I called the Resilience rep (my current salt cell) and they did recommend the usual MA and water mixture, but he said that they also recommend vinegar because its "less harsh" on the cell. It does make since, but have any of you used it before or currently use it when cleaning your cell?
Anybody ever heard of using vinegar to clean out salt cell?
- Thread starter CajunGuy
- Start date
I'm doing that with mine.
I use white vinegar. I used a threaded end part and siliconed a piece of plastic to it to seal it, then put a gasket in there so it wouldn't leak when I screwed it on the SWG.
I've heard MA will damage the cell and vinegar won't so that's what I use.
I use white vinegar. I used a threaded end part and siliconed a piece of plastic to it to seal it, then put a gasket in there so it wouldn't leak when I screwed it on the SWG.
I've heard MA will damage the cell and vinegar won't so that's what I use.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,411
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It can be used. It will take a lot longer though, at least 2 hours or so. Think about a coffee pot, most manufacturers suggest running a hot water cycle and then adding vinegar in to clean and letting it sit for at least 2 hours. Acetic acid is a much weaker acid than MA and the calcium acetate salt is much less soluble than calcium chloride.
And, to be clear, ALL acids will damage the cell plate coatings.
My suggestion would be to use the weakest concentration possible and to only clean plates that have VISIBLE scale on them. I pull my cell once per year and I have never acid cleaned it because it has never had scale on it (even with my CH nearing 1000ppm). So I have never exposed it to acid cleaning.
And, to be clear, ALL acids will damage the cell plate coatings.
My suggestion would be to use the weakest concentration possible and to only clean plates that have VISIBLE scale on them. I pull my cell once per year and I have never acid cleaned it because it has never had scale on it (even with my CH nearing 1000ppm). So I have never exposed it to acid cleaning.
I clean my SWG every two or three weeks. My well water tends to build a lot of scale, even on my appliances. I use vinegar, 5%. I disconnect the SWG from the pool, dump the water, then fill with vinegar. I cap it and let it sit in sun for 2-4 hours. Afterwards, I take it apart and rinse it thoroughly. To clear the loosened scale between the plates, I carefully use a pipe cleaner. Hope this helps.��
It is far better for your pool and your SWG to manage your water chemistry to avoid scale. Our water has a very high tendency to scale too. Keep your CSI between -0.3 and 0 to avoid scale. I have not needed to clean my SWG in 5 years even though my coffee pot needs it regularly. More here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling
Tsudduth
0
I had an intex SWG for 4 years and I used vinegar to clean the cell about once a week. In Midland, Tx we have very hard water and it would scale up once a week without fail. Vinegar did the trick every time. This was before I knew about TFP.
My chemistry is where it should be, however, I still get build up on one side of my SWG. I honestly don't know if it is 'scale'. It is white and hard and the vinegar takes care of it.
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Here is how I clean my chlorinator. Fill the 5 gallon bucket with water, and turn it on. You may have to stick the end of a water hose into the hose to the pump to get it going. Wait until you get water circ before adding the vinegar. Just leave it go for a couple hours finally use a plastic scraper to gently remove stubborn salt buildup in the cell.
I used white vinegar on that very same Intex salt system for my smaller AGP. Two gallon jugs at store were ~$2 and lasted me a year.
Very hard water where we live and can’t use softener since we are on septic.
I would be worried about the acid eating gaskets, o-rings etc by pumping it. Ex: usenitnon Your dish washer but don’t leave it without doing a rinse like I did. Whole dish water interiornplastic turned yellow and heater rod turned gray.
Instead I unplugged and unscrewed the plate holder and slid it out. Fit perfectly into a larger glass cup so I could watch the acid do it’s work, about 30-90 minutes, and then rinse it before the acid then turned on the plates. Did this for three years before giving it to my sister in law and she’s used it for another year so far.
Very hard water where we live and can’t use softener since we are on septic.
I would be worried about the acid eating gaskets, o-rings etc by pumping it. Ex: usenitnon Your dish washer but don’t leave it without doing a rinse like I did. Whole dish water interiornplastic turned yellow and heater rod turned gray.
Instead I unplugged and unscrewed the plate holder and slid it out. Fit perfectly into a larger glass cup so I could watch the acid do it’s work, about 30-90 minutes, and then rinse it before the acid then turned on the plates. Did this for three years before giving it to my sister in law and she’s used it for another year so far.
??? I know literally dozens of people that have water softeners and septic systems. Not sure what you mean by that comment.