what's the best way to 'clean' the plates? I heard a mild mixture of water and muratic acid and just soak the entire cell. Is that correct? I have a Hayward AquaTrol unit.
What's the best way to 'clean' the plates?
- Thread starter cyrussloane
- Start date
You should only use acid to clean the cell if there is obvious white crusty stuff accumulating on the cell plates. When you do clean it mix one part of acid into four parts of water and soak the cell in that solution for as long as it foams up. When soaking, the cell should only be submerged far enough to cover the cell plates with the wiring and wiring compartment must be kept above the liquid. After soaking, rinse throughly with a garden hose.
correct with regards to mixture, but wrong about entire cell.
connectors should stay above the liquid or they will corrode
if there is a lot of build up you can use soft plastic or wooden stick to poke it out
whatever you do don't use metal objects, you will scratch the surface and damage it
connectors should stay above the liquid or they will corrode
if there is a lot of build up you can use soft plastic or wooden stick to poke it out
whatever you do don't use metal objects, you will scratch the surface and damage it
- Jan 21, 2009
- 562
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite Pro (T-15)
On my Jandy 1400 cell, I did not want to submerse the whole cell, so I put a baggy over one end with a rubber band over the fitting to seal up the end. With the baggy side down, I stood the cell up in my garage sink and filled with the 4:1 muriatic solution. I filled it up until all the plates were covered with solution. My instructions said no more than a half an hour in the solution. My cell was completely plugged with calcium (I just bought the house so it wasn't my fault) so the mixture never quite stopped bubbling.
In my case the cell was so plugged with calcium, the MA bath did almost nothing. My cell was completely plugged and not generating chlorine, so I decided to get Medieval on it figuring I was replacing it any way. I literally had to chip the calcium from between the plates with a brazing rod. It was the only thing I could find that was thin enough to chip between the plates. I spent hours chipping, Ma bath, rinsing with garden hose. Made slow frustrating progress, so then I fire up the Power washer and hit it with that. Just blasted the cell from one end and then the other, and the calcium started fracturing and coming out. Between chipping with the brazing rod and the power washer I got the plates 90% unplugged.
Put the cell back in and it threw codes for a couple of hours and then cleared up and starting generating chlorine again. Bubbles out the pool return fitting like crazy when it is running. Been living on borrowed time for 3 weeks now LOL!
Good luck.
Charlie
In my case the cell was so plugged with calcium, the MA bath did almost nothing. My cell was completely plugged and not generating chlorine, so I decided to get Medieval on it figuring I was replacing it any way. I literally had to chip the calcium from between the plates with a brazing rod. It was the only thing I could find that was thin enough to chip between the plates. I spent hours chipping, Ma bath, rinsing with garden hose. Made slow frustrating progress, so then I fire up the Power washer and hit it with that. Just blasted the cell from one end and then the other, and the calcium started fracturing and coming out. Between chipping with the brazing rod and the power washer I got the plates 90% unplugged.
Put the cell back in and it threw codes for a couple of hours and then cleared up and starting generating chlorine again. Bubbles out the pool return fitting like crazy when it is running. Been living on borrowed time for 3 weeks now LOL!
Good luck.
Charlie
It's best not to have to clean them at all. If you keep your CSI in the minus side you will just need to inspect and just run a garden hose through it. I've found pools with high TA tend to have pH climb so keep the TA low like 60-80 or until the pH locks in place and does not move. keep pH around 7.4-7.5 and CSI in the minus -0.2 seems good.
the good thing about swg's is that its real easy to drop TA and quick. just keep dropping pH to 7.2 and TA will come down fast. When the pH seems to be more stable try to target 7.4 and then lock it there.
the good thing about swg's is that its real easy to drop TA and quick. just keep dropping pH to 7.2 and TA will come down fast. When the pH seems to be more stable try to target 7.4 and then lock it there.
orthofish said:
in this context - a place where a cell lead connects to a cell which is not sealed and will let acid get to the copper wires/contacts
Mine is threaded so i was just going to cap one end off and fill with either the acid water blend, or just use straight vinegar and cap the other end off. Vinegar will work too, just takes a little longer and its safer to work with.
Have you tried White Vinegar yet? It takes about an hour to remove / loosen calcium and does not harm titanium like muratic acid does. Its also safer for the person doing the work. My cell is cleaned 4 times per year and looks and operates good as new. I'm sure the mfr's will have an issue with this since this could reduce the number of replacement cells they get to sell customers. They certainly cant claim that vinegar will damage the cell
It would be fun to see them explain why though.Similar threads
