Happy spring everyone. After a super long winter it's nice to have the pool open.
One item that I have not found a good explanation of is the need for calcium for pool heaters. I have a Hayward NG heater and the manual instructions are to have the Calcium from 200-400 ppm, and it indicates:
Low - corrosive to heat exchanger
High - scaling of heat exchanger
I understand the scaling with high calcium, but not how low calcium is corrosive.
I read one site where the author theorized:
"However calcium's purpose (in my opinion) is not to prevent the water from being corrosive (as that is what the pH is for), but rather to add a temporary level of protection to the surfaces that come into contact with corrosive water, particularly heaters, metal fittings and concrete pool surfaces. The way calcium does this is by leaving a thin calcium film on these surfaces, when the water balance of pH, alkalinity and calcium is ideal. If your pH does drop below 7 (ideal is 7.4-7.6) the corrosive water has to first etch the calcium film off before it can corrode the metal or concrete surfaces adding a degree of temporary protection to these vulnerable surfaces."
I am not posting the page link because while a good amount of the info mirrors poolsolutions, other is not very good at all.
I keep the calcium as per the manual, but would appreciate any thoughts on calcium use with a heater and why a minimum level is needed.
IG 32' x 16', vinyl 19,500 l, Sand filter, Hawyard Low NOx 250,000 btu heater
Heating? Great info on why a solar cover saves $$$?
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articl...ng-pool-covers
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