Zero Current / No Chlorine

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smwalkley

Active member
Jul 31, 2024
43
Dallas, TX
Inherited maintaining a Salt Water pool from our landlord and it seems the cell was/is not producing chlorine at all.
  • We have a Hayward HLBASE with T-15 cell (Hayward brand)
    • We purchased a brand new T-15 (Hayward) and have the same issues
  • Within a few days the pool turns green and we have to shock it with 4+ lbs of shock every few days just so we can swim
  • Now we have heavy algae at the bottom I cannot scrub away.
  • We hit it with 2gallons of Clorox Algaecide/Clarifier and ran the pump for 24 hours after scrubbing to no improvement
  • The pool is about 19k gallons
  • What we noticed is the Hayward digital display is showing 0 (zero) current for the cell, ~31 volts, and typically shows 0 (zero) for instant salt. The chlorinator is turned on and we even let it run on Super Chlorinate to no effect.
  • We have tested with a separate salt (TDS) meter and it's around 3400ppm.
  • Everything else about the pool works (pump, lights, propane heater, digital display/menu).
  • Is the root issue the 0 (zero) current?
  • I've tried replacing fuses but nothing improves.
  • I've tried reaching out to Hayward three times but no one gets back to me.
  • Is there something else with the circuit board causing this?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Just looking to keep the pool maintained so my kids can swim during these hot Texas days.

Thank you kindly,
Shawn

20240625_185311.jpg
 
The cell is likely bad. To troubleshoot/eliminate the main board as an issue, here is the guide:

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

smwalkley said:
Now we have heavy algae at the bottom I cannot scrub away
Click to expand...
You need to get some FC in that pool today. Ad

How are you testing your water?

To clear your pool of algae, you need to follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process
To perform the SLAM process, you need to have your own kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
Order your kit now and add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until it arrives. Download pool math, it will help you determine how much chlorine is 5ppm. Link-->PoolMath

When you kit arrives, start the SLAM process.

Can you post pictures of the algae that doesn't brush away?
 
Just to clarify, are you testing with a salt test kit or just a TDS meter? TDS can include all kinds of other things besides salt so I’m not sure that would be adequate.
 
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Reactions: PoolStored
PoolStored said:
The cell is likely bad. To troubleshoot/eliminate the main board as an issue, here is the guide:

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com


You need to get some FC in that pool today. Ad

How are you testing your water?

To clear your pool of algae, you need to follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process
To perform the SLAM process, you need to have your own kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
Order your kit now and add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until it arrives. Download pool math, it will help you determine how much chlorine is 5ppm. Link-->PoolMath

When you kit arrives, start the SLAM process.

Can you post pictures of the algae that doesn't brush away?
Click to expand...
Completely agree on the FC but the root issue is the Salt Cell is not producing chlorine. Both old and brand new (Hayward) cells are showing the same issue (no current, no instant salt) so my guess is it's not the cell. Once that gets fixed I should not have to SLAM, etc as often. My last home was Hayward with T-15 and almost never had to SLAM it.
 
Bperry said:
Just to clarify, are you testing with a salt test kit or just a TDS meter? TDS can include all kinds of other things besides salt so I’m not sure that would be adequate.
Click to expand...
Only testing with a TDS meter. Any recommendations on another tool? Also, the root issue is the old and new cells are not producing Chlorine. Even when I know i dumped in more than enough (but not too much) salt it was the same deal, no current/no instant salt.
 
smwalkley said:
Only testing with a TDS meter. Any recommendations on another tool? Also, the root issue is the old and new cells are not producing Chlorine. Even when I know i dumped in more than enough (but not too much) salt it was the same deal, no current/no instant salt.
Click to expand...
The only one we trust is the Taylor K1766 salt test kit. A TDS meter is going to read calcium and all the other stuff including salt and so it wouldnt be very accurate.

The new cell wont produce chlorine if salinity is too low or too high. If you havent measured it, thats the place to start.
 
PoolStored said:
The link I provided gives a basic troubleshooting process to see if there is an issue with the board.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I already took the board off last week and looked for burnt solder points but I'll go through with my multimeter and see if anything jumps out. The board looked good and everything else related to the board seems to work so curious what the multimeter might show.
 
Bperry said:
The only one we trust is the Taylor K1766 salt test kit. A TDS meter is going to read calcium and all the other stuff including salt and so it wouldnt be very accurate.

The new cell wont produce chlorine if salinity is too low or too high. If you havent measured it, thats the place to start.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I'll give that a shot and make sure the salt level is actually correct.
 
PoolStored said:
The cell is likely bad. To troubleshoot/eliminate the main board as an issue, here is the guide:

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com


You need to get some FC in that pool today. Ad

How are you testing your water?

To clear your pool of algae, you need to follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process
To perform the SLAM process, you need to have your own kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
Order your kit now and add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until it arrives. Download pool math, it will help you determine how much chlorine is 5ppm. Link-->PoolMath

When you kit arrives, start the SLAM process.

Can you post pictures of the algae that doesn't brush away?
Click to expand...
20240801_121515.jpg
20240801_121520.jpg20240801_121538.jpg
 

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Ugh, thats not a good look. Only way you are going to clean that is with a pressure washer. Use a weak pressure washer and go into the pool and blast that stuff all away.

You will then need to run your FC at 20% of your CYA for several weeks.

Here is the bad news, you will probably need to run FC at 15% of CYA for life.

I am sure you got all the advice on getting a good test kit. Follow that!!! You will need it.

Get a few gallons of LC chlorine in that pool right away or it’s going to get worse.

Once you get the FC to 20% of your CYA it’s safe to swim.
 
Katodude said:
Ugh, thats not a good look. Only way you are going to clean that is with a pressure washer. Use a weak pressure washer and go into the pool and blast that stuff all away.

You will then need to run your FC at 20% of your CYA for several weeks.

Here is the bad news, you will probably need to run FC at 15% of CYA for life.

I am sure you got all the advice on getting a good test kit. Follow that!!! You will need it.

Get a few gallons of LC chlorine in that pool right away or it’s going to get worse.

Once you get the FC to 20% of your CYA it’s safe to swim.
Click to expand...
Agreed. We inherited maintaining this from a pool company who I don't think knew what they were doing and were just masking the issue with chemicals instead of balancing the salt pool. I'm still trying to figure out the underlying root cause but need something to hold us until then. What is "LC Chlorine"? I can certainly add that in to help prevent it from getting worse.
 
1poolman1 said:
Get a bag of calcium hypochlorite, commonly in bags labeled shock. Sprinkle it above the "stuff." If it is organic and even black algae, it will get rid of it. May need more than one application. Do not worry about the small amount of calcium being added to the water.
Click to expand...
I've been shocking the pool with Clorox Shock XTRABLUE at least weekly with more than the recommended amount to help prevent this from getting worse. Can't find if this type of Shock has Calcium Hypochlorite or not. Any brand recommendations?
 

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