Pool Pilot Digital Nano - Salt Chlorine Generator

[nwashburn10]

Hi,
We bought a house July 2016 and the pool seemed to be working fine. We had hired a company to take care of our pool but after a few month when I asked what the Pool Pilot was and the guy told me that he didn't know and has never touched it, we let them go. Now we are trying to take care of this pool on our own. We have a local place where they test your water and tell you everything you need to do but they aren't familiar with Pool Pilot either. The last thing we were to do was to put 3 bags of salt into our pool and see if the pool pilot works. I tested the chlorine today and their is none. I googled some videos and was able to do a self diagnostic and this what the system says:
Salt: 3500ppm
Temp: 65
Cell: 37V .3A
Amp Hrs: 25815
Purifier: 27%

I also found a warning that says "low amp cells"

I guess what I am trying to find out is what do I need to do in order to see if this machine is making chlorine, how do I need to set it up, how do I fix low amp cells, ANY help would be appreciated. This is the first pool we have owned so all of it is new to us.

Thank you,

Nini

 

[Jimrahbe]

Nini,

Just wanted to welcome you to TFP.. A great resource for all your pool questions...

While Auto Pilot is known for being a great SWCG, not many people here have them.

Because of this, it may take a day or so to get a response from one of our members that has one.

Just wanted to let you know we are not ignoring you...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[ping]

Remove the cell and inspect it for scaling and clean it if it is scaled.

Reinstall it, put it in boost mode, let it run for a few minutes and check the volts and amps again.

Usually a cell with high volts and low amps means the cell is worn out and needs to be replaced.

 

[nwashburn10]

Thank you. I will try that. I figured out that the purifier is the setting to make chlorine so I turned it to 99% to see if it will make any chlorine. I just came back home and checked on the pilot and the only difference from the original message is that the the cell says 2V and .2 A

 

[Billschultes]

I have a auto pilot nano, there is some great information from their web site on what is the correct volts and amps.
it should be reading around 15 volts and 5 amps when working correctly.
Download their manual which will get going in the right direction

 

[nwashburn10]

Thank you Billschultes, I actually found the manual and have been reading. I did remove the cell and it looks clean. Running it on boost for about 10 min and it says Salt 3300ppm, temp 79, 37V .3A
Any other advise?

 

[robl45]

Check the connections to the cell. Otherwise it looks like the cell is kaput. The amps seem too low.

 

[Billschultes]

I think with the volts as high as they are and the amps as low as they are the cell is bad. Look around on the web and you will find one in the $250 to $300 range

 

[Chris7750]

Had similar problem with Digital Nano....had to get the Power Supply replaced (under wtty)...working now but some things seem out of whack...
Live in St Augustine Fla. pool operational September 2015.
Questions:
1. What is the typical service life span for the a Digital Nano generator cell?
2. After replacing the Power Supply could the unit be out of calibration?
3. Thinking about replacing the cell and re calibration using "Pinch-a-Penny...Is this a good approach?

Thanx
C.