New and possibly NOT improved Intex SWG?

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Pv2

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Aug 14, 2013
1,273
south east Arizona
Pool Size
6700
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Anybody have any feedback on the updated Intex SWG? Seems to have mostly only changed the cover for the electronics and maybe the interface but lots of reviewers saying it errors to "salt too high" instead of "salt too low" like the old version. LOL maybe they reset that little item.

Reviews on Amazon seem pretty bad. I am about ready to order a new one since the price is down to $120 with some sort of two year warranty (haven't looked into details) , and a new electrode for my older version is $70 with no warranty.

Wondered if anybody had any advice or if there was a "next step up" SWG? It is like they go from $100+ to 500 and on up but not much of anything in the $200-300 range.
 
Pv2 said:
Anybody have any feedback on the updated Intex SWG? Seems to have mostly only changed the cover for the electronics and maybe the interface but lots of reviewers saying it errors to "salt too high" instead of "salt too low" like the old version. LOL maybe they reset that little item.

Reviews on Amazon seem pretty bad. I am about ready to order a new one since the price is down to $120 with some sort of two year warranty (haven't looked into details) , and a new electrode for my older version is $70 with no warranty.

Wondered if anybody had any advice or if there was a "next step up" SWG? It is like they go from $100+ to 500 and on up but not much of anything in the $200-300 range.
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I haven't left my review, yet, but I've had the same experience. I bought my last Intex unit right at 2 years ago. I started getting the dreaded "low salt" with the old unit. I tried cleaning the already clean looking plates and even tried to rewire it to bypass the sensors. Last Tuesday I broke down and ordered the new model from Amazon for 120 that I installed Thursday. The water was off yesterday and upon further exam I realized the new unit was showing "high salt" even though I'm sitting right at 3150ppm.

I actually logged on to see what alternatives are out there. You're right, there are not many choices in the under $500 category.
 
interesting.... based on this post I just looked up this product. Yeah they did redesign it. My 'old' intex unit from last year works great before the redesign. I'm wondering if I should pick up another of the electrode plate just to have on hand in case mine dies at some point so I'm not FORCED to buy this new one in a year or 2 as they phase out the old one...... It's only $64 for the electrode..... Probably will do that. Thanks for the heads up as a lot of users on here use the intex system
 
Yes, this is bad news. I see there are some amazon reviews that says that it does not save the programming states during power outages. The implication is that if you wired the intex swg power source to your pool pump timer, you will need to reprogram/reset every day. I have two for inground pool usage and plumbed in so I can drop replace any unit that breaks down. Except now the new generations appear to be flaky. Hopefully they will fix these issues in pass 2 of their next production run.
 
Given the bad quality of the new design and assuming the electrodes of the new ones, fit the older design. Its matter of time where you can buy returns/refurbs of new generation for a steal on ebay. I picked up an older generation this way for $35, to my surprise it was an amazon return being dumped by consolidator that did not want to test and resell.Turns out it was 100% functioning although it was marked as dead

richierich said:
Yeah for the $60 I may buy another electrode plate, I don't want to deal with this new setup issues that people are having
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Maybe I should start a new thread on this, but WARNING!!! when ordering parts from Intex - make sure you have the right part, they will get you on the dang shipping. I ordered a new electrode - the one that fits for the 16 inch filter, which is what mine is. HOWEVER that actually meant the combo pump/filter/swg. It looks identical but didn't have a small notch in it to fit into the housing, so before I cut the little nub out of my housing to make it work I looked into it further on line and found the correct part number for my SWG. SHEESH! Worse than cars. What could possibly be the reason for not making those parts interchangeable? Or at least being more clear about it in written descriptions. :brickwall:
 
I posted this earlier in another thread that pointed here... I've tried 2 of the new design SWG and can back up the negative reviews.

I've have a previous model for 3 seasons and loved it
attachment.php

... this summer it constantly gives us low salt errors, even though the salt tests between 2500 and 3500. The plates appear to be worn out (they've been soaked in vinegar frequently throughout their life, soaking them now will remove the calcium build up but they appear to be worn out since we cannot get the old unit to run with them in place).

We purchased the new version from Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and it immediately says high salt. Ordered new test strips (Aquacheck) and the salt was actually about 2700. Amazon has sent us another unit and we are returning the 1st one. New unit has a manufacture date just 2 days later than the first and has the same false High Salt error.

Had to use pucks in a floater to keep CL up while out of town for 10 days.... which of course raised the CYA to around 100. After draining 20% of the pool and refilling we tried the new unit with very low salt (still error-ed as high salt), adding salt to 3000ppm and it again errors as high salt.

The titanium plates are the same as from the previous model, amazingly they work flawlessly in the older SWCG unit. But in the new unit they will only give a high salt warning immediately and will not run. We've decided to keep the last unit from amazon and use the plates in the older SWCG since it's actually cheaper than buying replacement plates from Intex (Titanium electrode $63, ECO electrode $39, shipping $25 = $126).
 
That's good to know that the titanium plates from the new SWG will work on the old SWG. Just in case we see fire sale on the recent models.

7Sanders said:
I posted this earlier in another thread that pointed here... I've tried 2 of the new design SWG and can back up the negative reviews.

I've have a previous model for 3 seasons and loved it
attachment.php

... this summer it constantly gives us low salt errors, even though the salt tests between 2500 and 3500. The plates appear to be worn out (they've been soaked in vinegar frequently throughout their life, soaking them now will remove the calcium build up but they appear to be worn out since we cannot get the old unit to run with them in place).

We purchased the new version from Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and it immediately says high salt. Ordered new test strips (Aquacheck) and the salt was actually about 2700. Amazon has sent us another unit and we are returning the 1st one. New unit has a manufacture date just 2 days later than the first and has the same false High Salt error.

Had to use pucks in a floater to keep CL up while out of town for 10 days.... which of course raised the CYA to around 100. After draining 20% of the pool and refilling we tried the new unit with very low salt (still error-ed as high salt), adding salt to 3000ppm and it again errors as high salt.

The titanium plates are the same as from the previous model, amazingly they work flawlessly in the older SWCG unit. But in the new unit they will only give a high salt warning immediately and will not run. We've decided to keep the last unit from amazon and use the plates in the older SWCG since it's actually cheaper than buying replacement plates from Intex (Titanium electrode $63, ECO electrode $39, shipping $25 = $126).
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7Sanders said:
That was my hope when I was looking for a replacement, unfortunately, the prices were sky high! Amazon has one seller for $489, ebay had a few for about $200.
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I might be wrong, but I think they meant when these junky new models start going on sale they may be cheaper than ordering new plates to put in your old model. The run about $80 now if you include the almost $20 shipping Intex charges. And it is $100 if you accidentally order the wrong one and have to send back and reorder! :embarrassed emoticon:
 
Various times of the years consolidators dump returns/refurbish models on ebay. I picked up previous generation 15000gal intex swg for $35 in 2016. The price included shipping. I just wanted the plates and spare parts for future repairs (which I never had to do yet)

To my surprised it was labeled "amazon return" and marked not working by the original customer. I plugged in and it worked perfectly.

So if current generations has defect on their initial production run. I would expect sizable amount of amazon returns going to ebay Unless the manufacturer takes the returns and reworks them.
 
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