The "instant" salt value goes to 9999

[danbutter]

I used the taylor drop test with the silver nitrate to determine I am at 3200ppm for the salt.
The "instant" value goes to 9999 and then falls to around 2600 before it says check salt and inspect cell.
We just bought this place so I'll have to look and see if the previous owner left anything telling us how old it is.

What should the inside of the cell look like when you take it out?
I will go inspect it...just not sure what I'm looking for.

 

[mmcgovern]

It's a series of plates you see from the side/profile view. When I inspected mine last year I had build-up between the plates, which was obvious to me. I cleaned it by putting it in a bucket of diluted muriatic acid (4:1)...(kept the wired/connection end above water). Then I used a clean popsicle stick to remove anything left behind.

 

[danbutter]

Well I can't say what happened. I usually call this CBM (cleared by magic).
I inspected the cell and it looked clean, no scale and nothing in it. I put it back together and tried again and it started up and has been going ever since.

 

[jblizzle]

Could have just needed the plug jiggled.

FYI, I have found that my Taylor salt drop test reads 500-600 higher than the SWG (tested on 2 different pools) or test strips. Here I figured the drops would be better

 

[JamesW]

That it how the instant test works when it first turns on. It goes up to 9900 and then slowly goes down to the instant reading.

As the cell ages, it will begin to read lower than actual. I would guess the cell is probably from 2008 to 2010. At 2,400 to 2,700 ppm, the system still works, but it will give you blinking lights to check the salt and the cell.

Usually, the cell can be made to work by adding enough salt to keep it reading above 2700 ppm. Eventually, the cell will die and need to be replaced. Usually, once the system reading is more than 1000 ppm lower than the actual salt level, it's about time to replace the cell.

The first digit of the serial number is the warranty period in years, then there is a letter. The next two digits are the year of manufacture. Can you post the first four characters of the serial number on the cell and on the inside of the power box?

Also, it's not uncommon to get different salt readings using different methods. Try comparing the two readings at a later date. You might find that they have better agreement.