Hayward Board Fix

[Budturbo]

Hello, new member from middle GA. I've been lurking here for a couple years.
We bought our home in 2019 with an inground pool and inherited a Hayward SWG system in it's 3rd season.
Every year it's been something. New control panel, new salt cell, new main pump, rebuilding Polaris cleaner and this site has been helpful in tracking everything down.

We bought a generic replacement T-15 cell from a year ago for a little over $300. A couple weeks ago, there was a no cell power message on our Aqua Logic board and 4 of the prongs on the SWG connector showed burn marks. They said their 5 year warranty didn't cover it and my board is what caused the problem. I swapped the power cords from my dead Hayward T-15 with the replacement and got the 10.08 amp high salt reading and it shut down after 15 seconds.

Went ahead and ordered a new generic replacement from Leslie's and it came today. Same high salt reading. I've been concurrently doing more research here and learned more about the K-1 relay on the main panel having a short issue. When I saw the Leslie's SWG not working, I pulled the control panel off, checked the 20 amp fuse which was melted and fell apart in my hand, and swapped it out to no avail. Next, I pulled the control panel and the main circuit board off, making sure to take lots of pictures of the connections, and sure enough, there were burn marks and a hole in the K-6 relay on the back of the board. Put a little solder on it, and bam, everything works! Kudo's to all the 9-10 year old threads that shared this information!

BTW, my Hayward sand filter had a leak in the seam at the top near the collar like they usually do. JB Weld has never worked for me ever but it did this time. I got the high heat epoxy for water like you'd get to fix a radiator and so far, so good. My son who's a plumber along with 99% of what I read on the internet said it wasn't fixable and I'd have to get a new one. I'll post again if it fails anytime soon. At least it's bought me some more time as I'll probably need to replace my booster pump now. It's always something with Hayward evidently.

 

[ajw22]

What is your actual salinity and how are you measuring it?

The filter is a pressure vessel and any leak indicates its structural integrity is compromised. You have a grenade on your pool pad that can injure someone or cause damage if it ruptures. That filter should be replaced and not used.

 

[Budturbo]

Salinity is 2750ish measured by a digital tester I bought off Amazon listed in one of the threads here. We've had a lot of rain this year and I've let a significant amount of water out. Once I'm confident in the new SWG and my board repair, I'll add more salt to get it to 3k. Control panel shows it at 3300 but new cells read high at first from what I understand.
I've read posts here and elsewhere about the potential for leaking filters rupturing. If the leak is sealed, what's the risk? It's currently running around 15 psi and it's location is off to the side. From what I've researched, I haven't found any instances of a sand filter actually blowing up. It's been other kinds of filters. If you know of any, please enlighten me and I'll reconsider. I'm loathe to give Hayward another cent of my money and want other options if I have to go that route. As far as Hayward goes, ,my LPC guy is nice but every other LPC person I've talked to is super snobby about Hayward products and Hayward themselves rubbed me the wrong way when I called them to ask a question a couple years ago. If you're not a "pool professional' you don't exist to them.