Hooking up the SWG

[denniston]

So I finally got around to looking at the salt water generator. We got our pool from my wife's grandmother who wasn't well equipped to maintain the pool. After a successful battle with an algae bloom from residual algae in the pool when we got it, I've decided to take a look at the SWG. Actually I've been putting this off because the was what looked to be several different substances inside the unit. Tonight I began the process of tearing it all apart, identifying substances, and cleaning said substances. From what I can tell they were some sort of scale, either salt crystals or calcium (my hunch is the former, but I don't know). The other was plain ole rust. And in some of the crevasses there was a slimy substance which may have been some sort of algae. Now that I have it all cleaned up (see the pics below), I have a few questions.
1) It looks as though some of the electrical components got hot. I assume because of the large amount of scale increasing the resistance. Is this sort of scale normal? Is there any necessary routine cleaning needed?

2) It seems as though I must have lost an O-ring in the process. After I got everything cleaned up and put back together I noticed that there was a slow leak around where the copper bars are inserted. I never noticed the O-ring when I was tearing it out, but I can't seem to get it to seal, and everything else has a O-ring. Does any one have one of these they could look at, or have any experience with it? Also does anyone have any idea where I could get a replacement one, or some other method of sealing it?

Thanks

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Before
[attachment=1:1coiif3d]before.jpg[/attachment:1coiif3d]

After
[attachment=0:1coiif3d]after.jpg[/attachment:1coiif3d]

 

[JasonLion]

1) Calcium scaling on the SWG cell is fairly common, but not normal. Generally something has to be wrong with the chemical balance before scaling will occur.
2) Most pools stores have a wide range of o-rings. Or you can figure out the brand and model and try to find an exact match.

 

[sarahspins]

There is an o-ring around the copper electrode, it's this part from intex, or you can try to find a replacement at a hardware store or pool store. It should fit just below the lip on the smaller diameter part of the plastic.

http://www.intexcorp.com/index.php/repl ... 11440.html

 

[denniston]

There is an o-ring around the copper electrode, it's this part from intex, or you can try to find a replacement at a hardware store or pool store. It should fit just below the lip on the smaller diameter part of the plastic.

http://www.intexcorp.com/index.php/repl ... 11440.html

Awesome!!! Thanks!

 

[denniston]

For anyone who may be searching the forums later for information on cleaning their SWG. Here's a video that describes how to do it using vinegar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE11tneahM4