Is my SWG dead? Troublshooting SWG output.

[Ukie]

Within last couple weeks I've notices that I can't crank FC levels (~2) to the values I had last years (4-5) . Longer and longer (up to 24hrs) SWG runs did not help either.

So here we go to troubleshot SWG output.
I think steps I took might be useful for other forum members.

1. Make sure salt levels match your SWG requirements (usually 3,200-3.400 ppm).

2. Make sure SWG lights do not show any error statuses (cold water, not enough flow, etc) and SWG has been removed, inspected and cleaned if necessary.

Do not shock pool before doing steps 3-4. Make sure chlorine level is at least 2ppm. If not, add bleach/chlorine to raise FC to 2ppm.

3. Shut the SWG off overnight and do an OCLT. Just to give you an idea, my chlorine loss was 0.8 ppm.
Note FC level.
If FC > 1ppm, proceed to step #4.
If FC is between 0 and 1, just add bleach/chlorine to raise it to 2ppm. Follow to step #4.
if FC=0, some algae might be present and it calls for SLAM process.

4. Start SWG for 12 hours, measure chlorine loss again. Mine was around 0.8. It's a clear indicator that SWG did not produce any chlorine and it is dead even with all lights showing that it works.

 

[WASP]

How old is the cell?

Do you see any bubbles when t he SWG is running?

Use bleach to raise CL to desired level and do OCLT to see if alge is eating you CL.

 

[Ukie]

2 years old.
No bubbles.
I did OCLT , see #3, 0.8 ppm loss.

 

[ping]

Remove the cell and inspect it for any scale and clean it if there is scale.

You need to raise the FC to your target level of the CYA level to run an OCLT and the pump should be running overnight during the test.

 

[Ukie]

Remove the cell and inspect it for any scale and clean it if there is scale.

Cell has been removed and inspected. Cell blades were clean and they did not have any visible scaling. As a precaution measure, I did acid clean just to rule out any deposit issue.

You need to raise the FC to your target level of the CYA level to run an OCLT and the pump should be running overnight during the test.

I would respectively disagree that FC needs to be at target CYA level to run an OCLT when troubleshooting SWG.

 

[ping]

I would respectively disagree that FC needs to be at target CYA level to run an OCLT when troubleshooting SWG.

So be it for you, but we always recommend to keep the FC at or above the minimum level for the FC/CYA range.

Your pool had nearly a 50% loss overnight and it only started with 2ppm so I would be cautious of saying your pool is organic free.

Without any SWG errors it should be producing some chlorine, but it could very well be near the end of its life.

 

[JamesW]

The IC-40 maintains constant chlorine production by increasing or decreasing the voltage as necessary to maintain a constant current (amps). If it can't maintain constant amps, it should give an error light.

It's tricky to measure voltage and current at the cell. However, you can measure power usage on the AC supply side. Get a multimeter that does inline amps (usually up to 10 amps). Put it in series with one leg of the ac power supply and measure the amps. Multiply amps by volts to get power in watts. The power should be about 150 watts. A "True RMS" meter will do better than a cheap meter.

Don't do anything that you're not sure you can do safely.

 

[Ukie]

The IC-40 maintains constant chlorine production by increasing or decreasing the voltage as necessary to maintain a constant current (amps). If it can't maintain constant amps, it should give an error light.

It's tricky to measure voltage and current at the cell. However, you can measure power usage on the AC supply side. Get a multimeter that does inline amps (usually up to 10 amps). Put it in series with one leg of the ac power supply and measure the amps. Multiply amps by volts to get power in watts. The power should be about 150 watts. A "True RMS" meter will do better than a cheap meter.

Don't do anything that you're not sure you can do safely.

Thanks for your reply. Measuring load on the AC supply side makes sense.

However, it was easier to get a replacement cell and put it in. Now magic chlorine bubbles are coming back from return jets!
Is there anyway to diagnose and repair malfunctioning IC-40?