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Episode 11 - “Salt Cell Care & Maintenance”
Introduction and format:
You’re listening to episode 11 of The Pool Man Podcast - “Salt Cell Care & Maintenance”
This episode was recorded on March 20th, 2021.
I’ve designed this podcast to give you all the information you need to keep your pool in tip top condition all year round. The Pool Man Podcast is written and produced by me, and is intended as a guide only. I always recommend that you employ the services of a professional pool technician, should you encounter any problems you are unable to solve yourself.
Welcome to the eleventh episode of The Pool Man Podcast, and last time I put out an episode we were all in compulsory isolation. Luckily we now have the vaccine making its way to us and hopefully we’re getting on top of this. Obviously we still need to be observing social distancing and good hand washing practices in our ongoing fight against the Corona virus.
Please keep safe and look after each other!!
In the past week we’ve had the weather go from beautiful summer-like days to pouring rain, and it looks to be ongoing for most of next week. For a pool owner that’s hard to take because the rain tends to mess up the pool chemistry so you’ll need extra care to bring the balance back.
The best option for most is to enlist the help of a professional pool technician, but it’s really not difficult to maintain these basics if you know how to do it. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there on basic pool care and Google can help as well, but if you have any concerns give your local pool technician a call and they’ll be happy to help.
This episode I really wanted to focus on proper care and maintenance of your chlorinator salt cell. This is sometimes referred to as the electrode and is the key component required to produce chlorine in your pool.
The number one cause of damage to your salt cell and chlorinator power pack is a lack of salt!! Make sure you always follow the manufacturer’s recommended salt level. Saltmate chlorinators (The brand I prefer to recommend and install) run on a minimum of 4000ppm, but I like to run mine around 5500ppm just to be safe.
You’d be surprised just how quickly your pool water dilutes with wet weather, so make sure you regularly test and top up your salt level.
Another major issue you can run into is calcification. This is where the surface of the cell picks up a coating of calcium and it continues to build up until the entire cell becomes a solid block of calcium. Some believe that soaking it in acid will remove the calcium fairly quickly, and it will, the only problem is that it’ll remove the cell coating as well, almost certainly destroying the cell. This makes for an expensive repair with most salt cells costing over $600.00 plus GST
A much safer option is using an approved sat cell cleaning solution, and if you must used hydrochloric acid a maximum of 10% acid to 90% water should minimise the damage to the cell.
So, listener feedback... I received a message from a fellow by the name of Shane McNeil after the last episode, and as always I appreciate your appreciation of the show!!
Shane was asking a question about his chlorinator and what the P-Setting was for that model. He sent me some photos and I was able to identify that it was an Astral E25 and the P-setting on that model was in fact the chlorine output setting on a scale of 1-8. You’ve really got to love these imported models. Common sense would say that chlorine output would be designated as a C or an O but a P?? Oh well, P it is, but regardless, it should be run at 100% output and the run time adjusted to provide enough chlorine for the pool. Some people think the cell will last longer at a lower output… it wont?
Salt level is the key to long cell life. All going well you should expect about 5 years from a quality salt cell, and about 2 years from a generic. Always a better idea to use genuine parts if you can!! Thanks for your feedback Shane!!
Once again, I do really appreciate your messages and the fact that you all take the time to send them. I look forward to corresponding with you guys every week!!
You can email your questions to thepoolmanpodcast@gmail.com and put the word “Question” in the subject field. It just helps me sort through them all a bit more easily.
So drop me an email and I’ll do my best to answer them for you in an upcoming episode.
You can also use this email address if you’d like me to come out and have a look at your pool. If it’s too far for me personally, I’ll be happy to hook you up with a professional pool technician in your area, Australia wide.
This production was made by me and should only be used as a guide to keep your swimming pool clean and clear. I always recommend that you employ the services of a professional pool technician should you have any issues you are an able to solve yourself.
I have a Facebook page and you can find it over at facebook.com/thepoolmanpodcast, and you can have a look at the Pool Man website where you’ll find all the show notes for the podcast, info on my business and tips and tricks for you to keep your pool sparkling!! Head over to thepoolmanpodcast.wixsite.com/thepoolman or just search for The Pool Man Podcast in the Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher Radio which is available on iOS and Android, or over at PodBean.com and search for The Pool Man Podcast.
I do ask that after you listen, could you please give me a rating and subscribe so you automatically get the next episode when it becomes available, it also gets my numbers up so I rank a little higher and that really helps other people find me too, so I thank you very much in advance for that!!
So stay safe and stay in touch at thepoolmanpodcast@gmail.com
I hope you can join me again for the next episode of The Pool Man Podcast, coming soon to a pod catcher near you.