RJ60+ No error lights, no chlorine generated

[thetekgeek]

I am helping a friend of mine with his pool. I helped him build it last year.

He opened the pool in late May and he did a mini-SLAM to begin the year. It took him a few days to get to all exit criteria, but all went well and he eventually powered on his heater and SWG. All was well.

A few weeks later he came to me about his chlorine levels being low. I advised him to run a full set of tests and then begin a full SLAM (he has a TF100 Pro). His CYA at the time was 70, so we decided to drain 1/2 the pool to get closer to 30 and then do an actual SLAM. We did the drain and performed the SLAM. It took 10 full days to finish the SLAM. The SWG has been off for the duration of the SLAM, using only liquid chlorine. Over the weekend, we added salt and yesterday I confirmed that the salt level was at 3200 using the Taylor drop test. It is time to turn the SWG back on. So, I powered it up.

Everything powers on as normal. But that is all it seems to do. There are no error lights being illuminated but the Generate light never turns on, there is no visual indication that chlorine is being generated in the cell or bubbles coming out of the return.

Cell voltage reports at 27, but Cell Amps stays at 0 and Salinity Now stays at 0. Average Salinity is reported as 2800, which I find odd because his salt level before draining was 3600. His % output was initially set to 40, so I bumped it to 100% and waited for about 30 minutes. The generate light did not turn on at all in those 30 minutes and still no error lights popped up. At one point after the 30 minutes, I unplugged the flow switch to see if it would at least throw that error and it did.

I've searched the forums for a similar issue and have not found one reported on these units. I did find some threads discussing the Generate light turning off during a rest portion of the cycle, but that should not be his issue given that the output was set to 100%.

I thought I would run this issue by this group before I advise him to call Circupool Customer service. Any ideas, or anything I might be missing? Full set of tests from last night below:

FC - 11.5
CC - 0
PH - 7.5
TA - 220
CYA - 30
CH - 350
SALT - 3200
TEMP - 83

 

[Texas Splash]

I'm not sure what's up either. Might be beyond our scope and require a call to DSP, but I'll tag @proavia for a second opinion.

 

[proavia]

Is the cell size set correctly?
What happens if you press the super chlorinate button?
Is the cell connected correctly to the controller? Remove, check connectors, reattach.

Seems a call to DSP is warranted if the issue persists..

 

[thetekgeek]

Thank you for the replies.

Yes, the cell size is set correctly. I did press the super chlorinate button, it illuminates but does nothing else. It does seem like the cell is properly connected and I do not see any obvious damage to the connector. Turning on the system with the cell disconnected does trigger a "Cell Connection" prompt. Perhaps I should try some electrical cleaner on the connector and socket and apply some dielectric grease as a test?

 

[Chuckiechan]

If you have waited for a while and it still reads 0 salt, then I would call the company and get a warranty guy on the phone. Circupool is all over it. They are easy to deal with. There are a few settings he can walk you through on the phone. Don't be shy, they don't all "go all corporate" on you! It's like talking to your neighbor.
BTW, what's up with your TA?

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Do some searching for "cell connection error RJ series". This has come up before.

 

[thetekgeek]

If you have waited for a while and it still reads 0 salt, then I would call the company and get a warranty guy on the phone. Circupool is all over it. They are easy to deal with. There are a few settings he can walk you through on the phone. Don't be shy, they don't all "go all corporate" on you! It's like talking to your neighbor.
BTW, what's up with your TA?

Appreciate your input. I'll have him call them.

His TA is up there. His fill water is high TA and he drained/refilled half the pool prior to SLAM. Plan is to work that down now that he is post-SLAM.

 

[thetekgeek]

I don't want to leave this thread out there hanging so I thought I would post the resolution.

We called CircuPool and their customer service rep was pretty good to work with. He had us check a few things with the generator and eventually asked that we send it in for repair/inspection.

As of yesterday, they have completed the repairs. According to the email we received, they replaced the circuit board in the control unit and replaced the cell with a new one. Under the warranty, the total amount he was billed for was right around $250.

It has been shipped and we should receive it early next week according to the tracking information. I will update once we have received the shipment.

In all, I would say that they stood behind their product and their customer service rep was pretty easy to work with. It is just over a year old so it should not have had these issues. But, I understand that sometimes things happen.

 

[Newdude]

But, I understand that sometimes things happen.

These days I'm more surprised when 'stuff' doesn't happen. Quality control is in the John across all industries.

Circupool repeatedly does right by their customers though, so here's another high mark.

Keep us posted.