Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to give all the detail. I hope my sig is viewable with all of my system details.
I am going into 4th summer with my pool and equipment. Same person has closed and opened my pool each year. When we opened this year, the temp light was showing red. Because the water temp was still low, I thought nothing of it. But, the light remained on even after the water got to a temperature where it should generate. Cell is clean and no visible damage. I am still getting power to the control panel, and no other errors are being reported. After scouring the internet for help, I learned that my cell (T-cell-5) has its temperature sensor built in, and that the cell needs to be replaced. My system is XtremepowerUS (non-programmable, plug and play), which no longer seems to be manufactured. I bought a replacement cell from a different company. Interestingly, when I went to switch out cells, the light wasn't on anymore. Instead of installing the new cell, I hit the superchlorinate button and planned to test my chlorine levels in the morning. In the morning, temp light was back on. Chlorine levels in the pool were up (not as high as I'd expect if it had supergenerated all night), so it generated for at least part of the night. I went ahead and switched out the cell. After switching it out, I still got the same error light - temperature sensor. So, after some more internet searching, I opened the control panel to inspect the circuit board. No visible corrosion, burn marks, or loose wires. None of the other lights in the panel are showing, including the light that indicates the cell isn't working. Finally, I asked ChatGPT what it thought (please don't judge, I couldn't find answers elsewhere), and it suggested that it could be a specific resistor in the circuit and offered a way to test this. Luckily, I have a colleague with the equipment and skill set to test it and replace it if that is the problem. I don't know when this will happen, but I am using liquid chlorine in the meantime (new appreciation for my SWCG).
After all this, I am still anticipating that I will have to replace the whole system (cell and the control panel), and I really want to be able to do this myself. My pool is about 14K gallons, so a 15K salt system will work. Is there any advantage to sizing up to 25K? In theory, this should mean running the cell for less time, right? Is this something I could do myself? If I could simply buy a replacement circuit board, I would have no trouble installing a new board in my existing control panel, but I am not sure if replacing the whole panel is something I can do or whether the wiring would even work for a different system. If I have to buy a whole new system and pay someone to install it, I am not sure I can make that happen this summer. I assume any licensed electrician could do this?
Am I missing anything? I really thought a new cell would fix the issue. I guess one possibility is that I bought the wrong replacement cell, but I would have expected a different error message if this one weren't compatible. This is what I bought which, like the one I have, is supposed to be a plug and play for the Hayward T Cell5:
I am going into 4th summer with my pool and equipment. Same person has closed and opened my pool each year. When we opened this year, the temp light was showing red. Because the water temp was still low, I thought nothing of it. But, the light remained on even after the water got to a temperature where it should generate. Cell is clean and no visible damage. I am still getting power to the control panel, and no other errors are being reported. After scouring the internet for help, I learned that my cell (T-cell-5) has its temperature sensor built in, and that the cell needs to be replaced. My system is XtremepowerUS (non-programmable, plug and play), which no longer seems to be manufactured. I bought a replacement cell from a different company. Interestingly, when I went to switch out cells, the light wasn't on anymore. Instead of installing the new cell, I hit the superchlorinate button and planned to test my chlorine levels in the morning. In the morning, temp light was back on. Chlorine levels in the pool were up (not as high as I'd expect if it had supergenerated all night), so it generated for at least part of the night. I went ahead and switched out the cell. After switching it out, I still got the same error light - temperature sensor. So, after some more internet searching, I opened the control panel to inspect the circuit board. No visible corrosion, burn marks, or loose wires. None of the other lights in the panel are showing, including the light that indicates the cell isn't working. Finally, I asked ChatGPT what it thought (please don't judge, I couldn't find answers elsewhere), and it suggested that it could be a specific resistor in the circuit and offered a way to test this. Luckily, I have a colleague with the equipment and skill set to test it and replace it if that is the problem. I don't know when this will happen, but I am using liquid chlorine in the meantime (new appreciation for my SWCG).
After all this, I am still anticipating that I will have to replace the whole system (cell and the control panel), and I really want to be able to do this myself. My pool is about 14K gallons, so a 15K salt system will work. Is there any advantage to sizing up to 25K? In theory, this should mean running the cell for less time, right? Is this something I could do myself? If I could simply buy a replacement circuit board, I would have no trouble installing a new board in my existing control panel, but I am not sure if replacing the whole panel is something I can do or whether the wiring would even work for a different system. If I have to buy a whole new system and pay someone to install it, I am not sure I can make that happen this summer. I assume any licensed electrician could do this?
Am I missing anything? I really thought a new cell would fix the issue. I guess one possibility is that I bought the wrong replacement cell, but I would have expected a different error message if this one weren't compatible. This is what I bought which, like the one I have, is supposed to be a plug and play for the Hayward T Cell5:
