No Chlorine Production

[Bfont]

I have an Pentair Intellichlor IC20.

I just opened the Pool for the season and can't get the unit to start producing chlorine.

The "RED" low salt system off light is on, and the "GREEN" salt level light is off. My salt level is above 3400 ppm, and the temp of the water is 60F, requires at least 52F.

Any ideas on what I should do?

Brent

 

[whalers11]

You may have already done this, but try to capture some water straight out of the return when you know the cell is on (perhaps jump it up to 100% for the test). Test that water to see if there's any chlorine. If yes, it's possible that something in your pool is consuming as fast as it is produced.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

That is a sign of a dirty or failing cell. How old is it? Might want to have it tested by the pool store.

 

[pooldv]

Check it to see if there is build up in the cell. If not add another bag of salt and see if it gets happy.

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And welcome to TFP!

 

[jblizzle]

I would not add any more salt if you measured 3400ppm ... we do not even know the pool size, so just "adding a bag" seems a little hasty.

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[pooldv]

Yeah, maybe a little willy nilly on my part. But, the intellichlor will continue to function even in high salt condition over 4500. So, I'm not that careful with salt dosage.

 

[peterl1365]

How did you measure the salt level? If you had it measured at a pool store, there's a good possibility that the flow switch/thermistor in the salt cell is bad.

I had the very same problem. Pool store measured 3400 ppm, but the IC40 (by way of the EasyTouch system display) was reading 2500 ppm.

The thermistor in the flow switch is critical to measuring the water temp. If the thermistor is bad, then the salt calibrations get messed up and the cell thinks there's not enough salt in the water.

The good news is that replacing the flow switch is pretty easy. The bad news is that the part costs upwards of $80 dollars. Still, much cheaper than a new cell at $500+