Intex 2650 16 inch Sand Filter/SWG loses power?

[Michael211]

Ok I decided to sign up for membership to this site as I'm having a really odd problem with my SWG unit... it seems to be losing power and resetting itself (almost as if the household power were blinking off and on, which it isn't!). I found it apparently off when it should have still been on and running a couple times in the past 2 weeks, with the display just barely lit up or flickering faintly... cycling the power switch (or the Ground Fault protector unit on the plug) would start it working properly again. Pool has remained crisp and clear as a bell... but now it's degraded to the point where I can't get a full hour run out of the thing before it either resets or goes into that low power flickering mode (in which the system does not actually run at all, though the display is trying to turn on).

I took the top housing loose and pushed the rocker power switch out today, it looked like 1 of the terminals was moving as I cycled the switch so I replaced it with a fresh switch thinking it had gone bad or was defective. Now with the spades plugged securely into the replacement switch, the unit comes on correctly the pump is running the Working light is flashing for 20 or 30 seconds like it's supposed to, then the whole thing shuts off completely, then turns back on and repeats! ***? It looks like just as the SWG cell goes to making chlorine bubbles, the entire thing loses power then power returns and it starts over again from the beginning with the flashing Working light! There are no error codes, no error lights on!

Any ideas? I clean my cell about once every 2-3 weeks when I see a calcium buildup on it by soaking the cell in white vinegar, this unit is just about a year old now and has worked fantastic until this hiccup started! Even though I've already cleaned my salt cell just a few days ago and it does go to bubbling furiously just before the system loses complete power, I pulled it out and am cleaning it in vinegar again just to be sure. I'm wondering if something about the cell is pulling so much power it's forcing the system into it's own little brown-out?

My mother's pool has the same Intex system with a practically brand new cell (bought and put into it in May this year), I'm thinking of "borrowing" her cell later tonight to put in my unit to see if it's my cell that's at fault somehow.

ps. When her cell went bad this spring on her 2 year old unit, hers went to displaying Low Salt alarm constantly no matter how many bags we put in her pool (after adding 3 bags, I got suspicious since it couldn't have lost that much salt so suddenly)... I finally took her cell put it in my unit and mine also went into Low Salt alarm mode, so realizing something was wrong with her's original SWG cell we got her a new replacement cell which is why her unit has a virtually new cell in it right now. Now of course the Intex website shows the cells for the 16 inch saltwater sand filter units to be out of stock, so not sure what I'll have to do if for some reason my cell has developed a problem! Eeek!

Love these things when they're working correctly... hate them when they aren't! Arghhh!

- Michael

 

[Michael211]

Ok, update... it's the titanium chlorine generator electrode SWG cell that's the problem. The system runs just fine now (with the main switch replaced) in Filter/Pump only mode, it's only when the SWG portion of the system attempts to power up that the system browns-out and reboots. A close examination of the electrode reveals that where the plates go into the rubber/plastic cap, the rubber/plastic is smooth as silk on one side of the plates BUT it's turned all lumpy on the other side of where the plates go into the cap. I'm guessing the lumps are corrosion of some sort inside the cap portion of the electrode... so it's toast at almost exactly 12 months old! I can still run the system in Filter/Pump mode only for filteration, but I'm out of luck for sanitation now (I presume the copper "biocide" electrode cannot work without the chlorine generator electrode).

Since Intex shows Out-Of-Stock for the SWG chlorine electrodes for this 16 inch sand filter/SWG system right now, I guess I have no option but to toss tablets into the skimmer basket for the time being? I've Googled for over an hour, and cannot find any other source for these chlorine SWG electrodes other than Intex (ie. Ebay, Amazon, etc. don't care many parts for this system). If anybody's got any ideas where I might find a new replacement electrode (other than buying an entire new unit!) please do let me know! I'm bummed. :-(

Thanks!

- Michael

 

[budman70526]

Google the part # and name from the Intex book. Works real good for lawn mower and appliance parts.

 

[Michael211]

Tried that already... nada.

Thanks though, great minds think alike!

- Michael

 

[rustyb85]

I would call Intex. According to which model you have some of them have 2 year warranties. When we had our above ground the salt cell went out and they sent me another one. Then a month later the motor went out on the pump and they replaced that as well. All I had to do was send a copy of the receipt to them and they covered it all under the warranty.

 

[Michael211]

I called Intex, could barely hear them there's something wrong with the phone system there (though the operator said he could hear me... bad connection maybe? IDK.). They don't have any of these titanium electrodes and don't show any coming to North America right now, so still stuck here. Started tab treatment of my pool last night (much as I hate chlorine tabs!). With the titanium electrode unplugged from the unit it operates in Filter/Pump mode only by default with no timer function (ie. I'll have to turn it on and off manually for the rest of this summer season or until I can acquire a new electrode). Bummer! Swim season lasts till mid-October here in my part of Texas, so this won't be a lot of fun to keep the pool maintained anymore.


For reference I'm including a pic of my electrode showing the indications of what's gone wrong (I may try cutting it open sometime later with a dremel to see what exactly is in the cap portion that's caused this problem):



Note: The black swirls in the grey plastic were always there by my recollection, they're not cracks or burn marks just part of the manufacturing process I believe.

You can clearly see the grey area to the right of the titanium plates is nice and smooth, while the grey area to the left of the titanium plates is all lumpy (like it's either melting down inside or perhaps has massive corrosion, or both). On either side of the plates it used to be a smooth grey plastic material that was apparently poured into the cap as part of the manufacturing process; this lumpiness has only happened very recently and I expect this is what was causing my unit to brown-out when the SWG tried to start up.

Now on my mother's system last spring, her original titanium electrode (which was 2 years old) had become dimpled on either side of the plates, almost like it was full of small bb's... the failure of her titanium electrode caused both our systems (when checked in each system) to report low salt levels even though the salt levels were fine when my electrode then was used in either system. So I had her order a replacement electrode last Spring from the Intex website (at which time they were still in stock).

ps. While I was on the phone with the Intex support person I asked what the warranty is on their replacement parts and he told me they only have a 90 days warranty on parts ordered thru their website... and I've searched the web up and down, nobody else sells Intex pool replacement parts a few sites had links for Intex replacement parts but they only went back to the Intex website (where this part is out of stock for the time being... arghhh!). No good solutions unfortunately so that is that.


Regards.

- Michael

 

[mir3acles]

Hey Michael my toggle switch quit working and I am looking for a replacement switch but could not find it on index or amazon that would fit. Could you please let me know where you bought the toggle switch from as I need to order one for myself too. Thanks.

Ok I decided to sign up for membership to this site as I'm having a really odd problem with my SWG unit... it seems to be losing power and resetting itself (almost as if the household power were blinking off and on, which it isn't!). I found it apparently off when it should have still been on and running a couple times in the past 2 weeks, with the display just barely lit up or flickering faintly... cycling the power switch (or the Ground Fault protector unit on the plug) would start it working properly again. Pool has remained crisp and clear as a bell... but now it's degraded to the point where I can't get a full hour run out of the thing before it either resets or goes into that low power flickering mode (in which the system does not actually run at all, though the display is trying to turn on).

I took the top housing loose and pushed the rocker power switch out today, it looked like 1 of the terminals was moving as I cycled the switch so I replaced it with a fresh switch thinking it had gone bad or was defective. Now with the spades plugged securely into the replacement switch, the unit comes on correctly the pump is running the Working light is flashing for 20 or 30 seconds like it's supposed to, then the whole thing shuts off completely, then turns back on and repeats! ***? It looks like just as the SWG cell goes to making chlorine bubbles, the entire thing loses power then power returns and it starts over again from the beginning with the flashing Working light! There are no error codes, no error lights on!

Any ideas? I clean my cell about once every 2-3 weeks when I see a calcium buildup on it by soaking the cell in white vinegar, this unit is just about a year old now and has worked fantastic until this hiccup started! Even though I've already cleaned my salt cell just a few days ago and it does go to bubbling furiously just before the system loses complete power, I pulled it out and am cleaning it in vinegar again just to be sure. I'm wondering if something about the cell is pulling so much power it's forcing the system into it's own little brown-out?

My mother's pool has the same Intex system with a practically brand new cell (bought and put into it in May this year), I'm thinking of "borrowing" her cell later tonight to put in my unit to see if it's my cell that's at fault somehow.

ps. When her cell went bad this spring on her 2 year old unit, hers went to displaying Low Salt alarm constantly no matter how many bags we put in her pool (after adding 3 bags, I got suspicious since it couldn't have lost that much salt so suddenly)... I finally took her cell put it in my unit and mine also went into Low Salt alarm mode, so realizing something was wrong with her's original SWG cell we got her a new replacement cell which is why her unit has a virtually new cell in it right now. Now of course the Intex website shows the cells for the 16 inch saltwater sand filter units to be out of stock, so not sure what I'll have to do if for some reason my cell has developed a problem! Eeek!

Love these things when they're working correctly... hate them when they aren't! Arghhh!

- Michael

 

[Michael211]

I took the switch out of another Intex pump, actually. However it turned out not to be a problem with the rocker switch as the unit would still brown-out and shut-down for no apparent reason. A new SWG electrode made no difference either (once I got my hands on a fresh one finally!).

I finally replaced all the control electronics above the pump last weekend (housing, control pad, and circuit boards) and now the thing runs perfectly. Some relay on one of the original circuit boards must be faulty. :-\

The 3-way switch from Intex 1500 and 2500 cartridge filter pumps will fit in your 2650 Sand Filter/SWG unit (you just don't use 1 of the prongs on the back of the switch).

IF you don't have an old cartridge filter pump with a switch you can use laying around, let me know and I'll sell you a spare switch I have that is the exact switch for our 2650 saltwater sand filter units (I recently came by a mostly complete new unit off Craigslist, can't get parts for it so am using it for spare parts instead).

Intex doesn't seem to be stocking many replacement parts anymore. Some parts can be found on Ebay but it's hit-n-miss. I love this unit but Intex lack of replacement parts is starting to tick me off!

- Michael

Hey Michael my toggle switch quit working and I am looking for a replacement switch but could not find it on index or amazon that would fit. Could you please let me know where you bought the toggle switch from as I need to order one for myself too. Thanks.