Malfunctioning cell? Normal calcification?

[scrappy]

How much calcium buildup is normal after a month of use. It says here to clean your cell once a year. I cleaned mine about a month ago and i have a little bit of calcium, but not very much. I did notice that the calcium buildup is not on each plate, but only on a few of them. Is this normal? I think my cell is failing and wondering if calcium buildup only on certain plates is an indication that some of the plates are not functioning. Should the calcium buildup be equal on each cell? The plates are all very square edged which the manufacturere said should be an indication that the cell is not used up. I'm thinking it's a malfunctioning cell.

Opinions?

 

[JasonLion]

Calcium buildup almost always indicates that your chemistry is not properly balanced. You should post a full set of water test results and we can advise you about how to balance your levels.

When you do get calcium buildup, it normally only accumulates on about half of the plates.

 

[Strannik]

I'd be worried if the plates weren't square edged, that would mean your cell is being pushed too far.

 

[scrappy]

The plates are square edged. The TA is a bit high, but not what I would call extremely high. Its within most ranges.

FC: 2.0
TA: 120
CH: 350
CYA: 40
Salt: 4200

The chlorinator is a Zodiac LM2-24 that recommends salt 4000+.

 

[JasonLion]

Nothing in your levels suggests problems with scaling at normal PH levels (7.5 to 7.8) but scaling is possible at very high PH levels (above 8.2). You didn't mention what your PH is. TA levels around 120, combined with a SWG, will tend to drive the PH up quite high. If you have not been closely monitoring the PH, it is quite possible that it got high enough to cause scaling at some point.

 

[scrappy]

Oops, missed the PH. It stays very steady at 7.4 and hasn't moved.

 

[Poolsean]

If your system is not reversing polarity (self cleaning feature), it can scale up, even with balanced water conditions.
Can you check voltage on the cell?
Do you know how frequent it is suppose to reverse polarity?

 

[DBfan187]

Your SWG is undersized for your pool.

 

[scrappy]

You are the second person to say that. The manual says its good for 140,000 L, mine pool is 100,000. Do you know if you can add the LM2-40 cell onto a LM2-24 panel?

 

[Strannik]

The manuals normally list absolute maximum sizes under ideal conditions which are hardly ever achievable in real life. LM24 in particular makes 24g/h of chlorine, which is equivalent to our RP25.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend for our Australian customers to use this model on a pool bigger than 60 000 litres.
That's taking into account that in Australia 8 hours/day is considered normal running time and if you have to run it for more than 12 hours it's considered that your chlorinator is undersized.

Now if they say that for that unit maximum is 140 000 l, i would assume that they imply 24/7 running time.