Panel erroneously reading low salt, cell dying?

[bpsilva]

I have a 25000 gallon pool with a Hayward swg (t15). It's right at three years old, and being that I live in Phoenix, the pool is never winterized. IE, the swg runs year round.

Lately, the panel has been showing low salt, and a few days ago, it dropped so low that the swg turned off. I verified salt using my Taylor kit, and it read almost 5000ppm. I don't know why it's so high, as the water had historically been 3500 or so. Is this a symptom of a dying swg cell? Is 3 years an acceptable lifespan for these? Last question, are there any more cost effective alternatives to the t-15?

 

[JamesW]

What are the diagnostic readings?

What are the first four characters of the serial number?

 

[bpsilva]

First four characters are 3E14. How do I get the diagnostic readings?

 

[JamesW]

Press the button and note the readings.

Then, move the switch to off for a minute and then back to auto and recheck the readings.

3E14 means that the cell was made in 2014, which makes it more than 4 years old.

 

[bpsilva]

Does the cell degrade if it's on a shelf? My pool was built in 2016, and I presume the cell was not previously used.

-26.73v
-5.50a
70f
2600rpm

 

[bpsilva]

BTW, thanks James for the super fast help.

 

[JamesW]

Looks like a bad cell. It has a 3 year warranty. I would suggest a warranty claim.

It might be scale.

Check the cell for scale and clean if necessary.

 

[bpsilva]

What about the numbers implies a bad cell? Are there non Hayward branded alternatives that work well?

 

[bpsilva]

Oh I forgot to mention, I clean the cell every 6 mo and cleaned just now after getting the low salt reading; didn't help

 

[JamesW]

A low salt reading is an indication of scale or a dying cell.

I would check for scale and clean if necessary.

If that doesn't work, I would suggest a warranty claim.

 

[bpsilva]

Thanks James