I have a pentair IC40 that is approximately 4 years old. My controller is a PC100. At the end of last season I started to notice on several occasions that all the lights on the IC40 were off. It did this off and on but it never stopped for too long. Now the IC40 doesn't appear to be working at all. The fuse appears to be ok and the connection is screwed up tight. When I turn on the system the lights will sometimes come on as it starts its initialization phase or the first part with all blinking lights. It will do that for approximately 3 seconds and then all lights go out. Once the lights go out I can jiggle the cable a little and sometimes it will do it again. Come on the initialization for 3 seconds then all lights off. Also at the end of last season I did the sequence to see how what % of the IC40 had been used and it showed to be 20%. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Pentair IC40 - Lights for 3 seconds then nothing
- Thread starter Redr8er
- Start date
I have an IC 40 as well and when you hold down the "less" button it shows you what % of the cell has been used so you are probably at the end of your cell life. I've had mine for 4 years as well and it was acting strange (not like yours though, it couldn't seem to decide if there was enough salt and took forever initializing) and it turned out to be my CYA was a bit low. (I found this out because I shocked which brought my cya up just enough and voila, I was back in business. How are you cleaning your cell? I used to use acid/water mix as suggested by mfg, however.. I found that cleaning strength white vinegar cleans the cell just as well and is much safer -though it takes a little bit longer. I say this because I feel like the acid cleaning wears the cell down. When I called Pentair they said its probably at the end of its life or the water temp was too low. It's supposed to run at water temps over 55 but they claimed 60 was too low. I'll be happy to get this season out of it. Just curious, do you shock with the cell or use traditional shock? I wanted to prolong cell life so I didn't use the cell. I'd call them and see what they think but do check your water temp, salt and your CYA levels first.
Thanks for jumping in Navywife! Good post. Except that CYA should not have an impact on how or whether the cell performs. It is more likely the extra bleach/chlorine used during the SLAM added more salt or the lower PH of a SLAM cleared out a little calcium build up. My IC40 is finicky with water temps in the 60s also. I generally leave it off until the water gets to 70.
OP, I have no idea about the light problem.
OP, I have no idea about the light problem.
Thanks for the replies. At the end of last season when I checked the life it had only used 20% of cell life. I live in Lubbock texas and our season is not as long as we would like. So it really only runs mid-May to September. I could understand if it was powering up with lights and just not making chlorine. The part I dont understand is it will not power up or when it does it will only stay lit up for a few seconds then off. I suspected a loose connection fitting but am not sure how to check it to see. I have it securely screwed up to the bottom of the pc100 but even with it tight does seem to be a little play.
Agreed that it is some sort of electrical problem with the cable or control board and not a cell life issue.