Intellichlor ic40 - no cell light, life at 60% only 1 year old help!!!

I had a pentair intellichlor ic40 installed last summer. The cell light is off and will not come on, even with the output at 100%. The salt level is steady red (low). All other lights are green. Also I checked the usage by pressing the MORE button for 3 seconds and it tells you how many hours have been used. It read 60% which means 6000 hours, and the chlorinator only has a life of 10,000 hours which on average should be 5 years. I live in CT, how is it possible this unit is already 60% used. I would have to use this thing 24 hours a day for 250 days for it to be at 6000 of use. And why won't my cell light come on. We just added 40 pounds of salt.

Is it still under warranty? I think I'd call the company and explain to them what is going on and see what they have to say.

I'm looking at the warranty in my manual it's 1 year from installation, which to me seems ridiculous. It's been a bit over a year.

Even so, I would still call them. They are the ones best able to tell you what might need to be done.

I've installed a number of Intellichlor units on a large customer pool, and frankly I'm not particularly pleased with them.

The first unit I purchased, 4 years ago, had a 3 year warranty, and failed last summer in spite of having been used at 20% output for 3 x 5 months (~2,200 hours). Of another 4 units I installed 2 years ago, 1 failed after about 5,000 hours and another after 6,000.

Plus:
+ the salt sensors can't be calibrated, and aren't accurate. (Trying to operate (4) IC-60s side-by-side, when they each read a different salt level, is a PAIN!)
+ The temperature sensors fail, and must be bypassed.
+ The computer sensor wand doesn't work consistently -- or sometimes, at all -- with the units, and is not supported by Pentair.
+ AND, the power supplies overheat, when the generators are operated at 100%. (I had to mount fan cooling over the board the power supplies rest on -- even though these units are inside, out of the sun!)

The first unit had a 3 year warranty, but Pentair dropped down to a 1 year warranty the following year -- probably because so many of the units were failing before 3 years. Calling Pentair isn't a bad idea, but I wouldn't hold my breath till you get satisfaction from them. I think you'll find that the units are NOT guaranteed to last 10,000 hours of operation.

If you do decide to replace the IC cell, I'd strongly recommend going with an IC60, which has about 30% more generating capacity. That translates into less run time, and longer life. (Cell life for all SWCG's is directly proportional to on-time). The IC-60 is a drop-in replacement for the IC-40, so there would be no installation required. Currently (June 2103) Amazon has the best price I've seen on an IC-60, with free shipping, and in most areas of the country, no tax:

Pentair 521105 IntelliChlor IC60 Electronic Chlorine Generator Replacement Cell ($710 - June 2013)

I can't recommend another manufacturer's unit, because I have no experience with any other manufacturer's equipment. I do think there are some out there that are worse then the Pentair units. And I think generally, SWCG's don't last as long as their marketing literature suggests. Given all that, your overall best option may be to simply bite the bullet and replace the IC unit. Almost any other unit will require a 'from-scratch' new installation.

Regardless of what unit you replace your dead cell with, you can extend cell life by:
1. Never allowing the unit to operate when the water is cool (below 70).
2. Getting the biggest cell you can use, and then turning it down to minimize on-time
3. Turning down the cell polarity switching rate. (May have to call to find out how)
4. Paying attention to cell cleaning . . . and keeping calcium as low as possible in your pool.
5. Shocking with bleach, not your cell. Use the cell to MAINTAIN chlorine levels, not to clean up algae or start-up in spring.
6. So, do NOT use the "Boost" mode.

Other links:

Intellichlor manual
Intellichlor brochure

The AutoPilot units seemed to be liked (mostly) by the folks who use them, have more sophisticated controls than other units, and have often been supported directly here, by one of AutoPilot's senior techs, Sean Assam. (PoolSean, here) I'm not clear on the difference between the regular flavor and the Soft Touch model, but the SC-36 is available on Amazon for $1010 (June 2013):

AutoPilot Pool Pilot page @ AutoPilot.com
AutoPilot Pool Pilot Soft Touch page @ AutoPilot.com
AutoPilot ST2SC36SUS Soft Touch Pool Pilot w/ SC-36 Cell & Manifold Assembly Complete @ Amazon for $1010 -- 1.28lbs Cl2 / day

And, Hayward AquaRite info (I've heard favorable things about the AquaRite, but have no personal experience)

Hayward / Goldline AquaRite page
Hayward Aqua Rite In-Ground Chlorine Generator up to 40,000 Gallons @ Amazon ($912 - June 2013)

Note that this Hayward unit has the same nominal capacity as the IC-40 (~1.4 lbs of Cl2 per day), rather than the 2lb capacity of the IC-60.



Good luck, with whatever choice you make!

I never had a problem using Goldline systems.....the Pentair Intelichlor IC 40 system I have been using for the past 2.5 years has been terrible. And their 1 year warranty is a joke, let alone they are one of the highest priced systems on the market. I am ready to dump the IC 40 and go back to adding chlorine myself.

Update: I installed a variable speed pump running 10 hours a day (7 hours at 1750 rpm and 3 hours at 2750 rpm) and the IC 40 is putting out plenty of chlorine. Not that I am now a big fan of the IC40 but at least it is giving me plenty of chlorine. I live in the So Cal desert where the temps now are in the mid 90s and that eats up the chlorine so even under pretty extreme conditions the IC40 is taking care of business.