High CYA acid and other issues with salt pool

[appatel]

I have a litany of issues with my salt water pool and have fired my pool maintenance company. The guy they sent out to do the maintenance admitted to me he had never worked with a salt pool. In either case here are my issues and what i think are the solutions:

1) I don't think my salt cell is working. Below is a picture of my cell and the cell status light flashes but neither of the salt level lights turn on. When i run the diagnostic 1) the cell status light with be solid but the red low salt light will flash once then 2) the cell status and flow light with flash and 3) everything goes back to normal. It also does not show me any cell life at the end. When i took the salt cell off to clean it there was no build-up on the plate. My cell was purchased in 2021 but i think the reason it does not work is because the cell is clean, my chemical report below shows no chlorine, and because i have been having chemical issues all summer long. I think my salt cell went bad because when it was wired, it was wired directly to power and not the pool pump relay. So, when the pool pump was off the salt cell stayed on 24-7. I didn't clean the cell when I took it apart because it was so clean, and everything else seems to indicate a bad salt cell.




2) All of my chemicals are off and in particular i have high CyA . Below is the report from Leslie. I am assuming that since my cell was not working the pool company just kept adding tablets which caused my CyA to get so high. I am currently partially draining the pool and adding new water. Is there anything else i need to do. Also should i go ahead and replace salt cell now or should i just add chlorine and be done with it for the winter and then replace it next summer?

Thanks,
Anish

 

[Bperry]

I have a litany of issues with my salt water pool and have fired my pool maintenance company. The guy they sent out to do the maintenance admitted to me he had never worked with a salt pool. In either case here are my issues and what i think are the solutions:

1) I don't think my salt cell is working. Below is a picture of my cell and the cell status light flashes but neither of the salt level lights turn on. When i run the diagnostic 1) the cell status light with be solid but the red low salt light will flash once then 2) the cell status and flow light with flash and 3) everything goes back to normal. It also does not show me any cell life at the end. When i took the salt cell off to clean it there was no build-up on the plate. My cell was purchased in 2021 but i think the reason it does not work is because the cell is clean, my chemical report below shows no chlorine, and because i have been having chemical issues all summer long. I think my salt cell went bad because when it was wired, it was wired directly to power and not the pool pump relay. So, when the pool pump was off the salt cell stayed on 24-7. I didn't clean the cell when I took it apart because it was so clean, and everything else seems to indicate a bad salt cell.

View attachment 537250


2) All of my chemicals are off and in particular i have high CyA . Below is the report from Leslie. I am assuming that since my cell was not working the pool company just kept adding tablets which caused my CyA to get so high. I am currently partially draining the pool and adding new water. Is there anything else i need to do. Also should i go ahead and replace salt cell now or should i just add chlorine and be done with it for the winter and then replace it next summer?

Thanks,
Anish

View attachment 537249

Hey, welcome even though it’s on rough terms!

The first thing to do would be to trash the Leslie’s water test report and get a reliable test kit. Leslie’s is especially bad with CYA testing. TFP only provides advice based on testing with the Taylor K2006C or the Tftestkits TF100 (get one with salt test!) from tftestkits.net.

I can’t help with the salt cell diagnostics but you can safely add 5ppm of liquid chlorine to the pool each day until your test kit arrives. The cell isn’t wrecked by just wiring it directly to power and it’s fine running 24x7 as it won’t make any chlorine unless there’s water flowing through it anyway. Let someone with experience diagnose the light before you go spend money on a new cell.

 

[Texas Splash]

I think my salt cell went bad because when it was wired, it was wired directly to power and not the pool pump relay. So, when the pool pump was off the salt cell stayed on 24-7.

You are extremely lucky that cell didn't explode. I hope it is now wired to its own power source by now.

Is there anything else i need to do.

Yes, post test results from your own TF-Series or Taylor K-2006C test kit. Do not take actions based on those stores results. We can bet they are off to a large degree.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Anish,

If the Cell Light is flashing, and the cell is not dirty, then most likely the cell is dead.

Your salt light should be Green or Red, but should never be off. So I guess it could be just a bad LED???

The higher your CYA the higher your FC needs to be to be effective. A CYA of over 70 or 80 is not recommended.

We never recommend using pool store test results for anything but toilet paper...

In a month or two, the cell will shut off when the water temp gets below about 52 degrees. I would wait until early next year to replace your cell.

How big is your pool in gallons???

Here is a good place for pool equipment.. Welcome to Polytec Pools

I have three saltwater pools and have to add a little Muriatic Acid once a week or so.. It is not a big deal. Are you using MA or Dry acid??? Dry acid will destroy your cell.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Mdragger88]

If the cell is dead it may be replaced under warranty if it’s within 2 years old. Possibly longer if it was part of a bundle.
Even if it is functioning properly a swcg cannot overcome an algae problem which I suspect you have with your high cya & low fc.
The algae must be addressed first with the
SLAM Process.
Then you can proceed to troubleshoot your swcg.
As mentioned, you will need a tf100/pro salt or Taylor k2006 c + salt to do these things & to see what your cya really is so that you replace the appropriate amount of water.
Getting cya down to 50/60 would make the slam process more feasible to accomplish. This would also dilute your copper & ch problems which will help prevent staining & scaling.
Please fill out your signature with your pool type, volume & equipment (which intellichlor model etc.) as this helps us guide you with the appropriate information.

Create Your Signature - Further Reading

www.google.com

 

[appatel]

TF pro kit is order and signature is updated. thank you for the feedback guys!

 

[kmvanzant]

Do you have a pentair controller? I installed a pentair salt cell and Wi-Fi controller and had a similar problem. I called pentair’s controller tech support, the tech determined my controller needed a firmware/software upgrade. Updated while we were on the call. Haven’t had that problem since.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Updated while we were on the call. Haven’t had that problem since.

Good point, I've been assuming that the controller is an EasyTouch or IntelliTouch, so no update is really possible.. But, if the OP has one of the new IntelliCenters, then that would make sense.

@appatel What automation system do you have????

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[appatel]

I have an easytouch 4 controller

 

[appatel]

So i tested the water and my CyA is 75, Ph is 8.2 and no chlorine when i tested using the daily chlorine test and the chlroine drop test. Based on these results the pool math app is telling me to add 3.6 ounces of muratic acid. What i dont know for sure is which sanitizer i should yae to SLAM my pool.

 

[mknauss]

pool math app is telling me to add 3.6 ounces of muratic acid.

What TA test result do you have entered? That amount of acid will literally do nothing to the pH of your pool.

Get 10 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine in the pool. Lower the pH. Then do an
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

 

[Bperry]

So i tested the water and my CyA is 75, Ph is 8.2 and no chlorine when i tested using the daily chlorine test and the chlroine drop test. Based on these results the pool math app is telling me to add 3.6 ounces of muratic acid. What i dont know for sure is which sanitizer i should yae to SLAM my pool.

CYA is always rounded up to the nearest 10 so your CYA is 80ppm. That means you don’t want to add anymore CYA which means no more chlorine tablets. Only good choice now for sanitizer is liquid chlorine.

 

[appatel]

Please excuse my ignorance but to add 10ppm to my 20000 gallon pool am i correct in adding 248 ounces of 10% sodium hydrochlorite liquid chlorine?

 

[mknauss]

1 gallon of 10% to 10000 gallons is 10 ppm. So add 2 gallons to your 20000 gallon pool.

 

[appatel]

Thank you

 

[Mdragger88]

Be sure your pool volume is set correctly in
PoolMath