Pascoe

Over the past few months I have noticed that the frequently my salt system is not generating any chlorine and that the salt level is indicating below 2400, instant salinity is normally around 29000 - 30000 and this concentration is supported when I've had the water checked at the local pool store. I've cleaned the cell until I'm sick of it and there's never been any substantial build up on the plates. Keeping the yellow-green algae down is a daily task and I have taken to adding some liquid chlorine from time to time. The local pool store has given me a couple of easy practical suggestions for checking if the cell is producing Chlorine and it is. Anyway, if I switch the power of the Aqua Rite control box off and then back on again and wait a few seconds the salinity indication will start to rise (Not always but more often than not) and the chlorine generation will continue to work as long as I stand there and watch it. Inevitably when I go away and come back I have a bunch of flashing lights and depending on the indicated salt level it may or may not be generating chlorine. The salt system is currently in it's 4th summer (Southern California) and the water temperature is currently 85 - 87 during the day and around 80 at night. I am not the most ardent pool chemistry monitor and during the winter it might go many weeks between checks. I am always having to add Muriatic Acid and have also had to spend several dollars on the Conditioner to bring it up from 50 to 90(ish). This is the second cell I've installed in the system. The first did great for the initial season and then I struggled through most of the second summer trying to get it to work (very similar symptom to my current problem) until I relinquished and bought another cell. Immediate satisfaction and a relatively trouble free summer last year but now I'm back to the same old story and it looks like these cells will only last about one summer. I run the pool pump using the following equation, temp in C divided by 2 equals the number of hours to run the pump. So the pump runs a couple of hours a day even in the winter up to 12/13 hours/day currently. So the cell makes chlorine until it thinks the salt level is too low and then shuts down. What is making it think the salt level is low? I could provide the diagnostic readings but they do vary although appear to be within limits most of the time.