For the 194 code Cleaning the cell may help if the cell is scaled. If the cell is not scaled it may be failing or failed. The plates in the cell have a special mineral coating on them and as the produce chlorine this coating wears off. The average life of a cell is 5 years depending on where you live and how much you use the cell. Your goal should be to find the lowest possible % that gives you the proper amount of chlorine in the pool water. The percentage will vary with the water temperature. As the water gets hotter it will require more chlorine than when the water is colder. So you should check your water chemistry weekly and make adjustments to your output as needed. You may need to replace the cell, see note at end of this post.
NEVER just acid wash the cell because it has been a year.
ONLY acid wash the cell because it has formed scale. Acid washing will remove some for the special mineral and shorten the life of the cell. Cells scale up for several reasons first and most common the pH level has gone above 7.7. This condition will cause scale to form on the cell. The other is the when the cells fail they tend to scale. If you have a chronic scale issue and your chemistry is balanced you should use a non phosphate based scale inhibitor.
For the 172 & 186 Code your flow sensor is trying to tell you it is not well. You can try cleaning the bottom of the sensor with a green kitchen scrubby thing. If this does not resolve the problem it is time for a new flow sensor. The reason it failed is the flow sensor has a heated sensor embedded in the sensor and it has failed. Hey these things happen. Why did the oxygen sensor go out in your car, they just wear out. The
average life of a flow sensor is about 5 years.
For the 170 code you should be getting a second code, however it could be your front board, backboard or transformer. Check your transformer it should have 12 wires going from the transformer to the backboard. If you only have 8 wires you should replace the backboard and the transformer. That should solve the 170 code. If you have 12 wires between the transformer and the backboard then replace the front board.
For the 121 code (man these things have a lot of codes!) This is an indication your cell may have failed. You should check the cell for scale, if it is scaled then clean it with a mild acid solution (see one of the earlier posts). If that does not solve the problem you should see if your local pool company can test the cell for you. If not then try replacing the cell. Remember the average life of a cell is 5 years. These cells have a 5 year warranty (see your dealer for details).
If you would like to see a full listing of the codes for Clormatic or AquaPure with a list of recommendations to to this web page
http://www.discountpoolwarehouse.com/ht ... ators.html If you need parts do a search on the browser of your choice for Clormatic parts. There are some great prices out there.
