Hot Springs ACE Cell Alternative

[gizmodo]

I will say that when the system is working it is awesome.  I would check the chemicals every few days and rarely had to add anything and not smelling chlorine when in the tub or after was really nice.  I just wish the system was more reliable.

[d00nut]

I will say that when the system is working it is awesome.  I would check the chemicals every few days and rarely had to add anything and not smelling chlorine when in the tub or after was really nice.  I just wish the system was more reliable.

Or less expensive.  If you replace the cell once a year and it's inexpensive, that would be okay too

I would go back to the dealer and ask if they could prorate it.  Again, that's what I do.  Then I ask for some kind of assistance from the manufacturer.  Everyone is happy then.

If the cell is $900, and it is suppose to last 3 years, but last a year and a half.  I believe $450 is appropriate.  Sounds fair?  Let's make a deal!  Not with me... the dealer you bought it from

[danthespaman316]

Had a customer call up a while back looking for a replacement for her ACE cell that didn't cost $900. As we're not a HS dealer, I did some research and came upon the Deuce brand replacement online for $300. Got her the info to order and asked that she keep me posted on it's effectiveness. Install was apparently a direct swap and after 2 months she says she's not noticed any difference in effectiveness vs the ACE. I can't vouch for it's longevity just yet, but for less than half the price of OEM it might be worth a shot for anyone needing a cell replacement.

[gizmodo]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

[worldburger]

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

Can you point me to some examples of ozone and silver products you recommend (or better yet, sell yourself) for adding to the ACE system?

Thanks for your post. I found it remarkably informative and SUPER helpful!

[gizmodo]

An updated on this.  I was ready to make a purchase but emailing back and forth with the gentleman from saltwaterhottubconversion.com left a sour taste in my mouth.  I called the local dealer and talked to the GM for a while.  He didn't really have any ideas and didn't offer any type of discount, which was fine.  However, he did give me the customer support number and so I called that.  They were really nice and spent about 30 minutes on the phone.  In the end they shipped a new cell to my local dealer and they in turn shipped it to me to install.  They only requirement was they wanted the old one back, and they even included a pre-paid shipping label.  All in all I am happy with the treatment I received from Watkins.

One interesting thing is when the tech came out to replace the first cell he said Watkins had changed the salt requirements down to 1100 ppm.  Both the dealer and the customer support person thought that may have been the reason for the second cell dying.  Customer support said it is in fact the other way and now they want 1750 ppm and that the lower salt level may have killed the second cell because it was working harder than needed.

[bud16415]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

[BullFrogSpasMN]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

It operates the same way all other salt systems do, the diamond thing is just fancy marketing, I'm no chemist either and it MAY be creating the things it says but I can tell you those "things" make no performance difference.  The system I sell and service has a 3 year warranty and the replacement cell is half the cost so in my opinion maybe they should drop the special "diamond cell" and replace it with something that lasts longer and/or costs less to replace. Just my .02

[bud16415]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

It operates the same way all other salt systems do, the diamond thing is just fancy marketing, I'm no chemist either and it MAY be creating the things it says but I can tell you those "things" make no performance difference.  The system I sell and service has a 3 year warranty and the replacement cell is half the cost so in my opinion maybe they should drop the special "diamond cell" and replace it with something that lasts longer and/or costs less to replace. Just my .02

I feel pretty much the same. My only experience is I have a friend with a Saltron-mini system that he installed in 15 minutes. The cost of the whole unit including the cell is about $220 and a replacement cell is under $100. He has been using and cleaning his original cell in vinegar for 4 years now he said he soaks it in vinegar about 4 times a year.

He has a 400 gallon tub and it keeps up great and his water is silky smooth. He is very particular about his water and keeping stuff out and his runs only 4 hours a day for 2 people.

My point is if an after market company can make something simple and cheap why cant tub makers build something simple to change and cheap built into the tub. I can understand some people wouldn’t want to mess around dropping a cell in and out of the tub to use it but it seems it wouldn’t be too hard to have it mounted in the filter well or something and you just swap it out or unplug it to clean the buildup calcium off.

After the first of the year I’m switching to salt and going with a drop in aftermarket unit. If it doesn’t work I will only be out $220 and 8 pounds of salt.

[Hottubguy]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

It operates the same way all other salt systems do, the diamond thing is just fancy marketing, I'm no chemist either and it MAY be creating the things it says but I can tell you those "things" make no performance difference.  The system I sell and service has a 3 year warranty and the replacement cell is half the cost so in my opinion maybe they should drop the special "diamond cell" and replace it with something that lasts longer and/or costs less to replace. Just my .02

I feel pretty much the same. My only experience is I have a friend with a Saltron-mini system that he installed in 15 minutes. The cost of the whole unit including the cell is about $220 and a replacement cell is under $100. He has been using and cleaning his original cell in vinegar for 4 years now he said he soaks it in vinegar about 4 times a year.

He has a 400 gallon tub and it keeps up great and his water is silky smooth. He is very particular about his water and keeping stuff out and his runs only 4 hours a day for 2 people.

My point is if an after market company can make something simple and cheap why cant tub makers build something simple to change and cheap built into the tub. I can understand some people wouldn’t want to mess around dropping a cell in and out of the tub to use it but it seems it wouldn’t be too hard to have it mounted in the filter well or something and you just swap it out or unplug it to clean the buildup calcium off.

After the first of the year I’m switching to salt and going with a drop in aftermarket unit. If it doesn’t work I will only be out $220 and 8 pounds of salt.

Bud you may want to check with your dealer and make sure it won’t void your warranty

[bud16415]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

It operates the same way all other salt systems do, the diamond thing is just fancy marketing, I'm no chemist either and it MAY be creating the things it says but I can tell you those "things" make no performance difference.  The system I sell and service has a 3 year warranty and the replacement cell is half the cost so in my opinion maybe they should drop the special "diamond cell" and replace it with something that lasts longer and/or costs less to replace. Just my .02

I feel pretty much the same. My only experience is I have a friend with a Saltron-mini system that he installed in 15 minutes. The cost of the whole unit including the cell is about $220 and a replacement cell is under $100. He has been using and cleaning his original cell in vinegar for 4 years now he said he soaks it in vinegar about 4 times a year.

He has a 400 gallon tub and it keeps up great and his water is silky smooth. He is very particular about his water and keeping stuff out and his runs only 4 hours a day for 2 people.

My point is if an after market company can make something simple and cheap why cant tub makers build something simple to change and cheap built into the tub. I can understand some people wouldn’t want to mess around dropping a cell in and out of the tub to use it but it seems it wouldn’t be too hard to have it mounted in the filter well or something and you just swap it out or unplug it to clean the buildup calcium off.

After the first of the year I’m switching to salt and going with a drop in aftermarket unit. If it doesn’t work I will only be out $220 and 8 pounds of salt.

Bud you may want to check with your dealer and make sure it won’t void your warranty

Thanks for the tip. I will do that.

I’m quite convinced that slight salt concentration of salt in the water wont cause harm to the tub. I wont be changing anything with the tub itself expect adding salt to the water.

I suppose if you remove the unit from the tub no one would ever be the wiser you were running salt, but I wouldn’t do that. I would say the warranty claim would have to be caused by the salt water to void the warranty. Say my control panel or lights failed I don’t see how that could be connected to salt in the water.

But I will ask. In fact of the dealers maybe someone knows the answer. My tub happens to be a Caldera if anyone knows. Can I add salt to my water?

[Hottubguy]

That is one of the brands I originally posted about.  I emailed the company and asked about the cell and according to them it functions in exactly the same was as the ACE cell in that it does more than just create chlorine.  I might have to give one a try.

I have heard this before and here is what HotSprings says in their FAQ.

https://www.hotspring.com/acefaq

They talk about Active Oxygen also being produced as the “other” thing besides chlorine being produced. Somehow only the diamond electrodes can do this. They claim no other salt conversion system has the power to accomplish this.

I’m not a chemist and I don’t know if this is true or not or if it is even feasible to remove the chlorine from salt water and not make oxygen in the process or if running a ozone producing cell does the same thing or how much oxygen is being generated with the ACE. Would putting a pinch of non-chlorine shock in each day be the equivalent? 

Searching around the internet seems to not yield much information as to the real measurable differences between ACE and the other non-diamond processes.

If anyone has more information or links to information on how much of a difference the “Active Oxygen” makes to the sanitizing process over all the other salt to chlorine systems I would love reading more.     

It operates the same way all other salt systems do, the diamond thing is just fancy marketing, I'm no chemist either and it MAY be creating the things it says but I can tell you those "things" make no performance difference.  The system I sell and service has a 3 year warranty and the replacement cell is half the cost so in my opinion maybe they should drop the special "diamond cell" and replace it with something that lasts longer and/or costs less to replace. Just my .02

I feel pretty much the same. My only experience is I have a friend with a Saltron-mini system that he installed in 15 minutes. The cost of the whole unit including the cell is about $220 and a replacement cell is under $100. He has been using and cleaning his original cell in vinegar for 4 years now he said he soaks it in vinegar about 4 times a year.

He has a 400 gallon tub and it keeps up great and his water is silky smooth. He is very particular about his water and keeping stuff out and his runs only 4 hours a day for 2 people.

My point is if an after market company can make something simple and cheap why cant tub makers build something simple to change and cheap built into the tub. I can understand some people wouldn’t want to mess around dropping a cell in and out of the tub to use it but it seems it wouldn’t be too hard to have it mounted in the filter well or something and you just swap it out or unplug it to clean the buildup calcium off.

After the first of the year I’m switching to salt and going with a drop in aftermarket unit. If it doesn’t work I will only be out $220 and 8 pounds of salt.

Bud you may want to check with your dealer and make sure it won’t void your warranty

Thanks for the tip. I will do that.

I’m quite convinced that slight salt concentration of salt in the water wont cause harm to the tub. I wont be changing anything with the tub itself expect adding salt to the water.

I suppose if you remove the unit from the tub no one would ever be the wiser you were running salt, but I wouldn’t do that. I would say the warranty claim would have to be caused by the salt water to void the warranty. Say my control panel or lights failed I don’t see how that could be connected to salt in the water.

But I will ask. In fact of the dealers maybe someone knows the answer. My tub happens to be a Caldera if anyone knows. Can I add salt to my water?

I’m a Caldera dealer and I’m not sure. I’ve never asked because I’ve never had a customer try it. I think in the warranty it says something up alterations. Not sure if converting to salt would be considered a alteration.

[bud16415]

I’m a Caldera dealer and I’m not sure. I’ve never asked because I’ve never had a customer try it. I think in the warranty it says something up alterations. Not sure if converting to salt would be considered a alteration.

Thanks for the reply. That was pretty much the feeling I got from my dealer the couple times I mentioned salt. Mostly what they told me was “You don’t want to do that.” One lady sales person told me oh no don’t do that look at what salt does to your car. I pointed out cars are made from steel and the salt concentration is at least 100 times stronger.

I understand opening up the tub and cutting pipes and adding in new devices would likely void a warranty but I don’t see where adding some salt is different than adding some bleach or a strong concentrated oxidizer.

If you get a chance to ask Watkins directly it would be interesting to hear what they say. 

To the OP sorry not trying to highjack your thread trying to stay somewhat on topic.