If your salt system is not producing chlorine you will
want to work down this list of steps to find the solution. Here is what I do if
I find a salt system is not producing chlorine in a pool.
The salt level is a critical factor and if the salt
level is too low in your pool the SWG will not be able to produce chlorine. Most systems need at least 3000 ppm of salt in the water except for the Hayward
Aqua Rite and the Pentair iChlor which can operate with as little as 2600 ppm.
They will not produce the full amount of chlorine at the lower salinity level
but they will still function at a reduced output. So, the first step is to
check the pool's Salinity level or salt level of the pool with either test
strips or a good digital salinity meter. Once you establish that there is
enough salt in the pool you can move on to the next step if the system is still
not producing chlorine.
Another common mistake along these lines is that you
are not running the pool long enough for the SWG to produce enough chlorine
each day and that is why it is at zero when you test it. So, increase your
pools run time if that is the case. For example, if you have a 20,000-gallon
pool and you run your pump for 3 hours a day, I can tell you that is not long
enough to produce enough chlorine.
Increase the pool run time to at least 12 to 14 hours a day to rule out
the run time as the issue.
Next, if you have a Variable Speed pump make sure you
are running it at least at 2000 RPM,
preferably higher for a good part of the
day. At the lower RPM, the SWG will need a longer run time to produce the same
amount of chlorine as a standard one-speed pump running at the full 3450 RPM. A
pool with a VS pump needs to have the proper RPM as well as the proper run time
each day. At 2600 RPM you will need to run the pool a lot longer to produce
chlorine each day.
Another issue may be that the salt cell output is set
too low for it to generate enough chlorine each day. This is one thing that I
often see on my route. Some salt systems will be set at 40% output and the pool
will not have chlorine week to week. The manufacturer has an output chart in
the manual and this chart is usually for the salt system set at 100% production
running 24 hours a day. So, if the manual says your cell will produce 1 lb. of
chlorine set at 100% running 24 hours a day if you set the output to 50% and
run it 24 hours it will produce ½ lbs. of chlorine. Then set at 50% output and
run only for 12 hours per day will give you ¼ lbs. of chlorine each day. So I
always suggest starting your cell output at 100% and then dial it down if the
pool has too much chlorine in it week to week.
Check to see if the salt cell has any calcium build up
on it. Calcium build-up will stop the chlorine production right away. As the
plates in the cell cake up with calcium you will usually see a warning light on
your system indicating that the cell is dirty. Simply take it off and clean it
with a mixture of Muriatic Acid and water. A 6-part water 1-part acid mix is
effective. Once the cell is clean it should start to produce chlorine again.
Other causes would be the salt cell is getting old and
not producing anymore. If your salt cell is over 4 years old this may be a
possibility. Also, if the system is very old the power unit or control board
could be bad. As the cell ages, it loses the ability to produce chlorine.
And last it could be as simple as not having the right
amount of Conditioner in the water and the Sun is just burning off the chlorine
each day. You should have a Conditioner or CYA level of 30-80 ppm in the water.
Too little Conditioner in the pool will cause the chlorine to burn off rapidly
and production cannot keep up with the amount being destroyed by the sun.
These are the primary reasons why a salt system stops
chlorine production. Going through these steps will lead you to the solution in
most cases.
YouTube Video Index: http://poolmandave.blogspot.com/2014/03/swimming-pool-tips-reviews-how-to-video.html – A
list of all of my videos.
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