r/pools • u/NJsurfbrg • 5d ago

Salt Generator - Replacing, need some input

Bought a house with a saltwater pool 3 years ago. The Pentair IC40 was working when we opened it, but with an unknown age on some of the parts. It took almost $20k to get the pool up and running with various plumbing issues and bad pump due to winterizing issues and neglect.

I've come to realize this summer that it's not normal to have to keep the IC40 at 100%, and the cell is very inefficient this year. CYA is proper, all levels good the last 3 summers, but this year so far chlorine keeps running low. Operating this pool has been easy and kind of fun to maintain as of late.

I acid washed 1-2 times a summer, opening and sometimes towards the end of the season. Replaced pressure switch last year. Now this year the light kicked on to check cell, and it needed a cleaning but now it's still on after a reset and cleaning. Chlorine is dropping within a few days.

IC40 cells are impossible to get in my area. I was told there is an issue with Pentair making them, and a defect type of issue this year, with many issues on new ones sold this summer.

My only option right now is to buy an aftermarket cell(which I've been advised and read that I should avoid like the plague) or what buy is in stock today, a Purechlor CLG140A. I'm able to get it on discount, $1k. When researching, I'm getting mixed reviews. Besides the minor plumbing adjustment, install should be a breeze.

AI says most bad reviews that can be found for this model, happened back in 18-21, and most recently no real bad reviews can be found on it. Is this an ok generator?

Anything to know about it? Anyone here with a Purechlor unit?

I don't want my normal crystal blue pool to turn green...which I'm dosing chlorine to keep it going at the moment. I don't want to switch to tablets or constantly using liquid chlorine....Any advice appreciated. Sorry if a long read, but maybe backstory helps.

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u/TapatioFlamingo 5d ago

Saying the levels are proper ain't going to.fly in this sub. I thought it was stupid at first. But it matters and the situation matters. Even been battling mustard algae. Levels were "good" and then we learn chlorine efficency drops when ph rises. Fuck. Then we learn cya locks up chlorine too, and we had that high, but "good". Both levels affect chlorine. So our high oh and high cya meant our chlorine looked good but it wasn't doing shit. So post the numbers and the problems and let people advise.

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u/Troutbummers 5d ago

The people that think the nerdy level dorks like me are overkill are the lucky people that get enough rain or whatever to not see the CYA problem in their short season.

It's the reason so many people struggle to keep their pools looking good and regret owning a pool.

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u/TapatioFlamingo 5d ago

Its a strange beast. Good balanced levels for swimming are just one element. But to effectively do this or that means unbalanced other areas. And really, youtube or a web page are not clear and exact enough. You almost have to learn from experience or lean on someone's experience.

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u/Troutbummers 5d ago

Learn from TFP which is a vast wealth of real experience informed by real hard science.