Prob Dead T-15 cell? Check salt inspect cell on continuously

[robertnr]

Been a lurker - love poolmath and pool school. Has helped me as a beginner learn so much!
Bought a house with a pool. Turbo t15 cell and older Goldline Auqa Rite Controller box. Giving low salt readings yet me and Leslie's say is 3600. So I read up on the forum. Cleaned the cell - had no calcium build up but had some debris. I took the Pentair 48 all apart and cleaned it up - pressure good and low. Still off on the readings. Has following: 2200, 82, 31.0, 0.00, 98p, -0, al-0, r 1.40 Check salt inspect cell on continuous
I assume next thing is to buy a cell - which I can do. Anything else to try? And as I am the older r 1.40 - do I have to be specific as to which model I buy? I dont have the option to set the T-size. So I think I have to buy a 15? Which is correct size prob anyway. But I know my board is older - so want to buy the correct item
Pool is ~20000 gal, pebble tech. Thanks in advance.

 

[Philo]

It's 4 years old and the 0.00 after the 31.0 is a problem. I'd say check it again to be sure before you buy a new one.

When you re-check the readings, flip the which off for 15 seconds and back on to get the 2nd polarity reading also. Post both.

 

[robertnr]

It's 4 years old and the 0.00 after the 31.0 is a problem. I'd say check it again to be sure before you buy a new one.

When you re-check the readings, flip the which off for 15 seconds and back on to get the 2nd polarity reading also. Post both.

Thx for the quick answer. Do I turn it off on the Aqua Rite? Or just the timer? It turns off with the timer of course. Thx

 

[robertnr]

Thx Philo. I just did it both ways. Turned if off from Auto to off on the display, and then the second time I used the timer - let it all die out, then waited 15 seconds, and fired it back up.
I let it settle to generating came on - then another minute and the check sakt and inspect cell light go on. I report the numbers AFTER the salt and inspect cell light go on.

They did not vary in any of the three tries

2200
80
30.6 to 30.8
0.00
98p
-0
al-0
r 1.40

There were other reading before the inspect cell and salt lights come on. But I dont think that's what you wanted?

Thx for the quick reply!

 

[RedBluePool]

Bad Main pcb board on your aquarite power center sounds like its your issue. Take off the cover to your power center and check the top middle right for a resister that looks like a black disc sticking out on to wires out of the board. If you see a crack on that disc then that is exactly your issue and all you would have to do is replace the main board.

 

[Philo]

I'd replace the cell. James W will be along shortly. He'll know for sure.

 

[JamesW]

It's probably not a bad board. The voltage gets jumpy when the thermistor is bad. Non-generating voltage will be low and variable. It will get worse when trying to generate. If the voltage is at least 30 when not generating and at least 24 and stable when generating, the board is good.

If the thermistor is weak, it might fail under the strain of a new cell, but for now, there's no reason to think that the board or thermistor is bad.

It's probably a bad cell.

Try this:
Turn the switch to off, turn the switch back to auto, when you hear a click, go to instant salinity (has a - in front of the number) and watch to see what it does. It should start high and scroll down and stabilize. If the display changes back to the default display, press the button to get back to the instant salinity. Note the instant salinity when it stabilizes.

Then turn the switch back to off for 1 minute and repeat the procedure.

You need the readings before the inspect cell and salt lights come on.

The box was made in December 2005 and probably installed in 2006.

The cell was made October 28 2014 and probably installed in 2015. It's at least the second cell and maybe the third.

That's kind of a short life for a T-15, but maybe it was acid washed too much.

There's a 3 year warranty, but it's probably expired and wouldn't transfer to new owners.

The reason that the box is shutting down is the average salinity is below 2,400 ppm. This is probably due to a series of instant salinity readings that average to 2,200 as shown in the first reading. If the instant salinity readings are way lower than the known actual salinity, the cell is bad.

I recommend that you get a K-1766 salt test kit to track actual salinity.

If the box operates with no flow, the instant salinity will be very low and will mess up the average salinity reading when it gets added in to the average.

This can happen if the box remains powered when the pump is off and the flow switch is stuck closed, which makes the box work with no flow.

 

[robertnr]

Bad Main pcb board on your aquarite power center sounds like its your issue. Take off the cover to your power center and check the top middle right for a resister that looks like a black disc sticking out on to wires out of the board. If you see a crack on that disc then that is exactly your issue and all you would have to do is replace the main board.

Thx for the info. Board is super helpful.

I did take off the panel. I see the big black resistor - R23 - the size of a quarter or half dollar disc. I can see no crack in either side of it. I gently tilted it up. I can send a pix or 2 if helpful.

I rested the diagnostic numbers this AM - same as reported last night.

So are we back to needing a cell? And if so, as my board can't select/specify which sized cell, is there a specific one I must/should buy with specific specs? I see varying brands, types, sizes, GLX, warranties in the threads I've read. That's OK. I just want to buy one that works with my setup.

Thanks again!

 

[JamesW]

Try the test that I describe. Turn off then back on and immediately go to instant salinity.

If you need a new cell, there are 4 options.

T-CELL-15 .................3 year warranty.
GLX-CELL-15-W..........1 year warranty
T-CELL-15-LL...............4 year warranty
Generic t-15................varies.

I would suggest the T-CELL-15.

 

[robertnr]

Try the test that I describe. Turn off then back on and immediately go to instant salinity.

If you need a new cell, there are 4 options.

T-CELL-15 .................3 year warranty.
GLX-CELL-15-W..........1 year warranty
T-CELL-15-LL...............4 year warranty
Generic t-15................varies.

I would suggest the T-CELL-15.

****
Thx for the info to all

I did the test - both times it drops to -2200 for both polarities.

I have salt test strips, and I took it to a store. we matched readings at 3600. So I am pretty sure there's plenty of salt. I will look into the Taylor salt kit. I do have a taylor dpd kit already and test about 3-4 times a week now for chlorine and pH. Others weekly or monthly. I do use lots of acid as we have such hard water here in SoCal. I add about 1 gal a week to 2 weeks.

The board does turn off with the timer. Lights go out.

Net Net: I will order a T15.

Thanks so much to all. The comments and questions were all spot on. And I learned a bit too from the reading of the forums I did. Very nice all throughout.

 

[JamesW]

If you're really sure about the actual salinity, then I think that the cell is bad.

The only concern that I have is that the cell is only about 3.5 years old. I would expect it to last about 5 to 7 years under good conditions.

Maybe it ran all year or maybe the previous owner acid washed the cell too much.

I think that I would triple check the salinity using a K-1766 test kit before getting a new cell.

K-1766 Taylor Salt Test