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We've had our Hot Springs Envoy for less than three years and our second ACE cell just failed. The water has always been kept at 25-50 ppm for hardness, and we've never used the boost feature. I realize these things have a limited life but this is pretty ridiculous, this one lasted less than a year. Anyway, has anyone tried one of these off brand cells? http://thehottubwizard.com/ace-saltwater-system-replacement-cell/ or http://www.saltwaterhottubconversion.com/saltwater-products/chlorine-generator-parts/replacement-cells/hot-springs-chlorine-replacement-cell.html
Just FYI, they way we sell and use ACE... we use it with Ozone and with the Silver Ion. People don't change the water for a year. (We just never look for a Chlorine residual, and we train our customers to not look for one either, similar to the nature 2 system)If you use ozone, silver, and ACE, you keep the output level around 3-4 all the time. People leaving their output higher than that will result in cell life being less than stellar.For instance, I've had the same cell for over 2 years, on a Vanguard (400 gallons,) use the spa almost everyday, output is 3 (with a family of four,) and water looks and smells great all the time.The last part of that puzzle is the hardness. Some folks just have ridiculous hardness which will also drastically shorten the life. Keeping the hardness down in that 25-50ppm range is key. If you can't do that, I don't highly recommend ACE.What we do on top of all this, if your cell last less than 3 years, we as a dealer prorate the cell. I've only had to do that once since we started this way of selling it, but it has worked for us, and our customers love it.Can't really comment on the aftermarket stuff. I have no experience with it at this point other than completely different salt systems
Quote from: d00nut on August 29, 2017, 02:04:36 pmJust FYI, they way we sell and use ACE... we use it with Ozone and with the Silver Ion. People don't change the water for a year. (We just never look for a Chlorine residual, and we train our customers to not look for one either, similar to the nature 2 system)If you use ozone, silver, and ACE, you keep the output level around 3-4 all the time. People leaving their output higher than that will result in cell life being less than stellar.For instance, I've had the same cell for over 2 years, on a Vanguard (400 gallons,) use the spa almost everyday, output is 3 (with a family of four,) and water looks and smells great all the time.The last part of that puzzle is the hardness. Some folks just have ridiculous hardness which will also drastically shorten the life. Keeping the hardness down in that 25-50ppm range is key. If you can't do that, I don't highly recommend ACE.What we do on top of all this, if your cell last less than 3 years, we as a dealer prorate the cell. I've only had to do that once since we started this way of selling it, but it has worked for us, and our customers love it.Can't really comment on the aftermarket stuff. I have no experience with it at this point other than completely different salt systems The highest we set the output to is 4, oftentimes less than that and I've never used the boost function and this cell still failed in less than a year. The hardness is well within range too. I change the water every 8 months or so.When we bought the tub the impression was given that we should get either the ACE system or ozone, but not both.I bought this tub from Eric (BullFrogSpasMN, previously TwinCitiesHotSpring) so I don't think the who is really a problem here.Bottom line is it sounds like I might have to be the guinea pig for one of these aftermarket parts unless the local dealer or corporate is willing to take care of this.
Because Watkins replaced the 1st one in reality you have not been out of pocket for replacement yet. Interesting. Part of the ACE experience is it is not just producing chlorine; it is making other cleaners and oxidizers. The aftermarket cells will simply produce chlorine. That will clean the water, but it might not be as soft.The reason Watkins cannot recommend ozone with ACE is they have to tell you you need a chlorine residual per EPA. Reality is if the water is clean, clear and smells good it should be OK. I have had ACE with ozone on my Jetsetter for a long time, setting of 2 or 3.Having said that, you should get more than a year out of a cell. One quick question. How do you know the cell failed?
I haven't been a big fan of "salt" systems for hot tubs b/c everyone expounds upon the ease of a "salt" system (and usually its b/c they know/heard about salt with in ground pools) and they want it on their spas. But- There is such a cost to it from the onset and a life expectancy of the cells are only a few years, certainly less than 5. The replacement cells are very expensive too. This is why I have such a hard time recommending these units to my customers. Nature2 or @ease and other big name/systems may take like 10 more seconds to deal with but at least you don't have an apparatus failing after the big add-on from the onset. I wonder if many like this/push it as they are commission-based salespersons? But I also seem to be the minority on this thread as many of you seem to like salt systems. So I am just interested as to *why*? In the end- It is certainly all about what you prefer and as long as the water is balanced and you're not hurting your tub, it doesn't matter what you use. I just never understood the appeal and that is why I am asking, respectfully.
Quote from: The Wizard of Spas on October 11, 2017, 10:22:34 amI haven't been a big fan of "salt" systems for hot tubs b/c everyone expounds upon the ease of a "salt" system (and usually its b/c they know/heard about salt with in ground pools) and they want it on their spas. But- There is such a cost to it from the onset and a life expectancy of the cells are only a few years, certainly less than 5. The replacement cells are very expensive too. This is why I have such a hard time recommending these units to my customers. Nature2 or @ease and other big name/systems may take like 10 more seconds to deal with but at least you don't have an apparatus failing after the big add-on from the onset. I wonder if many like this/push it as they are commission-based salespersons? But I also seem to be the minority on this thread as many of you seem to like salt systems. So I am just interested as to *why*? In the end- It is certainly all about what you prefer and as long as the water is balanced and you're not hurting your tub, it doesn't matter what you use. I just never understood the appeal and that is why I am asking, respectfully. Why do people buy hot tubs in the first place? How many literally "need" a hot tub? They buy a hot tub because they want one, hopefully they can truly afford it, they deserve it after a long day at work... No one "needs" a salt system either but they should just know that the trade off for the system is additional cost and if knowing that they want it for convenience, soft water ... then its all good.