is my system not accurately telling me the salt level?

[jane rand]

I have an Aqua-rite 20 from hayward. The meter says I'm at 1900 ppm on the salt so the system is not generating. I took a salt strip test and I'm actually around 3800-3900ppm. Why is my system not accurately telling me the salt level?

Thanks

JB

 

[jblizzle]

That usually happens if the cell is scaled up and needs cleaning or starting to fail. How old is your cell? What is your water temp?

 

[jane rand]

The cell may be a few years old - it was tested at pinch a penny and passed. About 2 months ago I gave it an acid bath which cleaned it up nicely. The water temp down here in Tampa started to change about a month ago or so. Currently my pool is about 74, but now that you mentioned it the erroneous salt measure probably started around the same time!

 

[mas985]

The Aqua-rite controller should adjust salt level for water temperature so it could be a failing cell.

 

[uncfan1573]

One thing I have ran into and had me going crazy at a customers house. Hit the diagnostic button until you get to where it says what type of cell you have t-3,t-5,t9,t15. One of those make sure it's the right one for your cell. It's a easy thing to accidentally change. When you get to where it says this you can switch it to super chlorinate then back down to auto and it will change. Just keep doing this until it goes to the desired cell type


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[jane rand]

Two good ideas, will try it tomorrow. If nothing changes, I'll pull the cell and have it tested again!

Thanks

JB

 

[uncfan1573]

Is the power light on or check salt light, or check cell? If not that's a good indicator that it's the board not the cell

 

[jane rand]

Yes, the power light and the add salt light are on. I don't think I saw the check cell light on

 

[Nina Li]

Jane, the same thing happened to me tonight...I live in the Tampa area too (Odessa) - I put a lot of salt in the pool because the indicator was flashing LOW SALT - it kept on saying that and I know I put in enough salt - I'm cleaning it out like I did last year - soaking the unit in white vinegar and I hope that takes off some scale that might be fowling up the sensor. Hope that works.

 

[jane rand]

One thing that is confusing is that the cell display on my unit (at least that is what I think i'm looking at) is displayed as AL-0, AL-1, AL-2, AL-3, AL-4, AL-5. Which one of these corresponds to T-cell -5? We took over the house in Feb./2013 - the serial number on the cell is 5e0708-2116653, does anyone know what that corresponds to? age wise?

 

[uncfan1573]

First 2 numbers are the number of years covered under warranty. 2nd set of numbers are the year it was manufactured. 3rd set is the month

 

[uncfan1573]

So yours is out of warranty in 2012

 

[jane rand]

So the cell is beyond it's expected age limit. It had been working fine up to two months ago - corresponding to when the water temp started to drop around here. I cleaned it, it looked good. as suggested, I'd like to make sure that the unit is on the correct cell setting first, then we'll have the cell tested and or replaced.

Thanks Jacob

 

[uncfan1573]

Let me look at my warranty troubleshooting papers and I'll get back to you on the diff numbers your seeing

 

[uncfan1573]

You are not goin far enough. Keep pressing diagnostic button. Should be 8 times and it will say what cell type it's set up as. If that is the correct one. May want to try to dilute the water some. Sometimes high salt can throw off the system and cause it to read "low". Get it down to 2700-3200. Is the recommended range

 

[jane rand]

I don't have the cell type showing up on my screen. everything is in the correct order as the manual states but after the software revision level, the screen goes back to the salt ppm? even when we were generating chlorine correctly that was the order of the display (pg 14 manual).

 

[mas985]

Older Aqua-Rite units did not have the capability to change cell types and from your previous posts, it sounds like this is an older unit. What is the software rev?

 

[jane rand]

It's 1.4

 

[mas985]

I believe v1.4 was limited to the T-15 cell so it does not have the ability to change cell type. Assuming you have a T-15 cell and it tests ok, there could be one more possibility.

Aqua-Rites are notorious for having bad current limiters. It is possible that the resistance of the limiter has changed and current has dropped because of it. It normally shows up as an error on the board due to no power but it might show up as low amps too.


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[jane rand]

right above the cell connector on the printed cover, it states clearly T-5 - something else lead me to believe thats what it is - also an earlier post has the serial number of the cell. I would hope that what you're saying is evident when the cell is generating, ie. voltage drops slightly and amperage is maintained at over 3 amps. If the limiter is bad you can still generate but, the amp meter (in the viewer) would be lower accordingly. What i've noticed after turning on and off then on again, The light indicates generating with amperage in the 2's - amperage drops to zero, you here a click, then the check salt and check cell lights go on.

I guess tomorrow - let's start by taking the cell and a sample of water to pinch a penny - to confirm the condition of the cell. If it's good, I'll take the unit apart. by the way, before changing fuses - always check with a meter so that if they are good, you don't go out of your way to buy new ones!