Please Help Hayward T-15 and Aquarite panel showing salt levels 2000 ppm too high

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R

realtorchriskc

New member
Apr 14, 2024
4
Overland Park, KS
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Good Morning,

I'm new here and I'm needing some help. Last summer, my salt cell started giving me issues. The furnace had stayed on while the pump was off and I think it burned out the cell. I didn't realize this immediately, but The panel started showing that the pool was super low on salt. I added salt to the pool, but then found my cell to look like it was burned up. I tried acid washing it, but long story short, I replaced the T-15 cell with an aftermarket T-15. I took water samples to the local pool store for salinity tests, and got the levels in the pool back to where they should have been. However, the cell is still showing the levels 2000 ppm higher than what they actually were. I thought that maybe the thermistor was bad on the board, so I replaced the board in the panel, tried recalibrating and resetting the panel following the directions I've found online for the panel, but no matter what I do, the panel won't show any lower than 5300-5500 ppm on the display. This morning I backwashed the sand filter and rinsed it hoping that it would help. I then tried recalibrating and resetting the salt level on the panel again, but no matter what I do the levels are consistently too high. I had the water tested at the pool company yesterday and the levels in the pool are 2800 ppm in my pool. What am I doing wrong? Am I missing something? Please Help
 
This is the basic information we need to know in diagnosing a problem:

Report all diagnostic readings when you..
Move the switch from auto to off and check all of the readings.
Move the switch back to auto and recheck the readings.
Move the switch to off for a minute and then back to auto and recheck the readings.
What are the first seven characters of the cell and box serial numbers?
What is the actual salinity and how are you measuring it?
 
Thanks for the reply. Here are the readings:

From auto to off:
5300
69
30.6
0
53P
-0
88-1 ( aftermarket replscement board) defaulted to T-15 according to their customer support)
R8.880

Off to Auto:
5300
69
23.9
7.7
53P
-5400
88-1
R8.80

Auto to off for a minute then back to auto:
5300
69
23.8
7.8 and climbed to 7.99 then the cell shut off due to high salt
53P
-5500
88-1
R8.80
5500

Then cell shut off for high salt

The cell was replaced last June with an aftermarket cell from saltpoolstore.com:

PEC-HW-T15Platinum Edition Replacement Salt Cell for Hayward T-CELL-15 | 40,000 Gallons

The board was just replaced a couple days ago with this from poolguysupply.com:

Aqua Rite® PCB Main Circuit Board - Aftermarket Replacement

I’ve attached a picture of the previous board. I’m not sure where the serial number is.

I’ve had the salt levels tested at the local pool supply store and they were at 2800 ppm a couple days ago. No salt has been added since last summer when all of the issues started.
 

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realtorchriskc said:
I’ve had the salt levels tested at the local pool supply store and they were at 2800 ppm a couple days ago.
Click to expand...
2,800 ppm is probably incorrect.

Based on the amperage, the salinity is probably much higher.

You should get your own K-1766 salt test kit.

tftestkits.net

TF-Pro Salt

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net

tftestkits.net

Taylor K-1766 Salt Test Kit

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net

In any case, you need to lower the salinity enough to keep the amperage below 8.0.

Ideal range is about 6.5 to 7.0 amps.
 
I have to agree with JamesW, 2800 ppm is most likely incorrect. Get yourself a K-1766 Salt test kit.
You need to understand that the salt cell when nearing the end of its useful life or if heavily soiled will give a lower salt reading than the actual salt level. You made the most common mistake of adding salt without knowing the actual salt level. So when you installed a fresh cell the salt reading exceeds the recommended limit. Your old r1.59 board is more reliable and its thermistor will never go bad on its own. You are better off using the old OEM bd but keep the new cell in place. Be prepared to partially drain and replace at least 1/3 of your pool water if the salt cell reported an instant salt reading of 5300-5500 ppm. The ideal range for salt levels in a Hayward system is between 2700-3400 parts per million (ppm).
 
Thank you both for the feedback. My neighbor has an electronic salt tester he uses for his pool, so I just borrowed it to check the level again. Picture attached. This sample shows it to be at 2890 ppm which is in line with what the pool company tested it at a couple days ago. I’ll order one of the tests above as well, but I can’t imagine that two separate tests from two different testers would show the same salt level and both be wrong.

Could there be something wrong with the cell itself that would cause it to display too high of a salt reading?
 

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Your cell is performing at about 186% of expected performance.

Some cells overperform, but usually not that much.

Typical overperformance is about 120% at most.

To estimate the performance of the Aquarite cell, divide the instant salinity reading by the actual salinity. If the performance is less than 75%, the cell is failing and it's time to consider replacing the cell. You need to be sure about the actual salinity by using a salt test like the Taylor K-1766.

Check the instant salinity reading and then cycle power to reverse polarity and recheck the instant salinity reading. The numbers should be about the same +/- 200 ppm.

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

See what a K-1766 salt test shows.
 
When you use genuine Hayward parts you can expect quality control and predictable performance.

You are mixing an after market control board from one vendor with an aftermarket cell from another vendor. Those are cheap, likely Chinese, knockoffs. Quality control and performance are unknown.

I wish you luck getting your mutt SWG to work. You will need to experiment with salt levels and cell type settings that may get it to work, or not.

You are really in unknown territory with your setup.
 
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