Cell replacement?? yes or no or something else

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

cheshirenc

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jul 20, 2014
28
Outer Banks, NC
Re: Salt level not increasing after 4 bags of salt?

I'm having similar issues. I finally finished the SLAM and passed the OCLT and started adding the salt. I know exactly how much salt to add to get between 3200 and 3400.

My salt generator is stating 2400 and inspect cell and add salt which it will do until the salt level is at least 2700.

I tested the water and it tests at 3400 and for the amount of salt added that should be the reading. My water temperature is 71. I don't know what could be the problem.
 
Re: Salt level not increasing after 4 bags of salt?

Maybe this is a silly suggestion but.....have you tried turning it off and then on again? My son the computer wiz (works for big tech co starting with G) says that a lot of technology like phones and such need that now and then. <shrug> Maybe worth trying?
 
Re: Salt level not increasing after 4 bags of salt?

pooldv said:
Have you cleaned the cell?
Click to expand...

We cleaned the cell with vinegar/water when we reconnected everything at opening. We could try it again and use acid this time.

this morning I'm getting different reading. generator still says 2400 but testing the water it has increased to almost 4000 I did have the generator set at 100% to see if it would change the 2400 reading. I've cut it off now. I'm wondering if the cell is on it's last leg. Time line it should be aged out.
 
Okay I'll start my own thread instead of continuing to hijack trickyr11's thread. I am trying to figure out if I need to replace our salt cell or wait to see. It is a Aqua Rite 20 using a T-5 Cell. The cell was cleaned with diluted vinegar at start up this year and we did not add salt until SLAM and passing OCLT.

I did bad and did not test the salt in my water and went with what the generator was stating (1900) when adding salt this year. We keep the salt between 3200 and 3400 and added the amount of salt to normally get us to that level. We noticed the reading didn't go above 2500 and it was not generating chlorine. I tested the water and the salt level was 4000.

I lowered the water level to remove some of the salt. Lowering the water and refilling also messed up my CYA and CH from levels we generally keep them. The generator is now making chlorine and has raised the salt reading but it is still not reading the salt amount correctly.

Here are my test results after lowering and refilling)
FC 4.5
CC 0
Ph 7.3
TA 60
CH 180
CYA 55
salt 3800

Generator stating:
3000
74
27.0
35.5
54p
-2900
AL-0
r 1.40

My pool guy wants to replace the cell with a t-9. from reading here I don't believe the t-9 will work with our system with the r 1.40. He also tells us not to ever use bleach and sold us aluminum anchors (same time he sold us the salt water set up) to hold our deep end ladder which of course we now have holes in our concrete and no deep in ladder.

What do you suggest. Should we keep it going as long as generating chlorine and use manual testing? Do I need to lower the water to remove more salt? I believe you to be the experts. Thank you so much.
 
The diagnostic message seems a little strange, the position that reads 35.5 should never be above about 9.0. I've never seen it do that before, so I'm not sure what that means. If it really reads 35.5 I am stumped. But if that is a typo please post the actual number.

If you do need to replace the cell, I recommend getting a T-15. It will cost a little more, but is sure to work, and will last long enough to more than make up it's up front costs in the long run. The T-9 requires version 1.5 or newer and will not work.

When a cell is wearing out, it will read a lower than actual salt level. This will get more extreme as the cell wears out.

I would only replace water if the new cell gives a high salt error. But I would stop adding salt, which may make the old cell unusable. The old cell will last a little longer if you keep adding salt, but you will end up with a wildly high salt level and only get a few weeks out of it even so.
 
JasonLion said:
The diagnostic message seems a little strange, the position that reads 35.5 should never be above about 9.0. I've never seen it do that before, so I'm not sure what that means. If it really reads 35.5 I am stumped. But if that is a typo please post the actual number..
Click to expand...

yes it was a typo. I went and double checked and it is 3.35

I won't remove any additional water, fix my CYA & CH, keep monitoring my CL and be prepared to replace the cell.

We have gotten the most out of it. It is the original cell when we installed the pool in 2008. Hopefully the next one will last that long.

Thank you!

Also thank you for combing my posts and moving them from tricky11's thread
 
Last edited:
That 3.35 number along with the 27.0 above it shows that the cell is either in the process of failing due to old age, or has heavy calcium scaling (easy to check visually if you take the cell out of the plumbing for a moment and look inside).
 
I removed the cell and cleaned it twice with the acid solution. I didn't see calcium scaling nor did the acid bubble when poured in. I've added stabilizer to bring up the CYA and have not added anything else.

The cell is generating chlorine because my chlorine levels have increased each day. I did have a CC level of .5 two days in a row and I have 0 today. I am unsure of my salt reading i stopped the test at 50 drops of silver nitrate reagent. It stayed yellow. That is first time that has happened.

test results as of 6 am today:
FC 7.5
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 70
CH 190
CYA 80
salt (it had been testing at 4000 today I stopped the test at 50 drops of silver nitrate reagent still yellow)

Generator:
2900 states generating
76
31.4
0.00
33P
-0
al-0
r1.40

any advice on my readings? Do I need to go ahead and replace the cell or ride it out a little longer? why change in salt test?
 
My personal preference would be to replace it when it is convenient and not when it decides to stop working. If you are going to wait to replace it when it stops working then you should keep a few gallons of bleach handy to chlorinate your pool.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply