New IC40 Red Light Won't go out??

[MyCaliPool]

Brand new IC40 installed. The red low salt light won't go away.

What am I doing wrong?

• Salt level has been tested with a taylor salt test kit and is 4,000 PPM
• Water temp is 63F (the manual says 57F and below it is too cold to work)
• It is set at 90% output on my EasyTouch Panel and enabled
• EasyTouch panel says the IC40 thinks the PPM is 1750PPM
• I warmed up the attached spa to 90F for a few hours and the low salt light still doesn't go out
• Purchased salt cell from Leslie pool store bc the last one wore out around year 5, this salt cell was built in jan 2023 is says
• Bottom of salt cell says REV: AE

I have been on hold with Pentair on phone for 1 hr. and they still don't answer the phone. Please help
If it was a cold water temp thing affecting the salt reading, wouldn't that go away with the hot spa at 90F and the SWG operating in spa mode?

 

[Killer95Stang]

As long as you bought it from an approved retailer (self install) or it was installed by your builder, the warranty will take care of your problem. I will say, that I had a similar issue with the temp/ flow sensor in my last IC40, pretty soon after I installed it. Since I was in a hurry, I pulled the sensor out of my old IC40 that was newly replaced. That got me back up and running and I never bothered with the warranty claim, since it was working fine after that.

IC40 uses the temp portion of the flow sensor to determine the salt level in the pool.

 

[ajw22]

Here is how to see what temperature the cell thinks the water is...

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Pressing the “More” button after the display shows 1,000s of hours of usage, will show temperature as follows:[5]

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

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll and note which % light lights up. Then, immediately press the More button again and see which % lights light up.

 

[Jimrahbe]

EasyTouch panel says the IC40 thinks the PPM is 1750PPM

My,

It does not matter what the actual salt level is, as long as the cell "thinks' the salt level is below 2800 ppm, the salt light will be red.

If this is a new cell, have them send you a replacement.. It sounds like the temp sensor in the flow switch is bad.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MyCaliPool]

Thanks, everyone!

I finally got to talk to them. They are confused about why it is reading low salt too. They said it should operate ok at 63F water temp. I am going to go get an independent salt test to confirm 4000ppm. But the Taylor k-1766 test kit has been very accurate for this in the past and I did it several times.

I have an EC (e commerce) unit purchased via Lesliepool.com. The leslie website says 2-year warranty but if it is an EC unit bought from a retail store then it is only a 1-year warranty. Pretty misleading but at least it has only been 2 months. I just installed it last week when it got warm.

Hopefully, Pentair can swap it out if it is deemed defective. I'd be afraid to cut/replace the flow sensor myself if it is still under warranty. But I bet that is what is wrong. There was a bit of backorder of and shortage of these. So I bet they have been cranking them out fast to play catch up. It would be cool if they tested these before shipping, maybe they do....

 

[Jimrahbe]

My,

I would not cut the cable either.

I had an issue early on with my pool builder and the salt level. My Taylor Kit was spot on, but they also asked that I get the salt tested by the pool store. I actually had to go to three different places to find one that came close to my K-1766 results. I don't remember now if the other tests were way high or way low, but it cemented in my mind how useless pool store testing really is..

At this point is where I usually say something like..... I would rather let it dribble down my leg as to go into a Leslie's just to use their bathroom, much less let them test my pool water..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Thanks, everyone!

I finally got to talk to them. They are confused about why it is reading low salt too. They said it should operate ok at 63F water temp. I am going to go get an independent salt test to confirm 4000ppm. But the Taylor k-1766 test kit has been very accurate for this in the past and I did it several times.

I have an EC (e commerce) unit purchased via Lesliepool.com. The leslie website says 2-year warranty but if it is an EC unit bought from a retail store then it is only a 1-year warranty. Pretty misleading but at least it has only been 2 months. I just installed it last week when it got warm.

Hopefully, Pentair can swap it out if it is deemed defective. I'd be afraid to cut/replace the flow sensor myself if it is still under warranty. But I bet that is what is wrong. There was a bit of backorder of and shortage of these. So I bet they have been cranking them out fast to play catch up. It would be cool if they tested these before shipping, maybe they do....

I would take up the warranty with Pentair directly. Last I checked, it was still 2 years with self install from Pentair. Since Leslie's has a brick and mortor in your state (most likely), it is still considered a brick and mortor sale. Pentair and Leslies don't get off the hook that easy.

 

[MyCaliPool]

Turns out I did my salt test wrong. I used the 25ml mark and not the 10ml. I took my sample to the pool store and it was 2000ppm. I retested at home and I got the same. It was all my fault. The light was correct and I just need to add more salt. Sorry for the stupid post guys! I know better! I just messed up the sample line on the test kit. Lesson learned. I let Pentair know. Don't do what I did!

 

[Jimrahbe]

My,

The Instructions are written in such a way that a lot of people make the same mistake.. You are by no means even close to being the first to make that mistake.

Thanks for setting the record straight..

Thanks,

Jim R.