Tired of Hauling Bleach - Let's fix the SWG

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Valdeselad

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Dec 25, 2014
70
Houston, Texas
Hi All,

As you may know from my previous posts, my family bought a house with a pool last July. We've been learning about taking care of our pool, bought our TF-1000 kit and have been maintaining desired levels by manually adding bleach and muriatic acid.

So after a bit of time we figured there was a better way to maintain the chlorine...and we know the pool actual has a SWG installed but best we can tell it does not work. It is an AquaRite Electronic Chlorine Generator (Goldline Controls) and I would assume (but do not know for sure) that it was installed with the pool back in 2005/2006. The control board seems to work and I can cycle through the various settings by pushing the diagnostics button. It is showing a salt concentration currently of 2600 ppm (shown in picture).

Is the only thing I need to do to get this working properly is to buy a new salt cell? I was looking at this one on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hayward-Goldl...p/B002EL40RM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

In terms of installation, is it just plug and play? What else am I missing?

Thank you for the help in understanding this system.

IMG_0541.jpg
 
If the control board is functioning as it should than yes, replace the T15 cell. I believe the 2600 you see on the screen is the "default" setting. The cell has two connections that are plugged in the control board. Bottom right and underneath the box (phone line). You should download a manual to make things easier to program. Any diagnostic lights on ??? Power light on etc ???
 
ComputerGuyInNOLA said:
Have you taken the cell out and inspected it? It may need cleaning. If you bring the salt level up to the recommended level it might start generating chlorine. It could have been replaced so it might be newer than the whole system.
Click to expand...

@ComputerGuyInNOLA - Thanks for your response. I have not inspected the cell in depth or removed it from the plumbing. Is this simple to do? Do I just remove the cell from the pipes? Am I just looking for built up "gunk" or crystals on the cell itself?

- - - Updated - - -

Donny said:
If the control board is functioning as it should than yes, replace the T15 cell. I believe the 2600 you see on the screen is the "default" setting. The cell has two connections that are plugged in the control board. Bottom right and underneath the box (phone line). You should download a manual to make things easier to program. Any diagnostic lights on ??? Power light on etc ???
Click to expand...

@Donny - Thanks for the response. I've cycled through the control board but can't tell if everything is normal or not. Perhaps a good idea to go find the manual!
 
Divin Dave said:
If you will post all of the status lights and the value of each diagnostic, someone may be able to tell right away whats up with it.
Click to expand...

If I turn the SWG from 'off' to 'Auto', the power light comes on as well as the generating light. They both turn off quickly after that. If I leave it on 'Auto' those two lights seem to cycle off and on.

Scrolling through the diagnostics, I see the following results in this order:

2600
79
between 3 and 17 (and moving all around)
0.00
6P
-0
AL - 1
r 1.40

Desired Output % is currently at 50%
 
According to the manual : (diagnostic displays) Each push of the diagnostic button
1-pool temp
2-cell voltage
3-cell current (amps)
4-desired output (you have 50%)
5-instant salinity (xxxppm or x.xx grams/liter)
6-product name (AL- signifies AquaRite)
7-software revision (r1.xx)
8-chlorinator cell type (t-3,t-5,t-9,t-15)

Appears your pool temp is 79* this is #1 going through the diagnostic sequence
 

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Once you get the power supply fixed, the best way to evaluate the cell is to check the salinity reading against a quality chloride based salt test. I would recommend the Taylor K-1766.

You can tell how old the cell is from the serial number. The third and fourth digits are the year of manufacture. For example, a serial number starting with 5E05 would have been made in 2005. The first number is the warranty period in years. The letter designates the piece of equipment. A is power box, E is cell.
 
Donny said:
According to the manual : (diagnostic displays) Each push of the diagnostic button
1-pool temp
2-cell voltage
3-cell current (amps)
4-desired output (you have 50%)
5-instant salinity (xxxppm or x.xx grams/liter)
6-product name (AL- signifies AquaRite)
7-software revision (r1.xx)
8-chlorinator cell type (t-3,t-5,t-9,t-15)

Appears your pool temp is 79* this is #1 going through the diagnostic sequence
Click to expand...

Thank you @Donny, this is very helpful.
 
JamesW said:
Once you get the power supply fixed, the best way to evaluate the cell is to check the salinity reading against a quality chloride based salt test. I would recommend the Taylor K-1766.

You can tell how old the cell is from the serial number. The third and fourth digits are the year of manufacture. For example, a serial number starting with 5E05 would have been made in 2005. The first number is the warranty period in years. The letter designates the piece of equipment. A is power box, E is cell.
Click to expand...

@JamesW - thank you again. I really appreciate your help with this issue. I went ahead and ordered the new thermister so it should be here in a few days. Once that arrives we will be able to test the rest of the setup. I assume there is still a reasonable chance we will have to replace the actual cell.
 
I recently had to replace both the resistor and cell on my system (also installed in 05). The easy way to replace the resistor is to leave the legs of the old one soldered to the board and just cut them at the resistor. You just bend them over the legs of the new one and solder it in place. That leaves it at a 90 degree angle and standing off the circuit board. Better for cooling and the heat isn't transmitted to the board.

$398 for a new Hayward brand T-15 is a great price. Do not buy a genaric brand cell.
 
An easy way to test if it's the thermistor is to jumper the thermistor legs and then check the voltage in diagnostics with the switch set to off. If the volts read 30 to 32, then a new thermistor will probably work. Try to get the same thermistor as you have now to make the legs line up.

Note: Don't do any electrical work that you're not sure that you can do safely.
 
Hi All,

It's been a few weeks, but wanted to provide an update. We finally were able to solder the new thermistor to the board and it seems the board has come alive, which is great news. There are new lights flashing and working that weren't before and the salt concentration is not just sitting at 2600 (it's now showing around 1000 I believe).

The 'inspect cell' light also came on which makes sense as we figured the cell was quite old. Taking the earlier advice, we removed the cell and cleaned it, although this didn't seem to do much. After removing the cell, the stamped date indicated it was from 2009, so I just went ahead ordered a new T-15 from Amazon (should be here later this week) to start clean and know what I'm working with.

My bigger concern in all this is that the 'no flow' light started turning on and off (it's red) once the power was working...is this a sign of a bigger problem? Is there another part I may need to replace or is this considered normal?
 
The no flow light will blink for 60 seconds after the flow switch detects flow. Then it should go off. If it's solid red, there's a problem. If the inspect cell light is blinking, you should be able to clear it by holding down the diagnostic button for about 15 seconds. If it's solid, there's a problem. What is the salt level as tested by a chloride test?
Can you report all diagnostics?
 
JamesW said:
The no flow light will blink for 60 seconds after the flow switch detects flow. Then it should go off. If it's solid red, there's a problem. If the inspect cell light is blinking, you should be able to clear it by holding down the diagnostic button for about 15 seconds. If it's solid, there's a problem. What is the salt level as tested by a chloride test?
Can you report all diagnostics?
Click to expand...

@JamesW - After we installed the new thermistor, that red light would come on, then go off when the unit said "generating", then come back on again, etc. etc. I'll check later tonight if it's blinking or solid red and report back and also I'll post all the diagnostic levels.
 
Valdeselad said:
@JamesW - After we installed the new thermistor, that red light would come on, then go off when the unit said "generating", then come back on again, etc. etc. I'll check later tonight if it's blinking or solid red and report back and also I'll post all the diagnostic levels.
Click to expand...


ok, I'm at the SWG and it's a bit different tonight than I posted earlier. The No Flow light is actually off now so it looks ok. The power light is on as is the check salt light and the inspect cell light.

As I scroll through the diagnostics, I see:
1000
81
32.2
0.00
18P
-0
AL-1
r1.4

As I mentioned earlier, I ordered a new cell and it is on the way....so I guess once that arrives we should be good to go? Anything else in those numbers or lights that would otherwise indicate a cause for concern?
 

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