Turbo cell failing?

[GCALAHAN]

Hi all,
I have a 26,000 gal IG diamond brite plaster pool that is 3 years old. Using a Aquarite SWG. The salt is at 2600ppm per the digital readout on the control unit, and the indoor controller. Was getting a low salt indicator, and flashing check cell indicator lites. Added 40 lbs of salt 1 week ago, reading went up to 2700 for a few days now back at 2600ppm and again low salt indicator, and intermittent flashing check cell lite. Had the salt checked by 2 pool stores, one said it was at 3600ppm, the other said 4,000ppm.


Readings today:

Cl-2
FC-2
PH-7.6
ALK-100
CAL Hard-250
Phosphates- 100 (I assume PPB?)
CYA-40? (My test indicated 20 ppm. One store said CYA was 0 ppm, the other said 40 ppm.)


I checked the turbo cell for scale build-up but there was none. I did soak the cell in diluted acid just to be sure. No change in the salt reading.

My question is how do you determine if the cell is failing? Is it possible the circuit boards in the control unit are causing problems?

Any help in properly diagnosing this would be greatly appreciated.

Gary

[Katy-Texas]

I've seen some other posts on SWG life expectancy and Cl production rating (70 vs 50% etc), you may want to do search.

One note, my SW ppm reading does go down as water gets warmer, must be some artifact of the way the ppm is measured, maybe linked to fact that water gets slightly larger when warmer.

[waste]

GC, I ran into a possibly similar issue a few weeks ago. Please check the volts and amps (open the white control box and start pressing the 'diagnostic' button - I hope you still have tha owners manual, it can tell you the values you are looking for) the presses go like this:
#1 = water temp
#2= volts the cell is using
#3= amps the cell is using
#4= % output (what the dial is set to)
#5= instant salinity (how much salt is in the water currently passing through the cell
# 6 & 7 model and software revision.
NOTE, the cell needs to be generating when you do this, the easiest thing to do is put it on 'superchlorinate' and wait a few minutes. The voltage should be ~ 22.0 - 27.0 (check the manual for the exact #s) and the amps should be 4.8 - 7.9 (I think I got that one right). If your numbers are not in the suggested range call Goldline , be prepared to wait at the first prompt press 2 and wait for a human to talk to you (the other option is to use their on-line tech to try to help you) You want to have the cell's serial # (having the box's # would probalby be a good idea too). If you are calling, use your cell phone or a cordless so you can be at the unit when they start asking ?s (you will need a digital voltmeter to do some of the things they want to know - if you don't have one or can't use it, get someone there who can before making the call) When I went through this a few weeks ago I was told that the transformer and rectifiers were bad, I ordered replacements, replaced them and still had the same problem, however my voltmeter decided that it didn't want to work anymore so I have to call in their 'traveling tech' to see what the real problem is. Just a little experience talking here, trying to save you time and wasted phone calls. Please let me know how it works out and what the fix was (similarly, if I find out what's wrong with our unit, I'll post to let you know)