never-ending issues with IC40, cell light blinking AGAIN

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C

crackers8199

Bronze Supporter
Jun 5, 2014
290
Lake Elsinore, CA
our IC40 is nearing the end of its life, i guess, even though the display says it is only 60% used it's almost 8 years old...so we're probably getting to the point where it will need to be replaced. trying to coax one more season or two out of it though. on that note, when i turned it back on for the summer two weeks ago, the cell light was blinking. i checked the plates, and didn't see any obvious build-up...but did an acid clean anyway, and there was quite a bit of bubbling - and it started working again. last weekend i cleaned the filter, and had to take it apart to re-lube the o-ring after a small leak was observed there. the filter is now sealed and not leaking, but the cell light is blinking again on the IC40 (just started in the last day or two, as it wasn't blinking on saturday when i took the filter apart and re-lubed the o-ring).

i'm going to do another acid wash again today to see if i can get it running again, but is there anything else i can do to try to get at least one more summer out of this cell? like i said, the display says that it's only 60% used (it's oversized for our 10k gallon pool), but i'm not about to do an acid wash on it every two weeks all summer...i'd just use liquid chlorine for a few months before doing that. or am i just SoL and need to replace it now even though it supposedly has life left?

edit: acid soak in progress, it's definitely dirty again. a lot of fizzing. so i guess the question is how do i keep this thing clean enough to make it thru the summer? ideally i would get at least this summer out of it, then replace it next year when i turn it back on after the winter...
 
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The acid wash ironically removes lifespan from the unit, which is already on borrowed time.

I did the same, like the unit clearly said to, and also at the PBs direction. Both of them *had* to know better than me, right ? At least I thought so and I acid bathed my cell for 6.25 hours in straight acid over its life. No kidding it quit at 6k hours producing.

Ironically, the new cell says to inspect and clean if necessary. Live and learn.
 
Newdude said:
The acid wash ironically removes lifespan from the unit, which is already on borrowed time.

I did the same, like the unit clearly said to, and also at the PBs direction. Both of them *had* to know better than me, right ? At least I thought so and I acid bathed my cell for 6.25 hours in straight acid over its life. No kidding it quit at 6k hours producing.

Ironically, the new cell says to inspect and clean if necessary. Live and learn.
Click to expand...

i'm not using straight acid, i have a jug with a 4 parts water to 1 part acid mix (roughly) that i keep in my acid can with the other 4 acid jugs. it's a different style gallon so i know which is which.

either way, after the Dang thing fell over just now and dumped the mix all over my equipment, i put it back in place and it's still not working. i guess now i have to spend $1k on a new cell. ugh.
 
If you Become a TFP Supporter you will get a discount code for Marina and it will get you 10% off. You might have to call them to talk to Margaret to get it. I did.

Warranty is two years. Regardless where purchased from. Register with Pentair.
 
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C,

May we all have the same "never-ending issues with IC40," that has only lasted 8 years...!!!

Most cells last 5 to 7 years.

Once the Cell light starts blinking, when the cell is clean, you can just kiss your salt cell good-bye..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
C,

May we all have the same "never-ending issues with IC40," that has only lasted 8 years...!!!

Most cells last 5 to 7 years.

Once the Cell light starts blinking, when the cell is clean, you can just kiss your salt cell good-bye..

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
that's a fair point. i knew i was going to have to replace it soon, was just hoping to get one more year out of it.
 
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after some further testing, it seems this may be an issue with the thermistor on the IC40. my water this morning was 68 degrees, and for the past few years i've always had issues with it whenever the water gets below 70 or so (this is kinda what i was referring to with my "never ending" issues bit). we've had a very cold may and june here in so cal, so the water has stayed pretty cold (relatively speaking for the fact that it is still june and warmer than it is in the winter months). i decided to test my theory by turning the heater on and bumping the water temp up a few degrees...as soon as the water got above 70, sure enough, the cell started working again.

i followed the procedure i found here and in a few youtube videos to test the temp sensor (more for 5 sec, then after it displays the cell life press more again) - it comes up with all five lights blinking, which indicates a bad sensor. youtube videos seem to indicate that if the sensor is bad, it should still work and produce chlorine...so i'm not sure what it would have read had i tested it prior to heating the water a bit. i'm going to leave it alone for now and test it later when my pump comes on for the nightly run at 9pm, and then i'll check it again tomorrow morning if the water temp has dropped back below 70.

i did sign up for a TFP supporter membership, so i'll call marina and get the new cell this week if it ends up being needed...but i'm curious to get opinions on my findings from the past few hours. thinking that with a little luck, maybe, just maybe i actually *can* get it through one more summer before swapping out the cell...
 
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C,

I have yet to see a cell with a flashing cell light that was not bad. Initially, they will flash and when you power them back up they might work for a few days, but pretty soon the cell light will start flashing again.

No doubt, that the thermistor may be bad, but I don't beleive that that will make the cell light flash. It will make the salt level look like it is very high or very low.

Anyway.. it worth a shot to see what happens. :goodjob:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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Jimrahbe said:
C,

I have yet to see a cell with a flashing cell light that was not bad. Initially, they will flash and when you power them back up they might work for a few days, but pretty soon the cell light will start flashing again.
Click to expand...

after i cleaned it a few weeks ago (there was some obvious build up and i cleaned it out good), it started working again until the past few days where we've had another cold spell. temp hasn't been out of the 60s the past 3-4 days and the water has dipped back below 70, it was in the mid to high 70s for the two weeks or so since i had cleaned the cell until now. that's the only thing that made me think it could be a water temp issue.

Jimrahbe said:
No doubt, that the thermistor may be bad, but I don't beleive that that will make the cell light flash. It will make the salt level look like it is very high or very low.
Click to expand...

my experience with it having issues seemingly as soon as the water gets below 70 in the last few summers is what made me think this might be the issue. after i acid cleaned it again this morning, it immediately was still flashing...until i turned the heater on and got the temp back up above 70. then, seemingly like magic, it started producing again.

what i don't understand is: if the thermistor is bad, shouldn't it automatically be acting as if the water is 77 and producing by default? i know the salt level is fine, i have tested it with my TF100 - it's at 3800 which is exactly where it needs to be. the LED test on the cell itself has all lights blinking, which indicates bad sensor. i'm hoping the water gets back below 70 tonight so i can test it again with cold water and see what it reports. tonight may be the last time the water is that cold for the rest of the summer, as we're supposed to be back up into the high 70s and 80s starting tomorrow for the rest of the week, through at least next monday.
 
C,

When you cut the white wire you take the thermistor out of the circuit.. This would be the same as an open.. But the thermistor, which changes resistance with temperature, is most likely not open, but just not showing the right resistance for the temperature it is sensing..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
yangcha1 said:
Mine is 8 years old yet still goes strong. Want to know how long it lasts.
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Y,

No doubt that some cells fail early and some last a lot longer than the average.

Even if the cell only lasts 5 years, you are on the plus side of things, and anything over 7 years is outstanding!!

The problem is they don't tend to die slowly. One day they work and the next day they don't. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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still working again this morning, water still above 70 (72, actually). warmer temps coming today and over the next week or so, we'll see if it continues or if it dies again. i am ready to call and order the new cell if i need to, but if i can get through another year with this one i'll gladly put that off til next spring. if it continues to work with the warmer water, i might try throwing $30 at it to see if replacing the flow switch helps coax it through the rest of the year and perhaps even longer.
 
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coming back to this - a month and a half later, and as the water has stayed warmer (in the 80s for the most part, sometimes high 80s) the cell is still working (knock on wood). one thing i've noticed though: if i turn the cell on manually without the pump being on, the flow light immediately turns green even though the pump isn't running. wouldn't this indicate a bad flow sensor and perhaps at the same time reinforce my suspicion about the thermistor being an issue since it's built into the flow switch and it cuts out when the water gets cooler (although not cold enough that the cell shouldn't be producing)?
 

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