Wife just fired my pool guy - Want to make sure I am on right track cause plan on going it myself

So... New problem (not so new to me, but been trying to deal with it before bringing it up here).

I keep getting Low Amp Cell warnings. Voltage goes up... Amps go down. I have been finding that if I turn the pool off wait a bit and turn it on again, after the 5th or 6th time doing this (after waiting a few minutes to confirm warning returns), I run the test to see what amps and voltage are before turning off.

It seems when turned on amps are higher (might be just calabrating) and then start to decline over 2 minutes with Volts increasing

Things that have been done to date:

5 or 6 months ago - New Cell (old one was 4 years old so it was time)
1 Month ago - New Cord
1 week ago Did acid wash on cell (no visible sign of scaling, but why not).

After I did the acid wash, and cleaned everyhting last weekend, it didn't kick off the warning for 3 or 4 days, so I thought I had solved it, but this morning I had the warning again. In order to feel usefull I

unplugged and plugged back in the cell, switched which holes of power cord were used by cell, Cleaned the "screen" to see if that would fix the issue, I tightened the all the "hand tight" rings to ensure everything was sealed. and then I shook the pipes to see if that would help. On and off 4 or 5 times but finally got it to start showing 5 amps (the norm), at which point I decided (smart or not) to adjust the timer so that it is on 24/7 now that it is working to keep it working.


Does anyone have any insight? It is a Autopilot Nano, probably installed around 2012.

Salt is at 3200PPM (test strips are showing ~3000).
 
1 week ago Did acid wash on cell (no visible sign of scaling, but why not ?

Because without anything to clean, the acid eats the very expensive plates inside you cell. I forget exactly what they are made out of, might as well be unobtainium. I was told originally to clean mine wheather it looked like it needed it or not. Doing so shortened my lifespan from 10k hours to 6k hours. I’m expecting almost double the life from my replacement. If you fill the cell and it doesn’t fizz or bubble, there is nothing to clean. Dump and rinse it good and hook it back up. If it does fizz, keep an eye on it until it stops and then empty it.
 
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Because without anything to clean, the acid eats the very expensive plates inside you cell. I forget exactly what they are made out of, might as well be unobtainium. I was told originally to clean mine wheather it looked like it needed it or not. Doing so shortened my lifespan from 10k hours to 6k hours. I’m expecting almost double the life from my replacement. If you fill the cell and it doesn’t fizz or bubble, there is nothing to clean. Dump and rinse it good and hook it back up. If it does fizz, keep an eye on it until it stops and then empty it.


I followed the directions but the MPT plug didn't seem to plug the cell fully so It was probably less than 10 minutes in the cell (it basically said fill to a certain point with water and then add Muric Acis).

I will not do the cleaning again unless I see real scaling.

Anyone have any thoughts on the low amp cell issue?

If I do need to open the sucker up and change the board or power module anyone have experience with that (is it 2 pieces or 1 piece, and how hard is it... cause I imagine the price isn't pretty).
 
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I followed the directions but the MPT plug didn't seem to plug the cell fully so It was probably less than 10 minutes in the cell (it basically said fill to a certain point with water and then add water).


At 15 minutes a pop in straight acid at mid season and end, I ‘cleaned’ mine for 3 1/4 hours over 6.5 years. I cleaned almost 4K hours off the lifespan. Oh well. Live and learn.
 
My controller reminds me to clean my cell every 30 days I think... I really only do it once at the start of the season and then I do what @Newdude suggests.. if there is no fizzing I dump it out....

I gotta tease you about this... I assume its a typo.. but I wouldn't put it past some of the directions I've read on pool chem bottles.. did it really say "fill with water and then add water"!? It would go down as one of the greatest pool chem procedures.:poke: :mrgreen:

I followed the directions but the MPT plug didn't seem to plug the cell fully so It was probably less than 10 minutes in the cell (it basically said fill to a certain point with water and then add water).
 
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My controller reminds me to clean my cell every 30 days I think... I really only do it once at the start of the season and then I do what @Newdude suggests.. if there is no fizzing I dump it out....

I gotta tease you about this... I assume its a typo.. but I wouldn't put it past some of the directions I've read on pool chem bottles.. did it really say "fill with water and then add water"!? It would go down as one of the greatest pool chem procedures.:poke: :mrgreen:


I have fixed it.

It said add Acid.

I believe instructions were to put MPT plug in
Fill until about i inch of plates visible with water and then add acid to top of plate.
It says wait 20 minutes, but my plug can't seem to create a water tight seal so mixture slow drained out of it within 10 minutes into the bucket I had the cell standing up right in.
 

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I figured it said add acid.. but we are a finicky bunch, aren't we ;)

So Yeah I do about the same thing without a plug. I found a tall skinny bucket that is dedicated to cleaning the cell. when I pull the cell out the acid wash just stays in the bucket, bucket goes in the pool, Cell gets a rinse with the hose.
 
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