Hi all! I'm new to the forums, but so far the research I've done on the site has helped tremendously, so thanks to all of you for having such a helpful community here!
So to start with my issue, here's a little background information. This is the first pool (and house) I've ever owned, so there's a bit of a learning curve for me. This pool was installed to the house by the original owner in 2011, so at the point that these issues began, everything was about 4 years old. The pool has been great so far this summer, but this past Sunday we started to get green and mustard algae forming on the bottom of the pool. I tested the chemicals with my Taylor test kit, which was purchased based on the recommendations of this forum, and it's fantastic! The FC level was showing 0, and my CYA levels were showing around 30-40ppm. So based on that, I started trouble shooting why my chlorine levels were 0 with the SWG. I first tested the salt level with my Taylor k-1766 salt kit, and it was indicating that there is 3000ppm of salt in my pool, which is well above the operating range of the old t-cell 5 that I had.
So with the salt test out of the way, I checked the panel on the Aqua Trol RJ. It was indicating that the cell was reading a salt level of 2000-2100ppm in the pool, and the check salt and inspect cell light were illuminated. Based on the information from Hayward and the manual, it seemed like I needed to clean my t-cell t5 with a muratic acid solution. I proceeded with the cleaning process using 4 parts water to 1 part muratic acid. After soaking the inside of the cell with the solution for about 45 minutes (I made sure all the bubbles had stopped before removing the acid from the cell). I reinstalled the cell, reset the aquatrol panel, but it was still reading 1000ppm lower than what my taylor kit was indicating. With the discrepancies so large, I took both my salt cell and a water sample to my local pool store just to have them double check everything and clean the cell for me to make sure it was cleaned thoroughly. They're salt kit tested that there was 2600ppm in my water sample, and I was informed that if it still wasn't reading correctly to replace the cell since it was older. It did indeed still show a 2000ppm salt level when I installed the cell again, so I ordered a GLX-Cell-5 as recommended by Hayward and got it installed yesterday. Sure enough, after 24 hours of the pump running with the new cell, it's still reading 2000ppm for the salt level. I called Hayward tech support, and they said based on my info that my brand new cell is bad. I'm having a pretty hard time believing that, although I'm sure it can happen. But before I go replacing that cell yet again, I'm wondering if it would be worth while to add salt to the pool to see if that remedies the problem. I know the Taylor kits can read up to 400ppm off, but the fact that both the old cell and the brand new cell are registering the same salt reading, I'm thinking that maybe the test kits may be reading higher than the actual salt content.
So, before I add salt to the pool, are there any other recommendations that you might have? Or does it sound like I'm on the right track short of replacing the cell again?
Thanks so much!
Joseph
So to start with my issue, here's a little background information. This is the first pool (and house) I've ever owned, so there's a bit of a learning curve for me. This pool was installed to the house by the original owner in 2011, so at the point that these issues began, everything was about 4 years old. The pool has been great so far this summer, but this past Sunday we started to get green and mustard algae forming on the bottom of the pool. I tested the chemicals with my Taylor test kit, which was purchased based on the recommendations of this forum, and it's fantastic! The FC level was showing 0, and my CYA levels were showing around 30-40ppm. So based on that, I started trouble shooting why my chlorine levels were 0 with the SWG. I first tested the salt level with my Taylor k-1766 salt kit, and it was indicating that there is 3000ppm of salt in my pool, which is well above the operating range of the old t-cell 5 that I had.
So with the salt test out of the way, I checked the panel on the Aqua Trol RJ. It was indicating that the cell was reading a salt level of 2000-2100ppm in the pool, and the check salt and inspect cell light were illuminated. Based on the information from Hayward and the manual, it seemed like I needed to clean my t-cell t5 with a muratic acid solution. I proceeded with the cleaning process using 4 parts water to 1 part muratic acid. After soaking the inside of the cell with the solution for about 45 minutes (I made sure all the bubbles had stopped before removing the acid from the cell). I reinstalled the cell, reset the aquatrol panel, but it was still reading 1000ppm lower than what my taylor kit was indicating. With the discrepancies so large, I took both my salt cell and a water sample to my local pool store just to have them double check everything and clean the cell for me to make sure it was cleaned thoroughly. They're salt kit tested that there was 2600ppm in my water sample, and I was informed that if it still wasn't reading correctly to replace the cell since it was older. It did indeed still show a 2000ppm salt level when I installed the cell again, so I ordered a GLX-Cell-5 as recommended by Hayward and got it installed yesterday. Sure enough, after 24 hours of the pump running with the new cell, it's still reading 2000ppm for the salt level. I called Hayward tech support, and they said based on my info that my brand new cell is bad. I'm having a pretty hard time believing that, although I'm sure it can happen. But before I go replacing that cell yet again, I'm wondering if it would be worth while to add salt to the pool to see if that remedies the problem. I know the Taylor kits can read up to 400ppm off, but the fact that both the old cell and the brand new cell are registering the same salt reading, I'm thinking that maybe the test kits may be reading higher than the actual salt content.
So, before I add salt to the pool, are there any other recommendations that you might have? Or does it sound like I'm on the right track short of replacing the cell again?
Thanks so much!
Joseph
