Chlorinator Components

The above photo is your 'stock standard' salt water swimming pool chlorinator. Yours might look a bit different, like cars they come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colours but the basic components are the same.

The parts of a chlorinator are:
1. Unit - the box or controller where the power plugs into
2. Housing - the clear plastic tube-like part where water runs over the electrode
3. Cell cap - the disc on top of the electrodes where the pins attach (pins not visible in the photo above)
4. Electrodes - commonly called the cell (inside plastic cover in the photo above)
5. Leads - connect the electrode to the controller unit

Electrodes

One very common difference between chlorinators is the electrodes, they vary in physical size, the number of plates and also the material used to manufacture them. The higher the chlorine output of the chlorinator the larger the electrodes and the more plates. As a general rule older electrodes use a 'mesh' material while newer ones usually have solid plates, as shown in the images above. There is no detectable difference in chlorine output between the two types however mesh becomes brittle and easily damaged after around 5 years of use and ALLBRANDS will not attempt to repair mesh electrodes that are obviously older than 5 years. Good quality solid plate electrodes use thicker metal plates and the precious metal coating is also thicker, this costs more but they can last as long as 15 years.

Electrodes attach to the controller unit via the cap on the end, usually leads plug into pins in the cap however older models such as the one above have wing nuts and the cap attaches to the housing via a bayonet fitting (note the holes in the sides of the cap) instead of screwing onto a thread.