Rainbow 320 Chlorinator troubleshooting

[sugast]

I searched for answers but I’ve haven’t found any hence this post. My tabs aren’t dissolving/melting. Here are the steps I’ve taken/confirmed so far:

1. Backwashed filter
2. confirmed water is flowing into the canister by removing the lid and watching the water flow, solid flow
3. removed screen from bottom of canister and ensured it wasn’t clogged
4. removed entire chlorinator and inspected small o-ring, re-lubed
5. inspected inner check valve, the ball bearings is moving and rattling freely
6. if I fill the canister with water, turn off the pump, remove the lid, the water quickly drains from the canister

What am i missing? BTW, I know ideally I should scrap the pucks and move to liquid chlorine. Daily, proactive maintenance is not an option for me so i can’t make the transition. Thanks

 

[reggiehammond]

Sounds like you've hit most of the main areas to check...

Be a great time to just rip it out and move to a SWCG for even LESS maintenance!
I empty the skimmers and the robot once a week, and add a little Muriatic Acid every few weeks - that's it.

 

[BowserB]

What speed is your pump running? When I used the 320, I found that at lower speeds--like 1500-1600rpm, there just wasn't enough water flow. When I need to use trichlor tabs--like to increase CYA or when away, I just used a floater for the tabs. Generally, though, I was using liquid chlorine. I understand the nuisance of having to add chlorine every day, though. That and availability/price lead me to finally move to SWCG--so now I just test FC every day, as I'm trying to get the SWCG "dialed in" to just hold FC at 6ppm, rather than increase or decrease each day.

 

[HermanTX]

I searched for answers but I’ve haven’t found any hence this post. My tabs aren’t dissolving/melting. Here are the steps I’ve taken/confirmed so far:

1. Backwashed filter
2. confirmed water is flowing into the canister by removing the lid and watching the water flow, solid flow
3. removed screen from bottom of canister and ensured it wasn’t clogged
4. removed entire chlorinator and inspected small o-ring, re-lubed
5. inspected inner check valve, the ball bearings is moving and rattling freely
6. if I fill the canister with water, turn off the pump, remove the lid, the water quickly drains from the canister

What am i missing? BTW, I know ideally I should scrap the pucks and move to liquid chlorine. Daily, proactive maintenance is not an option for me so i can’t make the transition. Thanks

There are 2 ports on the canister. One is low and the other is high. Most are set up with the tube from the Tee fitting going to the lower port on the canister. You can move it to the upper port as this allows the water to flow down past the pucks.

Post a picture of your chlorinator if you need clarification.

 

[sugast]

My pump is running at full speed in the morning for three hours and again in the evening for three hours. It runs an additional 6 hours overnight at low speed.

The incoming tube is connected to the upper port. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[brygeo]

My pump is running at full speed in the morning for three hours and again in the evening for three hours. It runs an additional 6 hours overnight at low speed.

The incoming tube is connected to the upper port. Thanks for the suggestion!

Did you ever get this resolved? I have a similar issue. Mine seem to dissolve, maybe not as fast as they should, but I noticed my chlorine levels drop throughout the week, even though I still have tabs in the chlorinator. I'm thinking I might have some sort of airlock, where the dissolved chlorine is just building up in the chlorinator and not going through the inline connection below. The water does drain from the chlorinator when I turn off the pump and open the lid.

 

[HermanTX]

Another option is to just use a floater where you can add 8 or so pucks to. That is what I use when I am out of town. My logic is that the chlorine is always in the pool and the circulation of the pool plus being pushed by the wind allows the pucks to dissolve sufficiently. I disconnected my Chlorinator.

 

[reggiehammond]

Did you ever get this resolved? I have a similar issue. Mine seem to dissolve, maybe not as fast as they should, but I noticed my chlorine levels drop throughout the week, even though I still have tabs in the chlorinator. I'm thinking I might have some sort of airlock, where the dissolved chlorine is just building up in the chlorinator and not going through the inline connection below. The water does drain from the chlorinator when I turn off the pump and open the lid.

Are you testing with a TFP recommended test kit? If so - post the results. If you’re not testing, I would assume you have algae as chlorine doesn’t just disappear. It either is getting eaten up by UV, or it’s working on organic material like algae.