Autopilot SWG no longer producing chlorine

[Cowbell]

Hello all,

For the last few years I've had a great experience with my Autopilot SWG. Today, I did a quick test of the pool and saw chlorine at zero (all other levels are good) which was a little unexepected although we've had some good thunderstorms in the last couple days. I turned the boost on and let it run for a while.

I often will check one of my returns for chlorine with a test strip to verify all is well; of the hundred times I've done this, I get a deep dark purple indicating chlorine output when boosting; today to my dismay I saw absolutely nothing. Did a TFP test on my return jet near the stairs (so I get nothing but return water) and again, 0.0 chlorine.

The AP control shows nothing out of the ordinary, shows 3000ppm salt which is what I've been running for 5+ years with no issues. The cell itself, from what I can tell, looks completely normal. No scale or deposits whatsoever. That said, it's the original cell circa 2008/9.

The pool is crystal clear currently, has been all summer.

I've never been to this dark place. Any suggestions on what my first step should be?

 

[mknauss]

Add bleach to get your FC to target.

Then, I think some pool stores can test certain SWCG's. I have a Pentair and I know they do not do those but some others they can.

I would also try powering off and back on (reboot?!?) but with the age and use (you do not show your location or pool specs so not sure how many hours it has run) it may be time for a new one.

Stay on the pool with bleach. Algae can pop up very quickly.

Take care.

 

[Cowbell]

Thanks for the response. I got ahold of Josh from saltpoolguys.com and ran through a couple quick troubleshooting steps, mainly reversing the cell and looking for any error conditions (none shown).

First, a big thanks to Josh for walking me through 10 minutes of help via phone and actually dissuading me from purchasing anything. It goes without saying that when I do need anything I'll only go back to him.

That said, I thought I was in the clear when after a few tries I checked my return w/a strip and saw some chlorine. It hit me moments later, I added a some shock earlier (about 1/2 gal) today as I was running my kids around and that was likely the source of that small bit of chlorine, not the cell. Tested elsewhere in the pool and saw the same amount of chlorine (little less than 2ppm).

I'm going to take everything apart now, clean filters, cell, etc. and see where I am after boosting for a while.

Apologies for the lack of info in my sig, long overdue and I'll fix that asap.

Thanks, I'll be back with updates shortly.

 

[rcenturion]

I would confirm your salt level is accurate by testing your pool water at a pool store. It could be your salt level is not actually at 3000 due to a faulty tri-sensor cord.

Also, I have an Autopilot system myself and 8 years is a long time for the cell life so maybe the cell has gone bad. What volts and amps are showing when you run the test mode?

 

[Cowbell]

I'm pretty sure my salt level is accurate as up until a week ago the SWG was working fine. After a crazy deluge of storms displaced much of my water, the AutoPilot reported correctly a slight drop in my ppm, then back to my usual 3k ppm after adding 40lbs of salt. it was working fine for a while after that. Only today am I noticing a sudden change in functionality.

The cell is reporting 27V & 5.0A

Josh mentioned if the cell was going bad I'd likely see some sort of error, especially when reversing the cell - still no errors at all.

I'm going to boost 72hrs while we're away over the weekend and see what happens when I return.