New IC40 Cell light blinking, Pentair says Phosphates

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B

bbasarich

Silver Supporter
May 24, 2021
14
Edwardsville, IL
Pool Size
16600
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Moved from old thread HERE

Has anyone gotten any resolution to this problem? I am having the same issues with my IC-40 and Pentair support - pool and equipment was just installed a little less than 2 months ago. Cell light on the unit starting blinking last weekend and in Intellicenter I'm getting the inspect and clean cell notification. In my talks with Pentair support, they confirmed the cell is not producing chlorine when the cell light is flashing, and I can confirm this as I've been having to manually add chlorine for the past week to keep FC up.

I've called Pentair support three times, and they won't send someone out until my phosphates are 125ppb or less. Do high phosphate levels really cause Pentair SWGs to stop working?

For those in this thread that had the same problem, what was the solution?

FC=4 (manually adding atm to keep up here because SWG isn't working)
CC=0
pH=8.1
TA=180
CH=200
CYA=50
Salt=3700
Temp=81
 
Welcome to TFP.

What test kit do you have?

What is your phosphate level and how was it measured?

There is a lot of debate here and in the pool industry about the effect of phosphates on SWGs. There has been anecdotal evidence that phosphates can coat the SWG plates and reduce chlorine output. There have been threads posted of folks who have reduced their phosphates and gotten their SWG working.

So you may need to humor Pentair and satisfy their phosphate requirement to get warranty support.

Taylor has the K-1106 phosphate test kit. The Taylor K-1106 test kit can test at phosphate levels of 0-1000 ppm or 0-6000 ppm. It has two different color comparator cards for the two tests. I would do my own phosphate test and not rely on pool store testing.

Phosphate Removers - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Hi Allen,

Thanks for replying. I do have the TF-100 test kit recommended here at TFP. But I didn't have a way to test for phosphates or metals (that Pentair wanted) so I took it to my local pool store for testing. Their tests showed no metals and 2266ppb for phosphates. Incidentally, their FC test said 0.6, but I did the TF-100 chlorine drop test when I got home and got an FC of 2.0 ... go figure :)

I do feel like I'm humoring Pentair just to get them to send someone out. Just added $$ phosphate remover to try to get level down to Pentair's satisfaction - pool went from clear to cloudy.

You say there's some debate that phosphates can reduce chlorine output of SWGs, but in this case the SWG is just refusing to operate. One of the Pentair support reps I talked to said the cell light flashes when it's drawing too much power. Could high phosphates cause that to happen?

Again, thanks for helping out.

Brian
 
Brian,

I'd bet a few bucks that your phosphates would have zero effect on a 2 month old cell.. The problem is, it does not matter what I think or say, it only matters what Pentair says..

While I think it is a lot of fuss over nothing, I don't see where you have much choice but to lower your phosphates. :(

To do that you need to use a "real" phosphate remover and not anything you can buy from Leslies. You need something like SeaKlear.

We would really appreciate your feedback as to whether lowering your phosphates actually makes the cell start working again. :rolleyes:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Since it sounds like you used a phosphate remover let us know how thing work out.
 
I am using SeaKlear phosphate remover. Lots of cloudiness yesterday when I put it in. Cleared up some today, but white stuff on the floor I need to vacuum up. Bottle says I need to wait 48 hrs before I retest. I will post back what the resolution is when I get to one since older threads with the same issue drop off.

@panic_button, did you buy direct? I got mine through pool builder and didn't get an official invoice or anything showing the Intellichlor on it, so maybe that's why I'm getting the runaround?
 
A quick update and a question ...

Got my phosphates down to near 0 and the Intellichlor cell light is still flashing. So high phosphate levels was not the problem - @Jimrahbe, you should've bet more than a few bucks. I got Pentair to issue a work order, but so far, they have not found a pool company that isn't too busy to come fix/replace the cell. Will post again once there's a resolution.

In the meantime, I have been adding liquid chlorine every night to keep my FC level up. Is this the best way to do this while I wait for my SWG to get fixed? Or does anyone have any better ideas how I can keep my FC levels up? We're leaving for vacation in a week and figuring out if I need to recruit a neighbor to keep adding liquid chlorine for me.

Thanks
 
Are you 100% sure about the salinity?

Triple check the salinity 3 different ways to be really sure.

Measure the current and voltage going to the cell.

Do you have automation?

If yes, what is the cell reading for salinity?

Are you checking the cell for scale?
 

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JamesW said:
Are you 100% sure about the salinity?

Triple check the salinity 3 different ways to be really sure.

Measure the current and voltage going to the cell.

Do you have automation?

If yes, what is the cell reading for salinity?

Are you checking the cell for scale?
Click to expand...
I do have an Intellicenter. Chemistry page on it says the salt level is 3450. Last pool store test from a week ago said the salt level was at 3800.

I have not checked the cell for scale - it's been in service for a little over a month before it went out (pool filled mid-May 2021, SWG went out late June) - can scale build up that fast?

Also, can you give me a run-through of how to measure the current and voltage to the cell?
 
Inside the power supply are wires where you can check the voltage and current.

Do you have a good multimeter and a clamp ammeter?

Can you show a picture of the power supply wires?

Scale can build up in days with really bad chemistry.

Check the cell for scale and clean it if necessary, but only if necessary.

Don't clean the cell if there is no scale.

Check chlorinator diagnostics to see if it reports any errors.
 
JamesW said:
Inside the power supply are wires where you can check the voltage and current.

Do you have a good multimeter and a clamp ammeter?

Can you show a picture of the power supply wires?

Scale can build up in days with really bad chemistry.

Check the cell for scale and clean it if necessary, but only if necessary.

Don't clean the cell if there is no scale.

Check chlorinator diagnostics to see if it reports any errors.
Click to expand...
Thanks @JamesW. I did run diagnostics (hold down More button), and it did not report any errors.

Edit: ignore question, hadn't seen your last post with a pic of the control board ...

For a pic of the power supply wires, are you talking about inside the Intellicenter panel? Or the external power supply wire to the IntelliChlor? I have a multimeter, but will have to track down a clamp ammeter - sounds like something my father-in-law should have. May be a few days before I can report back.
 
OK, that shows that the system is seeing lower current than expected.

It might be a bad thermistor.

Check the thermistor as shown in the below video.

IC60 Very Low Salt - K1766 Disagrees, Lack of Timely Help from Pentair

I feel like my IC60 has always read very low, but never enough to bother me and more in the higher spectrum of the +/- 500 or so ppm. However, over winter, there was a week or so when it just wouldn't report salt PPM at all, it'd just show hyphens. I opened a warranty case with Pentair, a...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

 
@JamesW, so bear in mind this is my first pool, and I've only had for a couple of months ... I've yet to remove the salt cell to inspect it. Can you give me some guidance?

Do I need to turn off all power - flip the breaker - in the Intellicenter panel? Or is just turning off the pool pump enough.

Also, my equipment sits about a foot or so lower than the pool. I discovered the impact of that when I first took the pump basket cover off without closing the multiport and the suction-side valves. However, on the return-side, I don't see where my pool builder put any kind of shutoff - see pics:

IMG_0290.jpg IMG_0291.jpg

Blue arrow go to returns, green arrow is backwash outlet. I think the left blue arrow points to something the builder put in to add a booster pump later if I wanted a vacuum.

So I'm assuming if I remove the salt cell, I'll lose lots of water from the pool coming out through the returns. Is the answer to put plugs in the returns? If so, I need to go get some - my pool builder didn't leave any with me.
 

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