the cell. I dont mind bc its more money for me when i do a water test, correct the issue then bill the homeowner.

I also always wand the cell to check and be sure the water temp sensor is reading as it should.

Thks for the info, I had heard that the lower temp will effect the salt reading, I guess your saying 77 deg is the "normal" so if its colder the salt will read lower than what is actually there?

The ph reading may be off a bit due to the higher cl level. I've been adjusting the ph to 7.2 as it keeps slowly rising. I think the ch is good where it is right?

The warranty guy was out yesterday, he had a digatal salt meter that showed the salt level to be 3400ppm, my test showed 3600ppm, the ic40 showed 2300ppm. He called pentair and now they say the waters to cold so that could be the problem, even though this has been going on since August. They told him to "talk to your Pentair rep" and see what he thinks!!!. I guess they dont want to believe their warranty person. They seem hesitant to do anything even though he was confident that there is a problem and he said so. Btw the water was 64 deg, when I tested salt last it was 68 deg and the ic40 was showing 2400ppm, my test 3800 ppm. No matter the water temp all summer (78 / 87) the ic40 has read from 500 to 1000ppm less than the Taylor test. There were a couple days when it was nearly correct but then the next day it went back to +-1000ppm low.

A simple escalation is in order. Call and ask for a manager. You have been playing this game long enough. Let them know you're not amused.

Scott


A technical side conversation on SI has been moved to here. JasonLion

They are going to install a new one this week, I'll post then to say how it's working.

As jason had said in "the deep end" as long as chlorine was being produced I ignored the low salt light but there came a point where it stopped working due to low salt and I didn't feel like increasing the salt content just to make up for a bad sensor or whatever.

I know when I perform the Taylor salt test it seems very consistent, really easy to tell when the end point is reached. (milky, to salmon red)

Yesterday the ic-40 showed 2600 ppm at 61 deg water temp, this am it showed 3600 ppm at a 60 deg water temp, nice consistency....

Register at poolfyi.com and post the question at this link:

http://poolfyi.com/forum/categories/san ... orCategory

PoolFYI is Pentair's web forum and more.
I am sure Ben will be able to sort this out. What you are saying is happening doesn't make sense.

Scott

I'm waiting for approval on that site.

Today it was still at 3600 ppm.

I've had mine for 2 years, and had 1 replaced under warranty for low salt readings. Seems like a common problem to me. Just check this board to see how many people have low salt reads with the IC40. My current one is again reading very low salt, although it's not low. Salt just doesn't disappear. Last year I had to supplement with regular chlorine for a few months til the temperature rose enough to get an accurate read. Looks like it'll be the same this year.

What percentage are you running it for? My experiences are that low temperatures, low flow, and low percentages will cause the readings to be low, especially in the colder months. I ignore the readings until it stops producing, then a cleaning is in order, unless the temperatures 56 or lower, it'll stop producing anyway.

I started in july at 50% then was adjusting downward to approx 35% by August. It was always reading "low salt" even though I knew it was'nt low, eventually the salt reading was so low it stopped producing.
They installed a new one today, the water was at 62 deg this am, and its salt reading was 3450ppm. Hopefully this takes care of the problem.

I dont think the new ic-40 is communicating with the easy touch. I had set it to "disable" via the easytouch so I thought it would not be producing. When I checked today the cl was 14, it had been 9 on 11-18. There were small bubbles from all the returns. I manually used the button on the ic-40 and reduced it to 0, the cell light then turned off, bubbles from the returns ceased. Any one know what happened or should I just call the service guy?

Is this a stand alone that was supposed to be connected or is the EZ controller the one with the built in PSU and connection? If its a stand alone, the RS-485 connection may have come loose.

Scott

Not sure but I'll look in a little bit.

If the cell plugs into the EZ, it's built in. If the cell plugs into a transformer, there would be a quad wire from the transformer to the EZ.

Scott

It plugs into the easy with a black wire with 4 prongs and a threaded connector.

Its working now, Im not sure what I was thinking but all is good, when I disable it it's off.

Hi Bobby,
Did the new unit work from a consistency perspective? I too have the same unit, and when my manual reading is around 3400, the unit reads approx 2900-3000. Not so much off as yours, but still off by approx 400-500 ppm.

I normally just look at the reading and if it reads 2900'ish I know I am in the 3300-3400 range. BUT... we paid good money for this equipment, so I would expect good and consistent operation.

Let me know how the new unit is working out.

Thanks

It reading the salt level perfect now, been at 3450 ppm since it was installed, we'll see how it does when the water warms up this spring.

Not quite spring yet but getting close... Turned the solar back on and enabled the swg. The salt reading is 3600 ppm at 61 deg water temp, Taylor test shows 3600 ppm also. That's more like it, so much for inaccurate readings. I'll post as to how it does as the water gets into the 70's.

Full test results: fc 7, cc 0, tc 7, ph 7.4, ta 70, ch 340, cya 45, salt 3600, temp 61.