Do I need to replace my Hayward T Cell 9?

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Wassim

Wassim

Member
Mar 18, 2019
15
Boynton Beach, FL
Hi everyone,

First post here in TFP so please bare with me.

I recently (2 weeks ago) moved to a house with a saltwater pool (built in 2017). On the pool guy's first visit the salt level read 700ppm, after adding 7 bags of salt, it's reading 3800ppm on his meter and the same at the pool store. The chlorinator is off and it's giving me the message "Check system, very low salt level".

That led me to educate myself a bit about how this thing works. So yesterday, I cleaned the cell in an acid solution even though it had no buildup. Put it back in same result. I then took it to the pool store who tested it as "good" cell.

Today, I called Hayward in an attempt to troubleshoot the issue. After directing me to the diagnostic menu, the readings were ~28v, between 1 - 2 Amps, and instant salt level between 200 and 2500ppm (jumping around, and being most of the time below 1500ppm), their verdict was that cell has to be replaced. Also that it won't be covered by the warranty as it's not transferrable and I'm not the original owner.

My question is are Hayward right about the warranty or did the guy just brush me off? Given that the equipment is less than 2 year old l, I feel they should stand behind their product regardless of ownership.

Based on the info I provided. Do you think the cell is bad or can it be something else?

Thank you very much
 
First off we're glad you found us. I hope we can save you some greenbacks here and there too!

Was the SWG turned "on" while the pool guy was adding salt? That's no good....a blast of salt running thru the system can mess with the device's brain.

You need your own Taylor K-1766 Salt Test kit to determine your true salt value. Yeah, the kit has a variance of +/- 400pmm but that's nothing to fret over considering that pool stores and pool guys are notorious for bad results.
Turn the SWG off and let it sit while you make sure all that salt has been mixed in and dissolved. Use plain liquid chlorine or bleach while the device is off-line so that your pool remains protected from algae.

Don't acid wash the cell "just in case"- each acid wash it undergoes removes that much more of the metal element on the plates that *makes the chlorine happen*.

Do you have the manual for this SWG? If not you should be able to find it online easily. Run thru the manual and see if you can start the system up again from scratch going thru the set up.

I'm gonna page some folks who are good with diagnostics on those "brains" and see if they can chime in-
@JamesW @Bama Rambler @lightmaster

Maddie :flower:
 
Brush the pool well and let the pool circulate for 24 hours.

Then check and report all diagnostic readings. Then turn off the box for a minute and back on and recheck all diagnostic readings.
 
I've had many Salt cells do this same thing through my years of service and if the acid wash didn't do anything then the cell needs to be replaced. If you have a Tcell 9 and your pool is under or at 15k gallons you can get away with getting a T cell 3 or 5. I've done this many customers in the past that would have a tcell15 on a 13k gallon pool. Another good tip I do is every 3 months when you're "suppose" to clean the cell i flip the cell the opposite way so the water pressure kind of cleans the cells on it's own. You can try a chemical that works great called Beutec that actually dissolves the metals and calcium buildup in the salt cell and along your tile line a 64oz bottle is 30$ and good to use every year.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
First off we're glad you found us. I hope we can save you some greenbacks here and there too!

Was the SWG turned "on" while the pool guy was adding salt? That's no good....a blast of salt running thru the system can mess with the device's brain.

You need your own Taylor K-1766 Salt Test kit to determine your true salt value. Yeah, the kit has a variance of +/- 400pmm but that's nothing to fret over considering that pool stores and pool guys are notorious for bad results.
Turn the SWG off and let it sit while you make sure all that salt has been mixed in and dissolved. Use plain liquid chlorine or bleach while the device is off-line so that your pool remains protected from algae.

Don't acid wash the cell "just in case"- each acid wash it undergoes removes that much more of the metal element on the plates that *makes the chlorine happen*.

Do you have the manual for this SWG? If not you should be able to find it online easily. Run thru the manual and see if you can start the system up again from scratch going thru the set up.

I'm gonna page some folks who are good with diagnostics on those "brains" and see if they can chime in-
@JamesW @Bama Rambler @lightmaster

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

The SWG was off when salt was added, as a matter of fact it's always been off. The chlorinator never came on, it reads very low salt level.

I should be receiving both the Taylor K-1766 and the 2006 today. I'll be testing the water and reporting back.

My pool guy has been using liquid chlorine to maintain FC level at 2.0 (too low per TFP standard, specially with a CYA level of 80 per pool store testing)

I contacted Hayward again today, they directed me to an authorized dealer who will be out tomorrow to check it out and eventually replace it under warranty. I'll still have to pay $125 for the service call.

@JamesW
Diagnostic readings are the following:
28-29V
0.5-2 Amp
Salt level 0200 - 1800ppm

Stupid question: How do I turn off the box? From breakers? I don't see an on/off switch on it.
 
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kimkats said:
I will piggy back off of Maddie and let you know that if you run a well balanced pool you should not have to clean your cell or flip it around or such. Here is a link to our recommend ranges: Trouble Free Pool

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Kim,

I'm with you and Maddie on this. Beautec seems to have a strong following for pool use. But I can't find out what's in it. Even their MSDS just says the ingredients are "proprietary". It does have a pH of 11+. This goes against the basic principle that with the TFP method we know what we're putting in our pools. I'm very new to salt pool and salt cells but I've worked with many noble metal catalysts in my prior life. The anode in a salt cell is also a catalyst of titanium plated with a very thin surface of MMO (mixed metal oxdes). These usually can be only a couple of molecules thick and contain ruthinium, irridium and a few others depending on the manufacturer. The catalyst is what makes the electrolysis favor Cl liberation instead of making a lot of H and O from the much more available water. I don't want to put anything on this unless I know exactly what it is and what it's doing.

Just my $.02.

Chris
 
We need to be really sure about the salinity. Make sure that the bottom is well brushed to mix in any salt that might be sitting on the bottom.

There is a switch in the box that you can move from off to auto or superchlorinate.

What does the cell label show for the cell size and serial number?

What is the box serial number?

After brushing, move the switch to auto and check the salinity then move the switch back to off for a minute then back to auto and recheck the salinity.

Do you have aquarite or prologic?
 
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JamesW said:
We need to be really sure about the salinity. Make sure that the bottom is well brushed to mix in any salt that might be sitting on the bottom.

There is a switch in the box that you can move from off to auto or superchlorinate.

What does the cell label show for the cell size and serial number?

What is the box serial number?

After brushing, move the switch to auto and check the salinity then move the switch back to off for a minute then back to auto and recheck the salinity.
Click to expand...

The salt was added ~10days ago, it has since been vacuumed/brushed twice.

I don't see a switch, the box is PL-P-4 model, serial 3L17277

The cell is T9 serial 3E17184
 
Wassim said:
I just received my a Taylor 2006 test kit, reading the following:

FC 3.2
CC 0
Ph 7.6
TA 120
CH 150
CYA 80

Water temp 76

My plan is to:
Raise FC to 5 using liquid chlorine
Lower TA to 80
Maybe raise CH to 350?

Does that sound right?
Click to expand...

Don't worry about your TA. TA will come down naturally as you lower your pH when necessary.

You don't have a signature with details of your pool so we don't know what type of pool surface you have. That is the primary determinant of CH level needed.
 
What is the CH of your fill water?

Calculate your CSI using PoolMath

You want to start your CH towards the low end of the range since it will rise over time and you can only lower CH by draining. I would target CH of 250.
 
You have Prologic.

Press the ‘MENU’ key until you get to Configuration. Press the < and > arrow keys until Configuration unlocks.

Go to chlorinator configuration using the > then press +, press > and make sure that the cell size is set to T-9.

Then, press the ‘MENU’ key until ‘Diagnostic Menu’ is displayed. Then press right arrow key to check the diagnostic readings. Press the + key to reverse polarity and recheck the readings.
 

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