SWG Cell question

I have an inground 12k gal pool with an Ecomatic ESC36 SWG. I am not sure of the age of the cell, since we have only lived here 2 years. The SWG worked great last year, but this year the red lights are on, even after cleaning the cell and checking the salt level.

Is there a way to confirm that your salt cell is shot? I would hate to spend the money and find out there are issues with the controller.

Also, is there any issues with dumping the acid solution used to clean the SW cell back into the pool? I don't want to waste the solution and don't want to store it until the next cell cleaning.


Thanks.

I had an auto-pilot tech show me on my cell where the plates on the sides had eroded away more than the plates in the center of the pack. You can see this clearly on the autopilot cell, I'm not sure if you can see it on the eco- matic.

The only down side to using the acid mix inthe pool is that you're putting the calcium back in that you just cleaned off of the cell. I don't think it would be a lot relative to the total volume of the pool, but if you're already fighting high calcium like we do in AZ, you might decide to avoid adding calcium that you can control.

The controller should tell you what the DC volts and amps are being applied at the cell. Not being familiar with the unit, there should be anywhere from 24 - 28 volts, and 4 - 6 amps shown at the cell. Anything less than 4 amps indicates the cell has to be replaced. I may be corrected on these values however.

Hope this helps.

Pat