Swg dead?

[Leigh47600]

Its clearly not working,made by a spanish company ...natural chlor.
Its flashing low salt and shutting down(salt level is perfect).when i took the cell out of the housing to clean it(the main plates looked like new)
I noticed a little corrosion on the small plate which i persume is the sensor.
I am thinking of bypassing this and connecting 24v directly to the contacts of the cell
Any reasons why i shouldnt try this??

 

[domct203]

How are you determining the sodium level?

False low salt errors are usually a sign of a failing cell. How old is the cell, and how long / what percentage do you usually run?

 

[ajw22]

I noticed a little corrosion on the small plate which i persume is the sensor.
I am thinking of bypassing this and connecting 24v directly to the contacts of the cell
Any reasons why i shouldnt try this??

There is a risk of a SWG generator exploding if powered without sufficient water flow. Understand you are bypassing safety devices.

 

[Leigh47600]

I understand i am bypassing safety devices...anyway i got 24v dc to it and it worked straight away so i have ordered a transformer which i can power from the pump and a switch inbetween.
When the control unit reverses the polarity ...how often does it do this?and is the cell working during this time?
I have been measuring the salt level with test strips and had it checked at the pool shop.

 

[ajw22]

When the control unit reverses the polarity ...how often does it do this?

Depends on the cell controller logic. From reading different SWG manuals I see some at 5 minutes and some at 30 minutes.

and is the cell working during this time?

Yes. The change in polarity is to reverse the current flow to even out the wear of the cell plates. CL can be generated at either polarity.

 

[Leigh47600]

Thats interesting to know,i noticed when i put a temporary 24v dc direct to the cell(in a bucket of pool water)it only produced in 1 polarity.
When +/- were changed it didnt produce....i didnt know if this was normal.
The cell has been used for 5 seasons,it says in manual 15000 hrs,i am not near that.
Do they lose effectiveness over time....or just stop working.
I didnt want to buy a new cell in case the control unit was faulty and they are not available locally.....and french prices seem to be double than every where else.

 

[jblizzle]

They lose effectiveness over time as the plate coating wears off.

Hayward SWG switch polarity each time the cell starts generating. And the cycle time is 2 hours I think.

 

[Leigh47600]

Is there any way to tell how effectively thay are working?

 

[Leigh47600]

Or after 5 years of summers using it between april/october do i just buy a new cell?
Thanks for previous replies by the way.

 

[ajw22]

Or after 5 years of summers using it between april/october do i just buy a new cell?
Thanks for previous replies by the way.

Sometimes that is all you get out of one. Law of averages. They are disposable and not repairable.

 

[domct203]

Sometimes that is all you get out of one. Law of averages. They are disposable and not repairable.

Agreed. Especially when using long run times and higher percentage settings. Not saying that’s the case here, but always running ‘full tilt’ will reduce a cell’s lifespan. This is why we always recommend a cell that is rated 2-3X bigger than the pool’s volume.

 

[Leigh47600]

I connected everything back up yesterday and the system is working fine again!
The only thing different is i made a big mistake in winter and ended up with about 130 of cya.
I have addressed this over the last few days and its down to about 80.
Could this possibly have an effect on the swg?

 

[jblizzle]

No, CYA would not have affected the SWG operation.