I just bought a house with a salt water pool, never having owned a pool before. Literally 3-4 weeks ago the seller showed me how to use everything, and all was working perfectly. 2 weeks ago, we moved in and had immediate issues with the IC40 SWG. I noticed yellow algae forming, and that the flow light was red (and zero chlorine level), so I backflushed the filter and cleaned out all the baskets, let it run, but no luck. I took a sample and the IC40 into the pool shop and they noticed the flow sensor was messed up (it was missing the little metal paddle that should have been there to measure flow, which I still haven't managed to find). A couple hundred bucks later and I had a new flow sensor and lots of chemicals to get algae killed and my chlorine levels up in the meantime.
So, I got the chlorine issue fixed, installed the IC40, and let it run. The flow light corrected after a little while, but then the Low Salt red light came on. I knew this was a problem, because the pool store measured 5000 ppm, and I could still taste the salt in the water (I have heard you should be able to just barely taste it, if at all). So, I cleaned the cell with muriatic acid, hoping that would fix it, but I didn't get any bubbling at all. I also noticed my pool water level was probably a bit low, so I ran the garden hose for a few hours to get it up to the middle of the skimmer. Still didn't fix it. I then called the pool company out and they said they tried cleaning it and it didn't work, so my cell must be bad. You apparently can't replace that salt sensor?
I guess my question is if there's anything else I should try. This is way too big a pool to keep filling it pool supply store priced chlorine sticks and all my other chemistry seems out of balance (until I can get chlorine in shape). Is my SWG cell really dead? I believe it's only a few years old. Did replacing that flow switch mess up the salt sensor, or could those be related? Is my best bet to just buy another IC40 and replace it?
So, I got the chlorine issue fixed, installed the IC40, and let it run. The flow light corrected after a little while, but then the Low Salt red light came on. I knew this was a problem, because the pool store measured 5000 ppm, and I could still taste the salt in the water (I have heard you should be able to just barely taste it, if at all). So, I cleaned the cell with muriatic acid, hoping that would fix it, but I didn't get any bubbling at all. I also noticed my pool water level was probably a bit low, so I ran the garden hose for a few hours to get it up to the middle of the skimmer. Still didn't fix it. I then called the pool company out and they said they tried cleaning it and it didn't work, so my cell must be bad. You apparently can't replace that salt sensor?
I guess my question is if there's anything else I should try. This is way too big a pool to keep filling it pool supply store priced chlorine sticks and all my other chemistry seems out of balance (until I can get chlorine in shape). Is my SWG cell really dead? I believe it's only a few years old. Did replacing that flow switch mess up the salt sensor, or could those be related? Is my best bet to just buy another IC40 and replace it?