This guide explains the four most common reasons your pool’s salt system is not generating chlorine. We also cover the best ways to troubleshoot those causes.
4 Most Common Reasons a Salt System Is Not Generating Chlorine
- Low Flow
- Too Low or Too High a Salt Level
- Old or Dirty Salt Cell
- Water Chemistry Imbalance (Stabilizer)
Related Articles – How To Know When a Salt Cell is Bad – General, Diagnosing and Troubleshooting Your Hayward Aqua Rite System
1. Low Flow Fault
- Look for Low Flow Error Code or Fault Lights to be illuminated
- With the pump running, inspect the pump strainer for large air bubbles/pockets in the lid
- Check filter pressure gauge, for a higher than normal reading.
- Backwash your DE or Sand filter, or clean your cartridge.
- If cleaning the filter does not work, try bypassing the filter media. Use the filter’s valve recirculate setting, or remove the filter cartridge from the tank.
- If this corrects the low flow code, it’s likely time to change your sand or deep clean / replace the DE grids or cartridges.
Related Articles – How To Determine the Cause of Low Water Flow, How to Correct Low Water Pressure in Your Pool System
2. High or Low Salt
- Confirm the generator’s salt reading, by using salt test strips or getting water sample tested at a pool store.
- Use the My Pool Dashboard to calculate the amount of salt needed to reach the desired salinity level.
- if the water tests differ from the cell’s reading, skip to the Inspect Cell Section in this guide.
Related Articles – How To Reduce the Salt Level In Your Pool, How to Add Salt to Your Pool, How To Recalibrate the Salt Level on a Hayward Aqua Rite, How To Recalibrate the Salt Level on a Pentair Intellichlor
3. Inspect Cell
- Inspect cell plates for calcium scale build-up or corrosion.
- Clean cell using muriatic acid.
- If the muriatic acid soak does not clear the fault code, you’ll likely need to replace the salt cell.
Related Articles – How To Clean A Salt Cell, How To Clean a Hayward AquaRite Turbo Cell, How To Clean a Compupool Salt Generator Cell, How To Clean a Jandy AquaPure Ei Salt Chlorine Generator Cell
4. Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid) Level Is Too Low
- Use pool test strips to measure your water’s stabilizer level
- Calculate how much CYA is needed to reach desired 60-80 ppm range, using Inyo’s Cyanuric Acid Calculator feature.
Related Articles – Water Chemistry For Saltwater Pools,
Do you have any topics you’d like covered in our Pool Care Basics series? If so, feel free to leave a comment down below with any questions you’d like answered.
