Salt cell prices gone through the roof

My cell is approaching 9 years old and the operating voltage is creeping up (constant current controller). I can see on really hot evenings when the mains voltage drops down around 225V the output drops down to 94-95% so I know the cell is going to need to be replaced later this year. Doing the rough calcs it'll have between 11.4-13.1k actual production hours on it I suppose.

I got a quick on-line price for a genuine cell, and it was only about $100 cheaper than a completely brand new chlorinator with cell.
Last ESC24 cell I bought was about $500. They're now pushing a grand. $945 to be precise while the new chlorinator was $1045.

So this has been an interesting and timely thread. I suppose I can't complain. The first cell lasted 8 years, this one will turn 9 in Feb, but geez. A grand?!?
I might have a chat to the local pool shop I buy my gear through and see what he can do.

chlorinatorpro said:

Took another month but I've seen prices as low as $219 for some of these generic t-15 cells from online auto parts stores. I think most buyers are realizing the "too good to be true" pricing and are not purchasing in volume. However enough people will buy and then eventually complain, which will put another stain on the rest of the honest generic resellers.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Click to expand...

Another month has gone by and I've seen prices as low as $164...it's like a limbo contest now.

What happens if you don't read the fine print when purchasing these sub-$200 generic salt cells? You find out after the fact that the warranty is six months or sometime even three months which should tell you all you need to know about how long the cells will last. There is a reason why reputable generic T-15 cells are still over $550 and OEM Hayward cells are $899. Warranty and support.

Might be a little late Jan,
But I’ve dealt with them. It was fast and exactly what I ordered.

I had a similar problem with viron eq25 that the cell failed after 2.5y service, twice, with it being AU$790 for a new cell. And the history tells me it wasn’t big enough anyway.

I ended up putting in a SaltMate RP30 (40g/h) chlorinator. The cell for this I got at pool and spa warehouse delivered to WA for around AU$525.
$250 less for a 60% larger cell that I can now run at 30% output so hopefully get much more life.
Cheers
Adam