What's up with my Intelliclor

[SilverSD]

This is primarily a question about my IC60 but there have been several changes so not sure what might be impacting it.

A brief history: FNSP60 cracked, delay getting replacement, so no pump/suction pool cleaner for some time. I got the new filter installed Tue. night and have been running it continuously. Dumped liquid chlorine. Got a robot yesterday and it has gotten the pool clean but still cloudy. Added water lost to the leaking filter and I'm not starting to bring up the CYA. I tested the chlorine last night and again this morning and there was no change. That would normally be good right? Unfortunately I was still running the filter and IC60. So it's not making any chlorine. I took it apart and the fins are clean. Cleaned it anyway, but there were no bubbles.

I had been worried that it was dying so I took some before (2 weeks ago) and after vids of the indicators.

Before:
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The pump was running slow but normally that was green. I thought it was telling me I had low salt but when tested it was 3600.

After:

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Now it says the salt is high which is accurate. The cell is flashing but it is clean and should still have some life if I understand it correctly.

If this makes sense to anyone I would appreciate the input.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Strange that I did not see this one. Bumping it to get it visible again.

You need to turn off your SWG and full-on SLAM your pool. You likely have algae and that’s why your SWG can’t keep up and it appears that it’s not producing chlorine. First SLAM the pool, then we can troubleshoot the SWG. Until the pool is clear and clean, it’ll be impossible to diagnose the IC60

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

If the cell light is flashing and the plates are clean, then most likely the cell is dead...

How old is the cell??

What did you mean when you said "The pump was running slow but normally that was green."????? What was green? (I can't see your videos..)

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[SilverSD]

Strange that I did not see this one. Bumping it to get it visible again.

You need to turn off your SWG and full-on SLAM your pool. You likely have algae and that’s why your SWG can’t keep up and it appears that it’s not producing chlorine. First SLAM the pool, then we can troubleshoot the SWG. Until the pool is clear and clean, it’ll be impossible to diagnose the IC60

The cloudiness cleared about 2 days after my last post. I did as you said and the water has remained clean and clear for the past week. OCLT did not show any drop.

What did you mean when you said "The pump was running slow but normally that was green."????? What was green? (I can't see your videos..)

Normally the pool is green. That's normal right? Just kidding.
Sorry the videos didn't work. I had just turned down the pump so the flow indicator was red in the video but normally it is green.

I think my pool chemistry is stable now but I think the IC60 still isn't working. The cell light continues to flash. There was one time in the last week that it wasn't flashing but then the low salt indicator was flashing red and the salt indicator above it was also flashing green. I continue to run the pump 24/7 but have to keep the chlorine up by adding jugs.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Have you pulled the cell to clean it?

 

[SilverSD]

Have you pulled the cell to clean it?

Not today. But it was clean last week. Nothing on the fins. No bubbles when I did an acid clean.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

OK. Have to agree with @Jimrahbe in Post #3 - if the plates are clean a d the light is flashing, the cell is dead.

Have you run the diagnostic in the wiki -

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[SilverSD]

OK. Have to agree with @Jimrahbe in Post #3 - if the plates are clean a d the light is flashing, the cell is dead.

Have you run the diagnostic in the wiki -

Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

No, I didn't know about the diagnostics. I will do that. Thanks!

 

[SilverSD]

Are you referring to the hours of usage? Or are there more diagnostics to be gained? I didn't see any other diagnostics at that page.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Are you referring to the hours of usage? Or are there more diagnostics to be gained? I didn't see any other diagnostics at that page.

Press and Hold the MORE button for 3 seconds and see if the temperature range it reports matches up with the actual temperature of the pool water. If there is a big difference between what the IC is internally measuring and the actual water temp, then the thermistor in the flow switch is bad.

How Do You Display IntelliChlor Cell Water Temperature?​

Version 3.1 on adds the ability to determine system temperature. Pressing the “More” button after the display shows 1,000s of hours of usage, will show temperature as follows:[4]

Lights	Temperature
No LEDs	Below 30F
40%	36 to 45F
40% and 60%	46 to 55F
60%	56 to 65F
60% and 80%	66 to 75F
80%	76 to 85F
80 and 100%	86 to 95F
100%	96 to 99F
100% blinking	over 99F
All LEDs blinking	Sensor bad

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll and note which % light lights up. Then, immediately press the More button again and see which % lights light up.

 

[SilverSD]

Press and Hold the MORE button for 3 seconds and see if the temperature range it reports matches up with the actual temperature of the pool water. If there is a big difference between what the IC is internally measuring and the actual water temp, then the thermistor in the flow switch is bad.

How Do You Display IntelliChlor Cell Water Temperature?​

Version 3.1 on adds the ability to determine system temperature. Pressing the “More” button after the display shows 1,000s of hours of usage, will show temperature as follows:[4]

Lights	Temperature
No LEDs	Below 30F
40%	36 to 45F
40% and 60%	46 to 55F
60%	56 to 65F
60% and 80%	66 to 75F
80%	76 to 85F
80 and 100%	86 to 95F
100%	96 to 99F
100% blinking	over 99F
All LEDs blinking	Sensor bad

Press and hold the More button until the lights scroll and note which % light lights up. Then, immediately press the More button again and see which % lights light up.

Ahhh, ok.
Hours usage 80%
Temp 60%
Thermometer 84°

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Ahhh, ok.
Hours usage 80%
Temp 60%
Thermometer 84°

It would seem the thermistor reading is way off from actual. You can either replace the flow switch assembly or use a pipe mounted thermistor and wire that to the IC. That may bring it back to life. With the hours of usage at the 80% mark, you are pretty close to the end of the units useful life. You may want to consider a replacement.

 

[SilverSD]

That's what I was afraid of. 80% is 8000 hours right? What is the life expectancy of a cell? I hate to throw away 20% if that's what it's saying. But if 8000 hours is typical then I guess it's time.

Related question, I saw on the ICxx swg info page that it should not be on all the time but come on with the motor. That is not how mine was installed. Would the ICxx's hours of usage be impacted by being on all the time or is that calculated when there is water flow.

Just hoping there might be more life in my cell because the hours of usage are inflated . Then it would definitely be worth it to replace the sensor.

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

If your cell has any lights on, when the pump is not running, it is a safety hazard.. It does not happen often, but they can actually explode... It is never a good idea to just rely on the flow switch to shut the cell off.

It should not have any effect on the usage hours..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Cells are rated for 8,000 to 10,000 generating hours of use. Under super-ideal, impossible to replicate outside the test lab conditions, you might get the full 10,000 hour rating. 8,000 hours is pretty average. Those are “generating hours” not just power on. But, as @Jimrahbe says, your setup is not as safe as it should be. The SWG should never be energized without the pump running.