IC40 Looks Dead

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N

Naplespool

0
Mar 26, 2017
101
Naples/FL
About a week ago, I noticed that my chlorine level was dropping off and every other day since then I ratcheted up the IC40 percentage. It's lights had been on but I haven't been paying attention to them.

Today I tested my chlorine level and it had fallen to zero, I'd been away a few days. When I looked at the SWG, it has no lights on. Is my problem as simple as my 3-4 year-old IC40 has given up the ghost, or could this be a power supply or something else? How would I go about debugging this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Rare that all the lights are out. I would check that the power pack is getting power. Do you have automation?
 
Please update your signature with your Intellitouch.

No power to the IC implies something wrong in the Intellitouch connections or programming.
 
Naplespool said:
Hi, yes, my installation has an i5+3. The circuit breaker looks ok and the connector is plugged in.
Click to expand...

Is the IntelliChlor Power Center connected directly to a CB or does it run through the filter/pump relay?

Do you have a multimeter? Check the power and trace where it is run through.
 
N,

Your IC40 "could" be bad, but about 60 to 70% of reported bad cells turn out to be something else..

Assuming that your IntelliTouch came with a salt cell, that means that inside your main enclosure should be a SWCG power supply card (called a surge card) and it will look something like this..

New SWCG PCB.jpg

New SWCG PCB.jpg


This card turns the 24 volt AC input from the SWCG's transformer into DC voltage. You should have about 24 AC volts in, and about 35 to 40 DC volts out. The two AC input lines are marked and the output lines are the large Red and Black wires going out to the cell.

Also keep in mind the cell should not have any lights if the system is in the Service mode, or if you are not in either the Pool mode or Spa mode.

If you have algae, even if you can't see it, the algae will consume more FC than the cell can make. If the cell is getting power, I suggest that you run an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test or OCLT.

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I have the setup with the PCB, and have a DVM. I will trace it through tomorrow.

Also, I’m running the OCLT overnight and will report back on all this tomorrow.

Great help from all, thank you.

Edit: I don’t know if it’s related but I ran a super chlor cycle the day before it died.
 
The OCLT looked good and I'm going to run it again tonight and tomorrow morning so I can figure my chlorine bleach dosing schedule.

I measured the voltages in the i5 at the PCB (per above). The AC voltage is 31.0 volts and the DC voltage is 26.9V going to the red and black wires. The cables and connectors look good, I don't see any damage to the external cable. Even after the breakers are off and reset, everything starts but there isn't a flicker of any LED at the IC40.

Before I order a new IC40, are there any other checks I can run?
 
N,

I'd unplug the cell from the bottom of the EasyTouch and see what the DE voltage does.. In my system the DC voltage is about 35 volts DC, when the cell is operating, and about 40 VDC when the cell is at rest..

I "assume" the cell is drawing too much current which loads down the surge card.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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With the cell unplugged the voltage only goes up a half volt to 27.6.

I don't know if I got the correct answer from Pentair Tech Support but they thought 26.9V DC was okay and that the cell is dead at 4 years old.

I have a separate supply and I could power it from 27V DC and see what the current draw is.
 
4 years of operation on FL for an IC40 cell is about what I would expect.

Let's say your cell runs 8 months out of the year. That is 960 days. Let's assume the cell has an 8,000 hour generation life. That says the cell was generating about 8 hours a day or about 60%.
 
N,

The problem now is we don't know if it is the cell that is bad, or the surge card (power supply) is bad.

My guess is the cell is bad, but who knows.. I've replaced two IC40s.. One was over 9 years old and the other over 7 years old. My lights never went out, the cell light would just start to flash. This is an indication the cell is "used up".. I would assume the lights going out is more of an electronics failure and not that the cell's life has run out.

If this were my cell, I would try to power it on 35 to 40 DC volts and see if the lights work.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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