IC40 - SWG reporting 0 % salt (approx. 7 out of 10 startups) and temp appears ok

[rhawke]

Hi,
I did an acid wash on my salt cell, exactly per the pentair manual with a 4:1 water:acid solution since i had a bit of scaling on the plates. After that, I now have the issue that the salt detection doesn't work maybe 7 out of 10 times. If I turn everything off, turn it back on, the salt reading might all of a sudden work, or not. Some days it never works, next day it could work three times in a row. This makes salt production pretty unpredictable.

I read the various posts on here regarding the flow switch, but doing the diagnostics it looks like the temp sensor is rock solid.

You can watch the 30 sec video here going through the diagnostic features when salt was properly detected

New video by Robert Hawke

photos.app.goo.gl

And here a 30 sec video when the salt reading is 0 and the cell is not producing. The temp reading remains the same, so I doubt replacing the flow switch would solve this issue? Or might it still?

New video by Robert Hawke

photos.app.goo.gl

Since the cell still has 6000 hours of remaining life, I would hate to just toss it. Any ideas on how to fix this or further troubleshoot?
And yes, I learned my lesson and will next time try a less harsh solution first ...

Thanks,

Robert

 

[ajw22]

What is the date on the cell?

The only serviceable part is the temperature/flow switch.

Your acid wash reduced that 6000 hours left. How many hours are on the cell?

I suspect you will need a new cell.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Robert,

This is a known issue.. I believe it is more of a timing issue rather than an actual failure. The fact that it works sometimes is telling.

The system expects to see the reported salt level in a certain amount of time. It it does not see it, it reports zero. If the cell's salt light is green, then the cell is working just fine and the reported salt level is just not needed. Nice to have, but not needed.

Experience shows that replacing just about any part of the salt system will fix the issue. The least expensive part is the flow switch. This will fix the problem about 70% of the time. You can also replace the surge card in the power supply, the cell itself and of course the main card in the EasyTouch.

As long as the salt lights flash like a railroad crossing, at start up, and you then get a solid green salt light, the cell is working fine.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[rhawke]

Robert,

This is a known issue.. I believe it is more of a timing issue rather than an actual failure. The fact that it works sometimes is telling.

The system expects to see the reported salt level in a certain amount of time. It it does not see it, it reports zero. If the cell's salt light is green, then the cell is working just fine and the reported salt level is just not needed. Nice to have, but not needed.

Experience shows that replacing just about any part of the salt system will fix the issue. The least expensive part is the flow switch. This will fix the problem about 70% of the time. You can also replace the surge card in the power supply, the cell itself and of course the main card in the EasyTouch.

As long as the salt lights flash like a railroad crossing, at start up, and you then get a solid green salt light, the cell is working fine.

Thanks,

Jim R.

unfortunately the problem is that the light on the cell itself goes red as well (see videos linked). so it is not just a reporting/communication issue but actually 0 production. I thought about the flow switch but based on other posts on here that only works if the issue is the incorrect temp reading ...

 

[rhawke]

What is the date on the cell?

The only serviceable part is the temperature/flow switch.

Your acid wash reduced that 6000 hours left. How many hours are on the cell?

I suspect you will need a new cell.

The cell is about 3 years old. The crazy thing is why does Pentair suggest an acid wash with that 4:1 ratio if it reduces the life of the cell and can create such issues. I guess they only provide 2 year warranty, so they don't care ...

 

[JamesW]

 

[rhawke]

Sorry, I had linked the same video twice by mistake. Here is the correct link to the diagnostics when the salt cell is not working. I updated the original post as well.

New video by Robert Hawke

photos.app.goo.gl

@JamesW I already watched that video. My problem is that the temp is correct and I still get the red light.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Robert,

Does the cell do the flashing railroad crossing light at start up??

What is the actual salt level in your pool? It could be that the actual salt level is low and you have the known zero issue,

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

Disconnect the temp sensor.

 

[rhawke]

Disconnect the temp sensor.

is there a way to do this without cutting it so that i could try if it makes a difference?

Robert,

Does the cell do the flashing railroad crossing light at start up??

What is the actual salt level in your pool? It could be that the actual salt level is low and you have the known zero issue,

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yes, the rail road lights runs at the startup every time. About 7 out of 9 times the red low salt light stays on, the other 2 times it everything is green. If I turn the pump off and back on, then sometimes on the second try the salt reads correctly. But I have also already sometimes had 5 restarts in a row and it never shows any salt.
When the system works properly, it then also shows salt at 3200ppm.

 

[JamesW]

is there a way to do this without cutting it so that i could try if it makes a difference?

No.

 

[Jimrahbe]

When the system works properly, it then also shows salt at 3200ppm.

Robert,

Did you actually test the salt level in the pool and if so, what was it. What did you use to test it?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[rhawke]

Robert,

Did you actually test the salt level in the pool and if so, what was it. What did you use to test it?

Thanks,

Jim R.

I didn't test it myself, salt is the only thing where I rely on Leslie's pools and they came back at 3200.

 

[Jimrahbe]

I rely on Leslie's pools and they came back at 3200.

Robert,

That means it could be almost anything from 1,000 to 4,000.

They could be spot on, but based upon my experience, I doubt it.

Do yourself a favor and get the Taylor K-1766 salt test kit. The most accurate salt test kit. About $33 bucks on amazon.

One of the first rules of having a SWCG is knowing what the actual salt level is in your pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[rhawke]

Just a quick update on this I got the salt cell to work most of the time again by doing the following.
Not sure if this is coincidence or if one of these was the solution, but hey it works again
1) Since I had the pool covered in the spring, I had my CYA at just 5 or 10 ppm with the plan to add CYA as soon as the cover comes off.
2) At the same time, I also decided to increase the salt 4100ppm just to see if that would help with it detecting the salt better. My gut feeling is that this one probably helped the most, because the salt reading is still fluctuating between 3300 and 4100 on the cell, but at least it produces.

1 + 2 got the salt cell to work again from maybe 3 out of 10 times to again 9 out of 10 times.

3) then some minor scaling was building up in the salt cell again. Interestingly, since that has happened, it now detects salt 100 % of the time again.

I won't bother cleaning the cell again as long as the scaling is minor since it is currently working and I don't want to risk it getting whacky again.