Low Salt Light on IC40 won't turn green

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

Chrish1353

In The Industry
Apr 15, 2020
3
Mississippi
As I readied my pool for the season, I added the proper amount of salt to reach 3600 PPM. Let me start by saying my IC40 was manufactured in 1/18. With all lights green, I noticed that the low salt light on my IC40 never turned green and was red and was never producing chlorine in the pool. I looked at the control panel and it was reading 0 PPM. It has never read zero, so the first thing I did was acid wash the cell. I then tried to reset by disconnecting. I have held the "more" button down and even spoke to Pentair. Their suggestion was a new flow switch. Today I have installed a new flow switch and the light is still red....maybe it takes a while for it to read with the new switch or does anyone have any other suggestion to remedy this problem. Many thanks in advance!
 
1353,

The cell only measures salt at an initial start up and 12 hours later..

A new flow switch assembly should have fixed the low salt light. ??

Did you actually measure your salt level with a salt test kit or just guess at it?

The low salt light is different than the zero reading on the EasyTouch. The cell can often work even if the ET says zero..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
1353,

The cell only measures salt at an initial start up and 12 hours later..

A new flow switch assembly should have fixed the low salt light. ??

Did you actually measure your salt level with a salt test kit or just guess at it?

The low salt light is different than the zero reading on the EasyTouch. The cell can often work even if the ET says zero..

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim, I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the level was only read once or twice a day.....I am hopeful it will resolve. Yes, I used a Taylor Sodium Chloride test kit....so I know the number is accurate. Thanks for the help.
 
1353,

Here is my rule.. If the actual salt test is more than 1,000 ppm different than what the cell reports, the cell (or flow switch) is bad.. If less than 1,000 ppm, then I add salt to make the cell "think" the salt level is correct. I do this as long as I don't have to increase the actual salt level above 4000 ppm.

Not sure that will work in every case, but it works for me. As long as I can make the cell happy, it will generate chlorine. As long as the actual salt is less than 4000, I can live with it.

The IC40's accuracy is about +/- 500 ppm.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I’m wondering what the water temp is. I too had the dreaded Low Salt light on my IC40. I first had the light a few weeks back and after testing with the Taylor reagent kit I found that my salt was at 3k. Not too bad but I added enough salt to bring it up to 3800. Yesterday I noticed the light was back on so today I called Pentair Support. We determined that it was most likely due to water temp as it was 66 degrees yesterday. Here is what the Pentair tech told me.
He said the units ideal temperature is 77 degrees and that for every 1 degree drop In water temp you should subtract 100 salt. In my case, with the water temp at 66 I subtracted 1100 salt (11 degrees temp) which made my SWG think I had 2700 salt. It’s supposed to warm up today so when I check it later the light should be out. If not, I’ll call back for warranty service because I have 1 month left on my 2 year warranty. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
 
Sorry - but that Pentair tech is full of hooey.

I suspect the thermistor is bad in your flow switch.

Let's see if Jim agrees.
 
M,

Inside the flow switch is a thermistor which is supposed to compensate for the changing water temperature. I think the tech's response might have been taken out of context.. But no matter what, if the water temp is 66 degrees and the actual salt is 3800, then your cell should be working.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
mknauss said:
Sorry - but that Pentair tech is full of hooey.

I suspect the thermistor is bad in your flow switch.

Let's see if Jim agrees.
Click to expand...
Jimrahbe said:
M,

Inside the flow switch is a thermistor which is supposed to compensate for the changing water temperature. I think the tech's response might have been taken out of context.. But no matter what, if the water temp is 66 degrees and the actual salt is 3800, then your cell should be working.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. I must tell you though that when the water warmed up the Low Salt light turned off. I don’t doubt that it could still be an intermittent thermistor. I’ll monitor it and see what it does.
 
M,

It makes sense that when the water warmed up the cell starting working better. The question is how far off is the actual salt level and the reported salt level..?

If the thermistor is open the cell will use 77 degrees as the water temp.

The cell is supposed to work right down to the 52 degree cold water shut off.. If not, why not just make the shut off be 66 degrees...? The Flow Switch or cell is bad.

If you don't mind waiting until the water temp is 70 degrees to use your SWCG, then neither do I... :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply