8 week old AquaRite - "Inspect Cell"

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S

sredish

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LifeTime Supporter
Jul 3, 2007
207
North of Dallas
I have an 8 week old AquaRite generator. Tomorrow (July 20th), I'm having a little party for my 5 year old boy's birthday. I get home, knowing I've neglected the pool for the last 4 days due to work, and the "Inspect Cell" light is blinking, there's virtually no FC in it and the PH is through the roof. The party starts at 4, so I guess I'm going to get some acid and bleach in it first thing in the morning, try and bring the FC up a good amount and lower the PH, then after the party, get it back under control.

Man, 4 days w/o paying a lot of attention, that's a lot of Crud to have just fly out on me.

"Inspect Cell". Does this mean it has quit putting out chlorine, does it mean it's dirty and needs cleaning or just call the dealer and ask him WTF?

FC - ~0
TC - 1
PH - 8.4
CYA - 26
CH - 76
Didn't take an ALK

Also, this was the first test with the ColorQ I just received. I was going to test the Chlorine and PH with the tester I've been using to see how it jives. I'd imagine the ColorQ is more accurate regardless. THe CYA is dead on what I thought. THe PH is what I figured, given the waterfall, plaster and SWG. Wasn't sure on the CH, so I need to raise that some and then add more to the CYA. Above all, I need to get this part over with and then go full scale immediately after.

You guys think I should go with some trichlor temporarily, how fast will it lower the PH and add to the CYA, or should I just treat them individually?
 
Take the pH down with acid and add some bleach. The tri-chlor is too slow for a pool that needs some pretty quick attention and your's does.

Wish I could help with the SWG but I have no experience.

I'm very interested in your opinion of the accuracy of the colorQ. Many folks have reported some problems, particularly with CYA and CH readings. If you have an opportunity, many of us would be interested in a comparative set of results with a drops-based test.
 
yea, i did turn the power off, waited; no go. Then, I turned the power off and unplugged the deal for a few and that didn't work either.

I got home late yesterday, no time to get anything, didn't even get those numbers until close to 10:30. Around 11, I rememberd I had two packets of cal-hypo sitting in one of my little boxes, so i threw my sandals on and went and threw a bunch in, so I'll see what the chlorines doing right now. My wife had to run to the office and is going to pick up a bunch of acid for me so I'll have that in w/in 30 min. I'm still in bed so can't tell ya what the cal-hypo did yet.

duraleigh, i am going to be buying one of your test kits very shortly. I bought the colorQ to use and play with some but its going to take a little time for me to trust it and I don't have one place in a 30 mile radius where I can buy anything better than test strips.
 
Inspect cell typically means calcium scaling on the cell but it can also happen if the wire to the cell is lose or damaged or the unit is defective. For a unit that new I wouldn't expect scaling but with your PH that high, high alkalinity could have caused scaling, though it seems unlikely given your low CH level. Looking at the cell to check should be easy enough. Also check the wire to the cell at both ends and look for any damage along the wire its self. If there are obvious white deposits on the cell plates you should follow the manufacturers directions for cleaning the cell.

Rising PH is a fairly common issue with SWGs. You can reduce the rate at which the PH rises by lowering your alkalinity to 70-90. Adding borates to 30-50 ppm will also help dramatically but is a bit of work.
 
I have the same cell you do. "Inspect Cell" notification is timer driven, automatically showing up after approximately 500 hours of use. You can just reset it and it should continue operating unless there is indeed a problem.

A flashing indicator signifies that either the cell efficiency is reduced or that it is time for regularly scheduled cell inspection.
 
There's also a diagnostic button on the control pad - and the remote. See what it reads. It should tell you the volts and the ppm of salt. If you ever run the pump with the salt chlorinator set to "0" the inspect cell light comes on. Check the settings too. On a side note th einspect cell light comes on when you're pumps are running from being in freeze protect mode - the chlorinator is not supposed to come on during that application.
 
Hi Brian, I don't think he has automation. Just the cell and stand alone controller, so he can't get all the diagnostic info.

From the manual:

After you inspect the cell (and clean, if necessary) press the small "diagnostic" button next to the display for 3 seconds to stop the flashing "Inspect Cell" LED and start the timer for the next 500 hours.

When illuminated steady, cell efficiency is greatly reduced and the Aqua Rite has stopped producing chlorine.

I would reset and fire it back up, then take a look at it when you are able to do so.
 
txborn said:
Hi Brian, I don't think he has automation. Just the cell and stand alone controller, so he can't get all the diagnostic info.

From the manual:

After you inspect the cell (and clean, if necessary) press the small "diagnostic" button next to the display for 3 seconds to stop the flashing "Inspect Cell" LED and start the timer for the next 500 hours.

When illuminated steady, cell efficiency is greatly reduced and the Aqua Rite has stopped producing chlorine.

I would reset and fire it back up, then take a look at it when you are able to do so.
Click to expand...


ah! well that's different then :oops:
 
sredish said:
FC - ~0
TC - 1
PH - 8.4
CYA - 26
CH - 76
Didn't take an ALK
Click to expand...

Once the party's over, I'd make it a priority to review all your water readings and take appropriate action. Given your posted results, it appears none of them are within the parameters specified for the proper operation of the AquaRite SWCG. Your owner's manual lists where each value should be.

Of special note...is that calcium hardness number truly 76 ppm?? I'm not familiar with the Color Q, so that's why the question. If it is just 76 ppm, you definitely need to increase that value to 200-400 to protect the plaster of your pool. Using the cal-hypo you have on hand will help to raise that value.

You did not indicate a salt reading. If it's too low, you won't be able to generate enough chlorine for your pool.

If this were my pool, I'd turn off the SWCG, get the water properly balanced and then bring the SWCG back online...JMHO.
 

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thanks for the help. Yea, i figured the cal-hypo would work good to get the ch up some, just not sure how quickly it'll bring it up.

Party was over but a little too late and lots of clean up to really go after it. This morning, the FC was at 5. I added more CYA, hoping to get it to the 75 mark based on the Pool Calc.

I did a test strip check after the party (several hours after everyone got out) and I guess the SWG started working helping again, probably due to lowering the PH and the FC was at 10. The PH was 7.2. I did not get a CH check off the strip tho. You guys think I should take the chlorine on up to 15 or so and hold it some, or see where the FC levels are tomorrow.

As far as the AquaRite, I read the instructions where it said to hold the "Diagnostic' button to reset the light; so I did that and it hasn't come back on yet, so I figured it was just "friendly reminder". I'll inspect the cell tomorrow sometime.

Two questions:

1) How do I lower Alk;

and

2) How do I raise CH besides cal-hypo? I didn't see anything specifically for it where I was.
 
You lower alkalinity by lowering the PH to between 7.0 and 7.2 with acid and then aerating to bring the PH back up. Repeat as many times as needed to get the alkalinity to where you want it.

Calcium is commonly raised with a product that is often called calcium increaser or something similar. Technically you want either calcium chloride or calcium chloride dihydrate. The kind pool stores sell are generally calcium chloride dihydrate, while calcium chloride is typically sold as a high end deicer. If purchasing deicer you need to be careful to make sure it is calcium chloride and not something else and that it is pure enough for pool use, which is getting to be difficult to find these days.
 
Your SWCG (by producing bubbles at the return), your spa spillover, your rock waterfall, and your 5-year-old (and friends) are all working to lower your TA by aeration. You didn't list a current TA reading, so it's unknown if your TA needs to be adjusted up or down. If it was just a curiosity question, that's cool. 8)
 
dawndenise said:
Your SWCG (by producing bubbles at the return), your spa spillover, your rock waterfall, and your 5-year-old (and friends) are all working to lower your TA by aeration.
Click to expand...

Technically, they are working to raise the ph.

You lower the ph with acid, and the TA comes down with it. Aeration allows the ph to go back up by off-gassing CO2. If the TA is still too high for your liking, do it again. And again, until the TA is acceptable.

You generally do not want to lower the ph below 7.0, because most kits cannot measure below 6.8, and you couldn't tell if the ph were WAY low, like 6.4 or 6.0.
 
Ohm_Boy said:
dawndenise said:
Your SWCG (by producing bubbles at the return), your spa spillover, your rock waterfall, and your 5-year-old (and friends) are all working to lower your TA by aeration.
Click to expand...

Technically, they are working to raise the ph.

You lower the ph with acid, and the TA comes down with it. Aeration allows the ph to go back up by off-gassing CO2.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the explanation...I stand corrected.
 
Just an update.

Yesterday, I added two gallons of Mur. Acid as the PH was in the 8.4+ range. At 3:00, it was 7.0. I took some readings with the strip and the ColorQ to compare this morning and this is what I got. Keep in mind, I added a bunch of cal-hypo Fri. night and then reset the SWG which seems to have started working well again. I'm going to keep the FC up for a few days.

Strip: (which colors are kinda hard to compare)
FC - 10
PH - 8
Alk - 120
CYA - 70 to 90 (very bad range to read on a strip)

ColorQ:
FC - Hi (doesn't read higher than 10)
PH 7.6
Alk - 100
CH - 67
CYA - 39

After the strip reading, I put another gallon of Mur. Acid in. Seems I'm going to have to put 1 gallon a day in to keep it in check... seems a little excessive but if that's what it takes I guess..... I'd like to get the CH up a little more so I may cut off the SWG for a few days and put another batch of cal-hypo in. I also added a bunch of CYA on Friday and according to the calc, should put it in the range where it needs to be, but we'll see.
 
By either reading your alkalinity is a little high for a SWG. I suggest you aim for 70, which will slow down your PH rise dramatically. You can either go throught the lower alaklinity procedure (lower PH, aerate, repeat) or you can just let the regular acid additions along with the SWG do the same thing over more time.

With FC at 10 or higher the PH reading is probably not completely accurate on either test.

And I would not trust the CYA reading from the ColorQ. Several people have reported that the ColorQ can read dramatically low on the CYA test. Even when it is working it is +-20 on the CYA test.

If that CH test is right you want to bring your calcium level up before you bring the PH down any more. You water is at potentail risk for plaster corrosion if the PH goes down below 7.4.
 
alright, i'll do my best to get the CH up. I was going to start running the big waterfall at night to try and cool the water some. We were just in it this afternoon and its getting warm, like 89 degrees, a tad too warm. Running the waterfall at night will help cool it, as well as raise the PH, so this can be a good ALK lowering procedure for a bit.

I didn't realize the concern for the plaster corrosion with lowering the PH more than that (given the CH); thought it was lower than that. I just got done putting another gallon in it... to try and head off the rise of PH with running the waterfall all night.

Anyways, I do appreciate the help; a lot of learning to do and this is a good crash course.
 

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