Which SaltWater Chlorinator

[Poolsean]

Rollo,

If I were you, I wouldn't be happy either!! I recommend calling the customer service manager and retelling your story. A new unit failing within the first 30 days, or even 60days should be replaced with a new unit, IMO.

[rollo]

Sean,

Believe me, I've been through all of this with Autopilot customer service. Just got the standard "That's what our warranty states" and they were right. The warranty does in fact state:

This limited warranty is for the replacement of defective parts. Manufacturer reserves the right to replace defective parts with new or refurbished parts at its sole discretion.

So if the power supply dies in 1 day or 1 year, Autopilot can and does send out refurbs as replacements. I would have rather waited to have my BRAND NEW unit repaired than get someone else's problem. If anythig though, I've learned to read the warranty alot closer when buying a big ticket item.

[gwrace1]

We are in our 3rd pool season with the Aquarite. The pool is open year round and is about 26000 gallons. I run the unit at about 40% and it keeps the chlorine level consistently at about 2-2.5 PPM. No water problems whatsoever and the pool has always been sparkling clear.

Highly recommended.

David

[Geeper]

I have an Aqualogic PS-8 and about 3 years in got a "No Cell Power" error. After much talking with others, it is apparent that the main board is bad. Cost to fix? $500-600. This doesn't include a new salt cell, just the main PCB.

My question to Sean and others is: Since I already have the Aqua logic controller, how would I hook up a Autopilot (or other) system into this? The nice thing about the Aqualogic is that I just plug the cell in. The bad thing is one board controls everything, so if one things goes wrong, teh whole board has to be replaced.

A local pool service guy is recommending switching over to the jandy Aquapure salt system (for $1300 plus install -no thanks), got me thinking of other alternative before i fix my Aqualogic.

All functions other than salt are working fine

[Poolsean]

Answering just for the Pool Pilot, you do not want to interface the unit to communicate through the electronic control system as you will lose some of the key features of the Pool Pilot Digital. Specifically, Automatic Temperature Compensation and Salt amount display. What this means to you is that you will need to be as diligent in adjusting the Purifier % setting when temperatures change (the Pool Pilot does this for you).
The Pool Pilot too, will have to be mounted as a separate system, as you mentioned the Intellichlor would need to be.
This would be the same for anyone elses system, unless you go back with the replacment components from Goldline.

[Geeper]

So the PoolPilot would be a standalone system. I get that, but how would I get it to work? Right now, everything (Pump, salt, etc.) is controlled by the Aqualogic. If I went with a secondary, third party, salt system, how does salt system know when the pump is running etc.?

[Poolsean]

You would connect the Pool Pilot to the same relay that controls the filter pump. Whenever it gets energized, the Pool Pilot would come on also.
From there, you set the Purifier Output % to maintain the chlorine level you desire.
Test your chlorine, set the % to 50% (as a starting point). Let it run a few days and retest your chlorine level. Readjust the % higher or lower, depending on your test result. Let it run a few days again and retest and readjust as needed.
Once you're maintaining the your chlorine level, the automatic temperature compensation should help mainitain your chlorine levels for water temperature changes. That is, as it gets warmer, the % setting will increase automatically, and as it gets colder, the % setting will decrease automatically.
The only times that you may need more chlorine is for inclimate weather or pool parties....or shocking the pool.
You can use the BOOST button to do this, or you can add chlorine (bleach, tabs, or cal hypo).