My T-Cell 15 results / inquiries. New. Help.

[mattbuc16]

Sigh.

Believe it's a two-year-old T-Cell 15. Board was also relatively new -- around the same time.

T-Cell had a lot of scaling. A lot. I soaked it in probably 2/7 mixture (yes, I was off from the 1/4 I'm guessing) for 15-30 minutes. Got all the scaling off.

Readouts on board were no good going in. And still no good.

Average salt = 100 or 200. And I had it tested today. It was 3000, according to Leslies. And I know it was high last summer because I was getting bad readings even then and added too much salt.
75 degrees
32.5 cell voltage
0 amps
31p
0 instant reading
88-2 program code <----- is that even legit?
r8.80
Crazy thing is it says "Generating", which it obviously isn't.
Inspect cell light is solid orange.
Check salt is solid red.

Guessing I either need a new board or new cell or both. Please advise. Assuming that if I call a pool guy, I may as well just replace both. So I'm hoping someone can point me in best direction.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[JodieM]

I replaced the board on mine when it went bad. I just followed a YouTube video, it was very easy. Mine and 2 other neighbors T-cell motherboards went out the same time. We chalked it up to a lightening strike.

 

[JamesW]

It's a generic board, not a genuine Hayward.

It might be the cell or board. Hard to tell.

Move the switch to off for a minute then back to auto and recheck all diagnostic readings and then do that one more time.

What are the first 7 characters of the serial number on the cell?

 

[mattbuc16]

It's a generic board, not a genuine Hayward.

It might be the cell or board. Hard to tell.

Move the switch to off for a minute then back to auto and recheck all diagnostic readings and then do that one more time.

What are the first 7 characters of the serial number on the cell?

First 7 on the serial number are:
3E15086

 

[mattbuc16]

Leslie's says they test cells. So I'm gonna take it over there tomorrow to get it looked at it.

 

[JamesW]

Your cell was made on the 86th day of 2015. March 27, 2015 (Fri).

So, that makes the cell about 4 years old.

Move the switch to off for a minute then back to auto and recheck all diagnostic readings and then do that one more time.

If the instant salinity reading is good, move the switch from auto to superchlorinate and back to auto to update the average salinity.

 

[moore887]

I just replaced my neigbor's T-15 at Leslies. The 4 year old one he had was burnt out. Leslies tested it and confirmed it. I think the new cell was just over $700 for the long life one with a four year warranty. I would have shopped around but we needed it there and then.

It takes quite a while from the time you turn the system on before it gives you a proper reading of salt level. Even then, I think it reads lower. In the past, my neighbor's pool company has mistakenly thrown sacks of salt into the pool (4800ppm!) believing that the salt level was low. They didn't even bother to test. Only way of getting the salt level down is to dilute.

A word of caution. Leslie's will try to sell you all sorts of things to "extend" the life of your cell. Once of which is a pouch of something or other. The will also try to get you on their "Perfect week" chemical plan. You can get a sacrificial zinc disc on amazon to throw into your skimmer basket that will corrode before your cell does but, it's really down to maintaining your pool chemistry. You want to avoid having to clean your cell in Muriatic Acid unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

[mattbuc16]

So my pool is only like 10-12K gallons. Seems like I should go with a T-3 but the old board I have handles T-15's only. By the way, my board is OPT-PCB-RITE from Pool Guy Supply. So, yeah, generic. Site says I can't use anything but a T-15 with it.

But ... should I just switch to a Hayward board and Hayward cell that's T-3? Is that all that needs to match is the cell and board? Nothing else power-wise or anything? And are the sizes of the cells the same? Because otherwise I'm gonna be short some piping.

 

[JamesW]

Did you have the cell tested?

Did you redo the diagnostic readings?

 

[mattbuc16]

Have not tested the cell yet. Just trying to be ahead of the game in case it's bad.

 

[mattbuc16]

I did recheck the diagnostics per your instructions. No change.

 

[JamesW]

If the cell is bad, I would stay with the T-15.

 

[mattbuc16]

Cell is bad. Replaced with a 15. Will see what happens when it arrives in a few.

 

[moore887]

Hi Matt,

You might want to consider getting a Salt Test kit before you install the new salt cell so you know where you're at. I look after my neighbor's pool that had a Hayward Controller and a T-15 salt cell (new) and it gives different salt readings on the screen of the controller than what's actually in the pool.