IntelliChlor IC40 - not working?

[J M S]

I tested my salt and it read 4400ppm. My IntelliChlor IC40 shows a red light which apparently means "low salt/system off". In a previous thread, i was told The IC40 is known to have a weak link in the way it tests the salt level. The other issue is my chlorine read 0 yesterday. Is my IntelliChlor IC40 broken? How would I know?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

It is always best to use an independent salt test and not rely on the "salinity" output of the cell (this is true for any SWG). The very best way to test for salt is to use the Taylor K-1766 salt test kit as it has the highest possible accuracy with little or no interference. Strips are pretty worthless and easily degraded. Electronic TDS meters need to be accurately calibrated or else they will give incorrect results.

Depending on what your ACTUAL salt level is, then we can diagnose the problem. Often when salt levels are normal and the cell reads "LOW SALT", the plates are either scaled with calcium or the specialized metal coating is starting to fail. There is also the chance that your cell's internal temperature probe has failed. To test, follow this procedure -

"Pressing and holding the “More” button launches the System Status Mode. When the lights finish scrolling, the percent lights indicate hours of usage in 1,000s. For example, if the 40% light lights, that indicates 4,000 hours.

Version 3.1 on adds the ability to determine system temperature. Pressing the “More” button after the display shows 1,000s of hours of usage, will show temperature as follows:

Lights…………….....………Temperature
No LEDs………….…..………Below 30F
40%..........................36 to 45F
40% and 60%............46 to 55F
60%..........................56 to 65F
60% and 80%............66 to 75F
80%.........................76 to 85F
80 and 100%............86 to 95F
100%.......................96 to 99F
100% blinking……..….over 99F
All LEDs blinking……...Sensor bad "

 

[Litespeed]

As long as it read "low" salt level it will not produce chlorine is my understanding. Have you checked the Intellichlor for scaling? Has it been some time since it was last cleaned with water and/or muriatic acid?

It's odd it seems that your salt level is that high but it reads low salt, and you're not getting an indicator to clean the unit. I would still check it for scaling visually just to see if that isn't the cause. It might be possible, I suppose, too, that the high salt level may have increased the scaling inside the unit.

That high salt level may cause damage to other pool equipment particularly any stainless steel or copper components.

 

[Jimrahbe]

The IC40 does not consider the salt level to be too high unless it goes above 4500... So your actual salt level is on the high end, but ok. The IC40 will make chlorine even if it thinks the salt level is too high.

As the above post suggests, if you have not at least inspected your cell for scale you should do that first. Unless there is visible scale, do not acid wash it, as that will just reduce your cell life.

As Matt has pointed out, the most likely cause of your low salt reading is the temperature sensor inside the Flow Switch, which is an easy DIY repair for less than $100.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[elwood58]

I think you will find that your cell needs cleaning.

 

[mknauss]

While you are troubleshooting - add Bleach!

And Jim R is most likely correct, I replaced my flow switch at 2 years. If under warranty Pentair will send out a tech or just send you a flow switch (they did to me).

Take care.

 

[J M S]

Thank you for all the replies. I tried running the test and i am not convinced it worked correctly. Here is a link to a video i made: https://youtu.be/PL-qIuHqmtk

Heres an example of what happened...

Set IC40 Percentage was to 20%.... i pressed the "More" button down until flashing lights. Once lights stopped the percentage lit up at 20%

Set IC40 Percentage was to 40%.... i pressed the "More" button down until flashing lights. Once lights stopped the percentage lit up at 40%

Whatever i had the % set to seems to be where it ended up...