Apex P60 review

[capp35]

Just installed one a few hours ago to replace my Intellichlor IC40. Paid $749 with a 2 year warranty.
First impressions, totally interchangeable and easy to adjust. It plugs in correctly to my Intellitouch and controls the on/off aspects.
All reading and controls are on the unit itself, which is fine with me. Not bad for a much larger unit and less than half the price of Pentair.
Time will tell how long it lasts, but the average is 5 years for Pentair and this has a 2 year warranty. Also have not seen any bad reviews.
I will try and post back in a few weeks for chlorine output. Just shocked the pool, so it will take that long for good results

 

[PoolStored]

Thanks for the review!!

 

[capp35]

Sorry for the late update, but we have had torrential rainfall lately in Houston from all the tropical waves. I have not added any shock or chlorine since I first installed it.
So…..
I previously had the IC40 and had to keep it at 80% to keep up with the chlorine usage in my 32K gallon pool. Just checked it today after our first real sunshine day and was surprised at the results. At 40% running for the past couple of weeks, my chlorine level is actually too high and will adjust this weekend after a few more days of sunshine.
So far very impressed and maybe running at this low of percentage it will last me a while.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Newdude]

It has 50% more production than the IC40 or equivalent, so fingers crossed it behaves as they say.

TIA for long term updates too. At half the price, it could fail twice as early and be a wash. I'd strongly consider it at that point for less hit to the monthly expenses at that time. Anything over that is pure gravy.

 

[mas985]

I previously had the IC40 and had to keep it at 80% to keep up with the chlorine usage in my 32K gallon pool. Just checked it today after our first real sunshine day and was surprised at the results. At 40% running for the past couple of weeks, my chlorine level is actually too high and will adjust this weekend after a few more days of sunshine.
So far very impressed and maybe running at this low of percentage it will last me a while.
Fingers crossed.

As cells age, they will produce less chlorine and it can easily be a 50% reduction at the point of cell failure. If you had compared the two cells when both were new, I doubt the production rate was all that much different.

Chlorine production is proportional to the current draw which in turn is determined primarily by the plate area and salt level plus is going to be limited by the power supply. When current gets too high, the unit will alarm and shut down.

 

[capp35]

I ran the IC40 at 80% since it was new. So I would say it’s a fair comparison.
My main surprise was that it had rained approximately 2 inches a day for a whole week with that last tropical wave that came through. I figured it would have deluded the chlorine since the pool kept flowing over the top edge.
We are supposed to have sunny days through the weekend so I will test again this weekend and adjust from there.

 

[mas985]

I am just saying that is just not possible for a cell to generate that much more CL than the original OEM cell. It is limited by the current from the power supply. So perhaps something else has changed (e.g. pump run time, organic load, salt level, etc).

I change the cell % and run time based upon time of year (i.e. UV exposure) so I am very surprised you can use a single value for the entire year.

 

[Newdude]

So perhaps something else has changed (e.g. pump run time, organic load, etc).

OP upgraded from a 40k cell to a 60k cell.

Then DSP claims the p60 makes 2.4 lbs per day to the IC60's 2.0 lbs per day. It's not a direct clone so the larger production is at least possible.

So OP went from 1.4 lbs per day to at least 2, and possibly up to 2.4.

 

[capp35]

Correct.
The previous one was an IC40 and this one is basically a generic IC60. Both using the same power source.

 

[mas985]

Even so, I would expect the difference to be less than 1.5x.

 

[capp35]

I can only tell you what is going on now. During the summer months you have my percentage comparisons as I had the old unit for about 5 years.
I was pushing it with the IC40 on a 32k pool, but it worked.
For half the price and at least a 30% bigger unit than previous and producing more chlorine, I am very happy so far.