Intellichlor IC40 cell going dark after two seconds.

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S

SteveinSC

0
Jul 12, 2017
25
Ridgeway, SC
Hello everyone. Hoping for some insight. My IC40 SWG cell is going dark about two seconds after each start. For that brief period it's on , all LED's come on and the flashing starts as usual, but then it shuts down completely (all LED's off). It consistently does this - no variation in timing. No dimming or flickering of the LED's; all is normal for two seconds then nothing.

Trying to ascertain whether it is the cell or power supply. Cell should have half its life remaining according to the usual LED check. It is, however, around 12 years old. Never any problems at all before this.

I unplugged the cable to the cell, and checked output voltage from the power supply. Getting 27.6V DC steady. No cutting off after two seconds, just good steady voltage albeit not within the normal range as I understand it (30-40V).

Does this mean (1) the power supply is bad, as it is not requiring the specified voltage to the cell, and the cell thus shuts down after a 2-second lag, or (2) the cell should operate at the 27.5V being supplied? Any other thought appreciated. Assume I am not the first with this particular issue.
 
The AC power goes into the power center and through the fuse and then goes into a step down transformer The output of the transformer should be about 28 Volts AC. You should check the you have either 120 VAC or 240 VAC going into the transformer and that you have about 28 VAC going to the board.

The board changes the 28 VAC into about 40 volts DC. If you have 28 VAC going into the board and do not have 40 VDC coming out, the board is bad.

The voltage between the red and black wire on the connector (J7) going to the cell is about 40 volts DC.

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Steve,

The voltage that goes to the Cell on my EasyTouch is 35 Volts DC when in the cell is making chlorine and about 40 volts when the cell is at rest.

A lot of people here have reported voltages between 25 and 40 volts. I am not sure of the actual minimum required to run the lights on the cell. But suspect that your cell is bad.

The life test just tells you if the plates have any life left in them, it does not tell you if the other 100 things that can go bad are good or bad.

Do any of your friends in your area have the IntelliChlor system?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Steve,

The voltage that goes to the Cell on my EasyTouch is 35 Volts DC when in the cell is making chlorine and about 40 volts when the cell is at rest.

A lot of people here have reported voltages between 25 and 40 volts. I am not sure of the actual minimum required to run the lights on the cell. But suspect that your cell is bad.

The life test just tells you if the plates have any life left in them, it does not tell you if the other 100 things that can go bad are good or bad.

Do any of your friends in your area have the IntelliChlor system?

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks guys. Yeah, I was thinking of seeing if any neighbors have IC40's so I could plug my cell into their power supply as a test. I decided to pull the cell to have a look inside, thinking maybe an obstruction was somehow causing it to turn off. Oddly, I found an o-ring lodged near the outflow of the cell. It's not from the union and I don't know how that could have gotten in there unless it came off the valve atop the sand filter. Weird. Not split or anything, just there. At any rate I removed it and re-installed the cell, but changed nothing.

I also tried to check the output voltage of the transformer, but must have been doing it wrong. Unplugged the two red leads from the transformer and checked each with the multi-meter (each hot lead to the the green ground wire), expecting to see 12V AC on each leg, but got nothing at all. Can't be right as I do have DC power output at 27+ volts. The board is getting power.

With a cell failure is it normal for it to power on for a couple of seconds then off?

Thanks
 
SteveinSC said:
I also tried to check the output voltage of the transformer, but must have been doing it wrong. Unplugged the two red leads from the transformer and checked each with the multi-meter (each hot lead to the the green ground wire), expecting to see 12V AC on each leg, but got nothing at all. Can't be right as I do have DC power output at 27+ volts. The board is getting power.
Click to expand...

Test voltage across the two red leads, not to ground.
 
SteveinSC said:
With a cell failure is it normal for it to power on for a couple of seconds then off?
Click to expand...
Steve,

We have seen several reports of the cell having no lights.

My house was hit by lightning and about a week later the cell would start up and run the salt test and as soon as it was done, all the light would go off.

Pentair replaced the cell under warranty, and it has worked fine ever since.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Points all noted and thanks again. Tomorrow I'll check the transformer output voltage again, across the red leads. I remain suspicious of the power supply, given it's delivering only 27V when not under load. Will also attempt to check the power to the cell with cable hooked up to see what the running voltage is. Only way I see to check that easily is to try and pierce the insulation on the red and black wires (inside, where it leaves the box) with the multi-tester probes. Guess I could trace where those leads leave the board and see if I can get to those points, but the board is tucked in there sideways and tight. Any suggested alternative approaches appreciated.

The failure likely was event driven in any case, as it occurred after TS Ian passed through last week. Had no lightning at all, but our power went out while the system was running, so something probably got whacked from the brown-out or subsequent surge.

No doubt there is little room for complaint about getting my money's worth out of the existing setup after 12 years. Still, it is not in my nature to discard anything that can be repaired, and I definitely do need to be convinced whether it's the controller or the cell given the rather obscene costs associated with both.

Will report back here with further info as I acquire it.
 
Steve,

As a test you can power the cell with an adjustable DC power supply.

Not something that most people have laying around, but maybe one of your friends or someone at work has one.

After all, all you want to do is confirm what voltage turns on the lights. You don't need anything but the DC voltage to do that.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
Steve,

As a test you can power the cell with an adjustable DC power supply.

Not something that most people have laying around, but maybe one of your friends or someone at work has one.

After all, all you want to do is confirm what voltage turns on the lights. You don't need anything but the DC voltage to do that.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim. That occurred to me as well but I don't have one or know anyone who does. If I can access an IC40 power supply on a pool here in the neighborhood, it would be dead easy to just cable mine on that and see what happens. Might pursue that.
 
Steve,

That sounds about right to me..

It certainly could be a bad surge card, but in my mind, it could just as easily be the cell itself.

The Surge card is a lot less money.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
If worst comes to worst and you buy a cell which doesn't clear the problem, you'll already have your next cell when this one does die. The costs have gone nothing but up the last several years, it will only help future you.
 
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Consensus here is it's the cell, and of course I am inclined to agree given the wealth of experience on this board. Point on worst case having a spare is well taken, and that is something I do routinely. A bit harder to do when the cost is $1,200 or so.

If I get a new cell, I am giving serious thought to going with the Splash IRCF40, or even the IRCF20, as my pool is only around 7,000 gallons. The IC40 was serious overkill for such a small pool, and it appears the unit has failed with more than half the plate life remaining. For the price of an IC40 cell I could go through two of the Spash units. Would also consider replacing the cell with an IC20, though not much savings to be had there. Will be researching.

Happily this occurred at the end of swimming season. Took my last of the year less than a week before the unit failed. The cell has never produced in cold weather, so I have until spring to resolve matters if I need it. I might even open up the cell and have a look. Corroded connection of power cable to plates, for example might be fixable by trimming off a bit of cable, cleaning the nodes and reaffixing the leads. A long shot, but why not? Not much else in there to fail honestly; they are simple beasts at the end of the day. For now looking for a compatible Intellichlor controller amongst neighbors so I can test the cell.

For now I do remain suspicious of the power supply. The circuitry is there to protect against current surges. Mine is producing 27V DC potential under no load. Nominally, there should be 40V there, dropping to 30V under load. That 25% drop in my circumstance would result in around 21-22V, far out of range, with a serious jump in current by Ohm's law, possibly enough to trigger the surge protection. Specifically, I suspect the rectifier might be bad, as the voltage to the board is more than sufficient. The excess AC voltage in might also be the problem, but hard to reconcile with the diminished DC voltage out.

We'll see, and I will report developments here.
 
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Steve,

There are several threads here that cover repairing the Surge card, so that might be worth a shot...

No salt cell generates when the water temp gets down below about 52 degrees.

The cell is sealed, so nothing to open and check.

An IC20 is $899 and an IC40 is $1099.. Pentair IntelliChlor Free shipping and no tax.

You almost always get what you pay for. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
The key word there being "almost," but there is such a thing as overpricing too, and not hard to see how an absence of plug-and-play aftermarket cells for many years might incline a manufacturer to go there. Worth pondering anyway. Time is on my side.
 

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