Customer Reviews

Intex Deluxe Saltwater System

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I normally don't write product reviews but I wanted to help what I suspect was an unfair one by a prior reviewer.
We've been using this system for 3 years with a 6000 gallon pool and it has changed the way we look at pool care. The procedure is simple-- add the recommended amount of salt, program the unit, and it takes care of the rest.
No more algae, no more adding chemicals, no more burning eyes and dry skin. The pool water is like physiological saline and opening your eyes under water is like bathing them in Visene. Very pleasant. Everybody who uses our salt water pool loves it, particulary people with chlorine sensitivity and dry, sensitive skin as it is therapeutic for the latter.
When adding this much salt (160 pounds in our case), don't be discouraged by the unit giving a low salt warning at first. It takes up to 24 hours for the salt to fully dissolve and register. I personally appreciate the unit having the capability to tell you whether your salt level is too low or too high (in addition to otehr warnings like insufficinet flow from the main filter system).
For the price especially, I find this unit highly sophisticated. Try it, you'll like it.

We purchased this unit with our pool 3 years ago (this is the third season). Overall, the unit is very easy to set up, and I echo the other comments that you have to wait about 24 hours for the salt to dissolve before the unit begins working.

When the unit is working, it's great--you just add 160 pounds of salt to the water at the beginning of the season, and once in a while you may have to add a little more salt (25 pounds or so) to replace salt that's been splashed or flushed out of the pool. The quality of the water is wonderful--the salt gives the water a really nice, silky feel, and I find it much less irritating to my eyes than normally chlorinated pools.

My main problems with the unit are as follows:

1. The unit does not have a clock--it only knows to come on the exact same time every day, for the amount of time that you specify, and the pool pump must be running at the same time. This means that you have to be around to set the timer the first time at the correct time. Not a big deal until the power fails (see #2).
2. The unit loses all settings when the power fails. That means that you have to start over with #1. Also, the unit does not have a power fail alarm--you have to walk down and check its status every day to see if it worked correctly or not (a flashing 93 on the display). If the power fails, all it does is display an '88' on the display. The unit does beep if other errors occur, such as low salt or no water flow.

3. The unit that contains the titanium plates wears out over time. I wound up replacing mine last year after about 1.5 seasons of use--at a cost of $119 plus shipping!

4. My unit just failed for good--power supply went out--and now I have to either replace the entire unit ($200) or find another chlorination method.

I would recommend that you carefully look at other options before buying this unit. There are other units on the market for less money.

Not wanting to spend a lot of money on Chlorine products for my above ground pool, I researched salt water systems. I found the Intex model to be the lowest priced and easiest to operate system out there. I have been using it for 3 weeks now, in a 12,400 gallon 24' above ground pool and have detected ZERO algae growth. The water has stayed crystal clear, easy on the eyes and most importantly, no chemicals!!

If you are using a chlorine system now but are thinking about switching. Don't hesitate.

PS Salt should be available in 50 lb bags from most pool stores for less than $10.00 a bag. Don't get gouged on this item. Also, as a general rule of thumb, you'll need 50lb per 2000 gallons of water.

As for the actual performance of this machine, it works great. It takes only about 3 hours per day to maintain the free chlorine levels.

As for the features, they lack GREATLY.
1)If there is any momentary interruption in power... even so short as not to reset the clock on the microwave, the unit looses it program. You must reset the number of hours for the unit to run. If you have your filter pump on a timer, ensure that you have this unit plugged directly into the outlet or like me, on a UPS!
2)You may only enter number of HOURS for the unit to run. Half hour increments would be nice. With my pool, 3 hours per day will gradually create too much free chlorine and 2 hours will not maintain the needed level.
3)You can not set the time of day for the unit to run. If you program the unit at 7pm (after you get home from work) it expects to run at 7pm each day. Since I only run my filter pump at 9am to 4pm (while at work) this is a problem. I think this bugs me more than the power loss issue How hard would it have been to include this option in the electronics! And no, you can not use a manual timer - see item #1.
4)Once a program is set and the unit finishes a cycle, you can not check to see what the program is set to. It simply flashes the code that it has finished a cycle. You must turn the unit off and back on (clearing the previous program) and set the amount of hours you want the unit to run again.

I have a 15'x 4' Intex Metal Frame pool with the 1000gph filter. We bought the Saltwater Chlorinator because I didn't want to deal with all the chemicals with a regular pool. It was overwhelming to see all the things you had to buy and I didn't want to have to overthink my pool.

We have been using this for over a month and it is wonderful. I used the chart to put in the proper amount of salt, added the salt to fresh water and let it dissolve completely overnight. We got in the next day and played in the water for a bit to make sure it was well dissolved and mixed around and it was. We used Mortons Pool Salt which we found at our local home improvement store. I put in about 100lbs of salt. Ran it for the first time with no issues. Set up was easy once we read the instructions.

I have had no problems with error lights or anything. One time I had the low flow light, but I checked my filter and it was really dirty, cleaned it and it was off and running again. I look forward to my 93 reading every morning. I have my pump on a timer and the chlorinator comes on in the middle of the 6 hour pump cycle I run.

The only chemicals I have had to add was cyuranic acid when I first started since we live where it is HOT and SUNNY. My chlorine was disappearing within a few hours when it was 110 degrees outside. Now it stays in a safe level until the next day. I usually run it for 3 hours a day. Haven't noticed a difference in my electric bill of any consequence. I also have to add acid when my pH is off. I check the chlorine and pH every morning when I go out to skim the pool. I have yet to shock the pool, crystal clear water, so haven't seen the need.

My kids love the salt water. The little one swims with her eyes open and they don't get red or irritated like they do at regular pools. I can taste the salt a bit in the water, but I don't mind. I am an ocean girl at heart and it isn't near the saltiness of the ocean.

I am very happy with my purchase. I hope to get at least 2 seasons out of this, we will see how it goes as time goes by and I will update if things change from how they are now.

Really works great. I have a small frame pool (12' round) for which I purchased this unit. I also purchased a 2500 GPH filter pump to go with it. Together they work wonderfully. Of course it is overkill on a pool my size (which came with a 800 gph filter). Having the excess power of the pump, though, combined with the salt cholorinator makes maintenance a breeze. After adding the required 50 lbs of non-iodized salt that I obtained at a pool supply store, I have checked the chlorine level daily for about a week. Running the salt chlorinator only 1 hour each day leaves my chlorine level a little on the high side immediately afterward which is good. Running the pump for hours will tend to reduce the chlorine level. So, if you get your chlorine too high (due to too much salt) and you have a strong pump, you need only run it for a while after the chlorinator runs and the chlorine level will come down. By morning my chlorine level is perfect. I have put my pump on an exterior plug timer (about $10 at a home store) so that it automatically comes on daily after use. The salt chlorinator is set to automatically come on the same time each day as long as it stays plugged in and there are no power outtages. This allows both the pump and chlorinator to work automatically. Good product and affordable.

I bought the product a couple of weeks ago and have had no problems at all. The set up was a bit unclear but went fairly quickly. I do have to set it manually each day because it is plugged into a timer with the regular pool pump. But that isn't even enough of a hassle to complain about, it only takes a few seconds to set the timer. It also save some on electricity because it isn't turned on constantly. This is my third year having a large pool and I usually have slimy green walls, even with all the chemicals, and hazy water. So far I have only had to put some pH down into the water once. Other than that I have not used any chemicals since I bought the saltwater pump. I was unsure at first if I should buy it or not because of the wide variety of good and bad reviews, but this is definitely well worth it. My only problem now is what to do with the chemicals that I already had.

About a month ago, I purchased this Intex Chlorine Generator System for our Intex 16'x48" pool with 1000gal/hour pump/filter. Since this was our first pool, maintenance was a concern. I did some research and decided a salt water setup was for us. At $150, this chlorine generator seemed too good to be true. But after a month of trouble-free operation, it's been great. It does have a 24-hour clock for timed programming...but not time-of-day operation, which I must admit would be better. If you want it to come on at 11pm, then you have to program and start it at 11pm...at least the first time. Thereafter, it will come on automatically, unless you turn it off or lose power. I run it for 5-6 hours every night, and it's ready to go in the morning. The free chlorine drops quickly in the hot texas sun. I've had a few code 92 errors, where it says the salt level is too high. I initially put in 120 pounds of salt (none since) for the 5000 gal pool as suggested, but when the water level drops by 2-3 inches, the salt concentration must be just too high. Top off the pool with the hose, and it's good to go.
This has been a great system so far. The pool is just slightly salty to the taste, and it's easy to open your eyes underwater...and I previously didn't like to do that. Other than pH adjustments for our high-pH water around here, I haven't had to add any chemicals. It's really been almost maintenance free.
If the chlorine generator or the pump ever fails, I might consider upgrading the $300 version with the integrated pump...but we'll see. For the money, this product is hard to beat so far.

This saltwater chlorinator is fabulous. It does exactly what it's supposed to do. We have it on an 8'Intex Easy Set pool, so we only have to set the chlorinator to the mininum setting to get perfectly clear water. The only catch was that our 8' pool only came with a 300 gallon-per-hour filter pump which wasn't powerful enough for the chlorinator, so we had to upgrade to the required 1000 Gallon Filter Pump ($33.00). The larger Intex pools come standard with that filter pump. The chlorinator requires a specific type of salt that I could only locate at a pool supply store. The salt is very inexpensive. The system doesn't take much salt and 1 treatment will last all summer. The system is easy to set up and comes with all the necessary instructions for perfectly balanced water. I definitely recommend this product.

We have had the saltwater system for about 2 weeks and we love it. The best things about the saltwater system are no more worrying about chlorine levels and shocking the pool(it does it for you), it's better for your skin, saves money (over the long run)and the pool is much clearer. The only problem we had was our pool filter was on a time clock and this unit needs constant power because it has it's own clock built inside(if the power goes off you have to reprogram it, but it only takes 30 seconds) so we had to run another circiut for the the saltwater filter seperate from the time clock (not a problem because my husband is an electrician). I would recommend this product.