Salinity Reagents going bad?

[fredricr1]

I've searched and found that reagents are good for at least a year, probably longer (most threads related to typical chemistry - FC, Ph, etc). Does this apply to the salt test reagents from the Taylor K-1766? My R-0718 reagent shows an expiration of 08/2019; the R0630 expires 4/2020. We had a lot of rain over the winter and my IC40 was showing very low salt: 2200ppm - I was just adding liquid chlorine over the winter here in San Diego because water temps were around 50-51F. Now that it's warming up, I used my K-1766 and got a reading of 3600ppm, quite a bit more than the IC40 meter! Added 40lbs of salt and it only went up to 3800 using the Taylor test, but the IC40 went up to 2650. Still low, but a bigger increase. Added another 20lbs of salt and the drop test reads 4200ppm (21 drops), the IC is at 2750. Water temp is 61.

I'm wondering if the "expired" R-0718 (silver nitrate) is slow to react, giving a false high salt reading, or if my IC40 may have a bad switch. FWIW, the IC40 is 2 years old but the flow switch was replaced 1 year ago because it was reading zero salt.

Sorry for the long post - tried to be thorough!

Fred

 

[ajw22]

Silver nitrate is very stable and should be good for a few years.

Trust the K-1766 test.

Check what temperature the IC40 is reading...

How_Do_You_Display_IntelliChlor_Cell_Water_Temperature?

 

[fredricr1]

Silver nitrate is very stable and should be good for a few years.

Trust the K-1766 test.

Check what temperature the IC40 is reading...

How_Do_You_Display_IntelliChlor_Cell_Water_Temperature?

This morning, when I did the most recent readings, water temp was 60F using ScreenLogic. IC40 salt reading was 2750ppm, Taylor was 4200ppm.

Using the procedures you posted, I pressed and held the MORE button on the IC. All lights cycled through a pattern, the red lights flashed a bit more, then it returned to it's current regular status of LOW Salt (red) and Good Flow (Green). Sanitizer output was zero - I have it all the way down given the sub 60degree temps. It never stopped on a percentage for hours of operation and pressing MORE again did not give me any temp reading. The IC40 was purchased in March of 2018 and again, the flow switch was replaced in August of 2018.

 

[JamesW]

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll. When the lights begin to scroll, immediately release the More button and note which percentage lights light up. Then, immediately press and release the More button again and note which percentage lights light up.

The process works. It's just a little bit tricky to get right.

 

[fredricr1]

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll. When the lights begin to scroll, immediately release the More button and note which percentage lights light up. Then, immediately press and release the More button again and note which percentage lights light up.

The process works. It's just a little bit tricky to get right.

Hmm. It takes 3 presses to get any kind of change from the cycle, when the 10/100% light finally flashes. I *think* I'm following the procedures. This link is a quick video of my button presses. At the very end I put my thumb over the button but don't press anything so it goes back to normal status. Any suggestions?

 

[JamesW]

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll.

When the lights begin to scroll, immediately release the More button and note which percentage lights light up.

Wait for the percentage lights to light up.

Then, immediately press and release the More button again and note which percentage lights light up.

You're pressing the More button too many times.

 

[ajw22]

What is the manufacturing date on the bottom of the cell?

 

[fredricr1]

What is the manufacturing date on the bottom of the cell?

Label on the bottom of the SWG reads 11/27/2017. The flow switch was replaced August of 2018, so presumably that part is more recent.

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll.

When the lights begin to scroll, immediately release the More button and note which percentage lights light up.

Wait for the percentage lights to light up.

Then, immediately press and release the More button again and note which percentage lights light up.

You're pressing the More button too many times.

I've tried that. If I release the MORE button as soon as the lights start cycling, they just finish the cycle and return to its regular state with no percentage lights lighting up. I can get that 10/100% light to flash and then toggle it back and forth, but if I wait...it just exits whatever mode that is. I'm sorry - I'm don't think I'm that dense but either my unit doesn't have this mode or I'm doing something wrong. Here's a new quick video where I release right away and wait:

 

[JamesW]

I think that the thermistor is bad.

They are very unreliable.

If you have an extra temperature sensor like the one in the system that reports to the automation, you can install it near the cell and connect it to the cell's temperature sensor wires instead of the temperature sensor that's in the flow switch.

You can temporarily disconnect the system temperature sensor from the automation box and connect it to the cell to see if it works.

 

[JamesW]

The test results indicate that the temperature sensor is reading the temperature as higher than 100 degrees.

If you disconnect the temperature sensor, the cell will default to reading the temperature as 77 degrees and the salinity will read higher.

I would install a temperature sensor near the cell and connect it to the cell's temperature sensor wires.

You can also measure the resistance of the temperature sensor in the flow switch to see what temperature it is reporting by checking the resistance against a 10k thermistor chart.

https://www.aetsolar.com/literature/Manuals/TempVsResistChart.pdf

The resistance of the temperature sensor at 100 degrees Fahrenheit is 5,827 ohms.

So, the resistance must be reading lower than 5,827 ohms (higher temperatures mean lower resistance).

Note that you need a good multimeter to test the sensor.