Decided on AquaRite

[badabing]

Amazing,
You guys are so responsive and informative,
I greatly appreciate it, it's rare to find this kind of responsivness with thorough answers.

I took a look at both products Pool Pilot and Aquarite. (will look at WaterMaid next)
Wow, RC52 is for pools upto 52,000 Gal, over five times the capacity of my pool, I understood going big was the recommendation, never thought going that big, and here I was thinking that going double the capacity would have been enough (the little I knew)

RC42, is for 42,000 Gal pools, and so is the T-15 cell and both are recommended, so it looks like 4x is still a very good multiple.

Just to be clear, if I get the Pool Pilot, I would still need to get What they call "Digital Power Supply" right?
http://www.autopilot.com/our-store.h...category_id=19
ouch another $927 on top of $1055

And same is true for Hayward,
I would need Aquarite http://www.hayward-pool.com/prd/In-G...02_13502_I.htm
and T-Cell-15 http://www.hayward-pool.com/webapp/w...ductId=1016420
Although it looks like the T-Cell is cheaper than similar sized Autopilot.
Aquarite appers to be more or less similarly priced as "Digital Power Supply"

Would that be all that I need, besides the plumbing / wiring parts of course?

Would you have any recommendations of where to shop for good bargains?
budget has already been blown by few multiples

If it is a policy not to give out links, would anyone be kind enough to tell me what price range for the above would be considered a decent bargain?
I know manufacturer advertised prices are usually higher than the market value, and getting a ballpark figure would help me narrow it down.


Many thanks for all your assitance.

[waterbear]

If you buy the aquarite it will come with the cell. Just make sure the unit you get has the t-15 cell and not one of the smaller ones. I run a T-15 on my pool spa combo that combined is under 7k gallons and it works very well.

[badabing]

If you buy the aquarite it will come with the cell. Just make sure the unit you get has the t-15 cell and not one of the smaller ones. I run a T-15 on my pool spa combo that combined is under 7k gallons and it works very well.

Awesome thanks.

any hints as what price range would be considered a bargain and where to look for those?
thanks.

[PoolDoc]

Here are options:

Aqua-Rite In-Ground Chlorine Generator - up to 40K -- Amazon, $1060 + $0 shipping

Aqua Rite In-Ground Chlorine Generator up to 40,000 -- Amazon, $950 + $12 shipping

Goldline Controls Aqua Rite Salt Chlorination -- A1PoolParts, $1059 + $0 shipping

For comparison, here's an AutoPilot 40K pool unit:
AutoPilot 110/220-Volt Digital Chlorine Generator with Super Cell -- Amazon, $1454 + $0 shipping

[badabing]

Thanks Ben,
I gather that should be a decent market price.

One last question (I promise ... I hope )
Goldline and Hayward are the same right?
if not then what are the differences and if one is recommended more over the other?

Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Goldline Controls

Hayward® Industries, Inc., acquired Goldline Controls® in August 2004. The joining of Goldline and Hayward provides pool owners the first single source of the total pool management system, including pumps, filters, heaters, cleaners, lighting, salt chlorination and pool and spa automation. Goldline Controls continues to operate in North Kingstown, RI with a complete staff of engineering, operations and employees.

[badabing]

As properly guessed, I'm back with more questions.

If I buy this unit now, I won't have be able to power it on and run it before the warm season, and over here up north, it would be a while.
Many of the sellers they give limited time 15-30 days for a return on a defective product.
Is there anything I could do to test or check the unit without opening the pool? (I fear the answer is NO)

Also if I buy it online, does Hayward honor warranty?
In case seller says deal with the manufacturer?

Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Many of the sellers they give limited time 15-30 days for a return on a defective product.

I wouldn't buy it, till I was ready to use it. If you wait a month or so to install it, you won't likely get full replacement if DOA. I don't know specifically about Hayward handling warranties. In my case, I've usually purchased wholesale, so if it breaks, whether it's Pentair or Hayward , I still just take it back to my local SCP, and say "Here, it broke. Gimme my money back!"

You're not going to get that result from buying online. You aren't going to get (I don't think) fast in-season warranty response from the majors --they are swamped, too. I know that my local SCP tends to pile up difficult warranty stuff till August or September, when they've got more time to fight over it.

If you can find a trustworthy local seller or installer . . . you'll get much better response if something goes wrong. You're unlikely to be able to duplicate that online. I've never returned anything to Amazon, but I've heard they'll give you your money back, if you get it back to them AND if THEY sold it. But most of the SWCGs I liked to on Amazon were 3rd party sales, and I've heard mixed stories about those.

Bottom line: if you are are really worried about warranty, hunt for a trustworthy local, and pay the extra it takes to buy from him. In part, the money you save online is a trade-off for greater risk and less service.

Thanks Ben,
When I saw that website I became suspicious because the only brand you could buy was circupool. I came here to find some info and you did a great job. I did find out from this website poolproductreviewsmagazine.com that same guy owns the distribution company. This is a quote from that review, " This month I am reviewing a Salt Chlorine Generator System distributed in the U.S. by Pace Research Ltd, the parent company of PoolBids, in business since 1997." I also noticed the first article on circipool.com was written by a Donald Uhle, President of Discount salt pool not Ken. Also the 7 year warranty is prorated after the 1st year, scroll down to the bottom for Don's post. http://www.troublefreepool.com/haywa...wg-t24532.html

I'd bet that someone in the Uhle clan also owns poolproductreviewsmagazine.com. It doesn't look like they are crooks, but it does look like they'd be pretty good selling used cars!

[badabing]

Thanks Ben
I appreciate your response, and I would tend to agree with you about going local, however the local distributors / shops here are the biggest crooks, horrible prices (it would cost me at least double that price) and terrible service, talk about used car salesman,
it's unbelievable how busy they are during the warm season, which by the way is way too short over here, they have no reason to increase their service level or lower their prices.
That's mainly why I wanted to shop online and install it myself.

You convinced me to wait till the swimming season and then buy (hope the prices won't go up during the warm season), so that at least I could test for DOI,
I know it's a gamble/risk, but I'm better off than going local.

I'm going to call Hayward Canada and see if they have any local recommendation that is competitive in prices and service.

Many thanks for your input.