Salt Cell reading SUPER high, test low

[bownut]

We had a leak at the end of the summer so I just had to add 440# of salt. My Hayward PL-P-4 is reading 4700 ppm salt on our T-CELL-15. My salt test is reading 2800, which is lower than I expected it would be, but I did the test while the salt was still dissolving. However, this afternoon I checked it again on the PL-P-4 and it is still reading 4700. What can I do to get it to read correctly? It has never been as accurate as my salt test, but it has never been this off.

 

[JamesW]

If you turned on the system before the salt was fully dissolved, I would suspect that some got sucked up by the main drain and caused a high reading.

Once the salt is completely dissolved (always brush the pool at least twice and wait 24 hours with the pump on), go to diagnostics to see what that shows.

Then push the ">" button to get instant salt by itself. If instant salt is correct, push "+" to save.

The only other way salt would read high would be if you had the wrong t-cell selected in setup, but I don't think that that's the case.

Why won't the pump work with your automation?

 

[bownut]

I brushed the pool to get it to dissolve, and I have brushed it at least once since. I'll go do that again. I did see that you should pull water from the main drains in order to get it to distribute better. If the reading is high again today I'll try that.

I'll go back and look at my Configuration and see if something reset when we had a power outage.

As far as the pump, the installer put in an 2302VSP. Apparently that is the last iteration of this pump that DOES NOT work with the PL-P-4. The 2303VSP (note the 3) is the one that WILL work with the PL-P-4. That was a little frustrating because we spent so much money on that thing and now it doesn't do anything except automate our SWG, which could have been done with an AquaRite and we may have saved some money. We don't have anything else that can be automated. Currently the lights are missing from the pool (foreclosure) but they aren't wired into the box. We don't have any valves or spa or heater; just the SWG.

 

[JamesW]

Most likely, you just had the salt system on before all of the salt was dissolved. Always leave the salt system turned off until all salt is fully dissolved.

About the pump, it might be worthwhile to insist on the newer version of the pump. Since you got the automation, it doesn't make sense that they used a non-compatible pump. Maybe call Hayward if necessary.

 

[bownut]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure the installer is Hayward authorized. I think he buys his stuff from a wholesaler. But I'll call and ask. The worst they can say is no. Originally the filter was sized for an 18K ga pool. As far as going to the installer, it is just not possible. If you want more info send me a private message, when I got emotional in generic terms about him before it was moderated out of the post.

So, I didn't know about turning off the salt system completely. Do you mean cutting the power to the controller? I'm not sure how to do that, but I am sure I can find a breaker. The cell is still reading high. I checked the configuration and it is T-Cell-15, so good there.

 

[JamesW]

You go to "Settings" by pushing the menu button until you get to settings then you press > until you see chlorinator output and change the output to 0% by pushing the "v" button.

Go to "Diagnostics" now by pushing the "Menu" button until you see Diagnostics, then push the ">" button to see instant salt, volts, amps and cell temperature on one screen. Then push the">" button again to see instant salt by itself. It will say push "+" to save. If the instant salt level is good, push "+" and it will change average salinity to the current instant salinity.

Note: The system shows average salinity and instant salinity. Average is a rolling average of the most recent instant salinity readings. Instant salinity is what it's reading right now.