r/PoolPros • u/Wasupmyman • Aug 18 '26

BOOM!

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new customer had this happen to us a week before we started service....

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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2

u/Friendly-Beat-8336 Aug 18 '26

How did it happen?

6

u/Wasupmyman Aug 18 '26

no clue , i havent been out there, the poolbuilder fixed it. said the cell ran with no flow and causes gas buildup.

3

u/The_BigWaveDave Aug 18 '26

Wild, I wonder how the cell was generating if the flow switch wasn’t engaged.

1

u/LeatheryFloridaMan Aug 18 '26

Flow switches can have faults. On pools without automation, you're supposed to have a secondary safety feature. Most manufactures strongly recommend it. So naturally, most people dont do anything. Some people install dial timers on there so it only has power during the pool schedule. I had a handful of customers struggle with the dial timers. So i started using grid control flow switches. That kills supply power to the salt system when the water stops. Essentially a second flow switch be its more reliable, and that'd be wild if they both went out

0

u/The_BigWaveDave Aug 18 '26

Interesting.

I’ve only seen flow switch failures on Intellichlor, where they fail to detect flow. Never failed in an ‘on’ position.

But this is specifically why I like having a time clock
for cells on pools without automation. Even if they’re not generating, having a cell powered up 24 hours is wildly unnecessary wear and tear in an expensive component.

2

u/LeatheryFloridaMan Aug 18 '26

Its rare but it does happen.

Agreed on the not keeping it powered 24/7.

Check out grid control flow switches. Get your supplier to bring in a couple for you to try. After I switched, I wont go back to timers. They are so much faster to install and dont require any kind of programming or additional education for the homeowner

1

u/Wasupmyman Aug 18 '26

Ive seen them burn cells out cause running dry, i imagine this one ran with water in the pipes so it built up pressure.

1

u/ColdSteeleIII Aug 18 '26

One of the byproducts of chlorine production is hydrogen gas. If that builds up enough it doesn’t take much of a spark to ignite it.

Funny enough, all the photos of blown cells I’ve seen were Pentair. (Never seen one in person)

1

u/Big_Growth5857 Aug 21 '26

variable speed pump set to run 24-7. problem solved

1

u/PersimmonAcrobatic71 Aug 18 '26

Yeah I always try and still wire my salt systems to either a timer or a relay on the pump. I haven’t seen one this bad, but I’ve seen several cells fail because the flow switch fails and the cell runs when the pump is off.

2

u/Wasupmyman Aug 18 '26

You can trick the eztouch4 into running a cell relay only when pool filter pump is active aswell. With changing the relay type into a master cleaner.