Any Pentair Intellichlor IC40 Experts Here?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
M

mhosborn

0
Jul 2, 2011
312
Broken Arrow, OK (Tulsa)
I posted this question on Pentair's support forum 2-1/2 days ago, but have heard nothing from them as yet...so I thought I'd try here and see if anyone has any ideas what I could do or check...

My 3-1/2 year old IC40 was no longer staying on reliably. Sometimes I'd check in the morning, and see there were no lights on the unit. Turning the pump off and unplugging/plugging in this unit would bring it back to life (although I sometimes had to do this 5 times before it would stay on).

So I decided I might as well purchase a replacement cell, and got a new one off Amazon. I checked, and am able to adjust the cell operating percentage via my Easytouch panel, so I think the two units are communicating.

Now I'm seeing the following:

The unit comes on just fine, but the green and red Salt Cell lights will flash on and off alternately. Sometimes the unit will begin giving normal readings (only the green Salt Cell light lit), but that lasts only a minute or so before it starts alternating the red and green lights. And once in a while it will flash only the green Salt Cell light, but that, too, lasts only a minute or so before both the red and green lights start blinking again.

I checked the salt level of the pool, and it reads 3200 ppm, so the salt level is OK. The rest of the pool readings are normal, too.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what might be wrong here? Is there a reset sequence I could try? Is this new cell not compatible with my 3-1/2 year old Easytouch control panel? Is there something failing in the Easytouch panel?

Is there a sure-fire way to know if this new cell is good or bad?

Any assistance here will be greatly appreciated.
 
This is a shot in the dark. Pentair reversed the flow direction on the newer IC40's. I bought a new one on Amazon.com a few months ago and because of the reversal of the flow direction the control panel on my new ic40 had to be installed upside down.
 
When I shut my pump off and restart I often get the flashing red/green lights. Often takes several minutes for it to stabilize. I'd let it sit overnight and see where you are.

Also, on my pool, when the actual salt level in my pool measures 3200, the reading from the SWG shows about 2800 or less and it reports low salt. I have three systems and none of them report within 400 ppm of what my Taylor Salt test kit shows.

Jim R.
 
Wow!!! Still no replies from Pentair, but 3 so far here! I love this place!!!!!!!

I'll try to address the replies received so far....


1. The cell has lights on it, so I'm fairly certain it's not a blown fuse.
2. Good suggestion about checking the flow on this new unit. It is shaped identically to my old one, and I THOUGHT I'd checked the flow arrow, but will check it again when I get home.

And last...the new cell's been in since Sunday, so I'm sure it's had time to settle.

I will try adding more salt, though, as it's possible my salt reading was off (that's a test I have done at the pool store, as my test strips are too old).

Thanks again, folks. I welcome other suggestions, and will report back after adding more salt.
 
I'm not sure but is the IC 40 powered by the motherboard? I have one but i'm not at home so i can't run out and see. I have seen many computerized things do strange things when the power supply starts acting up. The resisters,transistors, IC's, etc work fine when they are cool. As soon as the heat up they go crazy. Just a guess.
 
I think my next step, barring any other suggestions here (or Pentair, from whom I've yet to hear from) will be to reinstall my old Intellichlor and see if that works. The indications on this new Intellichlor seem to point to a faulty salt sensor. I added more salt to the pool last night, though, and will check again upon returning home from work today.
 
Just a thought, but maybe it's something with the power supply in the Easy touch control panel. Maybe it's not outputting the proper voltage, especially when it's under load. It's probably suppose to be outputting 22-39vdc like the standalone power supply. I would call Pentair and talk to their tech support. I just used them for warranty purposes on my IC40 that had a failed temperature sensor. They sent me a replacement temp/flow sensor after we talked about it. No questions asked. My cell is only 4 months old.
 
Another update here....

I've contacted Pentair tech support, and am told my unit is under warranty. I had to supply a receipt for the unit, along with a pool store water analysis, which I've done. I'm hoping to hear from Pentair sometime today or tomorrow, as I emailed them the 2 documents they needed Friday night. I got the impression they were going to send someone out to replace the sensor...but will wait to see what the cure is.

The unit now doesn't alternate flashing the red and green Salt lights on the intellichlor....it now only flashes the green light, indicating the salt level is too high. I measured the salt level, and it's just a bit high at 3800, but not high enough it should be causing the salt level light to flash.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Just another update...

Pentair told me the documentation provided has authorized warranty repair, and that I'd be contacted by a local pool company to schedule their visit. Sure enough, I was contacted early this morning, and this pool company (one I'd never heard of) will come check it out on Wednesday.
 
The local Pentair dealer looked the the unit yesterday and said my salt readings were off, and that the salt level was at 4,000ppm, and that would cause the high salt indication on the Intellichlor. I drained about 10" of water from the pool yesterday, and will finish filling tonite (hopefully). I'll report back if this unit stops warning of high salt once the water is diluted with fresh water.
 
That could very well cause the high salt issue as the Pentair does not have temperature compensation and when the pool water is warm the salt reading on the SWG reads higher than the actual measurement.
 
On my IC40, I think the flashing green and red LED's indicate that the cell is measuring the salt level. It takes a couple of minutes, and then it should turn a solid red or solid green.

My IC40 reads about 4200 ppm, but it doesn't give a high salt warning. I think the threshold is at about 4500 rpm. In any event, it's been working fine all summer. I thought about doing a partial drain, but decided against it due to the drought conditions here in So. California.
 
Over the weekend I lowered my salt level...reading is now 3110 (close as I can determine on the test strip, anyway). All other levels are OK:
FC = 3.5
CC = 0
TC = 3.5
TA = 90
CYA = 30
pH = 7.8

I added some acid to lower the pH, and some conditioner to raise the CYA a tad.

Watched the Intellichlor to see what it does now:

-- Alternates blinking the red and green salt level lights (indicating it's calibrating or reading salt level...not sure which) for 2 minutes
-- Lights then go to all green (as is normal) for 30 seconds
-- All lights go out momentarily (1...maybe 2 seconds)
-- Rinse and repeat above cycle

I contacted the company that came out to look at the unit last week, and was told they will replace the cell tomorrow.

I'll post back after the new cell is installed.
 
Pentair service came out earlier this week and put in a new IC-40. I was out of town, but noticed this morning that the same problem exists in that the red and green Salt lights are alternately blinking. I've reported this to the service company, and they'll come back out to see what's wrong. At this point, I kinda doubt it's the salt cell, so (in my mind, anyway) that leaves the extender cable that connects it to the Easytouch panel, or the Easytouch system itself. Hopefully, they'll figure this out, as I really don't want to close the pool until I get this sorted out.
 
So what was the issue finally? You have very similar symptoms to what I'm seeing, I also replace the new sensor with yet another new one and it didn't fix it.

Now I'm replacing the power supply/comms board [I have forgotten the right name], but this is just slightly better than a shotgun in the dark.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply