Possible Dead Intellichlor IC40

[maynard001]

My water is still clear (at the moment)....but over the past week or so I've noticed my chlorine levels drop from 8ppm to around 1ppm last night. I don't see any error lights on the IC40....everything is green and looks normal. I put it in boost mode and let it run overnight and my chlorine isn't any higher.

I've checked my CYA and it's 100. I also cleaned it out with muriatic acid last night just to make sure that wasn't the issue. I assume the thing is dead, but just thought it was odd that it would die without any error lights or anything.

Before I spend a grand on a replacement is there anything else I should try.....or is it almost certainly the cell?

 

[RMcGirr83]

How old is the cell?

 

[maynard001]

Well, I'm not really sure. We bought this house 6 years ago and I definitely haven't replaced it. The previous owners left some paperwork and it looks like the pool was built in 2004. Everything I've found makes it look like they went SWG from the outset rather than a retrofit later. So it's possible that the IC40 is original, and going on 16 years old.

 

[mknauss]

Post the information from the tag on the bottom side of the IC40.

Also, you may want to do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. With the IC showing all green lights, you may have an algae bloom that is just starting and is consuming the chlorine the IC is generating.

 

[maynard001]

OK, so if i'm reading this right it looks like it was made in 2012, so not original. What is the expected life span on these things?

 

[mknauss]

At 5 years you are on bonus time.

You can see how many hours it has generated.
Pressing and holding the “More” button launches the System Status Mode. When the lights finish scrolling, the percent lights indicate hours of usage in 1,000s. For example, if the 40% light lights, that indicates 4,000 hours.

 

[Randrx2]

It depends on usage, but average seems to be 4-6 years. So definitely old. However, try the OCLT as mknauss suggested.

I had an issue with my IC-40 and thought it was bad. Turns out it was algae.

 

[maynard001]

Thanks for the replies. I may just go ahead and replace since it's so old. I feel "naked" with chlorine levels so low and I'm worried that it may get out of hand if I don't start generating chlorine now. I still can't get bleach here in any significant quantities. I ran the SWG at 100% 24/7 for almost a week back in the spring to clear the pool up since we were on lockdown. I wonder if that's what finally killed an already old salt cell.

 

[mknauss]

Up to you. The picture of your water to me looks pretty cloudy so I would suspect an algae bloom.

For replacement cells, check with Polytec Pools and Marina Pool Spa (Denver). Prices in the upper $600's.

 

[Randrx2]

You may also want to clean your cell if you have not done it in a while.