How it works...

Copper- Silver Ionisation System

SILVER has long been known as a bacterial killer and used extensively by the medical profession before the introduction of antibiotics, and COPPER is recognized as one of the best algaecide killers known to man.

It was NASA that designed an ionization system for their Apollo flights, using copper silver electrodes to purify their water. We have used the same technique to kill the bacteria and algae found in swimming pools.

Safe controllable low voltage DC current is transmitted from the aligator Control unit to special anodes fitted in the water chamber where electrolysis takes place, causing solutions of Copper, Silver and other minerals to form in the water. These are called ions (atoms), hence the name “Ionic Purifiers”. These ions are positively charged (+) and are created in billions each second. All bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi spores are negatively charged (-) therefore the ions are attracted to the cells of contaminants, the copper ion damages the cell wall, allowing the silver ion to then penetrate and destroy the cell.

Copper and Silver ions are pH neutral, non-corrosive and have no effect on the human body in the concentration used to treat the water.
Minerals with none of the side effects of chlorine purify the water naturally.
The ions are not oxidising agents like chlorine, so they do not burn up body fats, hair, and other organic matter. They only purify water and control algae and fungal development. Hence a small amount of chlorine is still required to burn off this organic matter.
When using the aligator unit, the control of the current is automatic and self regulating, compensating for the conductivity and flow rate of the water.

The unit is managed, timed and controlled by a single chip microprocessor. Permanent storage is provided by an industry standard Electrically Erasable Programmable Memory. This holds system status (pump times, modes and elapsed times). Pulsing at a 50Hz rate provides voltage control for the electrodes, with variable on time to provide the average voltage required, and to ensure maximum efficiency.

The system is not affected by heat or light, and provides much longer residuals than chemical or UV treatment.

Aligator & Pump Synchronisation

The unit is designed to be connected to a permanent power supply of 220/240 volts, via the plug top power supply unit, this in turn provides 12 volts into the control unit.. The cable from this power supply unit must be connected to the control unit via the socket at the bottom of the control unit.
Under no circumstances must a voltage higher than 12 volts be connected to the control unit

The aligator is designed to operate only when the swimming pool pump is running and water is flowing past the electrodes. To confirm this, a flow switch is fitted into the electrode chamber, which senses when water is flowing.

The aligator control unit is connected to the electrodes and the flow switch via the grey cable, this will normally have two, 4mm yellow push on plugs for connecting to the electrodes and two crimp type connectors for the flow switch. As the polarity of the electrode voltage is automatically reversed every 12 hours, it does not matter to which electrode the 4mm plugs are connected. Likewise the flow switch is non-polarised and the two wires can be connected to either socket.

Performance Details

The electrode voltage will vary between 2.5 and 12 volts depending on pool size and water quality. The control unit constantly monitors this voltage.

On power-up the unit will display a green LED that indicate the 12 volts is connected, after 10 seconds a second green LED will light. This indicates that the electrodes are working.

Note:
The electrode LED will switch off after the control unit has determined the correct running time for the electrodes. This is normal and does not indicate a fault; this process is repeated on a 12-hour cycle.

Electrode timing always starts when the pump starts, unless the pump has been off for less than 30 minutes (e.g. for filter cleaning or automatically after 12 hours if the pump is continuous).

If for whatever reason the correct current flow through the electrodes is interrupted, a red LED light and an alarm signal will be heard from the unit. This is normally due to the electrodes wearing out (12 to 18 months after installation).