Hello All,
I was very excited in 2019 to get my new RJ45 plus, but roughly 1 week later it had to sent back in for being defective. Finally got it back and less than a month later the exact same issue happened again. Sent it back for repair AGAIN but pool season was over and my pool about to be closed for the year plus I had to pay $24 for shipping. I got maybe...a month of actual use out of it that whole pool season. Not cool considering the cost of the system.
Last year 2020 it actually worked without issues.
Less than a week into this pool season it failed again the exact same way as the last 2 times. It will show voltage but not amperage, no activity from the cell. Now this was working perfectly days prior and my pool chemistry was good with no changes. Before we go into water chemistry, flow sensor, dirty cell, etc as the culprit I'll go into what the issues was. I took it apart and looked for loose wires, connections, etc. Finally I noticed as I pushed up or down on the main board in certain areas a relay would click, the voltage dropped slightly, amperage started building and eventually the salt cell had activity if I held the board long enough. After trying different combinations of where to put pressure on the board I wedge a small pebble between the board and the case and it would stay on working correctly producing chlorine. Since the case was off I couldn't continue to use it like this unless I somehow covered it up to keep weather and water from it. I contacted Circupool, explained the issue. I sent them videos clearly demonstrating there was an issue with the board. At which point I noticed the board was not the original one it came with, it had been replaced already by Circupool. It had a different serial number and sticker location. (I took pictures of it before I changed the input wiring to 120V so I had that pictures with the original board) I also noticed only 3 of the 4 board screws were installed and the 4 transformer screws were halfway out. Definitely some bad workmanship. They agreed to cover it under warranty and sent me an RMA rather quickly, I was impressed actually!
The RMA didn't state what all I was suppose to send in, it took a week and 2 emails to get a response from the same woman I was talking with prior. They only wanted the control unit, I asked if I could just get a board or what the cost was instead of sending it in. I had the control unit under a big Tupperware storage container with that little pebble in there so it would continue to work. 1 week and at least 2 emails later she responded and told me I had to send it in, that was the only way. Liquid Chlorine in my area has been really sketchy this year, I didn't have any on hand and needed enough for 2 weeks to be safe. Finally I found enough and packed it up last Friday and sent it in.
Today, 1 week later I get a bill for about over $150 stating they are only covering 60% of the repair cost and i have to pay shipping going back. I was told this was covered under warranty, not partially covered. This unit has been sent back 3 times for the exact same issue every time. Obviously there is a defect they are not correcting or a cause for it to continue happening. Has anyone else had problems like this with Circupool and/or the RJ plus models? I had hope they would actually take care of it but after numerous emails trying to get simple responses, a huge lack of communication and pulling a fast one saying it was covered then trying to charge me I feel swindled. I have a 24,000 gallon pool and this unit hasn't been used enough that the salt cell shows any buildup or need of cleaning yet. It never worked right from the beginning. What happens if the same issues occurs again? It's already happened 3 times. I'm not paying repair fees over and over and that is my fear. This issue will continue to happen just like it has been 3 times now.
I was very excited in 2019 to get my new RJ45 plus, but roughly 1 week later it had to sent back in for being defective. Finally got it back and less than a month later the exact same issue happened again. Sent it back for repair AGAIN but pool season was over and my pool about to be closed for the year plus I had to pay $24 for shipping. I got maybe...a month of actual use out of it that whole pool season. Not cool considering the cost of the system.
Last year 2020 it actually worked without issues.
Less than a week into this pool season it failed again the exact same way as the last 2 times. It will show voltage but not amperage, no activity from the cell. Now this was working perfectly days prior and my pool chemistry was good with no changes. Before we go into water chemistry, flow sensor, dirty cell, etc as the culprit I'll go into what the issues was. I took it apart and looked for loose wires, connections, etc. Finally I noticed as I pushed up or down on the main board in certain areas a relay would click, the voltage dropped slightly, amperage started building and eventually the salt cell had activity if I held the board long enough. After trying different combinations of where to put pressure on the board I wedge a small pebble between the board and the case and it would stay on working correctly producing chlorine. Since the case was off I couldn't continue to use it like this unless I somehow covered it up to keep weather and water from it. I contacted Circupool, explained the issue. I sent them videos clearly demonstrating there was an issue with the board. At which point I noticed the board was not the original one it came with, it had been replaced already by Circupool. It had a different serial number and sticker location. (I took pictures of it before I changed the input wiring to 120V so I had that pictures with the original board) I also noticed only 3 of the 4 board screws were installed and the 4 transformer screws were halfway out. Definitely some bad workmanship. They agreed to cover it under warranty and sent me an RMA rather quickly, I was impressed actually!
The RMA didn't state what all I was suppose to send in, it took a week and 2 emails to get a response from the same woman I was talking with prior. They only wanted the control unit, I asked if I could just get a board or what the cost was instead of sending it in. I had the control unit under a big Tupperware storage container with that little pebble in there so it would continue to work. 1 week and at least 2 emails later she responded and told me I had to send it in, that was the only way. Liquid Chlorine in my area has been really sketchy this year, I didn't have any on hand and needed enough for 2 weeks to be safe. Finally I found enough and packed it up last Friday and sent it in.
Today, 1 week later I get a bill for about over $150 stating they are only covering 60% of the repair cost and i have to pay shipping going back. I was told this was covered under warranty, not partially covered. This unit has been sent back 3 times for the exact same issue every time. Obviously there is a defect they are not correcting or a cause for it to continue happening. Has anyone else had problems like this with Circupool and/or the RJ plus models? I had hope they would actually take care of it but after numerous emails trying to get simple responses, a huge lack of communication and pulling a fast one saying it was covered then trying to charge me I feel swindled. I have a 24,000 gallon pool and this unit hasn't been used enough that the salt cell shows any buildup or need of cleaning yet. It never worked right from the beginning. What happens if the same issues occurs again? It's already happened 3 times. I'm not paying repair fees over and over and that is my fear. This issue will continue to happen just like it has been 3 times now.
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