Salt Cell Going bad?

[SilverJK]

I have a Hayward\Goldine TurboCell T-15 that is approaching 5 years of age and I never close my pool. Due to the heavy rains, I have lowered the water a lot lately and added 3 bags of Salt to account for the water loss. I have tested the salt with strips around 3000 consistently sampling the water at the skimmer.

I have been noticing that I get low instant salt readings (sometimes down below 2000) occasionally and other times it will read the instant salt (and average) correctly. I read somewhere that the VDC range should be between 22.0 - 26.0, mine is reading right at 27.0; is that a good indication it's going south? I thought about having it tested but I was afraid I would get a false reading due to the intermittent readings.

Am I correct in thinking the cell is going bad or are there other things that I need to consider?

 

[JamesW]

Get a K-1766 salt test kit to be really sure about the actual salinity. Then, check the instant salinity in both polarities by turning the system on and watching the instant salinity until it stabilizes. Then, turn it off for a few minutes then turn it on again and recheck all diagnostic readings.

If the salinity in either polarity is more than 800 below the reading from the K-1766, the cell is probably bad.

Both polarities should be within about 200 ppm from each other.

 

[SilverJK]

I dont have that salt test kit you referenced yet, but i did run the numbers on the panel as you suggested. I got -2800 the first time and -1900 after a 3 minute cycle.

It seems that it has already failed the 2nd test (meaning that the cell is going bad)? Also, will a test of my salt cell at a pool store confirm this as well?

 

[JamesW]

If the salinity reading stabilized in each case, the cell is bad.

What's the first four of the S/N?

Check the cell for scale and clean it if necessary.

 

[SilverJK]

The S/N begins with: 3E13

When i recorded those numbers (3-4 minutes apart), i watched as the numbers dropped and recored the number once it quit moving (after about 30 seconds).

I did clean it with the stand in water/acid, plug side up, for about 5 minutes. I could clean it again with a stronger solution and allow it to sit longer.

 

[JamesW]

It's probably bad.

If you don't see scale, an acid wash won't help.

 

[carl292]

I have a Hayward\Goldine TurboCell T-15 that is approaching 5 years of age and I never close my pool. Due to the heavy rains, I have lowered the water a lot lately and added 3 bags of Salt to account for the water loss. I have tested the salt with strips around 3000 consistently sampling the water at the skimmer.

I have been noticing that I get low instant salt readings (sometimes down below 2000) occasionally and other times it will read the instant salt (and average) correctly. I read somewhere that the VDC range should be between 22.0 - 26.0, mine is reading right at 27.0; is that a good indication it's going south? I thought about having it tested but I was afraid I would get a false reading due to the intermittent readings.

Am I correct in thinking the cell is going bad or are there other things that I need to consider?

I take a T15 too. Went to the poolsupplyworld.com and it was brand new for $250 free shipping
Bring it to Pinch a Penny and let them test it, they have a machine to do so.

 

[JamesW]

They have the Hayward T-15 for $442.99 and the generic for $299.99.

The generic is usually not as good.

 

[SilverJK]

Regarding that, I read that a few years ago Hayward would only honor the full warranty (3 years) if it was purchased from (& perhaps installed by) an authorized retailer. Would I get the full 3 year warranty if i purchased it from an online retailer such as Amazon?

 

[JamesW]

The first 3 in the serial number is the years of warranty. As far as I know, they will honor that if you have a receipt.

Maybe email Hayward to confirm.

The "E" means cell. The 13 is the year of manufacture.

 

[carl292]

They have the Hayward T-15 for $442.99 and the generic for $299.99.

The generic is usually not as good.

Absolutely not! I got the generic and u cannot tell the difference between my original hayward and the generic. Listen to me! They are identical minus a sticker.

 

[JamesW]

According to ratings published by Hayward, the genuine T-15 produces 580 lbs of chlorine vs a generic cell at 145 lbs. They cite the following:

Based on rating of chlorine delivery by NSF and Denora Tech.
https://hayward-pool-assets.com/assets/documents/pools/pdf/literature/TurboCell-SellSheet-LITTCCPSS13.pdf

Maybe it's accurate or maybe it's just marketing. You can contact Hayward to ask for their data that supports their claim if you want.

The Hayward cell is about 1.5 x the price for 4 times the rated lifetime output.

You can go generic if you want, but if the rating is even close to accurate, I would get the Hayward.