I have not purchased the kit nor acid cleaned my IC40 since putting it into service last year. Pool runs all year but water gets cold so generator is not functioning in the Winter. My output is normally set around 20%. Is it harmful to wait until I see that I must increase output percentage considerably to maintain chlorine levels or is preventative maintenance the way to go?
I haven't cleaned my IC40. Problem or not?
- Thread starter DigitallyChallenged
- Start date
I can say this. As a first time pool owner, Cleaning mine was a piece of cake. Most of the white junk that built up it came off w/o the acid/water bath. Previous Owner left the original IC40 in the closet. It had blockage that was just stuff that must have gotten by a failed DE filter at one point. Flushing water in the opposite direction of flow solved that. Newest IC40 is back in and I hope to stick the original one back in to see if it works.
I may be wrong, but shutting the power down, and unscrewing it to inspect it visually at both ends is pretty easy to do and worth the time once a year. I was apprehensive to do even that last fall but now know its a piece of cake.
Wait till others chime in though. Maybe I'm missing something.
I may be wrong, but shutting the power down, and unscrewing it to inspect it visually at both ends is pretty easy to do and worth the time once a year. I was apprehensive to do even that last fall but now know its a piece of cake.
Wait till others chime in though. Maybe I'm missing something.
dc,
I agree with Mel... kind of... I too believe that it is worth the effort to check it once a year... The manual says "If the unit has a tendency to scale then clean every two months!!!" I say if you follow the TFP principles, you will not have a scaling problem and only need to check it once a year...
On the other hand, I have an IC40 at a rental property that I recently checked for the first time in at least 4 or 5 years.. It had almost no scale at all.. a little on the two outside plates but nothing on the inside ones. So, based upon that, I doubt you will hurt anything just leaving it in place until it rots..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
I agree with Mel... kind of... I too believe that it is worth the effort to check it once a year... The manual says "If the unit has a tendency to scale then clean every two months!!!" I say if you follow the TFP principles, you will not have a scaling problem and only need to check it once a year...
On the other hand, I have an IC40 at a rental property that I recently checked for the first time in at least 4 or 5 years.. It had almost no scale at all.. a little on the two outside plates but nothing on the inside ones. So, based upon that, I doubt you will hurt anything just leaving it in place until it rots..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Pool Clown
In The Industry
Rule of thumb, and you can adjust this frequency as all pool water chemistry can be different from pool to pool with regard to calcium, IOW, i have no idea where your chemistry is, so, the following is sort of a blanket statement:
Do a visual inspection of the cell once every 2 months. It doesn't take any special training (you can do it yourself), and it takes about a minute to do, the inspection that is. If you need to clean, that can take a bit longer, and involves the use of acid. So if you have a pool guy, make him do it (if he isn't already)...
4 parts water, one part acid. Soak for 30 min. If you have a lot of build up, you can use something NON-METALLIC to help break it up with. I use bamboo pot stickers...GENTLY, you don't want to force the plates apart.
Do a visual inspection of the cell once every 2 months. It doesn't take any special training (you can do it yourself), and it takes about a minute to do, the inspection that is. If you need to clean, that can take a bit longer, and involves the use of acid. So if you have a pool guy, make him do it (if he isn't already)...
4 parts water, one part acid. Soak for 30 min. If you have a lot of build up, you can use something NON-METALLIC to help break it up with. I use bamboo pot stickers...GENTLY, you don't want to force the plates apart.
Most of what I read says to soak it until all the fizzing stops. Usually just 2-5 minutes for me. If you leave it in longer wouldn't you start to remove the coating on the metal plates?