Problem: Savi Lights vs. IntelliBrite - Which is really better?

[GraveDanger]

Greetings all,

I'm looking for some advice regarding an ongoing issue with my pool installer. In the fall of 2009 we had an in ground fiberglass pool installed (San Juan Mandalay Bay). This pool has an attached spa. We have a full Penatir set up with heater, IntelliClor, 2 speed pump, cartridge filter, EasyTouch panel and remote. We have three Nexxus Savi lights installed with two in the pool and one in the spa.

Our main concern is that we can never get the lights in sync, so the pool is in a different colour or mode than the spa. The EasyTouch panel can only cycle through the light settings by turning them on and off. However the panel can specifically assign colours and modes if the lights were IntelliBrite.

After the entire 2010 season I was finally able to identify why the panel could not properly control the lights. When I asked my installer why they used all Pentair equipment for everything but the lights. Their response was that the Savi lights are far better than the Pentair lights.

I find it strange that there would really be a big enough difference between the two brands of lights that would justify giving up the integration with the panel and the full functionality of the lights.

Can anyone verify this statement before I make a stink and have them replaced when we open the pool?

Thanks so much!

David

[GraveDanger]

Dear Moderator: This post is almost a week old and clearly not spam. Can you please move it to a section where it will receive more than 4 views?

Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

Dear Grave;

My mods were concerned, so I went ahead and moved your posts. But you need to be warned that it's rare to get reliable answers to questions like yours -- they are just too specific.

Short of having Consumer's Reports tackle the problem, answers you get are going to tend to be based on random experiences, rather than general knowledge. Trustworthy residential pool service guys in YOUR area could probably answer the question -- I can't. I've never used any of the 'bells and whistles' controllers like you have. The problem is that, even in this market, this time of year, good residential pool builders and service guys aren't spending much time on their own websites, much less mine!

Don't misunderstand me -- you very likely will get answers. I'm just not sure they'll be very reliable. What tends to happen is that the people who respond are those who have experience with one unit or the other -- but experience driven by special circumstances. So, you may get a reaction from a guy whose cousin installed the lights, and who maintains them meticulously ** OR ** from a guy who managed to luck out with a unit that was DOA in the box and then hooked up with a warranty agent whose dog had just gotten run over the day he called. That's not to say that what they experienced is not real -- just that it rarely reflects typical or usual experience.

PoolDoc