SOLID OR MESH PLATES?

Let’s take a look at the various plate designs on the market and the advantages and disadvantages of each. There are primarily three type of plate design offered in the market today: “solid” plates, “slotted” plates and “mesh” plates. Each are distinctly different. These differences have a dramatic effect on power delivery inside of the cell. All three types of plates can deliver the electrical current to the water, but why do we use mesh in the Athena when other models use slotted or flat, solid plates?

Electrical current is just like the flow of water in that it will always take the path of least resistance.

A flat plate has no way to organize or channel the current being delivered. This means it has an inconsistent saturation of electrons - they could be anywhere on that plate, often channeled together and not effectively or evenly dispersed. They will move across the plate finding the path of the least resistance. This would be like watering a flat garden - the water would run to the low spots and pool there. This would result in an inconsistent delivery of power and less efficient and effective ionization results. This concept is especially crucial to ORP performance.

To contrast, with a slotted plate, we create a consistent path for the electrons to travel - in predictable directions - effectively distributing the power in a consistent pattern. When we till our garden into rows and irrigate we are channeling the water to be delivered to the roots where it is needed most. The water is effectively channeled and dispersed evenly throughout the garden. The slotted plate is more effective than the flat or solid plate.

A mesh plate uses the same principle as the slotted plate – only improves upon it by providing more “channeling” to direct electron flow. The applied current or power very evenly saturates the plate, which increases the amount of surface area that is receiving the electrical current that we use to create the alteration in your water. Mesh plate technology is just like that, we channel our power most effectively to deliver it where it is needed most.

In summary, bigger plates use more watts and amps, but do not have the available voltage to deliver it efficiently because the plate size is so much bigger it adds resistance - over four times the resistance. The larger plates require a faster flow of electrons but operate with less predictability and efficiency. This actually creates more stress on the plating causing more rapid degradation over time. So now you can see that in truth, bigger is not better. This is why testing has shown our smaller more efficient plates outperform larger less efficient plates. It is also why history has shown that when technology advances, it results in smaller more powerful devices. Why would ionizers be any different? The truth is they are not.