Aqua Clear Low Salt

I have an Aqua Clear by Polaris. The low salt indicator is on and the cell will not stay on. Salt is at 3600ppm, which is in range. I cleaned the cell with Muriatic acid/water mix and cell would stay on for maybe 30 minutes. Low salt light flashing and then cell turns off. When I try to reset cell, it stays on for about 30 seconds and turns back off. Zodiac says I may need a new flow sensor and they claim this sensor can detect salt. Looks like it is a metal tab with a plastic button that contact a plastic tab. I can see how this may sense flow, but not salt.

Does anyone know if replacing the sensor is a possible fix?

Could the cell be bad and that cause low salt reading?


Could raising the salt to say 4200ppm satisfy salt sensor unit to allow cell to stay on?

I don't feel buying a new replacement cell is a good idea @ $600 and think it best to go with another system if no easy fix.

Comments?

How old is the unit? How much on-time has it had? Most units last for somewhere between 5,000 & 10,000 "ON" hours, but operations in low salt, low temperature or "boost" will shorten that.

If your unit is approaching the end of it's life you'd probably be better off with a new cell than spending time on repairs.

If the flow sensor is bad I would expect you would be getting a no flow error, not low salt. My first guess is that the cell is failing; this could certainly give you bad salt readings (mine gave incorrect low salt readings just before dying). If the cell is bad, raising the salt level to compensate for the low reading isn't going to help.

How long have you had the cell? While cells are expensive, over the long haul I don't think they are much more expensive, if any, than manually adding chlorine. It's just a question of paying as you go or all at once every several years, IMO.