a little autopilot education needed plse

last year, i set it up first time and at some point changed the cell power level from default of 2 to 1, thinking may as well save the life of the cell, if i can still produce enough chlorine..can't remember where i ran the output level but i know it wasn't as high as 100%..say 50%. this year, it inadvertently when the temp rose over a few days ran at 100%. (i had been only able to get 3 diodes high on my softtouch due to the cooler starting temp of pool at 55 but i had pressed it to the full 3 diodes level. then when the water got to about 67 i came home one day and it was at 100%..plus i still had a bunch of residual chlorine in the pool from shocking..about 15ppm. so, i decided to turn off the autopilot for a couple of days to let the chlorine level go down and 3 days ago it was down to 3ppm so i turned the autopilot back on and set it at about 30% output (it was quite hot but the pool had a solar cover, i had a 60ppm cya level so i thought i would monitor it) left things as they were for 2 days running 1 -4 hour and 1-6 hour cycle on my 12,000 gallon pool. the chlorine level yesterday had gone down to 1ppm..no algae or anything...i can smell a bit of chlorine when i'm in the pool..so, i thought i should raise the output level so i did to the 50% mark with the maximum brightness on that diode (the 3rd click at 50%) came home today expecting the chlorine level to be higher and it is up maybe to about 2ppm. now i've pushed the output level to about 75%. so, the question is:

better to run cell at power 1 for 75% of the time of level 2 at 50% of the time, or does it basically equate to the same wear and tell on the cell. i ran the self diagnostic and output current is bang on 5 amps for the sc36 cell..or, given my pool size, is the power level 1 "underproducing and i have to run it at power level 2 regardless? i just don't want to run it continually at a high level..potentially as high as 100% on power level 1 if it's better to run it on a lower level at power level 2. (i don't know if that has any impact either way on the lifespan of the control box by the way)

2nd question- salt strips..i've assumed you take the reading at the highest point where the strip goes yellow..i.e. the top of the "spear" point as it kind of fades into a spear point at the top versus solid yellow all the way. on that basis, my salt reads as 3200ppm. but the autopilot reads it at 2900. if i read the strip to where it's competely solid, it's about 2950. thoughts?

and thanks!

okay..i read this thread and see the answer from poolsean so on that basis..i'm going to try cell power 2 at 25% or so and see how that works out.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/search.php?searchid=144491

salt question still out there:) thanks again.

salt strips should be read at the apex of the color change. Therefore, the higher of the two readings. Being 200 - 400 ppm different is not of any concern. IF you want to calibrate it to the strips test result, and do not know how to do so, please let me know.

thanks sean..and no, i don't..i found this thread, but think it might apply to the digital not the soft touch?

Poolsean04-12-2006, 04:31 PM
Correction, the salt calibration is in the Maintenance menu.
Press MENU, then arrow up or down to CALIBRATE SALT.
Press SELECT, then arrow up or down to match your salt test.
Press SELECT, the unit will adjust to the new reading.
EXIT MENU to go back to the regular display.

It is important that you have the water tested at least 24 hrs of pump operation after adding salt so that it is circulated and distributed evenly throughout the pool. Only if this salt test shows differently from the unit do I recommend going into the Salt Calibration menu. A +- 200 - 300 ppm difference is not uncommon and does not warranty calibration, although it doesn't harm it to adjust it.

ps - good to know about the salt strips at the very least. i'm quite happy with the level on the salt strip of 3250 or and would rather be a bit high than low to give me buffer room for situations like today where it started raining cats and dogs and i needed to drain about 2 inches of water level before i went to work. fortunately, i have a large drain pipe that goes to my sewer system so i can pump 2 inches in a couple of minutes:)

Yes, that is for the Digital unit. For the Soft Touch it's a bit more involved. I can e-mail you off line.

ok sean..watch your email:)