Aquarite S3 Invalid Cell

[jimdouglas8]

I have an Aquarite S3 with a Turbocell S340 salt cell system installed in 2022. Worked fine till this year. I was getting an exhausted cell message. I cleaned the cell like the manual described and it would work for a few hours then back to exhausted cell. I didn't want to pay the money for a hayward replacement cell so I purchased an aftermarket cell that is "supposed" to work on my system. But, I get an invalid cell message when its plugged up. I see in some other threads that there maybe a reading from the original cell that may not be available in the aftermarket cell and I was wondering if anyone has found a work around.
.

 

[mas985]

I have an Aquarite S3 with a Turbocell S340 salt cell system installed in 2022. Worked fine till this year. I was getting an exhausted cell message. I cleaned the cell like the manual described and it would work for a few hours then back to exhausted cell. I didn't want to pay the money for a hayward replacement cell so I purchased an aftermarket cell that is "supposed" to work on my system. But, I get an invalid cell message when its plugged up. I see in some other threads that there maybe a reading from the original cell that may not be available in the aftermarket cell and I was wondering if anyone has found a work around.

All newer Hayward controllers will only work with OEM cells. Aftermarket cells are no longer supported by Hayward hardware.

• Works only with a genuine S3 Series Hayward salt cell

AquaRite S3 Salt System 40,000 gallon

AquaRite S3 effortlessly manages chlorine levels, a pump and heater. AquaRite S3 is more than salt chlorination — it’s advanced sanitization that grows with any pool.

hayward.com

 

[jimdouglas8]

Yeah I read that about the newer Hayward stuff. I was hoping someone had figured out how to use aftermarket cells with Hayward equipment. I assume there is a sensor in the Hayward salt cell units that give some sort of resistance reading back to the control unit that could be imitated with a resistor maybe

 

[mas985]

I took apart an old Hayward cell that had some extra connections in it here:

Failing T-15 SWG Cell Experiment

I am currently on my 3rd T-15 SWG cell for an 18 year old pool. The 1st cell lasted about 9 years and the 2nd about 4 years and just passed year 4 on the 3rd cell. I thought it might be useful to document this cell's behavior as it is going through the last stages of useful life. As time goes...

www.troublefreepool.com

From that, we had deduced that pins 7 & 8 are for the OEM sense and from what I can tell, you only need to short those two pins and the aftermarket cell should work but we have never had anyone try it before. So if willing.....

Holding the plug vertically with the cord going down and looking at the connection points. 1 is top left, 2 is top right, 3 is second down left and so on with 9 being lower left and 10 being lower right.[51]

• 1) Black - Power to cell
• 2) White - Power to cell
• 3) Black - Power to cell
• 4) White - Power to cell
• 5) Brown - Not used
• 6) Red - Goes to thermistor
• 7) Orange - OEM Cell Sense
• 8) Yellow - OEM Cell Sense
• 9) Green - Not used
• 10) Blue - Goes to thermistor.

 

[Mdragger88]

Your oem cell should still have a warranty
What is the number on the cell.

 

[jimdouglas8]

Hayward doesn't seem to be real helpful. I spoke with someone about a warranty claim but they want me to go through a local dealer. I have someone in my area that is kinda helping me but I'm not getting far.

 

[Mdragger88]

View attachment 571277
Hayward doesn't seem to be real helpful. I spoke with someone about a warranty claim but they want me to go through a local dealer. I have someone in my area that is kinda helping me but I'm not getting far.

You should be able to take into a brick & mortar store that sells them & have it tested- when it fails they would send in the warranty claim.

 

[Mdragger88]

I believe that has a 3 year warranty & it was manufactured on the 75th day of 2022.
Call around and see if one of these dealers can do so if your installer isn’t helping you

Dealer Locator

Locate a dealer near you for all your needs: building or servicing your pool, buying a product, or warranty support.

hayward.com

 

[Mdragger88]

I would also return the aftermarket cell you bought asap & not mention its existence.
In the interim use liquid chlorine to maintain your fc.