dndrich
Silver Supporter
Interesting. Earlier in this thread there is a member who states that a non-titanium style heating element will corrode. Thoughts?
Salt water Hot Tub with SWCG ?
- Thread starter dradam
- Start date
Interesting. Earlier in this thread there is a member who states that a non-titanium style heating element will corrode. Thoughts?
If your analogy is correct, and in the worst case scenario, you had to replace something that cost $130 every three years, then I would say yes it's worth it. In my case it would be worth it to me if I had to replace $130 part every year. In my opinion, as far as I am concerned, the convenience that salt water generator has brought me for my hot tub is well worth it. I would never own one without one.
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- May 23, 2015
- 24,405
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It depends on what the sheath material of the heater element is. If the sheath is made of titanium or Incoloy (a type nickel-based super alloy), then they will resist chloride attack (for Incoloy it depends on the specific alloy). If the sheath is made out of steel (cheap heaters tend to have low grade steel sheaths), then they can be susceptible to chloride attack. Typical heater failures occur when they develop a pin hole from corrosion and then the spa water causes the heater wire to short out to the sheath or the wire corrodes and breaks.
If you can find out the manufacturer of the heater element, then they can tell you if it's compatible with chlorides.
dndrich
Silver Supporter
What I will do is contact Marquis. I will also put in the SWG that I bought. If the element fails too early, I can always switch away from salt. Interesting.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,405
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Sounds like a good idea. Sounds like your replacement cost would be fairly cheap. Some spa heaters seem to be really pricey.
dndrich
Silver Supporter
I checked it online, and the replacement heater from Balboa (which is the OEM supplier anyway) is $130 delivered. Pretty good. Worth the experiment for me. And, the thing is 8 years old anyway as an original. So, if it fails now, I figure I got my money's worth out of it! Very nice tub though. Was in it tonight with my fabulous clear water using the TFP bleach method!!
I do not agree. It appears that Marquis heaters are either stainless steel or titanium. Stainless steel does pretty well in ocean conditions with 10x the amount of salt as there is in a pool/spa. And my light niche and ring are stainless steel and were spotless after 4 years of being in our saltwater pool. Granted there are various grades of SS, but I still think it will last a good long while. If it does fail then replace it with a titanium, copper or cupro-nickel heater and you'll be good.
One more point. Acid and bleach and tap water all add salt to your tub. You could well have 1000-2000 ppm of salt in your tub already.
One more point. Acid and bleach and tap water all add salt to your tub. You could well have 1000-2000 ppm of salt in your tub already.
dndrich
Silver Supporter
Just installed the Saltron Mini SWG. Super easy to do. Interestingly, my salt level was already 500 ppm to start. Glad somebody mentioned to check that first. Must be from the acid and liquid bleach. So, pool math calculated 5 lbs more of salt, and I added it to get to 2200 ppm as tested with my Taylor salt test kit. Fantastic. That is what the manufacturer recommends, slightly lower than the 3000 ppm in my pool. So far so good. Could not have been easier. Hopefully it will be easy to regulate. I will keep you posted. $170 delivered from Spa Depot.
I think you're gonna love it, this time year I do not use my hot tub much so I just set it on one and it maintains plenty of chlorine for me ..... I have around a 500 gallon tub.
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