SWG Trials and Tribulations

[Dirk]

My SWG started working OK a couple weeks ago, when I first fired it up after its winter hiatus. But then a few days later it stopped working. It was reading low salt (about 2200-2500 depending on the day), though my Taylor test read 3400. That low level reading keeps the SWG from producing chlorine, and also keeps my IntellipH from dosing. Double bummer.

I goosed the RPMs a bit, but that didn't help. I waited a week thinking the water needed to warm up a bit more, that didn't help either.

Today I busted out my previous SWG and swapped its flow switch into the active SWG. And that solved it. So, bad flow switch.

An observation: I had saved my old SWG because it had a little life left. But for about a year before I retired it, it had stopped reading salt level. ScreenLogic reported "0" salt. The SWG would make chlorine, it just wouldn't report salt. This was a known issue back then, without any real solution (that I had heard of), save replacing the entire unit (warranty or no). I believe some people tried a new flow switch to solve this, and I think I remember that it didn't solve the problem, at least not consistently (@Jimrahbe might be able to fill in the gaps of my memory on this).

So eventually I replaced the SWG, but saved the old one. At the time, my strategy was to replace an SWG while it still had some life left, to act as a standby that could easily be swapped in should my current SWG ever fail. That way, I'd have SWG service while awaiting a replacement for the failed one. That plan is to always have an "SWG in Waiting" for this very reason, which I plan to still follow.

But another benefit to this strategy I discovered today. A back up flow switch! Now that my current SWG is working again, I do get a good salt reading (SWG and Taylor are only different by 200). So that kinda confirms that zero-salt problem was never the flow switch.

So whether you want to make use of the "SWG in Waiting" scheme or not, never throw out an old one. Or at the very least, save its flow switch. Which I see are about $140-$220+ now, depending on the seller! (Which is what I just saved today!!)

 

[mknauss]

Another method is to wire in a thermistor and bypass the flow switch thermometer function. A pool thermister costs about $20.

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Dirk]

Sidebar, while working on my SWG, I pulled it out to check the calcium on the plates. A Pentair-recommended bimonthly chore that I only do once a year. It had a 3/8" x 1/16" goober of something on one of the plates, that wiped right off with a wooden stick (no scraping). I couldn't say if that was calcium or not. Otherwise, the plates were spotless! Yay TFP guidelines for keep an SWG free of build up, they certainly work for me!!

 

[Dirk]

Another method is to wire in a thermistor and bypass the flow switch thermometer function. A pool thermister costs about $20.

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks Marty, I read about that in another thread where you described what you had done. I would try that should the need arise. I know there are very cheap after-market flow switches for the IC, but I'm not sure they are trustworthy. (Of course, I'm not sure the Pentair flow switch can really be considered "trustworthy" either!)

 

[Jimrahbe]

Dirk,

The flow switch assembly can cause two very different problems.

1. A bad thermistor in the assembly can cause the salt reading to be either low or high. If it reads low, as yours did, then even if the actual salt level is ok, the cell still won't work, because the cell still thinks the salt level is too low to operate.

2. A bad flow switch assembly can cause the salt level that shows up in the EasyTouch to read 'zero.' The cell actually knows what the salt level is, so the cell still works fine. The only problem is that the EasyTouch reports zero. I personally believe that it is a timing issue.. The cell reports the correct salt level to the EasyTouch, it just gets there a microsecond too late, so the EasyTouch thinks it is zero. Changing almost any of the components in the SWCG system will 'fix' the problem.. Most of the time, a new flow switch will make it work, but replacing the main card or the Surge card (Power supply) and of course the whole cell, will make it work also.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Dirk]

A bad flow switch assembly can cause the salt level that shows up in the EasyTouch to read 'zero.'

Interesting. I had the zero-salt-level issue with the previous SWG. I put that SWG's flow switch assembly into my active SWG, and it solved the bad thermistor issue I was having, but also works fine regarding the salt level.

I'll report back if I lose either function in the future.