Which salt chlorinator is best?

[up2you2]

Having re-grouted my swimming pool, serviced and repaired my Astral pump, changed my filter media, I'm now in the game to reconsider a salt or magnesium chlorinator again.
This is after years of using chlorine tablets.

So I would be very interested to hear from those that have had a good experience, and if so how long did the cartridges work please?

[fransb]

I’d be looking for a UV system instead. We switched from salt to UV and it works great. Google for win win pool shop and you can see their range on the website. We use the Emaux system with ozone. 

[JBChiangRai]

Emaux salt chlorinators are the best value, but if you really want to save money then buy the salt cell generator on eBay and drive it with a car battery charger, about 1,300 baht will buy you a 6v, 12v, 18v, 24v battery charger with a 1-10 control knob for the output. Two of my pools and the pools of two of my mates are powered this way after the electronics failed (which seems to be the weak link). Just remember to reverse the polarity every month or so and adjust the current after adding salt.  Still going strong after 5 years on the same salt cells.

 

The electronics on salt water chlorinators are basically fancy constant current devices that automatically compensate for salt concentration.  

 

Another tip, don’t tile your pool, use granite. It will last the life of your pool and the cost is about the same or less.

 

I have previously used Astral Pool, LA Swim and Zodiac devices, they all failed ultimately. 

[unheard]

30 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I have previously used Astral Pool, LA Swim and Zodiac devices, they all failed ultimately. 

Failed control units or worn down titanium cells which are replaceable?

Edited February 18, 2022 by unheard

[unheard]

2 hours ago, fransb said:

I’d be looking for a UV system instead. We switched from salt to UV and it works great.

Zero chlorine in the water?

No doubt that UV and ozone systems sound quite sexy and "advanced" but...

They're not considered to be the safest...

[unheard]

or cost-effective

Edited February 18, 2022 by unheard

[JBChiangRai]

In my experience, the electronics fail well before the titanium plates in the cells wear out.

 

I forgot to mention, make sure any systems you buy are fanless.  Chinese made fans invariably fail.

[firestar]

22 minutes ago, unheard said:

Zero chlorine in the water?

No doubt that UV and ozone systems sound quite sexy and "advanced" but...

They're not considered to be the safest...

Agreed. I have a UV system you still need residual Chlorine as bacteria doesnt get destroyed  until it goes through the lamp and in some parts of the pool might be hours while bateria from the swimmers who just jumped in the pool also not destroyed until hours later . It is also suppose to destroy Algae but with the heat here I found it impossible to control algae with UV alone . Now I just leave it on as a secondary system to have very clean water but keep levels of chlorine as I would without

 

 

 

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Edited February 18, 2022 by firestar

[sappersrest]

1 hour ago, firestar said:

Agreed. I have a UV system you still need residual Chlorine as bacteria doesnt get destroyed  until it goes through the lamp and in some parts of the pool might be hours while bateria from the swimmers who just jumped in the pool also not destroyed until hours later . It is also suppose to destroy Algae but with the heat here I found it impossible to control algae with UV alone . Now I just leave it on as a secondary system to have very clean water but keep levels of chlorine as I would without

 

 

 

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You are absolutly spot on must always keep a minimum of  .5ppm of free chlorine in the pool ,to prevent any cross contamination.

Another good tip is to clean the quartz glass sleeve once every 3 months or so if the pool has a lot of bathers, as body fats etc get baked on to the lamp sleeve, thus reducing the transmisity of the uv

  light most of the figures given in the blurb assumes a transmiity of 95_ 98 %. Which is difficult to achieve if the tube gets dirty.

UV a fantastic bit of kit dangerous definatly not, exspensive that is all down to a matter of choice.

As a side note chrystal clear water isa must.

Good luck with your choice I am sure it will work for you.

[sappersrest]

Sorry to the original op for digressing. Forum member Bagwain has  vast experiance in this field and should be able to point you in the right direct , best advice is to pm him as he wont be able to tell the real truth due to defamation laws here.

Good luck with your quest.

[unheard]

1 hour ago, sappersrest said:

the real truth due to defamation laws here.

I'd think Bagwain would know how to share his knowledge here without triggering any trouble.

The OP has brought up a very good question.

I think the rest of us would be interested to learn Bagwain's response.

[thaiowl]

I've had a Zodiac salt chlorinator since 2006 but switched back to chlorine last year. Just too much hassle...salt cell failed for a 3rd time, pain in the bum buying salt all the time, timer PCB failed.

[DrDave]

I had a Hayward system in a previous house, and now have a Zodiac system.  The chlorine generator in the Hayward system lasted a little over 6 years. The Zodiac system in the current house is 2 years old and going strong.  I never had a problem with the electronics in either system.

[Bagwain]

Most salt chlorinators are made in China these days.

I deal excusivley with 100% Australian made PuraPool sanitation systems.

The Oxy Minerale system is the most popular that uses pink Himalayan salts. Great for the skin & a fresh water bather experience. It creates 2 Oxygen particles that does the sanitation. (Look up "Anolyte") The standard salt systems are great as well.

 

Humidity is the enemy of the electronics as is keeping chemicals in the pump room especially acid. Pump rooms should be well ventilated.

The titanium plates are coated and very thinly to save money. Not so on the above mentioned brand. The plate are thickly coated and also intentionally pitted to create more surface area allowing you, in most cases to run at a lower setting. This saves on power and increases longivity. 

 

sappersrest is correct with the cleaning of the UV bulbs. Aother issue is if they are crystal or glass. The later doesn't give of the correct frequenzy. So pretty much a dud!

 

Salt cells also need cleaning yearly to get rid of body fats and oils which inhibit the cells from working effectively! This needs to be done with dish washing liquid. Most machines are self cleaning for calcium by reversing the polarity. Only if you see a calcium build up should you use a weak acid solution to clean. Otherwise you are shortening the cell life!

Detergent 1st or the acid won't work!

 

One of the posts mention the machine with built in UV. In my experience and many of my peers, this brand is the worst on the market. I use a local pool shop for bits and pieces for conveniance and everytime I go in, there is at least 2-3 of these lying on the floor ready to be shipped for warranty fix! I lost 10 in one condo complex. Brown outs fried them all. However the prices are attractive. But this comes with low reliability!

 

thaiowl Your experience is not uncommon with that particular brand. I believe the company changed owners a few yrs back. They didn't know of the millions of dollars in warranty claims I am led to believe. They have new models. Lets hope the Q/contol has got better!

 

Typicaly salt chlorinators are built to produce a particular amount of chlorine gas per/hr. Best times to run are 4 hours in the morning and 3 - 4 hrs late arvo running to after dark. This leaves a residual amount of chlorine in the pool overnight optimising the kill. Sunlight/UV is the enemy of free chlorine. (Adjustments can be made on these times due to usage etc)

 

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Bagwain

[RocketDog]

22 hours ago, unheard said:

Zero chlorine in the water?

No doubt that UV and ozone systems sound quite sexy and "advanced" but...

They're not considered to be the safest...

UV kills bacteria/virus but I'm guessing that algae thrives on uv which would eventually block the flow window that the uv light shines through. No?

 

So the algae in the pool would build up too without chlorine. No?

Uv light interacts with diatomic oxygen in the air to produce O3, which destroys bacteria but again, does it kill algae? I had a small spa that used both systems but wouldn't that have to scaled up substantially to service a poolMy pool has a Eamux salt cell the size of a one liter bottle is used on my 35,000 gallon pool. I clean it once a month to dissolve the deposited calcium carbonate that precipitates on the surfaces of the cell. Mine was new 2 years ago and still works fine..

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saanim]

On 2/18/2022 at 4:29 PM, firestar said:

and in some parts of the pool might be hours while bateria from the swimmers who just jumped in the pool also not destroyed until hours later .

Are we really so overconscious of a bacteria that can jump within a short time from one swimmer to another? What kind of a dangerous bacteria the one would possess?  

 

Sure, one can care so much far for the few minutes in the maintained water. However, should it be similar to the antiseptic conditions as in the surgery theater?

 

Then, how can we survive the rest of the day in the dangerous ambience of the air around us full of bacteria, afraid of touching a door knob?

 

 

 

[Bagwain]

1 hour ago, Saanim said:

Are we really so overconscious of a bacteria that can jump within a short time from one swimmer to another? What kind of a dangerous bacteria the one would possess?  

 

Sure, one can care so much far for the few minutes in the maintained water. However, should it be similar to the antiseptic conditions as in the surgery theater?

 

Then, how can we survive the rest of the day in the dangerous ambience of the air around us full of bacteria, afraid of touching a door knob?

 

 

 

You really are showing your ignorance!

Cryptosporidium, Legionella, Pseudomonas Ageruginsa, E.coli, Giardia, Norovirus, (Ear, eyes, nose & throat infections)

Birds are a main culprit as is walking on grass prior swimming and diarrhea

 

CDC - 

Between 2015 and 2019 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 208 outbreaks of illness linked to pools and hot tubs that resulted in 3,646 infections, 286 hospitalizations and 13 deaths, and experts say those numbers could be much higher.

 

[Saanim]

46 minutes ago, Bagwain said:

CDC - 

Between 2015 and 2019 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 208 outbreaks of illness linked to pools and hot tubs that resulted in 3,646 infections, 286 hospitalizations and 13 deaths, and experts say those numbers could be much higher.

Any figures about outbreaks illnesses and deaths caused in those years by bacteria non-related to swimming pools?  

[sappersrest]

A bit of a pointless question ! this is a forum for swimming pools,

[Saanim]

1 hour ago, sappersrest said:

A bit of a pointless question ! this is a forum for swimming pools,

I agree, it's a forum for swimming pools. But I do not agree that it is a pointless question.  We are not living in anti-septic environment, cases happen from different reasons and by different causes.  It depends always on many factors. Not always is needed to provide a scare atmosphere to argue for scientifically run facilities, hence, for higher sales.  

 

I did not see a link to that above scary figure (13 deaths in 5 years), however, when I goggled I see something about that. It say e.g. :

"Each year there are about 360 drowning deaths among 2-year-olds, Li said. “That’s almost one death per day,” he added."

 

Further on in that article  referring obviously to the CDC finding and to the same figures it says:

"These outbreaks resulted in at least 3,646 cases of illness, 286 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. Most of the outbreaks were due to cryptosporidium, a parasite that unfortunately isn’t killed off by the chemicals used to treat pool water. It causes watery diarrhea and abdominal cramping while it’s in your system (the parasites procreate, leaving oocysts to be expelled in your poop, and then die off)."

https://www.today.com/health/pool-safety-2021-fl-hospital-issues-alert-after-spike-drownings-t219822

 

There is no mentioning whether the findings are in private (family) pools or others public facilities, it seems that the latter is the case as it is spoken about recreations. 

 

 

 

[Bagwain]

2 hours ago, Saanim said:

Any figures about outbreaks illnesses and deaths caused in those years by bacteria non-related to swimming pools?  

Why? This is a swimmimg pool forum and your are getting annoying with your ignorant replies which are bordering on dangerous!

[Saanim]

3 hours ago, Bagwain said:

Why? This is a swimmimg pool forum and your are getting annoying with your ignorant replies which are bordering on dangerous!

Speaking about ignorance...