IC60 - low salt light, but Taylor kit saying 3400ppm

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P

Pperc

Gold Supporter
May 17, 2019
403
Philadelphia
Pool Size
28000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Hi all - haven't needed to post in a while, but having an issue with my IC60. It was purchased new at the end of 2019 so still relatively new. Recently we got a lot of rain here in the northeast and my pool was high, so i drained it a bit and then we just got more rain and it's somewhat high again, although not above the skimmer, just on the high end. I checked my equipment and saw the Low Salt red light was on. I went and tested my slat with the Taylor kit and got 17 drops on 10ml of water or 3400ppm. At the beginning of this season I was at 4000ppm after adding salt so this seems reasonable to me. Any ways to trouble shoot or things I should do on the check salt light? Could the rains yesterday and last night and the current high water level have some impact? I did throw 1 40lb bag of salt in the deep end today since I had it anyways (right before I tested the water from the shallow end).
 
Be sure the water is very well mixed (brush, run a pool cleaner, swim) then cycle the SWCG off and on and see if it resolves itself. The IC only reads the salinity at start up or after 12 hours of continuous use.
 
mknauss said:
Be sure the water is very well mixed (brush, run a pool cleaner, swim) then cycle the SWCG off and on and see if it resolves itself. The IC only reads the salinity at start up or after 12 hours of continuous use.
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Ah that's very helpful information. If it was getting rain water sucked of the top of the pool during the rains that could explain it. Thank you. I will mix and then cycle!
 
15,

Inside the flow switch is a thermistor that helps the cell determine the salinity of the pool water.. They tend to go bad (a lot)...

I'd do what Marty suggested above, and if still bad, I'd replace the flow switch assembly.

If you are going to replace the flow switch anyway, you can run a test by cutting the Green wire that runs between the cell and the flow switch.. If you do this, only cut the green wire and do it about halfway between the cell and the flow switch.

If the cell starts working, that means the thermistor is bad.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
15,

Inside the flow switch is a thermistor that helps the cell determine the salinity of the pool water.. They tend to go bad (a lot)...

I'd do what Marty suggested above, and if still bad, I'd replace the flow switch assembly.

If you are going to replace the flow switch anyway, you can run a test by cutting the Green wire that runs between the cell and the flow switch.. If you do this, only cut the green wire and do it about halfway between the cell and the flow switch.

If the cell starts working, that means the thermistor is bad.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jim. Is replacing the flow switch a relatively straight forward process? Unfortunately, due to the way my pool is plumbed and the fact that that pool is above the equipment, it's a huge pain to remove the IC60 from my plumbing while the pool is operational (i.e., not closed for winter), but it can be done.
 
Your water is stratified from all the rain with fresh water on the top of the salt water. You just need to get the pool water mixed well. Crank up the speed of your VS pump.

I got 4 inches of rain in my pool from Henri and my IC60 went LOW SALT from the stratification.

The IntelliChlor only checks the salt level every 12 hours so once it errors with low salt it may take 12 hours to reset. Or you can power the IntelliChlor off and on to get to check the salinity now.
 
Well, back here again! Turns out rain stratification was likely only the partial issue. While the cell worked again for a couple of weeks, it’s back to showing low salt even though my test is showing 3600 ppm salt (to be fair, the reagents expired in Feb and late last year respectively, so I did order new ones). By searching some threads here, I found Jim’s helpful info on testing the salt cell temperature reading. Holding more I find that the cell cold water light is flashing and pressing more again I get a reading over 99F. So, a bad flow sensor. I just ordered a new one and will replace myself. The videos don’t look too bad. Pretty crappy part for an end of 2019 installation + showing still no hours used on the cell (no percentages flash after holding more).

One question, if I may. My equipment is below pool level (considerably). Picture is my return line to the pool after the salt cell and I (I believe correctly) do not have a valve there. Any recommendations on stopping water from flowing back up from the return side once I remove the cell? I can close the suction side no problem.
 

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Hi guys, I finally got around to cutting the white and green wires. Weird thing is when I turned back on my system the pump was no longer in automation mode talking to my iAquaLink. Is there any possibility that cutting the white and green wires from the thermistor could be related or is it a huge coincidence after I put the system into service mode?
 
Ok so that was just a loose wire and pump is fine.

Back to the Intellichlor:

Now upon startup, the IC60 is just flashing green and red between good and low as it does during normal startup and it won’t stop. It’s been doing it for minutes. Any ideas?
 
I ran the diagnostic mode and then it stayed on red / low. Holding mode for 5 seconds and then mode again led to all 5 lights flashing….
 

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