IC40 RED POWER LED

[Laker4ever]

My unit had a solid red pwr LED and i suspected something is wrong with it. My pool chlorine level was low and pool was becoming green on sides and every time i would open the DE filter the grids were full of algae.
So i took a sample of the water to Leslie, and they told me i have 0 chlorine. The unit had all LEDs green except the power that was red. When i first called Pentair, the rep told me there is no problem if the CELL led is green.
This time, i called the Pentair, and a nice lady asked me for the chemistry of the water and told me that they would sent a tech to check. 2 days after and service company came in and swapped the unit , no question asked with a new unit. Now ALL leds are green. I had to add 200 lbs of salt and Leslie and the service company found my salt to be at 2000ppm while the old faulty IC-40 was claiming Salt was good.
I had the cell for 2.5 years.
Two thumbs up for Pentair, i will sure recommend them to everyone i know and buy my next cell from them.


40x20 30,000 gal plaster pool, 11 Fafco solar panels with Goldline 35 control, IC-40 salt gen, pentair 60sqft DE filter 1.5 HP pump.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Very nice review.

Ummm... I know you didn't ask, but if you still have 0 FC and algae, you should shock the pool with liquid chlorine until the FC holds overnight. You should not use the "superchlorinate" or "boost" feature of the SWG, as it shortens the life of the cell.

And for more unsolicited advice, I'd also recommend you invest in your own test kit, either the K2006 or the TF-100.


Welcome to the forum!

 

[Laker4ever]

Thanks for the tip.
I shocked the pool with 2.5 lbs of powder shock and also dropped two floaters with 5 chlorine tablets until the new IC-40 picks up...

p.s, The forum looks very good and I'll try to contribute to it when possible.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

We welcome your contribution....

Another unsolicited tip - be cautious when using powdered "shock" prodcuts - They can be a few things - one if it's Dichlor - that contains CYA and can raise it too high; if it's Cal-Hypo, that too can raise your CH too high, if it's MPS ("non-chlorine" variety) that's really only for indoor pools and spas.

Tablets are acidic and can lower PH/TA, they also increase CYA levels. Be very cautious when using them....

 

[Laker4ever]

"Tablets are acidic and can lower PH/TA, they also increase CYA levels. Be very cautious when using them......."

My water was actually little high in PH (8.0) and low in CYA (20PPM) So in this case I would enjoy the tablets if they lower my PH and increase CYA...
Two birds in one shot...

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Excellent

Ideally for an SWG you want the CYA between 70-80.

 

[Pool Clown]

Very nice review.
You should not use the "superchlorinate" or "boost" feature of the SWG, as it shortens the life of the cell.

Running the unit in boost or super chlorinate runs the unit at 100% for a set time (default is 24 hours)
It won't shorten the life of the cell anymore than if you ran it at 100% for 24 hours (that is, 24 hours of run time) 3 days at 8 hours a day(example).
You should not use the super chlor or boost to shock your pool, as the unit cannot produce enough chlorine at once to properly shock. It will raise the chlor slowly over time to a high level. Which makes for an ineffective shock.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You are correct, of course, I tend to make that statement to discourage SWG owners who often turn it on boost repeatedly and then can't figure out why their pool isn't at shock level, or why their cell is failing early (probably caused by poor water chemistry rather than boost) and they end up using this "boost" more often than necessary....I should rephrase that so it's clear to use LC for shocking rather than the cell for the reasons you state.

Any type of cell use, affects the life of the cell over time.

 

[Pool Clown]

You are correct, of course, I tend to make that statement to discourage SWG owners who often turn it on boost repeatedly and then can't figure out why their pool isn't at shock level, or why their cell is failing early (probably caused by poor water chemistry rather than boost) and they end up using this "boost" more often than necessary....I should rephrase that so it's clear to use LC for shocking rather than the cell for the reasons you state.

Any type of cell use, affects the life of the cell over time.

Yep, I suppose that it would shorten life if its being used constantly. Try telling your customers that boost is like an egg timer. Runs for a set amount of time then reverts back to what you had set it to earlier.