Hello, First post here, from up north in Quebec city Canada. Pool is an above ground 18' round, with 52" high wall. If I'm not mistaking, the water volume would be around 7600 gallons (31000 liters). We do not have a water heater, so basically we use the pool maybe 3 to 4 months max during summer, and we're a family of four.
Converted to salt in spring 2015, and bought locally an Aqua-Trol model AQ-TROL-RJ-CUL SWG, which uses a T-Cell-5 cell. Loved it, since I wanted the least amount of maintenance possible. At the end of last year, had trouble maintaining the salt ppm, since the cell was displaying a value more than 800 ppm below what it really was, after having it checked at the local pool shop. Cleaning it did not change anything. Looks like I'll have to change the cell after 3 years of use.
When checking prices of a new T-Cell-5, I notice these are at least $100.00 CAN more expensive than T-Cell-3, even on Amazon. Also, I can only find GLX-Cell-5 units, which only have a 1 year warranty, instead of 3 yrs for the T-Cell-5; so I'm afraid their life expectancy will be less than a T-Cell.
I'm probably stuck with using a T-5 cell with the Aqua-Trol model I have, if I read correctly in this forum. The main board in my SWG unit is PN G1-066012F-1 Rev. B, with firmware V1.45. I've checked if I could see somewhere a jumper that could have allowed me to use a T-15 cell, but I did not see one.
It bugs me to have to pay almost $500 CAN (including taxes), which is more then I've paid for the new SWG unit back in 2015, for a new GLX T-5 cell, which would only have a 1 year warranty instead of 3; and have less durability.
When I searched on this topic, I saw that some people have changed the main PCB of their SWG unit with an Aqua Rite model, that allowed them to use T3, T-9 or T-15 cells. Found an online dealer that is selling refurb Aqua-Rite pcb's for $170 US.
T-3 cells are found locally, are $100 cheaper than T-5s, still have a 3 years warranty, and if I'm not mistaking, would be OK for the size of my pool.
Or I could pay a little more, get a T-15 cell, which would be "overkill" for my pool, but would probably have a longer life expectancy since I could run it around 20 or 25% instead of an higher % rate with the other ones.
With all of this said, is a pcb swapping feasible with my unit ? If so, would it be a good long term decision to go ahead and change the pcb, and use other T-cells than the T-5, or should I stay with the GLX-5 without being afraid these won't last as long as the T-5s ?
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
Converted to salt in spring 2015, and bought locally an Aqua-Trol model AQ-TROL-RJ-CUL SWG, which uses a T-Cell-5 cell. Loved it, since I wanted the least amount of maintenance possible. At the end of last year, had trouble maintaining the salt ppm, since the cell was displaying a value more than 800 ppm below what it really was, after having it checked at the local pool shop. Cleaning it did not change anything. Looks like I'll have to change the cell after 3 years of use.
When checking prices of a new T-Cell-5, I notice these are at least $100.00 CAN more expensive than T-Cell-3, even on Amazon. Also, I can only find GLX-Cell-5 units, which only have a 1 year warranty, instead of 3 yrs for the T-Cell-5; so I'm afraid their life expectancy will be less than a T-Cell.
I'm probably stuck with using a T-5 cell with the Aqua-Trol model I have, if I read correctly in this forum. The main board in my SWG unit is PN G1-066012F-1 Rev. B, with firmware V1.45. I've checked if I could see somewhere a jumper that could have allowed me to use a T-15 cell, but I did not see one.
It bugs me to have to pay almost $500 CAN (including taxes), which is more then I've paid for the new SWG unit back in 2015, for a new GLX T-5 cell, which would only have a 1 year warranty instead of 3; and have less durability.
When I searched on this topic, I saw that some people have changed the main PCB of their SWG unit with an Aqua Rite model, that allowed them to use T3, T-9 or T-15 cells. Found an online dealer that is selling refurb Aqua-Rite pcb's for $170 US.
T-3 cells are found locally, are $100 cheaper than T-5s, still have a 3 years warranty, and if I'm not mistaking, would be OK for the size of my pool.
Or I could pay a little more, get a T-15 cell, which would be "overkill" for my pool, but would probably have a longer life expectancy since I could run it around 20 or 25% instead of an higher % rate with the other ones.
With all of this said, is a pcb swapping feasible with my unit ? If so, would it be a good long term decision to go ahead and change the pcb, and use other T-cells than the T-5, or should I stay with the GLX-5 without being afraid these won't last as long as the T-5s ?
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
