Not producing Chlorine. Read related posts. Can't figure it out. Please help!

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M

mattrufus

Member
May 15, 2017
23
little rock/ ar
Trying not to hate my pool.

No chlorine in pool, bought autopilot PPC1 last summer.
Device tests show: 15-16 V, 3.8-4.2 Amp.
Shows 30% and "On" on the display.
I had an old cell. Put it in and it said "low amp" or "check cell".

Salt is around 2800
CYA should be at least 20
PH, Alk, good. Hardness is probably low around 100.

I have tried doing boosts and made sure the connection to the cell is good (used dielectric grease).
I'm not sure where to go next. New cable? New cell? Lots of filler dirt??? Sorry, just tired.

Thanks!
 
If your FC is zero then you likely have something growing that is causing the FC to be consumed as quickly as it is made. On top of that, with low CYA the sun will burn it off fairly quickly too. This doesn't sound like your SWG isn't producing chlorine, just that you have a chemistry problem that is too much for your cell to keep up with.

I see way too much "should be" and "probably" in your testing numbers. What are you using to test?
 
1) Put 2 gallons of Chlorine in the pool

2) Raise CYA to 60 ppm

3) Clean the cell with diluted MA

4) Put the SWG at 100% and run it for 12 hours per day

5) Adjust SWG run time hours up or down after a week when you see where the FC # stabilizes at.
 
I would not yet raise CYA beyond 30ppm. If there is a need to SLAM it will be easier (and cheaper) with CYA at 30ppm.

If this were my pool, I would bring CYA to 30ppm, raise FC to target per the CYA/FC chart with bleach, and perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to check if there is algae present.

I wouldn’t raise CYA or turn on the SWG until I had the pool algae free and well balanced first.

How do you test?
 
Would help to see other pool chemistry test results. But, what does your SWG manufacturer recommend for salt concentration? 2800 ppm (if accurate) would be low and your SWG may not be making any chlorine as a result. As an example, for my IC 40, if salt is at 2600ppm or less, it won't make any chlorine. So, I would first raise the salt level in the pool to the manufacturer recommended level. The other side of the equation is chlorine loss through either sunlight (low CYA) or being used up by "load" (bathers, algae, etc.). CYA of 20 is too low and if you have had zero chlorine for very long you likely have or will shortly have an algae problem (even if you don't see it yet). So, as recommended above, get chlorine level up using liquid and then do a SLAM. Once you have a fairly stable result from the SLAM and pool salt is at correct level and CYA has been raised, you can then see if the SWG is in fact working (producing enough chlorine). Just make sure that you are running the SWG at a high enough level (amount of ON time in conjunction with pool pump ON time) to generate sufficient chlorine for your pool (i.e. 30% means the SWG is producing chlorine 30% of the time that your pool pump is running, so if you aren't running the pump enough then you won't be generating enough chlorine. Or, set the SWG ON percentage to a higher value if you don't like running your pump as much). Hope that all makes sense.
 
Thanks guys. Today the pump is running, but the generator says "OFF" The temperature is 68 degrees. I think it cuts off at 60 or 65 degrees. Is there a chance that I have an obstruction in the pipe going to the SWG. I read something about generators cutting off if flow was too little.
If this a possibility, how do I fix it? I've replaced the SWG and I often empty the debris catch on the pump. Other than that, I've never disconnected or opened anything.
 
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