Salt cell efficiency

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A

Aldy

New member
Jul 21, 2020
3
Ontario
Hello all,

I am having trouble with my pentair ic40 cell not creating enough chlorine. Here is the info about my pool.
It is about 100000 litres
Current water chemistry:
Alk 82 PM
Ph 7.9
Hardness 212ppm
Salt 3000 PM
Stabilizer 67 ppm
No metals detected.

The issue is that my salt cell seems to not be able to keep up and maintain my chlorine levels.
I run my pump for 12 hours during the day with the salt cell at 100 the wholetime.

I have noticed some algae on the walls and it has been very hot and dry here over the past couple weeks.

Last night I ran my pump and cell all night at 100 and noticed a slight increase in chlorine this morning.

I am not sure if the cell is failing (8years old) or if something else is wrong.

I have had this pool for 6 years and have never had to run the cell this high. That being said I used to run the pump over night for electrical efficiency reasons (we pay less for power at night)

I have read a bunch of posts on here and am thinking of trying a few more things.

I am going to run the pump at night again as someone said even with stabilizer my chlorine could be getting burned off as its created. I am also going to put more algaecide in the pool for algae. I just cleaned the cell last month but I will try to clean it again.

Anyone think of anything I am missing before I buy a new cell?
Any ideas would be appreciated

Thanks
 
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Welcome Aldy !! We need reliable tests in order to give you reliable answers. Those #s look awfully pool store-y.

If they are in fact reliable, the SLAM is the first step like John said.

67 CYA rounds up to 70 and that is too low for JULY most places, even the lower half of Ontario. If you are up north it won't matter in 3 days anyway when winter hits. :poke:

Another culprit could be scaling on the plates of the cell. Unscrew and inspect it. If there is any buildup other than perfectly shiny plates, scrape off what you can with a popsicle stick or plastic spoon and give it a MA bath with 50/50 water. It will fizz/bubble as it eats the scaling and you stop as soon as the fizzing is over.
 
I just get the local pool store to test my water and I put my results from that in my original post. I will add more stabilizer to see if that helps. I am also going to give the slam treatment a shot.

As for my setup I have a single speed pump that I run for 12 hours during the day with my cell on the whole time with it. I have never had to run my cell more than 60% but this is the first year I am running it during daylight so maybe that has something to do with it. My filter is cartridge type. Pool itself is 18x36. Not sure if I am missing anything
 
Aldy said:
I just get the local pool store to test my water and I put my results from that in my original post. I will add more stabilizer to see if that helps. I am also going to give the slam treatment a shot.

As for my setup I have a single speed pump that I run for 12 hours during the day with my cell on the whole time with it. I have never had to run my cell more than 60% but this is the first year I am running it during daylight so maybe that has something to do with it. My filter is cartridge type. Pool itself is 18x36. Not sure if I am missing anything
Click to expand...
I also have just cleaned my cell so no build up on the plates. The cell is a pentair ic40
 
Do NOT add more stabilizer, especially if you have algae to deal with.

More stabilizer (CYA) in a pool requires more chlorine. Have you read the SLAM instructions yet?
SLAM Process

You DO need to get your own test kit, either the K-2006 or tthe TF-100. The K-2006C is equivalent to the TF-100 in reagent amounts, but costs more. The TF-100 is sold by a mom and pop company who make them based on the TFP method of pool care- www.tftestkits.net. They both use Taylor reagents.

You can't do a SLAM process without the FAS-DPD test for FC and CC up to 50ppm.

Maddie
 
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Aldy said:
I just get the local pool store to test my water and I put my results from that in my original post. I will add more stabilizer to see if that helps. I am also going to give the slam treatment a shot.
Click to expand...
We are big on you doing your own testing. Pools stores are renown for having results that are too variable and we have standardized our recommendations on the Taylor kits. If you can get the one Maddie recommends that would be best.

ALSO ... assuming your pool store test of 67 for CYA is correct you are at the perfect spot for a SWG pool according to this chart that we love to quote: FC/CYA Levels. You don't want to go higher.
 
8 years is nearing end of life for that cell so output is likely diminished. Most get replaced around 5 or 6 years. But, as said above, get the proper tester, post the results YOU get, and we can verify if there is something else going on. If you are relying on a pool store, your results will likely vary with each person doing the tests. It’s hard to hit a moving target.
 

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