Hi all,
Our pool was built in Spring 2006, and includes the Autopilot Digital Pool Pilot, and an SC-60 SWG cell.
The cell and unit has worked beautifully, reliably putting out chlorine for 06, 07 and 08 pool seasons. I have cleaned the cell plates, per instructions, at each spring opening. Until now, I have not paid enough attention to it's operation. One huge mistake I have made each year is to NOT shock with an additional source of chlorine. Each year, I would rely on the Super Boost mode to provide the initial shock. Although doing so APPEARED to work at the time, I think that ommission is a contributing factor to problems below.
1. The first sign that I may be having trouble is the "Warning! Check/Clean Cell" message that displays anytime the cell is "ON." When I first saw this I was baffled, because I did clean the cell as instructed with an acid bath.
2. The next warning sign was an FC reading of zero.
Pool size is 33,000 gal, and here's my most recent COMPLETE water test results, taken 4/14
FC = 0
CC = 0.5
TC = 0.5
pH = 7.2
TA = 60
CH = 280
CYA = 50
Temp = 55F
Salt = 3300
After obtaining those results, I added 10 lbs stabilizer to increase CYA, and 2 lbs baking soda to increase TA.
On 4/15, I retested Chlorine only as:
FC = CC = TC = 0... Yep, all zero.
So based on these results, and my bit of reading here at TFP, there's one of two things happening:
1. Chlorine is being used up as fast as it is generated by remaining organics in the pool. In fact, that may explain the change from 4/14 to 4/15, as in the last bit was used up. If so though, shouldn't I be seeing FC now?
or, 2. The cell is simply not generating an chlorine at all, which I can think of two reasons why:
2a. Perhaps the water is simply too cold?
2b. The cell is failing.
To test whether the cell is completely failed, I followed previous advice here and engaged boost mode, and took a sample of water from the partially opened bottom union right past the cell. A quick test showed 2ppm of Total Chlorine.
So, based on that test, I can infer that presently the cell is still CAPABLE of generating chlorine. However, when it is not in boost mode, it is generating none. Zero.
Further, selecting Test Pool Pilot from the Autopilot menu produces:
Power Level 2, 17V, 2.9A (or 3.3A if it is actively generating), and 3300ppm salt.
So... Taking all of this into account, is it possible to tell what's going on?
Thanks!
Kelly
Our pool was built in Spring 2006, and includes the Autopilot Digital Pool Pilot, and an SC-60 SWG cell.
The cell and unit has worked beautifully, reliably putting out chlorine for 06, 07 and 08 pool seasons. I have cleaned the cell plates, per instructions, at each spring opening. Until now, I have not paid enough attention to it's operation. One huge mistake I have made each year is to NOT shock with an additional source of chlorine. Each year, I would rely on the Super Boost mode to provide the initial shock. Although doing so APPEARED to work at the time, I think that ommission is a contributing factor to problems below.
1. The first sign that I may be having trouble is the "Warning! Check/Clean Cell" message that displays anytime the cell is "ON." When I first saw this I was baffled, because I did clean the cell as instructed with an acid bath.
2. The next warning sign was an FC reading of zero.
Pool size is 33,000 gal, and here's my most recent COMPLETE water test results, taken 4/14
FC = 0
CC = 0.5
TC = 0.5
pH = 7.2
TA = 60
CH = 280
CYA = 50
Temp = 55F
Salt = 3300
After obtaining those results, I added 10 lbs stabilizer to increase CYA, and 2 lbs baking soda to increase TA.
On 4/15, I retested Chlorine only as:
FC = CC = TC = 0... Yep, all zero.
So based on these results, and my bit of reading here at TFP, there's one of two things happening:
1. Chlorine is being used up as fast as it is generated by remaining organics in the pool. In fact, that may explain the change from 4/14 to 4/15, as in the last bit was used up. If so though, shouldn't I be seeing FC now?
or, 2. The cell is simply not generating an chlorine at all, which I can think of two reasons why:
2a. Perhaps the water is simply too cold?
2b. The cell is failing.
To test whether the cell is completely failed, I followed previous advice here and engaged boost mode, and took a sample of water from the partially opened bottom union right past the cell. A quick test showed 2ppm of Total Chlorine.
So, based on that test, I can infer that presently the cell is still CAPABLE of generating chlorine. However, when it is not in boost mode, it is generating none. Zero.
Further, selecting Test Pool Pilot from the Autopilot menu produces:
Power Level 2, 17V, 2.9A (or 3.3A if it is actively generating), and 3300ppm salt.
So... Taking all of this into account, is it possible to tell what's going on?
Thanks!
Kelly