Ever heard of an Intellichlor IC40 quitting at 20% life? Generic Replacement?

[zghorner]

My IC40 gave me the dreaded flashing green cell light this season and after troubleshooting (mainly from lurking this forum) I am out of answers besides the cell being bad.
- Cell is 5 years old.
- Holding down "More" button displays 20%. (Pool is only open 3.5 months a year and usually dont have to run it much for clean/clear water).
- There was no calcium build up on the plates, i acid cleaned it anyway, no change. Plates in excellent condition.
- Holding down "More" button quickly after cell life displays showed no % lights which made me think it was reading temp low.
- clipped white and green wires to the thermistor, no change.
- Added salt thinking maybe it was misreading levels...after two bags the salt light is flashing indicating too much.

Any other suggestions on troubleshooting? Any experience with the Splash IRCF40 Cell instead of Pentair? Pretty disappointed to find out these things only last 3-7 years on average as they are pretty expensive.

Thanks everyone.

 

[RJ-45]

We have been using generic IC40 for years, by the look of it, it would say they are designed (or even manufactured) by the same people as the Splash IRCF40.

We buy them in bulk, so they are much cheaper than the Amazon price for Splash right now.

You can borrow one from me for testing purpose, they do not work with automation, but allow finer adjustment and you only need to replace the cell (not electronics) in the future, which will save you more in the long run.

The flow switch (with temp sensor) can also be replaced in 1 min if goes bad.

Their failure rate are little bit higher than the generic aquarite, but you could buy multiple of them for the price of 1 name brand, so it is your decision.

 

[zghorner]

We have been using generic IC40 for years, by the look of it, it would say they are designed (or even manufactured) by the same people as the Splash IRCF40.

We buy them in bulk, so they are much cheaper than the Amazon price for Splash right now.

You can borrow one from me for testing purpose, they do not work with automation, but allow finer adjustment and you only need to replace the cell (not electronics) in the future, which will save you more in the long run.

The flow switch (with temp sensor) can also be replaced in 1 min if goes bad.

Their failure rate are little bit higher than the generic aquarite, but you could buy multiple of them for the price of 1 name brand, so it is your decision.

Do the cells plug into the IC power center?

 

[RJ-45]

Yes, but it is missing the 2 pins that communicates with the automation setup. Works fine as a stand alone SWG.