Ozonator question

[hottbpete]

I have a local Manufacturer that uses the Balboa o3 ozanator.  After speaking to the 800 pound gorillas in this market....they tell me that a DC is the way to go and that this type is out of date.

My question....does it really matter?

[Gary]

I like the one from Balboa, it requires no service and the ozone production never decreases over time.

The CD (corona discharge) are fine but they will need servicing or the chip replaced (1 to 2 years).

Do not waste your money on a ballast fired ozone.

[drewstar]

I am led to belive that a CD 03 system produces significantly much more 03 than a UV system, and at a much lower cost per weight.

There is some debate over if a 03 system is effective at all, however, I see a trend of folks who are running a CD system 24/7 with a contact chamber consistantly reporting good results, and the poorer results seem to more amoung folks with UV, aftermarkert  units (no contact chamber) or units not running all the time (or  any combination of the latter 3).  I have no data to back that claim up and is more my personal impression.  FWIW

I have a CD 03 unit and I like it.

There is a TON of info on the web concerning 03.

http://www.ozoneapplications.com/info/cd_vs_uv.htm

http://www.coolantconsultants.com/ozone_technologies.htm

Or google "Ozone"

Ozone Uv vs CD

It may help, or just confuse you even more.  

I thought all of the national tub makers switched to CD and dropped the UV systems?

[Amanda_Panda]

Check this site out:
http://documents.balboa-instruments.com/pdf/ps/OZONE1.pdf#search=%22balboa%20ozone%22



The Balboa ozone (from my experience) has done exactly what it claims.

[Vinny]

I am led to belive that a CD 03 system produces significantly much more 03 than a UV system, and at a much lower cost per weight.

There is some debate over if a 03 system is effective at all, however, I see a trend of folks who are running a CD system 24/7 with a contact chamber consistantly reporting good results, and the poorer results seem to more amoung folks with UV, aftermarkert  units (no contact chamber) or units not running all the time (or  any combination of the latter 3).  I have no data to back that claim up and is more my personal impression.  FWIW

I have a CD 03 unit and I like it.

There is a TON of info on the web concerning 03.

http://www.ozoneapplications.com/info/cd_vs_uv.htm

http://www.coolantconsultants.com/ozone_technologies.htm

Or google "Ozone"

Ozone Uv vs CD

It may help, or just confuse you even more.  

I thought all of the national tub makers switched to CD and dropped the UV systems?

Actually, Mendo led me to a post by Vermonter on this subject and apparently UV can (or does) produce just as much ozone as a CD unit, sometimes more.

I have a Del UV and apparently it puts out very little based on Del's datasheet. Del's CD unit produces a little more. I don't know about Balboa but Prozone PZ1 UV produces 8 grams a day (based on their datasheet) which is way higher than even the JED 103 CD unit at 4 grams a day (datasheet) which was the most ozone I have seen produced.

Ozone IMO is not the end all in spa sanitizing as some people will lead you to believe. I have been inpressed by drewstar's experience with water clarity when leaving the tub for a week and as he said it may be due to the little bit of ozone that my Del ozonator puts out. I have been experimenting and after shocking I have gone 4 days with my water being clear.

If you use your tub nightly and use the proper amount of sanitizer - you may not need ozone.

[hottub.pool_boy]

SOME uv units will surprise you. Not all of them are what they used to be. There's a quiet revolution going on.

[Vinny]

The interesting thing is that Del might be the best known ozonator out there and both of their units produce very little ozone. This is a good example of great marketing - get your name out there and people will buy it.

I was surprized to see how little either of their units produce and that their ozonators only last 9,000 hours. They do have an ozonator that will last 15,000 hours but it too doesn't produce a lot of ozone.

I looked at the Balboa on-line and it doesn't say anything about output. The JED and Prozone do have fact sheets on their websites on their units. I origianally was going to try the JED when my warranty expires but it looks like at 9,000 hours the Del will die out before the warranty expires. I then saw the Prozone and am leaning towards it if I decide to put in a new ozonator.

As far as quality - well you people would have to tell me, I have no clue!