Hey guys,

Just moved into a new house with a SWG pool. The FC was 0 when I got here. This morningI inspected the SWG cell to find one of the leads is completely severed (inside the housing, not the external leads), so I'm in the market for a new cell. Are the aftermarket cells any good or should I stay with original equipment? There's a large price difference.

30,000 Gunnite Salt Water Pool
Ecomatic ECS 36



Thanks

Here is an example of a "problem" someone had with an aftermarket cell.

autopilot-cell-shorted-out-t25953.html#p214332

I am sure Poolsean wouldn't recommend it for an Autopilot system.

Svenpup posted the only instance I can recall of someone using an aftermarket cell. I imagine most of them do better than that, but we just don't have enough information to make a definitive statement regarding their reliability. Maybe there are some other members with aftermarket cells that will stop by and share their experiences...

Just searching the internet, the only cells I seem to be abel to find are aftermarkets. I think maybe monarch quit making the ECS 36 system. Any thoughts? It looks like compu pool makes an AM cell.

MITS is probably right and I hate to be alarmist. The post I referenced came up right after I installed my SWG and it stuck with me. I am sure a well made after market cell from a reputable manufacture would be fine. How do you determine if an after market cell is well made? Not sure.

Hewlett Packard wants to make money from replacements ink cartridges and doesn't want to warranty a printer if it was damaged by an inferior after market replacements cartridge. Do they exaggerate the risk of using after market cartridges? Probably. Is it worth the risk? Maybe, but I am not sure you really know what you are getting.

An iPhone cradle is $40 from Apple. You can get one for $1 on eBay. Is the Apple one overpriced? Absolutely. Is the eBay one as good? Doubt it. The consumer has to decide if saving $39 on a cradle is worth the risk of breaking the phone and potentially not having it covered under warranty (the iPhone can detect and record the use of after market chargers).

It is the same with an SWG. The manufacture wants to sell you a replacement cell to make money, but also they don't want to be held responsible for something they have no control over.

We should start a poll of after market cell experiences.

it depends who makes the aftermarket cells. if it's made somewhere in China - you are better off buying a genuine (assuming that genuine isn't OEM made a the same factory). plus you are running the risk of cell not being exact replacement.

i think there was someone on here who got a cell from Australia for some old unit and it didn't produce same amount of chlorine.

but sometimes aftermarket is your only choice as manufacturer either doesn't exist anymore, or doesn't make the cells