Does anybody have pictures of the plates inside a new cell or slightly used one? I guess one that needs to be cleaned would work as well. I would just like to compare my cell to a new or "dirty" one. I've read the thread on cleaning them, just not sure if mine needs to be cleaned. Do you submerge the entire cell in the acid mixture?
Cheers,
Kevin
They are very easy to nspect, the only way you can be sure is to remove the element.
shut off the pool.
you can close the vacuum, skimmer, drain valves
remove the 3 wires, before removing make a diagram where they go. 2 wires to element, 1 wire to gas detector
now unscrew the element from the housing
if there is any white scaling between the plates, you will easily see it.
if there is scale
now remove the element housing
put the element back in the housing
put element on the ground with the 2 pipe ports on top
now fill the housing completely covering the element with Cell Cleaner or a 20% Muriatic Acid mix
immediately it will start bubbling as it dissolves the calcium
let it bubble away until it stops
when bubbling stops, gently shake the element, it will bubble a little more
when the second bubbling stops, you are good to rinse
dump out the Cell Cleaner and use high pressure hose nozzle to completely rinse the element
reinstall to piping
replace wires
open any valves you may have close
give it a test drive, make sure no leaks
ideally, you would have a strap wrench for the large union locknuts on the element piping
if you don't have a strap wrench, you can use a file or screwdriver and gently tap on the ridges to loosen the nut.
NOTE: These locknut piping connections do not need to be gorilla tight........you will find that because of the rubber O rings in the joint, just hand tight is all you need
if you are going to do these things yourself, you can get a strap wrench for probably less than 10 dollars and it is handy
