Hayward Aquarite T15 cell tests fine, but salinity reading is way off!

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dryan

dryan

Member
Jun 8, 2023
7
San Antonio, Texas
Pool Size
25000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I'm hoping you guys can help me out here. After at least a year of generating fine, I'm getting the dreaded 'check salt' light and therefore no generation happening. I've cleaned the T15 cell, tested the salt with accu blue home kit and taken samples to leslies multiple times and they all read salinity around 3400. I took the salt cell itself to Leslies and they say it tests fine. The reading i get at the panel is 2.2, in fact here are all the readings:

2.2
29
32.5
0
44p
0
AL-2
r1.59
T-15

When i take the front panel off, i don't see any obvious burn outs. Is there a way to test the main board, or is there something else i'm missing.
Attached pics of the board.
 

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The thermistor is what I circled in red and a green mark is where I can barely see a line but it may be the typical damaged thermistor that breaks (splits) on the aquarite controll. If in fact it is broken or even burned out verified by a meter (vom) they can be had for under $5 but you'd have to unsolder it or find a handy somebody to do it for you. Looking at the boards while installed isn't going to show anything. You have to dismount them and look on the back side to see burn marks. Some of these boards also have a problematic k4 relay which can be had for a few $. Take lots of pictures before disconnecting the wires so you have a reference where they belong in case you have doubts when reconnecting. Youtube is your best friend here with plenty of information. Screenshot_20230609_075728_Gallery.jpg
 
Attached pics of salt cell, but i couldn't find a typical 'label' so these may be useless. But I purchased it from Amazon on 7/20/2022: Amazon.com so it's not very old. I also replaced the board from Amazon in April 2019 with this: Amazon.com
It's been a long time since i've done any soldering, but I can probably do it. I didn't even see that crack. Do i just place the contacts for the volt meter on each pole of the thermistor to determine whether it's gone bad? What's the best way to do that?
 
That's not a genuine Hayward cell and I would not have any confidence in it.

Most likely, the cell is bad.

Does the cell have any type of warranty?

Can you check the diagnostic readings again in both polarities?
 

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Set to standard, new readings are:
2100
90
31.3
0
40p
-0
AL-2
r1.59
t-15

Not sure I did ‘both polarities’ right - but I removed power for 2 minutes, restarted, waited for ‘no flow’ light to go out and re-read numbers. The only thing that changed was instead of 31.3 it was 31.4

I don’t have the salt tester you recommended yet but I will get it. I have a digital salinity tester ‘Orapxi’ which is reading 2800 and multiple Leslie’s tests which ranged from 3200-3600 and a salt strip which reads 2500, so it’s pretty much all over the place. I’ll get the one you recommended.
 
@OP, try this. Place the switch in the OFF position and then back to AUTO. Push the diagnostic button 5x or until the display shows the instant salinity reading of -0. Wait for the click, and then move the switch from Auto to Super Chlorinate and back to Auto. This should reset your average salinity reading and get rid of the Check salt/Inspect cell error. If the instant salinity reading drops far beyond the known salt level, then it is time to call in for a warranty.
 
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