We have an Aqua-Rite salt generator, and the "inspect cell" light is on steady. Took it out, inspected it, and not a grain of scale or sediment in it (it's only 2 years old). Cleaned it just to be sure, reinstalled, and it's still reading "inspect cell" with a steady light. Salt reading also reads 1700. Last week it was 2700, and manual reading shows salt level at about 2500 or so. Has anyone else had this happen? Is it a faulty cell? Faulty panel? Something else? I know it should be under warranty, and we have a call into our pool builder but not sure yet if they provide warranty service to this piece of equipment. Thanks in advance for any insight...
Problem with Aqua-Rite
- Thread starter vapool
- Start date
I have an Aqua Logic system, and mine occasionally does the "Inspect Cell" thing too. Here's what the owner's manual says. On my unit, I think you can press the <+> to clear the message.
I'm not sure about the strange salt reading. Mine was reading 2900/3000 recently, so I added a bag of salt. After almost a week, the crazy thing is still reading 2900.
System Maintenance
To maintain maximum performance, it is recommended that you open and visually inspect the cell every 3
months or after cleaning your filter. The Aqua Logic will remind you to do this by displaying the message
“Inspect/Clean Cell†after approximately 500 hours of operation.
The Aqua Logic electrolytic cell has a self cleaning feature incorporated into the electronic control’s logic.
In most cases this self cleaning action will keep the cell working at optimum efficiency. In areas where
water is hard (high mineral content) or in pools where the water chemistry has been allowed to get “out of
balanceâ€, the cell may require periodic cleaning.
I'm not sure about the strange salt reading. Mine was reading 2900/3000 recently, so I added a bag of salt. After almost a week, the crazy thing is still reading 2900.
System Maintenance
To maintain maximum performance, it is recommended that you open and visually inspect the cell every 3
months or after cleaning your filter. The Aqua Logic will remind you to do this by displaying the message
“Inspect/Clean Cell†after approximately 500 hours of operation.
The Aqua Logic electrolytic cell has a self cleaning feature incorporated into the electronic control’s logic.
In most cases this self cleaning action will keep the cell working at optimum efficiency. In areas where
water is hard (high mineral content) or in pools where the water chemistry has been allowed to get “out of
balanceâ€, the cell may require periodic cleaning.
We just jumped in our pool for the first time this season today. We have an aquarite too. The water was 79 according to the aquarite, but the kids didn't care... too cold for me. Upon opening the aquarite, there were some lights lit.
The inspect cell light was steady. The avg salt was reading ~2000. The low salt light was steady too. I cleaned the cell with a hose and reversed it on reinstall.
Ours is 11000gal, so I added a 40lb bag of salt to the skimmer and waited. The HI display appeared and I knew the unit was indeed sensing ( i was thinking it might not be). I switched off the aquarite. After the skimmer was cleared of salt I switched the unit back on and pushed the little black button 5 times for the instant salt #. It was around 3500. After being on a minute or so it switched itself back off... the avg salt reading (initial display) was still 2000. After a few cycles of switching it off and back on the average reading crept up and settled at 2800. I think the unit will find it's average after 5-10 minutes, but I got impatient.
Once the salt settled at 2800, the inspect cell light went off and the salt lights were off and the generating light was on and the cell current was positive (3rd button push).
The manual is here:
http://www.goldlinecontrols.com/Support ... 09K_SS.pdf
page 17 shows the sequence of readouts for the diagnostic button
Hope that helps.
Stan
The inspect cell light was steady. The avg salt was reading ~2000. The low salt light was steady too. I cleaned the cell with a hose and reversed it on reinstall.
Ours is 11000gal, so I added a 40lb bag of salt to the skimmer and waited. The HI display appeared and I knew the unit was indeed sensing ( i was thinking it might not be). I switched off the aquarite. After the skimmer was cleared of salt I switched the unit back on and pushed the little black button 5 times for the instant salt #. It was around 3500. After being on a minute or so it switched itself back off... the avg salt reading (initial display) was still 2000. After a few cycles of switching it off and back on the average reading crept up and settled at 2800. I think the unit will find it's average after 5-10 minutes, but I got impatient.
Once the salt settled at 2800, the inspect cell light went off and the salt lights were off and the generating light was on and the cell current was positive (3rd button push).
The manual is here:
http://www.goldlinecontrols.com/Support ... 09K_SS.pdf
page 17 shows the sequence of readouts for the diagnostic button
Hope that helps.
Stan
I have found that when the salt gets below 2700 in the water the unit freaks out and will display a lower number and kick off, and the cell light will come on. To test it fill your skimmer basket with salt so it will go through the system, turn generator off then back to auto and see what happens. Puch the black button a few times to display the instant salinity and watch the number.
It should start pretty high like 5000 and work its way down as the salt in the basket disapears, and you will notice that once it gets below about 2700 it will shut off. This usualy means there is not enough salt in your water,, if your cell is indeed clean. When you add salt dont go by the 1700 ppm number it is telling you, your realy not that far off. Add one bag at a time and give it suffitiant time to desolve and mix with the water, then repeat if needed.
It should start pretty high like 5000 and work its way down as the salt in the basket disapears, and you will notice that once it gets below about 2700 it will shut off. This usualy means there is not enough salt in your water,, if your cell is indeed clean. When you add salt dont go by the 1700 ppm number it is telling you, your realy not that far off. Add one bag at a time and give it suffitiant time to desolve and mix with the water, then repeat if needed.
Thanks for all your advice. Jeffhask, this sounds like it may be what our system is doing. I'll go buy some salt today and see what happens. Hopefully that's all it is...
Ok...added some salt to the pool. Aqua Rite went into generating mode and salt level went to 2200, then "low salt" and "inspect cell" (steady light, not flashing) came back on. Did a salt test strip that read 3100. Is this just a matter of the Aqua Rite being out of calibration? If so, how can I recalibrate? Going to the pool store this afternoon to see what their reading is...
The aquarite should stabilize at a higher number, but is it high enough? You'll need 2700ppm for it to function properly. 40 lbs seems to bring my 11000 gallons up about 400 ppm.
See what your instant salinity is using the black button on the aquarite... 5 clicks and that number on the display is the "at the moment" salt ppm... turning mine off and on seemed to bump up that average (in the aquarite memory) faster after I added the salt.
msm
See what your instant salinity is using the black button on the aquarite... 5 clicks and that number on the display is the "at the moment" salt ppm... turning mine off and on seemed to bump up that average (in the aquarite memory) faster after I added the salt.
msm
It can take several hours to a day or more for the salt to mix throughly. In the mean time the salt level can rise and fall somewhat unpredictably while it is mixing in.
Thanks all.... I had turned the Aqua Rite back on about 24 hours after adding the salt, which is when it gave me the 2200 reading. After doing some Internet searching, I found I could recalibrate the unit by switching display to the "instant salt reading" (5th press of the button, as mcmeekin said) then switching to superchlorinate and back to auto. I'm now getting a reading of 2900 after adding 160# salt (30k gallon pool), and the low salt/inspect cell lights have gone out, so I guess things are back to normal.
I have an AquaRite Salt Chlorinator in which I had to purchase a new T15 cell. My cell didnt quit working, it was leaking water at the seems. So that was $469.00. Then when I tried to get a reading on the lcd, it was stuck on the same numbers when I turned main switch box on and off.
I called the manufacturer and all they told me was to call there guy in my area. I did and he no showed, then he got an attitude with me and told me it may be a week or two before he could help me.
I'm a DIY guy. So I read the forums online. I followed what I read.
I opened the main control box, took out the motherboard and found a burned spot at the upper right hand side. At the burned site was attached what I learned later what is called a thermister, its about the size of a quarter and brown in color. I barely touched the thermister and it crumbled. Since I didnt find any other burned spot on the board, I was able to find this part from an online electrical supply company for $2.50, so I ordered two of them and received em in two days. shipping cost was about $7.00.
I took this motherboard and the thermister to a good friend of mine who knows how to solder small items. He soldered this thermister to the board in about 5 minutes. I then beat a path home to see if this was really going to work. I put it all back together and it worked, yes it works.
I SAVED OVER $600.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I called the manufacturer and all they told me was to call there guy in my area. I did and he no showed, then he got an attitude with me and told me it may be a week or two before he could help me.
I'm a DIY guy. So I read the forums online. I followed what I read.
I opened the main control box, took out the motherboard and found a burned spot at the upper right hand side. At the burned site was attached what I learned later what is called a thermister, its about the size of a quarter and brown in color. I barely touched the thermister and it crumbled. Since I didnt find any other burned spot on the board, I was able to find this part from an online electrical supply company for $2.50, so I ordered two of them and received em in two days. shipping cost was about $7.00.
I took this motherboard and the thermister to a good friend of mine who knows how to solder small items. He soldered this thermister to the board in about 5 minutes. I then beat a path home to see if this was really going to work. I put it all back together and it worked, yes it works.
I SAVED OVER $600.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
kelemvor
0
I had the same problem with my board, but unfortunately had replaced the board and pitched the old one before I found all the posts about just replacing the thermistor.MDSC said:I have an AquaRite Salt Chlorinator in which I had to purchase a new T15 cell. My cell didnt quit working, it was leaking water at the seems. So that was $469.00. Then when I tried to get a reading on the lcd, it was stuck on the same numbers when I turned main switch box on and off.
I called the manufacturer and all they told me was to call there guy in my area. I did and he no showed, then he got an attitude with me and told me it may be a week or two before he could help me.
I'm a DIY guy. So I read the forums online. I followed what I read.
I opened the main control box, took out the motherboard and found a burned spot at the upper right hand side. At the burned site was attached what I learned later what is called a thermister, its about the size of a quarter and brown in color. I barely touched the thermister and it crumbled. Since I didnt find any other burned spot on the board, I was able to find this part from an online electrical supply company for $2.50, so I ordered two of them and received em in two days. shipping cost was about $7.00.
I took this motherboard and the thermister to a good friend of mine who knows how to solder small items. He soldered this thermister to the board in about 5 minutes. I then beat a path home to see if this was really going to work. I put it all back together and it worked, yes it works.
Like what "vapool" said, I actually found a way to override the salt level reading on the AquaRite box so that it forces the chlorinator to produce chlorine. Not sure if this will help or not, and it's a manual task you have to run every day after your pump kicks on... but here's what I do since my sensor is out of whack:
Turn on the Aquarite and wait for the lights to show that there is a flow of water and the chlorinator kicks on.
Then turn the black switch to OFF.
Turn it back on to the normal position.
Press the black button (that changes your digital display) five times until you see the salt sensor reading. It should be at 0 at this point.
When you hear the "click", that number should shoot up high very briefly and then start to decrease quickly.
If you see it get to a level of 2800 or more, flick the black switch up to SUPER CHLORINATE very quickly, and then back down to the normal position. This actually locks in the number and forces the AquaRite to produce chlorine at the level you locked in.
If the number did NOT reach above 2800, try it again. Sometimes it takes about 5 or 6 attempts to get that number up above 2800.
This effectively works on a temporary basis, depending on how high the salt level reading was locked in when you performed this task. So I keep checking it every few hours to see if the number drops below 2600. Once it drops below 2600, the AquaRite quits producing chlorine.
I'm doing this every day until I can get enough money saved to replace the entire salt chlorinator.
Turn on the Aquarite and wait for the lights to show that there is a flow of water and the chlorinator kicks on.
Then turn the black switch to OFF.
Turn it back on to the normal position.
Press the black button (that changes your digital display) five times until you see the salt sensor reading. It should be at 0 at this point.
When you hear the "click", that number should shoot up high very briefly and then start to decrease quickly.
If you see it get to a level of 2800 or more, flick the black switch up to SUPER CHLORINATE very quickly, and then back down to the normal position. This actually locks in the number and forces the AquaRite to produce chlorine at the level you locked in.
If the number did NOT reach above 2800, try it again. Sometimes it takes about 5 or 6 attempts to get that number up above 2800.
This effectively works on a temporary basis, depending on how high the salt level reading was locked in when you performed this task. So I keep checking it every few hours to see if the number drops below 2600. Once it drops below 2600, the AquaRite quits producing chlorine.
I'm doing this every day until I can get enough money saved to replace the entire salt chlorinator.