IC40 Cold Water Red Light

[sparty921]

I am a new Pentair pool owner as well and learning on the fly. My latest cold weather concern has to do with the temp sensor in the Intellechlor unit and the temp sensor mounted coming out of the pump. The inline temp sensor seems to work fine but the SWG sensor seems to be stuck on 44, hence no chloring production. The water temp going into the filter from the pump was 52 yesterday but the SWG never moved off 44. Is that common? Thanks.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

What automation system do you have?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

Sorry for the delayed response. It is a Pentair Intelleconnect

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

Once the water temp gets near 52 or so the cold light comes on and the cell shuts off. The cell's temp sensor is part of the Flow Switch assy, which are known to be flaky. You could replace it, but I would not screw with it until the water temp is above 55 degrees on a continual basis.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

OK. Thanks for the advice. I have had a couple of warm days where the cell lights have gone full green (flow and salt level) so it seemed that the cell was working fine, but the app still wouldnt communicate or change from the 44 degree reading and "low salt" warning. I guess I will wait until the weather levels out. That was Pentair's suggestion also.
Thanks again

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

The same temp sensor is used to determine the salt level. If it is stuck at 44 degrees, it will never be able to calculate the correct salt level.

I find that as the water temp gets below 60 degrees, the salt level readings get less and less accurate. Even when they are "accurate" they are almost never near the actual salt level when measured with a Taylor K01766...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

Thanks Jim R. So are you saying the lights on the cell itself are more reliable than the Pentair app? I guess my concern is that when they do not match, I do not know which to rely on. So if this app sensor stays on 44 degrees but I have green happy lights all across on the cell should I assume some chlorine is being produced? It doesn't seem I have any control over it at this point. I know for a fact the "boost" function does nothing. I assume because it thinks the water is 44 degrees.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

I don't have much IntelliConnect experience so not sure about your app.

I have an EasyTouch and IC40.. The EasyTouch shows the salt level, but it does not report the salt cell temperature. Not sure if problem is that the cell is just not reporting the temp to your app, but is still telling the cell what the temp is.. or ???

If the cell's lights shows a green salt level, then most likely the thermistor is working..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

Can you help with a Jandy check valve question? I had one installed to stop the water from flowing back into my pool from the raised spa when the pump is off. Well, the spa level is still dropping as before. I stuck a flshlight in the dome of the check valve to see if it was operating and the red flapper did not move from the "closed" position when the pump was started and water was flowing back into the spa. Should this thing be "visually" opening and closing with the water flow? Doesn't seem to be doing anything but water someone gets by it in both directions.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

Show us a couple of pics of your equipment pad, so we can see the check valve and confirm it is correctly located.

We will need to see all the Return valves and plumbing.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

Here you go. 1st pic is before installation. The yellow circle is the spa return line where the check valve was installed. 2nd pic is after installation. They had to modify the plumbing somewhat to make it fit.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

Thanks for the pics..

In theory, when in the pool mode, water should go mainly to the pool with some water going to the spa which causes the spa to overflow into the pool. In your case you are running 50% pool and 50% spa. The spa water goes down through the check valve and most likely comes out of your spa jets. Obviously, if water is coming out of the jets and overflowing into the pool the check valve is working in the open condition. When the pump is off the check valve should close and is there to prevent the spa water from going into the jets and back up through the check and then into the pool.

The very first test is to let the spa water drain down and see where it stops. If it stops just below the jets, then most likely the check valve is not working. But, if the spa drains down well below the jets, then the problem is with the spa drain plumbing.

If the spa stops draining just below the jets, then as a test, turn the manual valve above the check valve off and see what happens. If the spa no longer drains down, then the new check valve is bad or leaking.

Where does your spa stop draining down?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

Right now it is just below the jets and I am leaving it off until Friday to determine exactly what you are referencing; making sure it isn't a main drain issue . I can tell you that before I went to the expense of having the check valve installed, I could manually turn off the spa return at the 3-way and the spa level did not drop. It was a pain, hense the check valve purchase. Pretty disappointed that it is still the same.

 

[sparty921]

S,

Thanks for the pics..

In theory, when in the pool mode, water should go mainly to the pool with some water going to the spa which causes the spa to overflow into the pool. In your case you are running 50% pool and 50% spa. The spa water goes down through the check valve and most likely comes out of your spa jets. Obviously, if water is coming out of the jets and overflowing into the pool the check valve is working in the open condition. When the pump is off the check valve should close and is there to prevent the spa water from going into the jets and back up through the check and then into the pool.

The very first test is to let the spa water drain down and see where it stops. If it stops just below the jets, then most likely the check valve is not working. But, if the spa drains down well below the jets, then the problem is with the spa drain plumbing.

If the spa stops draining just below the jets, then as a test, turn the manual valve above the check valve off and see what happens. If the spa no longer drains down, then the new check valve is bad or leaking.

Where does your spa stop draining down?

Thanks,

Jim R.

Good Morning: The spa water level stopped dropping after 48 hours and has remained at the lowest tape level since Tuesday. It stopped just below 1st row of jets. lower row of jet nozzles are still submerged. I have attched pics. Let me know what you think.

 

[sparty921]

S,

Thanks for the pics..

In theory, when in the pool mode, water should go mainly to the pool with some water going to the spa which causes the spa to overflow into the pool. In your case you are running 50% pool and 50% spa. The spa water goes down through the check valve and most likely comes out of your spa jets. Obviously, if water is coming out of the jets and overflowing into the pool the check valve is working in the open condition. When the pump is off the check valve should close and is there to prevent the spa water from going into the jets and back up through the check and then into the pool.

The very first test is to let the spa water drain down and see where it stops. If it stops just below the jets, then most likely the check valve is not working. But, if the spa drains down well below the jets, then the problem is with the spa drain plumbing.

If the spa stops draining just below the jets, then as a test, turn the manual valve above the check valve off and see what happens. If the spa no longer drains down, then the new check valve is bad or leaking.

Where does your spa stop draining down?

Thanks,

Jim R.

Good Morning: The spa water level stopped dropping after 48 hours and has remained at the lowest tape level since Tuesday. It stopped just below 1st row of jets. lower row of jet nozzles are still submerged. I have attched pics. Let me know what you think.

@Jimrahbe
Seemed to have lost you. Did you see the updated pics I sent of the spa? I ma interested in your opinion as always.

 

[sparty921]

S,

Thanks for the pics..

In theory, when in the pool mode, water should go mainly to the pool with some water going to the spa which causes the spa to overflow into the pool. In your case you are running 50% pool and 50% spa. The spa water goes down through the check valve and most likely comes out of your spa jets. Obviously, if water is coming out of the jets and overflowing into the pool the check valve is working in the open condition. When the pump is off the check valve should close and is there to prevent the spa water from going into the jets and back up through the check and then into the pool.

The very first test is to let the spa water drain down and see where it stops. If it stops just below the jets, then most likely the check valve is not working. But, if the spa drains down well below the jets, then the problem is with the spa drain plumbing.

If the spa stops draining just below the jets, then as a test, turn the manual valve above the check valve off and see what happens. If the spa no longer drains down, then the new check valve is bad or leaking.

Where does your spa stop draining down?

Thanks,

Jim R.

Still drains down to the jet level. I left it off for 72 hours and it stop draining. Looks like a check valve issue. Now to get the pool company that installed it to agree. That is a whole new problem. They seem to like being paid and then moving on. See pics.

 

[Jimrahbe]

@sparty921

When it drains back through the return jets, they tend to drain down below the open port. Yours seems to stop above the port.

What else is at the level? Your light??

Are you sure the water is actually draining back into the pool or is it just draining into the ground?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

The water level drains past the top row of jets (ports) and stops before reaching the 2nd row of ports. Light is still under water line. The water level in the pool rises at the same time (I marked the skimmer as well) the spa is dropping until they reach the same level. There are no external leaks. I would be refilling it all the time if that were the case. Any ground water found was tested for chlorine and was not from the pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

JRW,

When the water is in between the two jets/ports, is that the same level as the water in the pool?

Jim R.

 

[sparty921]

yes sir. I also have discovered if I close the spa return off at the 3way, the spa stays full. Stays full with pump on or off.