New Zodiac chlorinator clogging quickly with calcium

[Chuckles78]

Hiyas,

I had a new ZodiacTri medium salt chlorinator installed a while ago (1-2 months now).

The plates are already clogged with calcium, is this normal? I thought this was a self cleaning system?

I saw it was clogged after finding it was producing little chlorine.

My pool cleaner thinks it not normal with a new unit, that perhaps its faulty or not installed properly?

[Chaichara]

Generally the automatic reverse polarity will de-scale the cell, but if your water is very hard, it may not be able to cope. You must remove this limescale before it gets too much and the plates buckle - then you will be in for an expensive repair that won't be covered by gurantee - note that only officially imported models are covered by guarantee.

Your pool 'specialist' should also be able to tell you how to adjust your pool water chemistry for calcium hardness.

[NickJ]

I could not use our village water for the pool or house. I had to use water trucks to get govt water. To much calcium.

[Chuckles78]

We have water from pranbury now which is very good however my water is hard from before.

[Chaichara]

I can't understand why Chuckles78 can't/won't contact the vendor/installer.

If the unit was sold and installed by a reputable company, they would have nothing to lose by addressing the issue or at least providing some professional advice on water chemistry.

[sappersrest]

Unfortunately if you have a high total hardness level there is not really much you can do about it,except dilute with water from a different source (or put the make up water through a softener) !!!

Check the quality of salt that you are using, should really be food grade, this is a common problem with electrochlorinators used to produce sodium hypochlorite. I used to supply 500kg on installation a few weeks later the cells would be caked up, only to find the customer had bought cheaper salt.

The use of alum will also cause the plates to foul.

If the electrics are set up wrong at the factory i.e. drawing a higher current than is required this will also cause fouling of the plates Check with your installer you may need to change the unit.

And of course get a good test kit one that will measure calcium hardness.

If you have access to a decent pool shop ask them to carry out a full balanced water test i.e. ph, calcium hadness, temp.alkalinity. this will determine wether your water is scale forming or corrosive

http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.npconline.org/resource/resmgr/Docs/Chapter-2-The-saturation-ind.pdf

[Chuckles78]

I can't understand why Chuckles78 can't/won't contact the vendor/installer.

If the unit was sold and installed by a reputable company, they would have nothing to lose by addressing the issue or at least providing some professional advice on water chemistry.

I did but they are closed during the holidays and I wanted some feedback sooner.

[Chaichara]

I did but they are closed during the holidays and I wanted some feedback sooner.

Fair enough. When you get them, ask them about ion-exchange water softening. You don't need to understand the chemistry of it, but to evaluate if it's worth investing in such a system. Of course, much depends on whether they speak your langugage, and if they are operating a bona fidae business or just trying to make quick sales at low prices.