Blueish White Film All Over Salt Water Generator Electrode

[searcherrr]

Last pool season towards the end I noticed this and had to stop and take the SWG apart to clean it. At the time this film (what is it by the way?) came off easily, later on it seemed to be more stuck on. How do I get it off? How do I prevent it from building up again? What is it? Is this calcium build up?

We are setting up our pool again right now and I'd like this film to not build up on the electrode again this season and of course, I want the water to be balanced. Even though it remained clear last season, this white buildup on the electrode was still happening.

[waterbear]

post a full set of water test meaurements please

[searcherrr]

post a full set of water test meaurements please

Well, I am just now filling up the pool today, so I'm starting fresh from scratch with the same SWG that has/had the blueish (mostly white... like the color of iceberg's at the North Pole) on it. How should I start off? I am putting in 3.5 40lbs of salt and should I shock it too?

I will not have good water measurements till probably a week from now.

Do the water test solutions go bad if stored outside in a pretty air tight cabinet in the shade? Cause our test solutions are from last year.

We use the same test kit for our hot tub too and now I'm wondering due to what we've been going through with the pool, if our hot tub heating element is suffering the same fate as the copper electrode in the pool.

[waterbear]

Test your fill water. We need to know the TA, pH and CH right now. What test kit do you have?

[searcherrr]

Sorry, i didn't see your post request in time to give you the "fill water" test results, but here it is only a couple days after we poured the water.

We are using this exact test kit http://www.archchemicals.com/Fed/HTH/Docs/HTH_6WayTest_Instructions.pdf HTH Part number 904615 Item number 91905 and looks like this:

http://www.capitolsupply.com/catalog/pool-thermometers-repair-test-kits-24465/91905-hth-6-test-kit-cs22425.html

or this: http://www.midlandhardware.com/HTH--Pool-6-Way-Test-Kit-Performs-Up-To-100-Tests-91905_p_123611.html#

I have put in 3.5 40lbs of salt yesterday and today I have put in 1 pouch of HTH shock-n-swim. This is an Intex Easy-Set 18' x 48" pool with the air ring at top. Circular pool with the slanted sides.... for you to figure volume. I think I have figured 3.5 bags of salt being accurate.

Chemical tests this afternoon (4 - 6 hours after the shock treatment went in) were:

CH 5

BR 10

PH 7.1 - 7.2'ish

TA 130 - 140 ppm (This was the first time I've ever in my life tested akalinity, so I following the instructions as seen on the PDF link above.)

So, where am I at? Test again tomorrow and begin adjusting water or what?

Recommendations for cleaning the copper electrode??

Lastly, and off topic, is there a solution I can soak old paper filters in (the B intex filters) to reuse them once they don't seem to wash out anymore?

[waterbear]

OK, now I can help you. The film you see is most likely copper carbonate. Your SWCG also includes a copper ionizer which I would disconnect. Copper is what turns hair green. You don't want copper in your water. You did not do a hardness test nor a CYA test. The Clorine/bromine tests are mutually exclusive. You are wither using chlorine or bromine, not both. With a SWCG you would be using chlorine.so just report the chlorine readings. A full set of test results would still be helpful so see if your water will have a tendency to scale. With your TA as high as it is I would be careful about using cal hypo (shock and swim). Laundry bleach or liquid chlorine is safer since it won't raise calcium hardness.

The intex paper filters are meant to be discarded but you can purchase replacement filters from Unicel, and Aladdin (and possibly others) that are polyester and meant to be cleaned. Get 2 of them so you can swap out the dirty one for a clean one and soak the dirty one in a soluton of 2 cups automatic dishwasher detergent powder to 5 gallons of water overnight. and then hose it off with a garden hose nozzle. You can save and reuse the detergent solution for about a month if it does not get too dirty.

[searcherrr]

Doesn't the copper ionizer also help produce chlorine? If so, how long are you saying for me to have it disconnected till?

Well, should I lower my TA or just let it sit a few days and retest with the rest of what that test kit offers too?

Anyone know how i can get the electrode and ionizer out of the Intex SWCG I have?

I have had it dried out on the kitchen table before and the best I could do was squeeze a brush or something in there to scrub off as much as I could get off only to have it build back up in a short period of time last summer. All last summer we didn't ever use chlorine except maybe on 2 occassions because it seemed as though the SWCG wasn't producing chlorine at all..... but last summer was that big heat wave too, so it could've all been evaporating as fast as it produced it too.

[waterbear]

The copper ionizer has nothing to do with chlorine production at all. Copper is an algaecide but is not a first choice algaecide because it stains pools and can turn hair green, particularly blonds, and those with damaged or chemically processed or sun damaged hair.The best algaecide is maintaining a proper chlorine level in the water and you do that by regular testing. Period. Copper is not a sanitizer and does not kill any of the viruses or bacteria that cause illnesses in pool water. There is no need for copper in pool water at all.. Do you put stablizer in your water? If not that would explain why the SWCG cannot keep up. Intex recommends 30-50 ppm but there is nor reason that you cannot go as high as 100 ppm if the chlorine is not holding. Start with a level of 50 ppm. If I am not mistaken you can just disconnect the electrical connection to the copper electrode and the salt cell will still work. The chlorine level should be maintained at about 3-6 ppm at all times if you disconnect the copper electrode. The rule of thumb is that your Free Chlorine should be 10% of your stabilizer or a bit higher.

The instruction manual shows a parts breakdown of the unit and has complete intructions on cleaning the cell with vinegar (a slow process if there is a lot of buildup). If you don't have the manual you can download it from the Intex website.

[searcherrr]

I have never used stabilizer, except 1 time in our hot tub, but I was contimplating buying something that might've been a stablizer (Arm and Hammer bucket of tablets) that claimed it would keep the chlorine in the water and keep the alkalinity right, but it was $20 for the bucket and I didn't get it.

Last season we didn't put chlorine in manually except once and we let the SWCG and the 2500 gph pump run 6 hours a day at night time and no one ever got green hair, but maybe we didn't swim in it long enough to get green hair?

I thought the salt was a natural algaecide too or thats not true?

The blueish/white film is also on the silver metal plates at the front of the SWCG beginning flow area as well, but not as much as it is on the copper tuning fork looking electrode.

Besides green hair what is the disadvantage of letting the copper electrode do its thing? If its an algaecide why's it bad to have in the water, besides the green hair thing?

I will post numbers tomorrow, but if I cant get the white film off the metal i know the pump will continue to run wrong? Any liquid solution that will dissolve whats on there if I cant get it all apart?

[waterbear]

I have never used stabilizer, except 1 time in our hot tub, but I was contimplating buying something that might've been a stablizer (Arm and Hammer bucket of tablets) that claimed it would keep the chlorine in the water and keep the alkalinity right, but it was $20 for the bucket and I didn't get it.

Nope, just expensive baking soda tablets for use with trichlor tabs.

Last season we didn't put chlorine in manually except once and we let the SWCG and the 2500 gph pump run 6 hours a day at night time and no one ever got green hair, but maybe we didn't swim in it long enough to get green hair?

I thought the salt was a natural algaecide too or thats not true?

Nope, chlorine is.

The blueish/white film is also on the silver metal plates at the front of the SWCG beginning flow area as well, but not as much as it is on the copper tuning fork looking electrode.

Besides green hair what is the disadvantage of letting the copper electrode do its thing? If its an algaecide why's it bad to have in the water, besides the green hair thing?

It stains pools and people and the staining can happen any time there is a pH spike or you shock the pool. and it's just not needed.

I will post numbers tomorrow, but if I cant get the white film off the metal i know the pump will continue to run wrong? Any liquid solution that will dissolve whats on there if I cant get it all apart?

Have you read the manual for the unit? IT explains how to clean everything. I would start with that and also follow the water balance tips and add the stabilizer like the manual says.

[searcherrr]

Tested today:

CYA - IT says to pour into the special measuring tube until the black dot turns clear. It never turned clear and I stopped at 30ppm, a couple ml from the top of the test tube.

Hardness 14 or 140ppm

TA 13-14 turned pink (not red) 130-140Ppm

CL .5

PH 7.6

This is running the pump 6 hrs a day.

I guess I could read the manual (I usually always do), but I seriously doubt it tells me to take apart the unit and clean it. I was hoping there was some easily available liquid solution I could soak the metal in and just rinse it out. I feel pretty confident the white film is inhibiting the chlorine production.

Is there another good forum like this that I could get my other questions answered on? I imagine you are very busy and probably don't have the time to discuss all the in's and outs of pool water balance with me. I'm trying to learn though.

[waterbear]

I guess I could read the manual,,,

I was hoping there was some easily available liquid solution I could soak the metal in and just rinse it out

<facepalm>

AND we have a winner!

I would suggest starting with reading the manual you might be pleasantly surprised that there is a solution you can pour in to clean it and then drain out. It's all documented in the manual.

Back in the 70's when I worked in computers we used to say RTFM when someone was having a problem because the did not know how to do a basic task (Google it!)

Cleaning your cell is a basic task for ANY SWCG!

Start from there please. One thing at a time.

I do know of other good forums but I would not want to send them someone who refuses to even read the manual to learn how to operate the equipment that they have because they might think I was dumping someone on them.

[searcherrr]

WOW!!! And you are a moderator? I bet you won't even let this post stand, but I gotta tell ya waterbear you have no idea who you are talking to. I am the document Nazi and what I was hoping for just once was a little shortcut..... to benefit from someone's knowledge on here instead of being dumbed down. LOL - You just have no idea who you are dealing with. I have no problem reading a manual. I do have a problem with arrogance though..... though I'm sure many others will find all this quite entertaining. hehe. Village Idiot huh?

[waterbear]

I bet you won't even let this post stand, but I gotta tell ya waterbear you have no idea who you are talking to. I am the document Nazi and what I was hoping for just once was a little shortcut.

Really? Really?!? A little shortcut? How about if I just come over to your house and set up your pool for you? Would you like that? Is it that much work to read an instuction manual? You certainly are not illiterate or you would not be posting in the forum.

I will let your post stand so everyone can see just how lazy you are and I stand by what I said

RTFM!

I know exactly who i am talking to, a pool owner too lazy to read the manual on a piece of equipment to to learn how to use it properly to maintain their pool AND how to balance the water and also perform required routine maintenance on said equipment.. You are not special and I have come across many like you over the years. you want a magic answer or a magic cure in a bottle when the truth is you have to do a little bit of reading and work and learning and are just too lazy to do so. It is akin to someone who doesn't look in their car manual to see how often they need to change their oil...no good will come of it! Does that about sum it up?

Let me refresh your memory with your first post:

Last pool season towards the end I noticed this and had to stop and take the SWG apart to clean it. At the time this film (what is it by the way?) came off easily, later on it seemed to be more stuck on. How do I get it off? How do I prevent it from building up again? What is it? Is this calcium build up?

Without a least telling us what kind of SWCG you have and what your water test results are its about the same as going to a car forum and saying "My car is making a noise, what is wrong with it?"

And there was THIS gem:

I have never used stabilizer,

which was also a good indicator to me that you have never read the manual at all for the unit!

THIS confimed it:

Any liquid solution that will dissolve whats on there if I cant get it all apart?

and is what warranted the <facepalm> since the manual documents how to pour vinegar in to dissolve the deposits and then empty it out, an easy procedure that you would have known about if you had taken the 10 minutes to read the manual!

IF you ar not feeling pretty dumb right now you should be!

So, once agian I say to you

RTFM!

You just might find the answers to all your questions!

Also, I think this thread has served it's usefulness. The forum is very busy this time of year and my time (and anyone else foolish enough to try and help you when you don't want to lift a finger to help yourself) is better spent helping others who are willing to make an effort so it's being closed.