Chlorinator off - High salt/Amps

[Jfritz7915]

Hey guys,
I’m new to this site, and have read many threads on similar issues, but none of them seem to match up with what I have going on.

I have an AquaLogic AquaPlus control panel with a Hayward 15-W cell.

I had my pool water independently tested twice a week or so ago and the salt level has come in around 3,000, yet my chlorinator is reading 5,400 or higher before it shuts off. I just tested it with the salt scape test strip (these things seem to be junk and never come close to the store or my chlorinator readings) and it says my salt is around 2000. So I’m fairly certain my salt level is no where near 5,400 like my panel shows. The voltage and amp reading at start up stays around 23V and 9.5 amps (8.5ish at night). I checked the main board and did not find a burnt solder joint on the back side (as some people did when investigating this issue) The 20A fuse reads at 0.2 ohms. And, from what I’ve found, all voltage readings are between 21 and 23V. It’s been over 90 degrees each day so the pool water is continuously over 85 degrees, but I’ve even tried checking at night when the temp is lower and the chlorinator still shuts off due to high salt and amp reading.

I have read all sorts of articles and forums and they all say that a bad cell would not show a High reading, but 1. I’m not understanding how it would “never” send that reading as it fails, and 2. I’m not sure what else could cause this issue at this point.

Ive been battling algae and unable to use my pool for a couple weeks now thanks to it having zero chlorine production and the pool techs are all backed up due to high demand (plus I don’t want to pay someone to fix something I can do myself) and Hayward’s tech support just told me that the salt was too high or that the pool temp was high and that can cause this. It is over 90 degrees just about every day in the summer here in Charleston, so that answer doesn’t work me for either since the chlorinator worked fine before.

if anyone has come across this issue and found the cause please fill me in. Also, if anyone has tried out a generic salt cell to replace their Hayward, please fell free to share your experience, as I am close to The point of just buying a generic cell, swaping it out and seeing if that fixes it.

Thanks in advance for The information and any advice/ help you are able to provide me with!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hiya Jfritz, I can't help you with your SWG problem but until you get that fixed you can keep your pool up and running by using liquid chlorine for your FC needs.

Walmart sells 10% liquid chlorine in their pool department, but you can also use plain, unscented, un-thickened, non-Clorox brand bleach from the laundry aisle. Generic bleach is usually 6% strength.

Use PoolMath app at the top of the page to help tell you how much to use, pour it in and brush it all around daily and you'll have a pool to swim in.

Ooops...just saw you were battling algae too. Bummer. You should have at all times your own test kit to monitor your pools health, even if others take care of it. That is the first step in having a TroubleFreePool. In 7 years I've never once had algae. It works!
Read up here--> ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

This is the process to rid your pool of algae --> SLAM Process

Maddie

 

[JamesW]

How old is the cell?

Did the salinity suddenly increase with no salt added?

High amps is almost always due to high salinity. The amp meter might be bad, but that's rare.

I would recommend that you double check the salinity with another test kit, preferably a K-1766.

Check the cell and clean if necessary.

A bad cell will cause low amps/salinity but not high amps/salinity.

How old is the aqualogic box?

 

[docforster]

Following with interest...

EXACT same problem - two pools, one with brand new T-15 cell on aquarite board (r1.4), another with recently tested cell on aquarite board (r1.4)

pool store tests for low salt on both the 2 separate pools (5000ppm)
Temp 92
Cell Volts 30.8
Amps (when initially switched on and chlorinating before cut-off) 8.0
Instant salt level (when chlorinating before cut-off) 6000

When initially switched on, only chlorinates for about 10 seconds before kicking off for high salt level.

Both boards have been recently 'repaired' with new thermisters and tested 'ok' by a reputable board repair store

No idea how to address this. Any ideas?

 

[Jfritz7915]

Following with interest...

EXACT same problem - two pools, one with brand new T-15 cell on aquarite board (r1.4), another with recently tested cell on aquarite board (r1.4)

pool store tests for low salt on both the 2 separate pools (5000ppm)
Temp 92
Cell Volts 30.8
Amps (when initially switched on and chlorinating before cut-off) 8.0
Instant salt level (when chlorinating before cut-off) 6000

When initially switched on, only chlorinates for about 10 seconds before kicking off for high salt level.

Both boards have been recently 'repaired' with new thermisters and tested 'ok' by a reputable board repair store

No idea how to address this. Any ideas?

Have tou checked the back side of your board for a burnt solder joint? And have you checked the ohm reading on the yellow 20 amp relay on the board? Your volts are super high which I’ve seen fixed by re-soldering that joint on the back and replacing the relay if it is bad. Otherwise, I don’t have any other info to give. YouTube “(the name of your panel) troubleshooting” and there should be a video showing the basic troubleshooting methods. Atleast there was one for my aqua plus. Hope that helps.