Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

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Guru Of Pools

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Guru Of Pools » Tue 08 Dec, 2009 10:39

Wow that is a lot of hate for salt generators. First to the original problem, which has never been addressed. The problem is more than likely the main circuit board. If the unit is less than 5 years old it may still be under a warranty, depending on when you purchased your unit. Units purchased after January 1, 2008 have a three-year warranty. So I would consult with the company you purchased it from to see if there is a warranty. Hey every little bit helps.

Now on to the rust color water coming from the bottom of the t15 cell: I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean you have actual brown water coming from the return jet when the cell is on (which would mean you have iron in your pool water and lots of it) or do you mean there are brown streaks on the inside of the cell on the downstream side of the cell (this is usually from trace amounts of iron in the pool water). I would not worry about the brown stains on the inside of the cell, however if you have any iron in the pool water you will want to take your pool water to your favorite local pool professional for testing and treatment of the iron in your pool water.

Now let's talk about Nick's angry comments. First and fore most let's talk about money and value. With any type of system you use it is going to cost you money. I don't care how you sanitize your pool be it liquid, granular, tablets, ozone, biquanide or salt system none of it is free. That is the bottom line. The statement Nick makes is you are not saving money. The question I pose is it costing you any more money? Let's break it down and not talk in infinities. How much chemical sanitizers cost will vary from region to region so I am going to use some average numbers. Nick list both granular chlorine and liquid chlorine as possible substitutes for a salt system. In my opinion these are not good comparisons because they require a lot of work on the homeowner's part. Plus if you don't constantly feed them into the pool your chlorine will drop and algae can get established and the pool will not be sanitary. The best alternative is chlorine tablets, you can feed them slowly over a long period of time keeping the sanitizer level at a constant level and the pool will be protected from algae and bacteria. So I am going to use that as a basis for comparison. The other thing you will have to do is make an initial investment for equipment to get started. If you go with a salt system you will be spending, for an in ground pool, about $1,100 for a basic salt system. I am sure if you look long enough you can get it cheaper on line but this is a good average number to consider for equipment and set up like electrical and initial chemicals. If you go with chlorine tablets you will need an feeder to put them into, you DO NOT want to put them in the skimmer for many reasons the primary being safety. So if we are talking about saving money on equipment right up front you need not read any further because the chlorine tablet feeder will cost about $75 to $100.

So why would someone spend that much more on a salt system? This is where value comes in to play. Lets compare what you have to do to a pool with both systems on a weekly basis:

Chlorine tablets- Add tablets to feed once or twice a week, depending on the water temperature. The hotter the water the more frequently you will have to feed the feeder. The other thing you should do is if the water temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees you should shock treat the pool every other week. If the water temperature is above 80 degrees you should shock the pool weekly. You will need to test the chlorine and pH weekly and adjust if necessary.

Salt generator: Adjust the output of the cell to keep up with chlorine demand. The hotter the water temperature the higher the percentage you will need to maintain the chlorine level in the pool. You will need to test and adjust the pH level every 7 to 10 days. In a pinch you can get by without adjusting the pH for 2 weeks or more depending on how high you have your production of chlorine set. You will also need to test the chlorine level at the same time to make sure you have enough chlorine in the pool to keep it sanitary. You do not need to shock treat the pool on a routine basis because as the unit is making chlorine it is shocking the pool for you! If you are gone for long periods of time this system is perfect for you.

So taking the initial cost of equipment out of the equation let's look at yearly cost. Assuming a 6 month operation with average rain fall in a 30,000 gallon pool:

Chlorine tablets you will need at least 50 pound bucket average cost $150. You will also need shock, 60 one pound bags $200. pH rise you will need about 50 lbs $35. So our conservative total for the year is $385.00.

Salt generator you will need at least 4 gallons of acid $32, you will need about 400 lbs of salt $96 and about 36 lbs of stabilizer $150. So a total of $278.

Now the average life of a cell is 5 years, some go longer some not so long. We are going to use 5 years as the average. At the end of 5 years you will have spent $1925 using chlorine tablets assuming no inflation or deflation. At the end of 5 years you will have spent $1390 on chemicals and you will need a new cell averaging $600 to $800 for an average total of $2090.

So is it more expensive? Yes. Is it easier than using chlorine? Oh yea. The extra is what it costs to make it easier, kind of like going to 7-11 you pay more for bread but it is way easier to get in and out of the store. But there is more and we will address #2 in Nicks hit list.

Salt is natural, bad news for Nick he has salt in his body. The amount of salt that you keep in the pool tends to mimic the amount of salt that is in your body so when you get out of a pool with salt water you do not get the same dry feeling you get after getting out of a pool without a salt system. You are still using chlorine you are making the chlorine in your system rather than buying the chlorine and adding it to your pool.

#3 salt will be left behind when water evaporates we recommend that you put a concrete sealer on your deck to help keep the salt out of the concrete deck. You will have to reapply it on a routine basis. Is a salt pool perfect for every pool? No, you will have to decide if it is right for you and your pool. Regardless of what type of sanitizer you use you will still have to clean your pool, or hire someone like Nick to clean your pool walls and tile.

#4 where did the cartridge filter come from? That is a whole new topic and way more than I want to get into in this rebuttal, but suffice it to say that it does not matter what type of filter you have the salt system will work with all three types. Which one you use will be personal preference, each filter has it's own advantages and disadvantages. It seems Nick loves sand filters.

I hope this helps shed a little more light on the Salt system vs. other systems. We have 5,000 plus salt generators in our market, the majority of customers love them. Our market has embraced salt generation since it was introduced in the early 1980's. I have 35 years of experience in the swimming pool industry. I am not a money monger, I will be happy to help you with whatever system you would like to use, and I try to present all systems in a fair and impartial manor. I want my customers to be happy with their pool and pool care options. Swimming is healthy and fun! Take some time and enjoy your pool.

Jim Garrison
The Guru of Pools at
http://www.discountpoolwarehouse.com


Pool-I-Di-Ot

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Pool-I-Di-Ot » Tue 08 Dec, 2009 15:20

Each pool has a "chlorine demand" that needs to be satisfied (if you are using chlorine as your sanitiser, if you are using something else, May Allah help you!) That chlorine demand is dependent on the chemical make-up of the water, sun exposure and bather load. If you do not meet the demand, "bad stuff" will multiply in the water, changing it from clear to cloudy to swamp.
At normal ph of 7.2-7.8, a Free Chlorine level of 0.5-1.0 ppm will keep the pool pristine without any stabilizer or algaecide needed because all of your chlorine is available. All you need is a continouos addition of pure chlorine to keep up with what is burned off by the sun and used up killing organics.
What's that, you say that you can't buy pure chlorine at the store? It is all stabilised as either Dichloro- or Trichloro- something or other? Well, there is the liquid chlorine, diluted to 12% ( and it is sold at the grocery store diluted to 6%, only there it is labeled as bleach.)
If you use the liquid, and add it continuously (say with a pump, or the Liquidator) you will be fine.
If you use the dry, Stabilised chlorine, then you will be adding the stabiliser (usually Cyanuric Acid, or CYA) to your pool at a rate of 6-8 ppm for every 10 ppm of chlorine. That is not good. The stabiliser is often referred to as "Sun Screen for chlorine" and protects the chlorine from being burned off by the sun's UV(by bonding with it.) As long as the chlorine is present in enough quantity to bond with all of the CYA, and still have some left(Available) then you will be OK, but remember that the UV is burning off chlorine, and it is also being consumed by ridding organics from the water. So you will need to add MORE chlorine each time to satisfy the burn off rate AND to bond with the building level of stabiliser. When you fall behind, the available chlorine is consumed, the bonded chlorine is unavailable to rid organics, and you get a swamp with a chlorine level of 10 ppm (0ppm Free Chlorine and 10ppm Combined Chlorine) because your stabiliser level is too high.
It is a vicious circle that will catch you, there is no way out. You can delay it by trying to kill the "bad stuff" with another chemical addition, like PolyQuat 60 algaecide. But Poly is consumed by/using up your chlorine, so now you need to add more of both the chlorine(and stabiliser!) AND Poly. You can also "Shock"(which is a process, not a product) your water with a non-chlorine sanitiser, in hopes of killing off "bad stuff" and saving chlorine, but if you "shock" with dry stabilised chlorine, you are only adding (stabiliser) to the problem.

Or, you could choose to add available chlorine by using electrolysis to convert the sodium chloride naturally present in your water to sodium and chlorine ions, which kill "bad stuff" and then revert back into sodium chloride, so that the cycle you are now in uses electricity, but maintains a steady Free Chlorine level, with out the addition of stabiliser, or the need for Poly, or the need for non-chlorine "shock" products.
The electrolysis device will usually work better if you raise the sodium chloride level up to around 4000 ppm, although there are now units available that will work with ultra low levels (less then 100ppm.)
Since you don't want to waste that water with the sodium chloride in it to back-wash a sand or DE filter, you are better off with a cartridge filter, too. And you probably don't want Nick anywhere near you.
A Trouble Free Pool is one that you can enjoy, because you know that is sanitary, but does not require handling dangerous quantities of stabilised chlorine (use ordinary table salt), or poly chemical cocktails to maintain. With proper use of a good test kit, maintaining a proper Free Chlorine level is all that is required.
For a little fun, next time you go to a water park, ask where they keep their stabilised chlorine. Or if you visit your local potable water treatment facility, same thing.
The more you know, the more you grow...
nmto0777

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby nmto0777 » Sat 23 Jan, 2010 20:34

ok i m one unhappy customer too. 2 cells in 4 years.
new problems i have, salt reading does not match strip reading. the electronic box give me 1500, the strip you dip on the water 3000... who is right or wrong?
i clean my cell evey time the light come up.
the latest even that upset me is as follow:
i had the 4 bottom leds flashing all together with PCB message (not good according to manual). then after removing the power to the box and cleaning the cell the PCB mesaage went away, new message (after powering the box and the pool motor) COLD show up, then finally low salt / inspect cell led with a 1500 reading for salt reaDING...
ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?
Guru Of Pools

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Guru Of Pools » Mon 25 Jan, 2010 11:15

nmto0777, 2 cells in 4 years could be a number of different things. First consideration is; do you keep your pool open year round? If you are in a market that is year round like Florida then you will be wearing cells out faster than a seasonal market where the pool is only open say 4 months of the year. Second: The percentage you operate the unit at will play a part in how long the cell will last. Let me explain: The cell is coated with a special mineral that improves the electrolytic conversion of the salt to chlorine. As this conversion takes place some of the mineral coating is lost. The more you send power to the cell the shorter the life of the cell will be. Now the percentage you see on our output dial or digital display is the percentage of time the control box will send power to the cell. The higher the percentage the longer the cell will receive power. The higher the percentage the faster the cell will wear out. So your goal is to find the lowest possible percentage that will give you the proper amount of chlorine in the pool. What is the proper level of chlorine for the pool? I am glad you asked, you should follow the following chart:

If your water temperature is: 60°< Chlorine level at 1 ppm
61° to 70° Chlorine level at 1 to 3 ppm the closer to 70° you want to be at 3ppm.
71° to 80° Chlorine level 3 to 5 ppm once you get above 80° you want to be at 5 ppm

Third: Cleaning the cell. There are three methods of cleaning a salt cell. First and the most gentle on the cell is hosing it out and getting any solid or organic material out of the cell. Second, acid wash the cell. This is the hardest on the cell and will actually shorten the life of the cell. You only want to acid wash a cell if you have scale forming on the cell plates. If you don't have scale don't acid wash you are just shorting the life of the cell. The third and last method of cleaning the cell is to us a chemical specifically formulated to clean a cell. Per the manufactures of these products they clean the cell while keeping the damage to the cell plates to a minimum. I have not tested these products so I can only report what the manufactures, who are trying to sell these products, report. But as with the acid washing you only want to use this product if you have scale. If it ain't broke....

Fourth: Using stabilizer is very important, if you let the stabilizer go too low you will have to run the salt generator at a higher percentage and having read the second consideration you know you don't want to do this if you don't have to.

The salt strip not matching the display on the Aqua Rite thing. Salt strips are all right for a quick reference check but when you are making important decisions about adding salt to your pool, you really need to have it professionally checked at your local pool store to make sure your test strip is reading correctly. The low salt reading is either the cell has failed or the salt is low and your salt strip is wrong. Check the expropriation date on the salt strip bottle.

Now the light thing. If all 4 your lights are lit then you probably have a failed circuit board.

Now for the potential good news. These units have a warranty. The replacement cell, depending on when you purchased it will have a 1 to 5 year warranty. If you purchased it before January 2008 chances are you have a 5-year warranty. If you purchased it after January 2008 you could have a 5, 2 or 1-year warranty. You can determine the warranty of the cell by reading the first number of the serial number. This number indicates the number of years the cell is warranted. A 5 would indicate a 5year warranty, 3 years full replacement and 2 years pro-rated. The other warranties, 2 and 1 years, are full replacement no pro-rated period.

The control box would have the same warranty as spelled out above so check the first number of the serial number on the control box. If you are not sure call Goldline (aka Hayward) and they will help you determine if the unit is under warranty. (888) 921-7665.

I hope this helps you and anyone who is lucky enough to read it.

The Guru of Pools at DiscountPoolWarehouse.com
Guest

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Guest » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 22:16

http://www.nocellpower.com

it's a faulty solder joint (k1)

$10 fix

bayow
marykskin

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby marykskin » Tue 27 Apr, 2010 11:23

I just ordered a flo switch for 80 delivered. I just need to know exactly how to install it to make sure it is sitting in the correct position.
Guru Of Pools

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Guru Of Pools » Wed 28 Apr, 2010 08:15

Marykskin,

On the flow sensor there will be arrows, the arrows point in the direction of the flow of water. So if you were to follow the pipe from the filter as it would flow the water back to the pool the arrows should be pointing away from the filter and toward the pool. Pretty simple to do. Also make sure you put some Teflon tape or some type of sealant on the threads before you screw it into the fitting.

Good luck,

The Guru of Pools at DiscountPoolWarehouse.com
B Pools

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby B Pools » Sun 16 May, 2010 13:28

I have a problem with no power coming form something in my power box, But I am getting power to the box. Any solutions. Brian
Maxliv

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Maxliv » Sun 16 May, 2010 16:58

Hi everybody,

Just started my goldline aqua rite salt system last week. I was getting a white cloud coming out of the jets on startup. Called goldline support and they told me the water was probably not balanced...So this week-end I made sure the water was perfectly balanced and started up the system again. I still got this white cloudy myst comint out of the jets... !

If any one knows the cause of this...Please let me know !

thanks,
donspill

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby donspill » Mon 24 May, 2010 21:09

The lights on my aqua rite system come on with the blinking no flow light for a minute or so, then the generating light comes on for about 10-15 seconds, then all lights go off. It still has power, but it is not generating. The chlorine level dropped to next to nothing, the water turned green overnight, and I had to shock it and run it for a day or two to get it somewhat clear. Is this a control board problem or is there a problem with the salt generater? I have a call in for a service call, but I would like to save the money if I could fix it myself. Any suggestions???? Thanks.
zimzum83
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri 04 Jun, 2010 20:28
My Pool: I am an office manager/technitian for a swimming pool building and service company. My job requires to be able to help customer with their swimming pool, but even tho I have been around pools and obtain certifications I still feel like I dont know enough about everything related to a swimming pool.
Location: Richmond

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby zimzum83 » Fri 04 Jun, 2010 20:57

I completly understand what you are talking about. I just now staring running in to customer who's Goldline controls are not longer under warranty and I know the economy is hard and all, but the first customer I could not hook him up because his warranty was on his 5th year and I had to charge him for a turbo cell. OMG I though this guy was going to drive to the office just to kick my butt LOL. It was kind of funny, but I couldnt help to feel bad for the very loyal customer who once espend a large amount of money in having us build his pool. I had to let my boss handle it and he let the customer make payment in the turbo cell and we still gave it to him at our cost and not even the regular retail cost, but the customer still thinks that wasnt enough help. Some times people forget what are the important things in life and that they should be greatfull to be healty and if 300 bucks for a new cell was too much he should of use chlorine tabs untill he could gather the money, but we dont know anything or have our own problems at home.
deuce1980

not producing chlorine

Postby deuce1980 » Fri 11 Jun, 2010 08:12

Brookie,
My salt chlorinator is doing the same thing. What was the cause of your problem?
Thanks

brookiebrooke wrote:My pool was badly stained (iron) so I bought some stain remover that worked great. The only problem was you had to drop the chlorine down to about zero in order for the stain remover to work, which I did on Friday. The pump had to run 24 hours with the aqua rite OFF in order for the stain remover to work.

I switched the chlorinator back on Saturday evening. It's now Tuesday evening, and despite having run the chlorinator almost non-stop for 72 hours, there is virtually no chlorine in the pool at all. The salt reading isn't going down either, so I can tell that the chlorinator isn't using the salt to make chlorine.

I read a couple online posts that said if your chlorine gets too low it can help to shock it to "stimulate" chlorine production. So I threw 2 bags of super-shock in today. That didn't help.

So I removed the cell and saw that there was quite a bit of while build-up on the cell. I let it soak in the suggested muriatic acid/water bath for a few minutes then reinstalled. I plugged it back in and set it to "superchlorinate" but after 3 hours, it appears that it is still not making chlorine.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing the chlorinator to NOT produce chlorine and what I can do to fix it? There is plenty of stabilizer and salt in the pool.
zimzum83
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri 04 Jun, 2010 20:28
My Pool: I am an office manager/technitian for a swimming pool building and service company. My job requires to be able to help customer with their swimming pool, but even tho I have been around pools and obtain certifications I still feel like I dont know enough about everything related to a swimming pool.
Location: Richmond

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby zimzum83 » Sat 12 Jun, 2010 15:50

I had that happen to me once last year, but it was with my buddys vynil liner pool. Ok first off I would suggest to check for multiple things to find out your problem.

One make sure cell is in good working condition, and if you can take it some where and have it test it. I would clean is with acid before you take it any where, because they might charge you to clean it. I know most of the time the cell looks clean, but it can always have something in it. I would buy plugs and plug one end of the cell and use only acid no water and let it sit for couple minutes not too long and see if you see any bubbles come out, and then rinse the cell and do the other end the same way; make sure you fill up the cell only with acid. once you put it back together and start your pool up, check the instant salt reading in the salt generator and compare it to the average salt reading. if still doesnt look right to you then you can move to the second step.

Take your cell and a good water sample of you pool and make sure you remeber all the reading on your salt generator, and your own test on your pool water. I would advice to write down your serial number for your salt generator just in case the cell has to be replace. Once you get to the local pool store have them check your chemicals, and if everything checks out all right including your cell, then ask them to check for nitrates, botares.

If you do this 2 steps you should be able to resolve your problem in one day no questions ask, and keep in mind test strips some times can be wrong. unless you are using a digital reader, or a water computer analysis I wouldn't trust to much your test strips in cases like this.

If you have any questions send me a messege and I should be able to respond it with in couple days, and good luck with your problem.
Tracy

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby Tracy » Thu 24 Jun, 2010 09:48

donspill wrote:The lights on my aqua rite system come on with the blinking no flow light for a minute or so, then the generating light comes on for about 10-15 seconds, then all lights go off. It still has power, but it is not generating. The chlorine level dropped to next to nothing, the water turned green overnight, and I had to shock it and run it for a day or two to get it somewhat clear. Is this a control board problem or is there a problem with the salt generater? I have a call in for a service call, but I would like to save the money if I could fix it myself. Any suggestions???? Thanks.


Same thing happened to my pool this week. What did you do?
zimzum83
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri 04 Jun, 2010 20:28
My Pool: I am an office manager/technitian for a swimming pool building and service company. My job requires to be able to help customer with their swimming pool, but even tho I have been around pools and obtain certifications I still feel like I dont know enough about everything related to a swimming pool.
Location: Richmond

Goldline "Aqua-Rite" salt chlorinator problems

Postby zimzum83 » Thu 24 Jun, 2010 11:05

First dont think you could fix it yourself unless you have a buddy that happens to work for Hayward Warranty center. It sounds like the circuit board has goone bad, but it also sound like the turbo cell is not doing it's part. My recomendation would be to check your serial in your equipment and if starts with a 5A06 number you are out of luck, and what I am trying to say is that if you can prove you only had the unit for no more then 3 years you are cover. If you had it for over 3 years then you are out of luck. I am sorry for your trouble and I know the replacement parts are expesive, and hope you can resolve the issue.

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