Intellichlor IC40 flow switch light is red

[Slm3rob]

Flow switch light is red. It was intermittently red and green over the course of a few days while I have been trying to trouble shoot the issue.

I have cleaned the salt cell and cartridge filter, and bypassed the flow switch. Connectors do not appear to be corroded. The flow light remains red.

Salt cell says I still have 4000 hours of life in the cell. Cell is 6 years old.

Flow is good.

I have read through old posts concerning flow switch issues.

Should I replace the flow switch even though it is still red when bypassed?

Thanks for any help,
Linda

 

[Jimrahbe]

Linda,

The idea to by-pass the flow switch is just as a test. If the flow light turns green when by-passed, then you know the flow switch is bad. If the flow light is red with the flow switch by-passed, then the cell is bad and installing a new flow switch will not help.

Running the system with the flow switch by-passed other than for a quick test is not a good idea.

In my mind the "Cell Life" reported by the cell is almost useless. It is just an idea of how much plate life is left. Since the cell can have many other electrical failures that have nothing with the cell life, it is of little valve when the cell is not working.

Most cells last 5 to 7 years.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Slm3rob]

Linda,

The idea to by-pass the flow switch is just as a test. If the flow light turns green when by-passed, then you know the flow switch is bad. If the flow light is red with the flow switch by-passed, then the cell is bad and installing a new flow switch will not help.

Running the system with the flow switch by-passed other than for a quick test is not a good idea.

In my mind the "Cell Life" reported by the cell is almost useless. It is just an idea of how much plate life is left. Since the cell can have many other electrical failures that have nothing with the cell life, it is of little valve when the cell is not working.

Most cells last 5 to 7 years.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hi Jim,

Thanks so much. Based on previous posts, this is what I thought. I just wanted to be sure there were no other options before I invest in a new cell. I check the cell regularly and there have never been any deposits on it. However, this time there were some deposits on the plates. I cleaned and reinstalled. The flow switch came on for a day. The following day, back to red. This would be the 6th year of life for the cell and we are near Houston so I can run the cell from March to November most years.

I appreciate the help,
Linda

 

[Jimrahbe]

Linda,

It is possible that the flow light is red only because the LED has some issue. If the cell is still making chlorine and the "Cell" light is working as it should, then the cell knows the flow switch status.

Try this. With the flow switch jumpered, set the output to 50% and see what the cell light does. After the initial start up, the cell light should come on for 2.5 minutes and then be off for 2.5 minutes. If it does this, it means the cell sees the flow switch as closed, no matter the color of the LED.

Then, remove the jumper and run the test again. If the cell light never comes on, it means the cell can tell the difference between a good flow single and a bad flow signal. This would allow you to ignore the flow light. (With a good flow switch of course.)

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Slm3rob]

Linda,

It is possible that the flow light is red only because the LED has some issue. If the cell is still making chlorine and the "Cell" light is working as it should, then the cell knows the flow switch status.

Try this. With the flow switch jumpered, set the output to 50% and see what the cell light does. After the initial start up, the cell light should come on for 2.5 minutes and then be off for 2.5 minutes. If it does this, it means the cell sees the flow switch as closed, no matter the color of the LED.

Then, remove the jumper and run the test again. If the cell light never comes on, it means the cell can tell the difference between a good flow single and a bad flow signal. This would allow you to ignore the flow light. (With a good flow switch of course.)

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim,

I will try that. I am hoping it’s not the cell because the cost has gone up so much. I’ll let you know what happens.
Linda

 

[Slm3rob]

Hi Jim,

Sorry for the delay in responding back. Since our last emails, my booster pump for the pool vac quit working also! My husband just today replaced the capacitor and now that is back up and running. We retested the salt cell, leaving it on longer and bingo! The flow light turned green! I ordered a replacement flow switch and should have it tomorrow.
Thanks for your help!
Linda

 

[Slm3rob]

Hi Jim,

My husband finally got around to replacing the flow switch and the salt cell is back up and running. Thank you for all the detailed info. We would have bought a new cell unnecessarily had it not been for your instructions, especially about leaving cell on for a few minutes when bypassing the switch.

Thanks!
Linda

 

[Slm3rob]

Hi Jim,

My husband finally got around to replacing the flow switch and the salt cell is back up and running. Thank you for all the detailed info. We would have bought a new cell unnecessarily had it not been for your instructions, especially about leaving cell on for a few minutes when bypassing the switch.

Thanks!
Linda

Hi Jim,

Well, after about 3 days, the salt cell flow light went red again. I am wondering if there could be an issue with the power coming into my equipment through the timer. My booster pump was also acting up, we replaced the capacitor and it was fine for about a week then quit working again. Both the salt cell and the booster pump go through the timer. My regular pool pump does not. It seems weird that a new flow switch does the job then quits working and same with the capacitor. Also the flow switch light really flickers now to the point of almost going out (no color).

I have a new booster pump but have not installed it yet.

When we tested the electrical current at the timer it read 240 (we did this when we were testing the booster pump for correct voltage a couple of weeks ago).

Any insight or help would be appreciated.
Linda

 

[Jimrahbe]

Linda,

My first thought is that the flow of water returning to the pool has gone down. Most likely due to a dirty filter.

The very first thing to do is stick your hand in front of a pool return and see if you can feel a good strong flow of water. If not find out why.

I re-read your initial post and think you should do the same, as the troubleshooting steps have not changed.

It is possible that the LED flow light is just bad. Try this... Set the output of the cell to 50% then, with the pump running monitor the 'Cell' light. The cell light should be on for about 2.5 minutes and then off for about 2.5 minutes. If the cell light is working correctly, and the flow light is red, then most like the LED is just bad. This assumes that you have a good strong flow out of your returns.

Another possibility is that your connections to the new flow switch are not good. This often happens with those little crimp connectors. You could wiggle them and see if you can make the flow light turn on and off.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Slm3rob]

Linda,

My first thought is that the flow of water returning to the pool has gone down. Most likely due to a dirty filter.

The very first thing to do is stick your hand in front of a pool return and see if you can feel a good strong flow of water. If not find out why.

I re-read your initial post and think you should do the same, as the troubleshooting steps have not changed.

It is possible that the LED flow light is just bad. Try this... Set the output of the cell to 50% then, with the pump running monitor the 'Cell' light. The cell light should be on for about 2.5 minutes and then off for about 2.5 minutes. If the cell light is working correctly, and the flow light is red, then most like the LED is just bad. This assumes that you have a good strong flow out of your returns.

Another possibility is that your connections to the new flow switch are not good. This often happens with those little crimp connectors. You could wiggle them and see if you can make the flow light turn on and off.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim,

The flow out of the jets is strong. I just cleaned my filter a couple months ago When I started having issues with the cell, thinking that was the issue. Filter Pressure is low. When we tested the output before we changed the flow switch, it was correctly making chlorine per the percentage test you recommended. I will have my husband recheck the connectors. I hadn’t thought of that.

We just now went through the bypassing the flow switch procedure again. The LED is flickering like crazy. The salt indicator lights took forever to find the correct salt level (Salt level is 3400 per my tests). When it finally found the salt level was good, the cell light came on as it was producing chlorine. It stayed on for about 3 min (I had it on 60%) and then went off and would not come back on (Timed it to 7 minutes). I upped the output level to 100 and it didn’t come back on.

The LED light finally turned a strong green, then after a while, went back to red. (It was bypassed).

So…bad cell? It’s not cooperating with the tests, so do you think it’s the actual cell? It was producing chlorine for about three or four days after we changed the flow switch. I was testing every day and it was working.

Let me know what you think,
Linda

 

[Jimrahbe]

Linda,

I have not run across one acting like yours, but I would think 90% bad cell and maybe 10% that the power center is defective.

If this were my pool, I'd check the DC voltage from the power center and see if was steady, or if was fluctuating up and down. It should be about 35 volts DC when the cell is making chlorine and about 40 volts DC when the cell is resting or off.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Slm3rob]

Linda,

I have not run across one acting like yours, but I would think 90% bad cell and maybe 10% that the power center is defective.

If this were my pool, I'd check the DC voltage from the power center and see if was steady, or if was fluctuating up and down. It should be about 35 volts DC when the cell is making chlorine and about 40 volts DC when the cell is resting or off.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim,

Thats what we will do next. I appreciate the help.
Linda