How long for salt cell to register salt?

[mfizzle]

Hi there,

We purchased a house with a pool and we've just opened it up for the season. Everything went fine except for the salt cell - it's a Pentair Intellichlor, and we have the 'Salt Level' lights blinking between 'Good' and 'Low', and the 'Flow' light as a solid red. Our pool guy said we needed to add salt - we tested the water and it indicated we had about 1600 ppm. Store told us to add 40kg of salt, which we did. It is still blinking showing a solid red on the 'Flow' light - the store said it should take about 36-48 hours for the system to register the salt we added. Does this make sense? Is there something we're missing? Our pool guy has suggested that if the system doesn't right itself, it could also mean the unit needs replacing.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[EmilyOTR]

I have the same one and yes it takes about 24 hours to register salt. I hate that.

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it also seems to require a bit of a high salt level to register good, which you need it to produce chlorine.

 

[kellyfair]

Are you testing your salt with a test kit? If not, I recommend that you get one ASAP. The Taylor K-1766 is readily available... I think you can even get at Walmart.

Did you stir the salt around to dissolve it quickly? If not, I would brush around to be sure it is dissolved, running the pump to mix and circulate. Then test with the kit. If the kit shows adequate salt but the unit doesn’t, then you’ve got some troubleshooting to do. Do you know how old the cell is?

 

[mfizzle]

Are you testing your salt with a test kit? If not, I recommend that you get one ASAP. The Taylor K-1766 is readily available... I think you can even get at Walmart.

Did you stir the salt around to dissolve it quickly? If not, I would brush around to be sure it is dissolved, running the pump to mix and circulate. Then test with the kit. If the kit shows adequate salt but the unit doesn’t, then you’ve got some troubleshooting to do. Do you know how old the cell is?

Yes- tested with our own kit. The numbers were very close to what we got from the store. We poured the salt in evenly walking around the edge. I don't see any clumping at the bottom- water is clear. Pump has been running since we put it in last night at 6pm. The cell is ~2 years old. We were told the next step would be to acid clean the cell if it doesn't activate. And then if that didn't work, we'd have to decide if we kept the salt cell system, or just go to chlorine going forward.

 

[kellyfair]

Do you see any build-up on the cell?

 

[ajw22]

Adding salt is not going to fix a red Flow Light on. You need to open up the cell and see if it is clogged and needs an acid wash.

You can test if the problem is just a low salt level by dumping some salt directly in the skimmer. The cell will see the high salt level and turn on for a few minutes.

Intellichlor is happy if salt between 2500 and 3500 ppm. If cell is the problem then just replace it. don;t give up on the salt system. It is way superior to using chlorine tablets. And you already have most of the salt in the pool.

Use Poolmath to figure out how much more salt you need to add to get it up above 3000 ppm.

 

[EmilyOTR]

Adding salt is not going to fix a red Flow Light on. You need to open up the cell and see if it is clogged and needs an acid wash.

You can test if the problem is just a low salt level by dumping some salt directly in the skimmer. The cell will see the high salt level and turn on for a few minutes.

Intellichlor is happy if salt between 2500 and 3500 ppm. If cell is the problem then just replace it. don;t give up on the salt system. It is way superior to using chlorine tablets. And you already have most of the salt in the pool.

Use Poolmath to figure out how much more salt you need to add to get it up above 3000 ppm.

If salt gets too low my red light comes on and adding salt always fixes it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

The people that you are talking with don't have a clue!!!

The very first thing you need to do is correct the flow issue... How would the cell every measure the salt level if you don't have at least the minimum amount of flow...

So, if the flow light is red... you either don't have enough water flowing through the cell or the cell's flow switch is bad. Step one is the feel the water returning to the pool and see if it has a strong flow.. If you have good flow of water back into the pool from the return eyeballs than most likely the flow switch is bad. A new flow switch costs less than $100 and is an easy DIY fix...

While you may need salt, the Red/Green flashing lights is what always happens when you first power a cell on.. it is part of a calibration routine. When working correctly it takes 5 or 10 minutes...

Once the cell has flow and calibrates itself, then if you have low salt, the Red Low salt light should just stay on...

Do you have a VS pump?? If so, you will need to increase the speed between 1200 and 1800 rpm to turn the flow switch on..

DO NOT clean the cell until you have fixed the flow issue...

Thanks for posting..

Jim R.

 

[Teald024]

The salt cell measures an average reading over time. I believe that cell only takes a reading once a day when its powered on and therefore it can take a while for the cell to actually realize there is enough salt in the water. You should confirm the actual salt level before adding salt.
Salt wont fix that low flow light. Provide some more details about your pool & equipment and we can help diagnose further.

 

[ajw22]

If salt gets too low my red light comes on and adding salt always fixes it.

Which red light? On the Intellichlor there is a red light for low salt and a different red light for NO FLOW.

 

[EmilyOTR]

Which red light? On the Intellichlor there is a red light for low salt and a different red light for NO FLOW.

View attachment 77270

Oh whoops. I shouldn’t comment when I just have one season experience and I just opened my pool. Red Low salt light gets fixed with salt. Lol

 

[EmilyOTR]

Oh whoops. I shouldn’t comment when I just have one season experience and I just opened my pool. Red Low salt light gets fixed with salt. Lol

Also I have had the red flow light come on and backwashing fixed it.

 

[ajw22]

Also I have had the red flow light come on and backwashing fixed it.

Your filter pressure rising indicates when you need to backwash before you get a low flow light on the Intellichlor. Note what your filter pressure is right after a backwash and note what it is when low flow light goes on. Backwash before it gets to the low flow light number.

My filter pressure is 22 after backwash and needs to be backwashed when it gets towards 30.

 

[mfizzle]

M,

The people that you are talking with don't have a clue!!!

The very first thing you need to do is correct the flow issue... How would the cell every measure the salt level if you don't have at least the minimum amount of flow...

So, if the flow light is red... you either don't have enough water flowing through the cell or the cell's flow switch is bad. Step one is the feel the water returning to the pool and see if it has a strong flow.. If you have good flow of water back into the pool from the return eyeballs than most likely the flow switch is bad. A new flow switch costs less than $100 and is an easy DIY fix...

While you may need salt, the Red/Green flashing lights is what always happens when you first power a cell on.. it is part of a calibration routine. When working correctly it takes 5 or 10 minutes...

Once the cell has flow and calibrates itself, then if you have low salt, the Red Low salt light should just stay on...

Do you have a VS pump?? If so, you will need to increase the speed between 1200 and 1800 rpm to turn the flow switch on..

DO NOT clean the cell until you have fixed the flow issue...

Thanks for posting..

Jim R.

This all makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

Lots of water flow out of the pool returns so I don't believe that's the issue.

When the guy said the FLOW light wasn't about the water flow I was a bit confused. I've ID'd the unit as an IC15 and bought the flow switch replacement kit - arriving Thursday and I should be able to see if that fixes it. For $100 it's worth the investment before we go to a more drastic solution!

One more question: should I shock the pool again tonight seeing as how I won't have the salt cell working until at least Thursday/Friday?

 

[JamesW]

The cell does not test for salinity until it detects flow. It's probably a bad flow switch. Maintain chlorine as needed by liquid chlorine.

 

[mfizzle]

The cell does not test for salinity until it detects flow. It's probably a bad flow switch. Maintain chlorine as needed by liquid chlorine.

Update!

Thank you again, your advice was great.

We bought a new flow switch and I replaced it on Friday. Job was pretty easy and I'm not exactly the most electrically inclined individual.

Turned everything back on, and yes, the flow light was now a solid green and we were good to go. The pool needed some salt so we added, and within 12 hours all lights were solid green and we were happy campers.

Fast forward to yesterday and the flow light had turned red again. I know the sensor is fine - it's brand new. Is my guess that the pump just isn't pumping water hard enough the right one? The salt cell is working fine when there is flow, so I'm at a loss as to what else it could be.

 

[JamesW]

Is the flow switch arrow pointing exactly in the direction of the flow?

What pump do you have and what is the filter pressure?

If it's a variable speed pump, what is the rpm?

 

[ajw22]

I know the sensor is fine - it's brand new.

Could be infant mortality with the new switch.

You have a multimeter or continuity checker? It is easy to check if a switch is working now that you know how to remove it.

If your pump is pumping any reasonable amount of water it is enough for the flow switch.

 

[JamesW]

Also, check the wiring to make sure that the connections are secure.

 

[mfizzle]

Is the flow switch arrow pointing exactly in the direction of the flow?

What pump do you have and what is the filter pressure?

If it's a variable speed pump, what is the rpm?

Flow switch arrow is dead straight with the direction of the flow. Filter pressure is just a bit above 10- 12ish?

Not a variable speed pump. I don't have the brand at hand right now. Of note, the previous owners didn't drain it properly and over the winter months water inside froze. Our guy that opened the pool said the pump was 'seized' and he had to fix it up to get it started. It's running fine now, but could that be the issue? Damaged from improper storage and now not pumping optimal volumes? I'll also add that after I fixed the flow sensor and the cell started working, I noticed that one of the return eyes had bubbles coming out of it. The other eye was fine though. Don't know if that's relevant.

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Could be infant mortality with the new switch.

You have a multimeter or continuity checker? It is easy to check if a switch is working now that you know how to remove it.

If your pump is pumping any reasonable amount of water it is enough for the flow switch.

I shut off the pump and restarted it and it would turn the flow light green again for a period of time before turning to red again.