Where does the calcium which builds up on the salt chlorinator cell come from?

Answer 1

I gotta tell you I love this question! The build up comes from little water fairies that seek out salt generator cells and with their magic wants slowly build calcium on the plates then harvest the calcium and sell it municipalities for spreading on the roads during the winter. O.K. would you believe that is not true? What really happens is when your pH level gets above 7.8 scaling can occur from the chemical reaction that occurs in the cell. Most salt generators have a polarity reversing system that will cause the scale to be released unless you do not keep a close eye on the pH. You must keep the pH below 7.8, which, no matter what the manufacture tells you, the pH tends to climb to 8.0 if left un-checked. The other possible cause, if your unit is designed to reverse, is that the computer program has failed and it is not reversing the polarity in the cell. The way to check that if your unit indicates when it is in a reversing mode (not all do) make a note of where the unit is (reversing or not reversing) the turn the unit off wait about 5 seconds and turn the unit on again. It should go into the opposite mode that it was in before. If it does not then the programming may have failed. As a matter of routine you should be, on a weekly basis, checking the Chlorine level and pH level with your home test kit. If the chlorine level if off you would adjust the output of your salt generator to compensate and if the pH level is too high you would add some pH lower or Muriatic acid (the pH level will usually be too high, but sometimes it may be perfect and you do not want the pH level to go to low so DO NOT ABERTRAILY ADD pH LOWER TO THE POOL with out testing the water first!) And in actuality the build up is actually Alkalinity Salts from Ph being to high driving the Alkalinity up to scaling levels. REMEMBER ALKALINITY FIRST THEN PH THEN CHLORINE