Aquarite problems

[Fargorad]

Have an Aquarite chlorinator. This will be the third summer of use. Have had black algae which is now cleared, but am having trouble getting chlorinator to work. It registers 2000 for salt, but test strip shows 3050. "Low salt" light and continuous "inspect cell" light on . Have some minor dust-like covering on the cell elements, but no placque build-up. Have added 10 pounds of stabilizer before the black algae, now another 5 (29,000 gal pool), but still have almost zero registering stabilizer. Am worried about adding too much stabilizer...can levels be masked by something ? Aquarite problem vs other?

Any suggestions would be great!

[Theusla]

http://www.goldlinecontrols.com/PoolProfessionals.aspx

This might help with some of your questions.

[Ozzzz]

I also have a similar problem with my unit. Strips and drop kit show 4400ppm but Aqua-Rite shows 2600. I have cleaned the cell 3 times already this year.

Does anyone have any idea what the "Lock in Salt PPM" option does as described on the aqua-rite website. Is this some sort of calibration procedure ?

[waterbear]

Does anyone have any idea what the "Lock in Salt PPM" option does as described on the aqua-rite website. Is this some sort of calibration procedure ?
no, this is not a calibration procedure. the goldline units ususally show an average salt reading of the on times of the cell. This option will show the the 'instant salt reading' which is the reading of salt in the cell at the moment you press the button. This could be differetnt from the average reading because the reading is somewhat dependant on the temp in the cell when the reading is taken. The average reading will be over different temperature ranges becuase the cell heats up as it generates chlorine.

[sw_stupid]

Same problem here. I finally got everything cleared up with bleach (thanks to everyone here), but I think I am headed back down the tubes because the Aquarite won't produce anymore. It thinks the salt level is low so it shut off. I added salt and it came up for about 3 weeks and now it is back down to 2500. The "experts" at the pool store said it was around 3600. Anyone now how to help us out? Don't mean to hijack a thread, but there seems to be a pattern here. I don't know about the "Lock in Salt PPM", but would love to know about it if anyone has any ideas.

Brad

[sw_stupid]

I know how to scroll to the instant salinity rading, but what does it mean to "Lock" it in? I hate to start my own thread, but this is what I was going to post on anyway. Waterbear, any clues as to why the cells are so far off?

Thanks in advance,
Brad

[waterbear]

if the unit is reading a much lower salt level then a reliable test then the cell might need cleaning or it might be going bad. Cells are rated in hours of use and several factors can shorthen their life such as running the cell with low salt levels which makes it work harder to produce chlorine, running the cell in cold weather, high calcium in your water leading to severe scaling in the cell, 'shocking' the pool with the superchlorinate setting on a regular basis.

[kevinm]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago when our pool was opened, you can see the post http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1260

Mine was only a couple of seasons old, and I ended up buying a replacement cell. Everything is working fine now. Unfortunately, I had to partially drain and refill becuase I added too much salt.

I would try cleaning the cell first (I did it three times even though it looked clean).

Kevin

[PatL34]

Post deleted.

Pat

[Ozzzz]

I have an update to the issue I was having.

Salt Levels from various sources
Aqua-rite - 2700ppm and varies a lot.
Salt Test Strips - 4200ppm
Taylor Drop Test - 4200ppm
Leslies - 3500ppm

I called Goldline today and talked to a tech. They walks me through a procedure where I turned the unit off and on, waited for the panel to click then read the voltages and instant salinity, then repeat the procedure again. The 1st time the instant salinity was 2700ppm, the 2nd time through the reading was 1600ppm. The tech said that my cell has gone bad. Apparently the unit switches polarity on the cells automatically, and should probably read the same salinity regardless of the polarity but mine isnt.... So a replacement cell (mine is still under warranty.... by 2 months) is on the way.

So hopefully this new cell will give me a better reading of the salinity which will agree with one of the "independant" levels that I have right now.

[sw_stupid]

Update on my problem. New cell arrived. Turned on old cell for one last reading. It was 2500. Put in new cell and it said 3600. Obviously, my FC problems are gone (at least for now). One thing I did notice, though is my control box gets awfully hot on the top. It may have done this all along, but I sure didn't think it got quite that hot. Anyone notice a new cell making their's get hotter than before? Just curious.

[PatL34]

The heat will be coming from the transformer and probably from the heatsinks used to cool the microchip. Had this problem on the Autopilot, and it was fixed by adding a fan internally.

If you can find the amps used to supply the transformer, this will give you an idea of the heat being generated. On the PoolPilot it eaquates to a 200 watt bulb inside the control unit.

Hope this helps.

Pat

[Ozzzz]

sw_stupid,

I also received my replacement cell yesterday. Just in time too because my cell totally went out, instead of flashing low salt/inspect cell the lights were full on, and not generating any chlorine (CL was fine on Sunday, all gone on Tuesday). I added some bleach on Tuesday night to tide me over till the cell arrived.

Installed the new cell last night and it almost immediately tripped out on Hi salt error, and wasnt generating CL so I dumped about 8" of water out and then topped it up over night. This morning the cell was reading about 4100ppm, and I too noticed that the top of the control unit was pretty warm after about 30min of use, I dont remember it being hot at all before the new cell. From memory the amps were reading up in the 7 range, not sure if this is the source of the heat. The manual also says that the enclosure acts as a heat sink, so I guess the heat is to be expected. Maybe no heat means its not working.

[cschmelz]

sw_stupid,

I also received my replacement cell yesterday. Just in time too because my cell totally went out, instead of flashing low salt/inspect cell the lights were full on, and not generating any chlorine (CL was fine on Sunday, all gone on Tuesday). I added some bleach on Tuesday night to tide me over till the cell arrived.

Installed the new cell last night and it almost immediately tripped out on Hi salt error, and wasnt generating CL so I dumped about 8" of water out and then topped it up over night. This morning the cell was reading about 4100ppm, and I too noticed that the top of the control unit was pretty warm after about 30min of use, I dont remember it being hot at all before the new cell. From memory the amps were reading up in the 7 range, not sure if this is the source of the heat. The manual also says that the enclosure acts as a heat sink, so I guess the heat is to be expected. Maybe no heat means its not working.


One would wondering if very high internal resistances in the old cell caused the power draw to plummet, thus making it cooler before the new cell...

[Arizonaoldman]

My Mineral Springs (AquaRite) unit is in it's 3rd summer and I have been adding tremendous amounts of salt since inception. Earlier this year I called and talked to a tech rep and went through all the button pushing exercises. He told me that the unit was bad and sent me a replacement. (He called later and told me that my original unit was given an acid bath and was in perfect working condition - I had thoroughly cleaned it several times before) The new unit was installed and was reading over 3600 ppm for about a week then began to slowly drop again. In two months I have added 140 pounds of salt and my reading is now at 2600.

I gotta tell you that I'm one frustrated puppy. I had the salt system installed with the pool in order to make things easier, but I'm still checking, rechecking, cleaning cells and adding salt frequently.

I do have a water feature and approximately 60 to 75% of my return is through this feature. I am presently using the bucket evaporation method of checking for a leak.

Anybody have any other suggestions?

Thanks

Ralph

[sw_stupid]

One thing to remember, salt doesn't evaporate. The only way to lose salt is by backwashing, splashout, etc. If you are adding large amounts of salt and not backwashing or losing alot, something is giving you the wrong reading. Have a "pool store expert" check it and if it is WAY off from your reading, got a problem. Keep us posted.
Brad

[Simmons99]

Arizona - do you have an auto-fill valve? Could you have a leak and that is why the salt readings are getting lower? Just a thought.

[waterbear]

Two thoughts....
first, with that much return water going thru the water feature (I imagine it is a waterfall of some kind) you will probably have a lot of evaporation....but that should be concentrating your salt levels...not diluting it. What exactly is the water feature you have and is it a possible source of the leak. Other places to check for leaks are your skimmer and your light niches.

Second, it would be helpful if you could post a full set of test results for FC, TC, pH, Alk, Cal, CYA and Salt. If your cell is getting a lot of deposits it might mean that your Cal is very high. Also what is the surface of the pool (plaster, fiberglass, vinyl) and how many gallons?

BTW, low salt levels can cause a cell to die prematurely.

[PatL34]

The amps you are seeing are direct current amps, coming from the transistors and the associated heat sinks. The main source of heat should be coming from the transformer. If you measure the amps to the supply leads individually, you should get an idea of the heat generated by the transformer alone.

Pat

[Arizonaoldman]

O.K. So here's the skinny. Yes, I have a waterfall and I have an auto-fill. I'm running a bucket test as I type and, since 7AM this morning I have lost 2" out of the pool and 7/8" out of the bucket. The pool is 16 x 41 fiberglass and 21,000 gallons. I have no idea what the surface area is (nor does the manufacturer - I called) so assuming that the surface area is 67% of the 16x41 I lost about 260 gallons in 12 hours. If that's my loss, then I do a complete change every 80 days, which dosn't include evaporation.

I Had the water checked today and my salt reading is right on.

Tomorrow I'm going to re-run the test after turning the waterfall off.

I'll report back.

Ralph

[cgc2]

Hey, if you dont mind, keep us posted on your outcome based on the cell being replaced.
thanks.

[Arizonaoldman]

O.K. so the leak is in the water feature. Evaporation the same in both pool and bucket yesterday. I have two "spitting" cranes in the water feature. I turned them off this morning and turned the water feature back on.

Ralph