IC40 Cleaning Schedule and How To

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hollywoodfrodo

hollywoodfrodo

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Feb 20, 2018
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Lakewood, CA
Our IC40 SWG seems to be working fine. Our pool is new and everything was started up in July of this year - I had marked on my calendar to clean the SWG this week - I can't remember why, but I feel like somewhere (manual or something) I read it should be checked/cleaned every 4 months. Is that correct? Or is it an every 6 months or 12 months thing? (I want to be proactive and keep it working at it's best.)

Secondly, what's the easiest way to clean it? I've read some people using vinegar and others muriatic acid. We have diluted muriatic acid that we use for the pool so that seems simplest. Do we need a cleaning kit - I think I saw pentair sales something. Or is that a waste of $?

What methods have y'all found to be the simplest and most effective for cleaning the SWG?
 
Pentair recommends you check the plates for scaling every two months. But not clean it that often unless there is scaling. If you find the initial frequency they recommend for inspection reveals little or no scaling, then you increase the inspection interval appropriately. The acid bath that does the cleaning does impact the longevity of the coating on the plates, so you don't want to do that more than necessary, so there is no hard and fast rule/schedule for cleaning.

I bought Pentair's kit. It's basically a cap that you screw on one end to hold in the cleaning solution. The kit comes with simple instructions, which you can also find online. The threads of your SWG are nothing standard, so Pentair has somewhat designed-in the need for the kit. Others have offered other solutions to this dilemma. But the kit, even though ridiculously priced, seemed like the best means to an end for me.

First step is to remove it from your plumbing. Turn off all the breakers to the pad, before you do anything. You want no power to the SWG, and no power to the pump. Turning off all the breakers is the safest way to ensure that. Then unscrew the SWG's unions and take a look inside.

If there's scaling, you first try to dislodge it by spraying water through the SWG. Whatever is left you burn off with muriatic acid. (I didn't try vinegar.) As I said, the kit's instruction sheet is comprehensive and simple. I just followed that. The owner's manual also has the description as well, on page 19. You saved yours, right? It's also available on Pentair's website.

Replace the SWG, after first inspecting/cleaning/lubing the o-rings and where they seat, and you're good-to-go.

It's possible to maintain your TFP water such that virtually no scaling occurs. So if you have a lot of scaling, we can address that through water chemistry. Short version: maintain your CSI within the range of -0.3 to 0.0.
 
Keeping your water balanced at all times with a CSI of -0.3 to 0.0 should greatly reduce or eliminate any scaling in the cell and thus no need to clean it.

If Pentair is like Hayward, there may be a warning light that comes on to remind you to inspect/clean the cell. For Hayward this is timer based and does NOT mean that you actually have to clean anything if the cell does not have scale. You can just reset the light.
 
Thanks for all the advice, as always! My pool chemistry is good. My CH is a little high as our water is naturally high in calcium. Hoping to offset that with some rainwater, but it is SoCal so no idea when we'll get our first rain.

My CSI at last test was -.34 but it's always in flux (due to pH always being in flux - new plaster) but it stays generally within the -.3 to +.3 range. We haven't had any major issue with scaling or calcium deposits in the pool so hopefully that carries over to the SWG. I'd like to not have to clean it often and have it last a very long time!
 
Your SWCG will shed calcium flakes way before it starts to have scale enough to effect its operation.

If you see white flakes, check your pH and especially your TA. Higher TA seems to drive the creation of calcium carbonate in the SWCG.
 
h,

I visually "check" my cell twice a year because that is how often I shut down and clean my filter. Since I already have the filter apart and the water drained, it only takes 5 more minutes to pop the cell out and take a quick look.

If I can see a build up, I have the Pentair cleaning "kit" which is not much more than a cap that you can put on one end of the cell. This allows you to pour a diluted acid (4 part water and 1 part acid) into the other end of the cell. I have a small bucket that I can vertically set the cell in, and a small funnel to get the diluted acid into the cell without slopping it everywhere. When I am done cleaning the cell, I can turn the cell upside down, which pours the acid into the bucket.

Works well for me,

Jim R.
 
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