Salt water chlorinator... recommendations?

[ianvestor]

Hi everyone,

A few days ago both my pool pump and chlorinator finally gave up and I am in the process of choosing new ones.

I have pretty much chosen the pump - a 1.25hp Hurlcon cx280.

However I'm still unsure what chlorinator to get yet. I have called a few different shops and they all seem to tell me a different story. Particularly about a brand called Zodiac; Some love it, some hate it.

Anyone here know a thing or two about chlorinators? My pool looks 'average' size, but I don't yet have a feel for how many litres that is.

Models I am sort of maybe kinda thinking about possibly looking at:

Hurlcon vx9t (rrp $1800 but can get for $1600).
Zodiac LM3 $1100 (have heard some reports about failures/returns).
Compu Chlor (one shop loves them, another says they are garbage )

-Ian

P.S. Timing is very bad, as in-laws are coming over from South Korea on Sunday morning and the pool is going bad... They're only here for two weeks so I'd like to have this equipment in for at least some of the time they're here :/

 

[Player]

Hey Ian,

can't help with brand reco's for the salt chlorinator, however, rather than rush could you not get the pump installed and manually chloriante for the time that your inlaw's are over. That way at least the filter is working and water doesn't spoil.

Then shop around and choose the chlorinator.

 

[ianvestor]

That is good advice Michael. I have been getting this feeling that I'll end up over-paying because I'm in a rush. In fact, I almost shelled out $2600 yesterday only 2 minutes after realising I needed new ones. But then called the guy back and cancelled and asked him for exact model numbers of his recommendations so I could ring around instead

One little fly in that ointment, and I'm sure this is pure marketing, is that I can only get that $1800 model for $1600 if I'm buying/installing the pump from the same guy.

Anyway, I'll spend the day ringing around and looking up details on the net, and hopefully by tomorrow sometime I'll know what I want and book something in.

 

[Minxdamanx]

Ian,

We have a Chloromatic which has been good. Had a couple of issues with the clock bit early on, but since they replaced that it's been great. We've had it about 10 years.

But I agree chlorinate by hand until you source the best deal - as per your pricing they have certainly gone up in price!

http://www.monarchpoolsystems.com/

 

[peastman]

Have you considered an ioniser?
I have had one in my pool for about 5 years now and its great. Its like swimming fresh water, no fumes, no stinging eyes, very low maintenance.
Bought it from http://www.aquavic.com.au/. They are in Melbourne but probably worth a call.

 

[emu]

Hi Ian, i have a lm3-24 and have never had a problem with it for the last 2yrs, my pool holds 50000 ltrs and i run it at 2/3's power this time of year and at 1/3 power in winter.
I just had a look on ebay and the lm3-30 which is bigger again is selling new for $750 which is about what i paid on ebay 2yrs ago.
The chlorinator seems to be generating just as much chlorine now as it was when purchased, so i am expecting the plates to last for a few more years.

My old chlorinator went through plates every 2 yrs and liked to turn my pool green when i turned my back, so i made sure that i replaced it with an oversized chlorinator.(70000ltr)
It's the best thing a have bought for my pool yet.
Cheers

 

[tigwelder]

AquaJoy -Aquaclean AC reverse polarity chlorinator is what i have and is brilliant, it is a proper self cleaning unit. Just walk in to a few pool shops and ask them what is brought in for repairs the most and you will find the big names are usually the ones. Got sick of buying rubbish and bought this one which isnt cheap (around $1450.00) by memory. Chlorine output is more than enough for my pool which is a little over 100,000 litres. No i dont work for them , im a welder, but do highly recommend them.
cheers

 

[ianvestor]

Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful.

However I am 99% sure now that I will just get the pump installed and sort out the chlorinator a bit later... There is obviously much more to learn about them before parting with $1000+

-Ian

 

[Strannik]

ian, check out the link in my signature
you might find that they are not expensive at all

shoot me an email if you have any questions regarding chlorinators

the story with compuchlor is that they used to be garbage at some point, but then they became better (or so people say)

 

[ianvestor]

Thanks Stranik. For some reason it didn't even cross my mind to check what brand my old one was, but when I saw the photo on your site, it looked very familiar.

I called up the guy who I am getting to install the pump for me and mentioned 'Autochlor' to him and he seemed to think they were a really good brand too. He said the only reason he recommended Hurlcon over Autochlor was that I could get a 6-year warranty with the Hurlcon.

Anyway I have just arranged to have the pump installed (hopefully this weekend) and will manually chlorinate for the time being.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Strannik]

(putting my sales hat on)

Autochlor is the best you can get
i used to work for them for quite a while
shoot me a message when you decide to buy a chlorinator, you might get a pleasant surprise