When to Replace a Salt Cell

How long a salt cell lasts, by maker

A salt cell is a wear part: its plates wear down as it makes chlorine. Three makers print a figure for how long that takes. The rest print none in the manuals we read.

These are hours of making chlorine, not years on the pad. Figures in years are repeated for the Hayward TurboCell. None is in any Hayward document read for this page, so treat them as unverified.

What shortens a cell's life

• Too much acid. Pentair and Jandy print that excessive acid washing damages the cell. AutoPilot and CompuPool say needless or excessive cleaning cuts its life. Hayward's manuals do not say so.
• Scale and high calcium. AutoPilot says calcium build up on the blades, and water kept in a scaling condition, shorten cell life.
• A short reversal period. Pentair says its self cleaning cycle costs an IntelliChlor some life. AutoPilot and CompuPool say it of any cycle shorter than the factory 4 hours on a Pool Pilot Digital or 6 on a CPX.
• Low salt. Jandy prints premature cell failure below 2,000 ppm on an AquaPure, 2,500 on a TruClear and 3,000 on an AquaPure Ei. AutoPilot's Nano manual says it below 2,400.
• Dry acid. Pentair says never to adjust pH with it, and Hayward and Jandy warn against it: its by-products can damage the cell.

Rule these out before you blame the cell

Each of these looks like a dead cell and is not. Take them in order.

1. Scale or dirt. Switch the power off before you unplug or unscrew the cell. Hayward's guide says a TurboCell that looks clean may still need cleaning when its salt reading is off or its output has dropped. How to clean a salt cell has each maker's method.
2. Low salt, or a false low reading. Hayward's guide sets the order: clean the cell, then test the water with a salt meter or test kit. Hayward expects its display within 500 ppm of that test. If the water is low, the pool salt calculator gives the pounds. If the water is right and a clean cell still reads low, Hayward says the cell has started to age, and never to add salt for it.
3. Cold water. Most systems cut or stop output in the cold, at the temperatures in the table below.
4. Flow. Hayward's AquaRite flow switch needs 11 gallons a minute and the AquaRite S3's needs 13. Pentair's IntelliChlor wants about 25, Jandy's TruClear 20. A variable speed pump on low can fall short. Never jumper a flow switch to get a cell running.
5. Chlorine demand. Solaxx's PureChlor guide runs the cell in a bucket holding 5 gallons of pool water. If the bucket shows chlorine, the cell works and the pool is using it up. Solaxx names high pH, low stabilizer, phosphates and nitrates.

Hayward: Inspect Cell and the two salt readings

A flashing Inspect Cell light on a Hayward AquaRite means reduced efficiency or the 500 hour reminder. Steady, it means chlorine production has stopped. If it stays on after a thorough cleaning, with the right salt in the pool, Hayward's owner's manual says the cell may be worn.

The diagnostic button steps through eight readings, cell voltage, cell current and instant salinity among them, but Hayward prints no pass or fail value for volts or amps. Its troubleshooting guide tests the cell with salt instead:

1. Measure the salt with a calibrated meter.
2. Clean the cell and check the cell type setting.
3. Reset the average salt twice, once for each of the cell's two polarities.
4. If the two readings differ by more than 500 ppm, Hayward's flowchart ends at a new TurboCell.

Hayward's HOT message, if it stays after cleaning with no running heater ahead of the cell, means a failed temperature sensor inside it and a new cell. Hayward's Cell Exhausted on an AquaRite S3 and CELL LIFE LOW on a Salt and Swim mean the end of service life.

Pentair: read the hours first

An IntelliChlor counts its hours. On a Pentair IC15 to IC60, hold MORE for 3 seconds: one light then shows usage, from the 20% light at 2,000 hours to the 100% light at 10,000. A Plus or LT shows run time on INFO. An iChlor shows total cell hours first in diagnostic mode.

A flashing green CELL light on a Pentair IC cell means the cell needs inspecting and is not producing. Pentair lists three causes: salt, calcium build up and water chemistry. Plus and LT cells show CHK CELL or INSPECT instead, and SENS ERR for the sensor module, a part Pentair lists apart from the cell.

Jandy: service codes, not volts

Jandy gives the owner no volt or amp test, only a three digit service code on an AquaPure or PureLink.

Of the Jandy codes an owner acts on, only 123 prints replacement. Jandy sends a cell that still misbehaves after cleaning to a pool professional, and every Level 2 code from 180 up with it.

A Jandy TruClear showing Lo Temp/Lo Salt and an AquaPure Ei showing Check Salt both list an expired cell among the causes, beside cold water and low salt. Neither manual says how the unit decides, so prove the salt and the temperature first.

AutoPilot: volts, amps and an amp hour count

Test Pool Pilot on a Pool Pilot Digital shows cell volts, amps and an amp hour count. AutoPilot prints no end of life value for the count, so it is a log, not a verdict. AutoPilot's LOW AMPS - CELL message is a heavily scaled cell, and the manual adds that a cell already clean should be replaced. The same row lists low salt, a loose cell cord and a failed power supply.

AutoPilot's volts and amps sheet puts a typical PPC1 at 16 to 19 volts and a PPC3 at 20 to 24, at 3,000 ppm and 75F. Voltage at AutoPilot's limit, 32 on equipment made after 2010, with amps under 2.6 points to the cord, scale or a depleted cell.

On a ChlorSync Gen II, CLN CELL means cell voltage above 28 in AutoPilot's online manual and above 30 in its troubleshooting guide. Either way, clean first.

CompuPool: the Low Salt light and the output bars

CompuPool's CPX manual names the fault outright: Dying Cell, a cell that no longer makes enough chlorine and is to be replaced. It is listed under the Low Salt light and under output bars reading lower than the output setting. Low salinity and calcium on the plates share those rows, so test and clean first. CompuPool's older CPSC has no error codes, only NO FLOW, OVER SALT and ADD SALT lights.

Solaxx PureChlor: Tech Mode and error codes

A flashing Check Cell light is the 8,000 hour timed warning, not a verdict: Solaxx says a cell whose amps and volts are in range can keep running once the power supply is reprogrammed. A solid Check Cell light means salt outside Solaxx's 3,500 to 4,500 ppm, a cell that needs cleaning, damaged blades or the end of usable life.

In Tech Mode, Solaxx's optimal amps are 5.8 to 6.0. Under 5.8, with the salt confirmed and the cell cleaned, means the end of usable life or damaged blades. Solaxx's good volts, at 3,500 ppm, are 13 to 14 for the 15K cell, 18 to 20 for the 25K and 25 to 27 for the 40K. Good amps with high volts is an aging cell.

Solaxx's System Error 1 ends in a new cell if the blades are damaged or pitted, System Error 2 if debris will not hose out, and errors 4 to 7 are the power supply. All of this is PureChlor's: no Solaxx manual was found for the Resilience.

When the cell is not the problem

The flow switch: Hayward calls it a safety switch and says to replace a damaged one, never repair it. The cord: Jandy's 120, 121 and 123 all say to check the DC cord. The power center: Hayward's -Pcb- display is a possible board fault, and Jandy's 170 and 171 are board conditions for a pool professional. Those parts are under salt system parts. If the control has failed, a complete salt chlorine generator replaces both.

Choosing the replacement cell

Match the system first, then the size

Start from the name on the control box.

• Hayward salt cells. An AquaRite must be set to its cell: t-3, t-5, t-9 or t-15. Set wrong, the salt reading is off and chlorination is likely to stop.
• Pentair IntelliChlor cells. Pentair's guides are silent on changing the size of an IC cell: they say only that the PC100 power center serves the IC20, IC40 and IC60. The IC40 page takes up the IC60 and Plus40 questions.
• Jandy and Zodiac cells. An AquaPure board is set up as a 1400 at the factory, and making it a 700 is a permanent change on the board. Keep the blade count you have.
• AutoPilot cells. Cell Type must match the cell: PPC1, PPC3, PPC4 or PPC5. The Replace Cell menu zeroes the amp hour count, and AutoPilot's warranty wants the cell cord replaced with the cell.
• CompuPool cells. The CPX manual says no control setting changes when a cell is replaced, and is silent on moving to another size.
• Solaxx cells. A PureChlor is reprogrammed for any new cell, and to the new size if a larger one goes on. Its 32K cell, CLG132A, is only for serial numbers K24 or later.

Every cell we carry is under salt cells.

The original, or a cell another maker builds for your system

CaliMar and CompuPool build cells for other makers' systems. Nobody in the documents read for this page measured one against the original, so we make no claim about output or life in either direction. What can be compared is on paper: the gallon rating, the warranty term where the product title prints one, what the title says is in the box, and who built it. Generic vs OEM salt cells sets that out system by system.

Hayward T-15. The original is the Hayward TurboCell T-15, titled for pools up to 40,000 gallons. CaliMar's cell for the T-Cell-15 prints 40K gallons and a 2-year warranty in its title. CompuPool's cell for the T-Cell-15 prints 40K gallons and a cord. Hayward's product page lists a 15 ft cell cord and 13 plates and has no row for unions, and its manuals do not say what comes with a replacement TurboCell. The T-Cell-15 page sets them side by side.

Jandy AquaPure 1400. Jandy's own is the 3 port, 14 blade cell kit R0452400, titled for 40,000 gallon pools. CompuPool's 3 port, 14 blade cell for the AquaPure prints 40,000 gallons too. Neither title prints a warranty.

Pentair IntelliChlor. Pentair's own 40,000 gallon cell is the IntelliChlor Plus40, the newer generation. CaliMar's cell for the IC40 is titled as compatible with the IC40 at 40K gallons. They are two different cells, so settle which one your system takes first.

Pentair's guides and Jandy's manuals do not mention cells from other makers. Hayward's AquaRite owner's manual says a non-genuine cell on a Hayward control voids the warranty. AutoPilot's warranty is void where parts do not meet OEM specifications, and CompuPool's manuals say to use only cells labeled as a replacement for the model. If your control is under warranty, read it before you choose.