RJ-60 vs PL7703 [potentially losing pool builder warranty]

Brandon168

Member
Jun 11, 2022
23
Austin, TX
Pool Size
20440
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool Universal40
I sincerely (I mean that) appreciate recommendations on this. I absolutely love this community and since I've been following the protocol my pool is mostly "trouble free". I've recommended many people this way.

Pool is ~20k gallons, near Austin TX. Detail info in my profile. I monitor very closely and can say for at least the past 1 month since subscribing officially I've been well within the apps recommendations.

Any opinions on which SWCG I should buy? I would love owners of both to weigh in (thank you in advance).

Situation/Info
- Pool filled Sep 2021
- Pool builder refused to go salt during the build (they all do in our neighborhood as far as I've learned .. ~ 140 houses, ~50% pools, I've surveyed ~ 11 pool owners .. but most of the same 3 pool builders here [Dripping Springs, TX]) .. we got 3 quotes and 3 hard no's for salt
- I've sent my pool builder links to the CircuPool model and asked if I can pay them to install it, answer is "no, we don't know how"
- So far, my pool builder isn't responding to my ask of "if I convert will this void the warranty" .. I've nicely asked a few times
- I asked my pool builder what SWCG they would be comfortable installing and supporting, no response (I specifically asked about Jandy since they use this equipment ..)

- I'm quite comfortable DIY'ing this but I am a afraid of losing the pool builder warranty
- I'm very tired of finding and lugging around bleach since I can't use the Chlorinator (CYA was 100, got it down to 80 after pouring >= 1 gallon a day of bleach manually but the tabs or a no-go long term)
- I think I'll eventually grow tired of testing 2-3x per day :) so I'd like to further autopilot this before I get there (enjoying it at the moment)
- I would like to go on vacation for a week at a time and not worry about chlorine!

Non-Facts
- My wife and I are scared to death about corrosion. As it is, the view rails are already showing rust. We have a lot of metal furniture near the pool, a ~22' retracting awning, two flakey (metal [copper looking] corroding already) firebowls, etc. If any of this gets damaged it would FAR offset the savings and bleach lugging effort of moving to SWCG. That being said, from what I've read on this forum it's not a material concern. Notably my dad is a huge salt fan now after many non-sw pools over the years (a recent convert) but .. my mom says all their furniture (pretty high end teak + metal pieces mostly) are rusting much faster since they converted. My dad is still a big fan of salt though. None the less, corrosion is a concern (and yes, I'll happily monitor salt levels to keep them as low as feasible, assuming that's helpful).

I have been running the primary pump at 1275 RPM 24/7 and that's worked out well. As of tonight, I'm experimenting with 18 hours a day runtime after reading here .. but regardless, I have no problems running the primary slowly as long as needed.

Note: All my equipment is located under the pool deck, not sure if that matters

I'm essentially down to these two choices:

UnitCostMax Chlorine per DayWarrantyOther
CircuPool RJ-60$1,832 (current promotion price + free shipping + tax)3.1 LbsYear 1 - No charge for parts.
Year 2 - Parts supplied at 20% of base price.
Year 3 - Parts supplied at 40% of base price.
Year 4 - Parts supplied at 60% of base price
Year 5-7 - Parts supplied at 80% of base price.
Adjustment in increments of 10%
pureline PL7703$1,1893.18 Lbs2 yearsFine tuning (analog dial) .... ?

I would much rather pay up-front for a good, durable solution in order to save long term.


Would you convert, regardless of warranty?

Which of these (or other .. thanks!) would you recommend?

Thank you in advance,

Brandon



Pool:vUErrcVyQAan3SBbNIFCmA.jpg
 
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Pool builders in TX have a bizarre phobia of SWCGs, and I haven't quite been able to pinpoint why. My theory is that many Texas builders will also happily sell you a weekly pool service, and SWCGs threaten that business model.

Chlorine pools are salt water pools and vice versa - given enough time, a non-SWCG chlorine pool can certainly reach SWCG pool salt levels.. so the stuff rusting around the patio at your folks house is due to the construction of the product itself, not the pool. I'm not sure on what basis the pool builder would have to question your warranty.. Does any of their warranty documentation state that your warranty will be voided or shortened based upon using a SWCG?
 
the current promo price on the RJ-60+ at DiscountSaltPool is actually $1693, so a bit better pricing if you go that route. This is my second year with the system and very happy.
 
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Pool builders in TX have a bizarre phobia of SWCGs, and I haven't quite been able to pinpoint why. My theory is that many Texas builders will also happily sell you a weekly pool service, and SWCGs threaten that business model.

Chlorine pools are salt water pools and vice versa - given enough time, a non-SWCG chlorine pool can certainly reach SWCG pool salt levels.. so the stuff rusting around the patio at your folks house is due to the construction of the product itself, not the pool. I'm not sure on what basis the pool builder would have to question your warranty.. Does any of their warranty documentation state that your warranty will be voided or shortened based upon using a SWCG?
Thank you for the quick reply.

My pool builder never offered pool service, for what it's worth. And I do, despite some hiccups, trust the builder. They've, in the end, followed through, despite a long build process.

There is no specific exclusion on the warranty for DIY or salt.
 
the current promo price on the RJ-60+ at DiscountSaltPool is actually $1693, so a bit better pricing if you go that route. This is my second year with the system and very happy.
Thank you for the feedback! My stated price is the current promo + tax ("all in" for 8.25% tax rate).
 
For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't post that pdf as it has your whole address and signature on it.

But I agree, I don't see anything in there regarding pool chemistry at all, which is interesting (I'm also not a lawyer, although I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night).
 
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when we build our pool we said we wanted at SWG and the PB said all my quotes include one because 90% of the pools I built have an SWG. Other than the (admittedly significant) fact that my pool is open five-six months a year versus your 12, I can’t think of any reason why a pool in Texas would cause corrosion and a pool in New Hampshire would not. We’ve had an SWG for 15 years with no corrosion problem.
 
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I going into my fourth season with PL7703 and would buy again in a hart beat. Yes, you can set the power in 1% increments. One thing you forgot to compare is the cost per lbs of chlorine gas based on the total capacity of each cell. Note that this includes the cost of the controller/power supply.

Model​
Size​
lbs/day​
Cell Life​
total
Capacity
(lbs)​
Price (USD)​
$/lbs​
RJ-60​
60K​
3.1​
10000​
1,292​
$1,693​
$1.31​
PL7703​
60k​
3.18​
7000​
928​
$1,100​
$1.19​
 
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my mom says all their furniture (pretty high end teak + metal pieces mostly) are rusting much faster since they converted.
It's purely coincidental. Any finish takes time to start to weather and once it's on its way, it rapidly accelerates. Humidity and moistire destroys things, not salt pools that are 10% of the salinity of the ocean. It was going to happen either way but good luck convincing your Mom of that because human nature is funny like that and we need to blame something for everything.

Every chemical added to a liquid chlorine dosed pool is either a salt, or breaks down into salt and they end up around 5% of the salinity of the ocean. The entire argument for 'salt pool' corrosion hinges on going from 5% of seawater to 10%. It's pretty silly if you look at it that way.
 
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I think there’s also the issue of chlorine induced corrosion. Some papers suggest some alloys of even stainless are ok all the way up to 4 ppm (woo hoo!) of chlorine. Seems pool water is going to be at least somewhat corrosive, salt or not.
 
when we build our pool we said we wanted at SWG and the PB said all my quotes include one because 90% of the pools I built have an SWG. Other than the (admittedly significant) fact that my pool is open five-six months a year versus your 12, I can’t think of any reason why a pool in Texas would cause corrosion and a pool in New Hampshire would not. We’ve had an SWG for 15 years with no corrosion problem.
You can bet I'll show my wife this comment :) Thank you, this is very reassuring.
 
I going into my fourth season with PL7703 and would buy again in a hart beat. Yes, you can set the power in 1% increments. One thing you forgot to compare is the cost per lbs of chlorine gas based on the total capacity of each cell. Note that this includes the cost of the controller/power supply.

Model​
Size​
lbs/day​
Cell Life​
total
Capacity
(lbs)​
Price (USD)​
$/lbs​
RJ-60​
60K​
3.1​
10000​
1,292​
$1,693​
$1.31​
PL7703​
60k​
3.18​
7000​
928​
$1,100​
$1.19​
Awesome, thank you for the feedback!
 
A chlorine pool - IS - a salt pool.
A salt pool - IS - a chlorine pool.

A pool that uses liquid or solid chlorine in any form has the salt level increase a bit every time a chlorine addition is made. In many pools, a salt level well above that used in a "salt water pool" can be seen via accurate testing after several years. Before my last drain, my salt level was about 4200 ppm after about 3 years.
Muriatic acid will also add a little salt.
 
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