Just installed Chlorine Genie

[tekstek]

I just installed the chlorine genie for my pool and spa. So far its working as described. Only running the genie for two hours a day right now. Chlorine level is about 3 ppm and steady. Ph level was high when i first started but was able to bring it down to 7.4 with no outside chemicals. I am still testing daily to stay on top of it. Anybody else have a chlorine genie? Is it working for you? I really liked the idea of chlorine generation on site but I didn't like the saltiness of the water with a standard SWG setup. This sounded like a good alternative.

 

[kimkats]

I don't but know of someone who may know about it @JoyfulNoise and thoughts?

 

[kellyfair]

Don’t know anything about the genie, but I’d keep your chlorine at target for your CYA. 3 is scary low for any level of CYA, in my opinion. Too much of a risk of dropping down to zero with daily loss due to sun and use.

 

[Jimrahbe]

T,

This is what they say in the first line of their advertisement..

"Imagine swimming in water that has been softened, descaled, pH balanced and sanitized all without the need for harsh chemical, toxic additives, corrosive salt water, or dangerous irritants."

I did not look any farther as I have three saltwater pools and none of them have "Harsh Chemicals, toxic additives, corrosive saltwater, or dangerous irritants"

I don't like sales people that can't sell their products without lies!!!

That said, I'm glad it is working for you.

It seems to me that we have seen this before, but at the time the cost was fairly high compared to the normal cost of chlorine. But that may not be the case today, as chlorine prices have really gone up.

What is the 'Ballpark cost" of your Chlorine Genie system???

Have you ever actually been in a saltwater pool??? I ask, because the water is not really very salty, it is not like the ocean...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Newdude]

What is the 'Ballpark cost" of your Chlorine Genie system???

I'm seeing $3100 to $4000.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I remember looking through the literature for this system as well as the patents. It’s basically something akin to a water softener with an SWG attached to it to generate sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) in-situ and then injects that into your pool plumbing. Think of it like an SWG system generating LC that then gets injected using a Stenner pump. Same concept. The upside is that the user controls the chemical balance of the water that is used by the electrolytic cell to generate chlorine. In theory, this keeps the cell very clean and allows the use of much higher salinity levels for the chlorine process. You also avoid having to add salt to your pool.

Ok, all good but, as @Newdude has shown, it’s wicked expensive. Like 4X the cost of an SWG. When bleach and LC were plentiful and cheap, a Chlorine Genie really can’t compete. But given the state of the chlorine market these days, it starts to become more economical.

I also find their advertising to be eye-rolling but that’s what marketing depts are paid to do - tell pretty little lies to make you their customers.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Welcome to TFP!

Genie-ous!

 But seriously, it seems like a great concept...just expensive. I read through the manuals and found the 30k unit produces 0.6 lbs of chlorine daily while the 50k system produces 1.2 lbs. The cells are rated for 6000 hrs.

 

[tekstek]

T,

This is what they say in the first line of their advertisement..

"Imagine swimming in water that has been softened, descaled, pH balanced and sanitized all without the need for harsh chemical, toxic additives, corrosive salt water, or dangerous irritants."

I did not look any farther as I have three saltwater pools and none of them have "Harsh Chemicals, toxic additives, corrosive saltwater, or dangerous irritants"

I don't like sales people that can't sell their products without lies!!!

That said, I'm glad it is working for you.

It seems to me that we have seen this before, but at the time the cost was fairly high compared to the normal cost of chlorine. But that may not be the case today, as chlorine prices have really gone up.

What is the 'Ballpark cost" of your Chlorine Genie system???

Have you ever actually been in a saltwater pool??? I ask, because the water is not really very salty, it is not like the ocean...

Thanks,

Jim R.

I paid 3500 altogether. Installed it myself. I know its only been two weeks. i'm hoping it stays working.
I agree with you about the sales pitch but the chlorine generation and ph balance aspects are spot on.
I have been in a saltwater pool and unfortunately the water seems really salty to me so i tried this alternative. Been looking at it for years and this price point made sense to me. When i first looked it was 5k or more.

 

[tekstek]

Don’t know anything about the genie, but I’d keep your chlorine at target for your CYA. 3 is scary low for any level of CYA, in my opinion. Too much of a risk of dropping down to zero with daily loss due to sun and use.

View attachment 525114

Thanks for that chart, my cya was 25 last time i checked. I don't have daily use and have been testing daily to make sure the level stays up. Running the genie daily for two hours so far the levels have been pretty consistant. I have been testing around 6pm and 9am. It runs from 10am to 12 pm so i feel this is a good window. If it drops i do plan to bump it up.

 

[tekstek]

I don't but know of someone who may know about it @JoyfulNoise and thoughts?

Its only been a short time but it is working as described. My daily maintenance went from testing, and adding chlorine and acid as necessary to just testing and then making a small adjustment to Genie. And now I don't jave to buy and store chlorine and acid. Well acid i have to use 100 cc a month to clean salt cell. They provided a syringe to add the acid to the genie.

 

[proavia]

In your profile, change your location to your actual city and state. Zip code 92392 isn't known by many, unless they look it up (unlikely).

 

[tekstek]

Welcome to TFP!

Genie-ous!

 But seriously, it seems like a great concept...just expensive. I read through the manuals and found the 30k unit produces 0.6 lbs of chlorine daily while the 50k system produces 1.2 lbs. The cells are rated for 6000 hrs.

It was expensive but i was spending at least 100 dollars a month in the summer to keep up with demand and more when I got busy and had an algae bloom or other issues and neglected the chemicals. I also don't winterize pool. The unit right now is only running 2 hours a day. If that keeps up i wont have to replace the cell for 7-8 years. There are other items to replace - two different filters but it doesn't seem like its going to add up to much. And a couple bags of salt a year.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

On-site chlorine generation makes more sense nowadays given how hard it can be at certain times if the year to find LC. Even then, it’s expensive and often way past it’s freshness date. People can’t use laundry bleach either because of all the additives. So the ChlorineGenie has a niche to fit in. It doesn’t produce the highest quality liquid chlorine but, then again, it doesn’t have to. Much of the processing done on industrial chlorine production is to optimize its lifetime within the supply chain. Since there’s no supply chain delay to worry about, the CG can adequately produce what your pool needs.

Keep this thread posted with updates. It will be instructive to see how it works out for you over the long haul.

 

[tekstek]

I remember looking through the literature for this system as well as the patents. It’s basically something akin to a water softener with an SWG attached to it to generate sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) in-situ and then injects that into your pool plumbing. Think of it like an SWG system generating LC that then gets injected using a Stenner pump. Same concept. The upside is that the user controls the chemical balance of the water that is used by the electrolytic cell to generate chlorine. In theory, this keeps the cell very clean and allows the use of much higher salinity levels for the chlorine process. You also avoid having to add salt to your pool.

Ok, all good but, as @Newdude has shown, it’s wicked expensive. Like 4X the cost of an SWG. When bleach and LC were plentiful and cheap, a Chlorine Genie really can’t compete. But given the state of the chlorine market these days, it starts to become more economical.

I also find their advertising to be eye-rolling but that’s what marketing depts are paid to do - tell pretty little lies to make you their customers.

I agree it was expensive. Most of the swg systems i looked at

I remember looking through the literature for this system as well as the patents. It’s basically something akin to a water softener with an SWG attached to it to generate sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) in-situ and then injects that into your pool plumbing. Think of it like an SWG system generating LC that then gets injected using a Stenner pump. Same concept. The upside is that the user controls the chemical balance of the water that is used by the electrolytic cell to generate chlorine. In theory, this keeps the cell very clean and allows the use of much higher salinity levels for the chlorine process. You also avoid having to add salt to your pool.

Ok, all good but, as @Newdude has shown, it’s wicked expensive. Like 4X the cost of an SWG. When bleach and LC were plentiful and cheap, a Chlorine Genie really can’t compete. But given the state of the chlorine market these days, it starts to become more economical.

I also find their advertising to be eye-rolling but that’s what marketing depts are paid to do - tell pretty little lies to make you their customers.

I remember looking through the literature for this system as well as the patents. It’s basically something akin to a water softener with an SWG attached to it to generate sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) in-situ and then injects that into your pool plumbing. Think of it like an SWG system generating LC that then gets injected using a Stenner pump. Same concept. The upside is that the user controls the chemical balance of the water that is used by the electrolytic cell to generate chlorine. In theory, this keeps the cell very clean and allows the use of much higher salinity levels for the chlorine process. You also avoid having to add salt to your pool.

Ok, all good but, as @Newdude has shown, it’s wicked expensive. Like 4X the cost of an SWG. When bleach and LC were plentiful and cheap, a Chlorine Genie really can’t compete. But given the state of the chlorine market these days, it starts to become more economical.

I also find their advertising to be eye-rolling but that’s what marketing depts are paid to do - tell pretty little lies to make you their customers.

It was expensive but i didn't want to convert to swg. I saw this as an alternative. And recently the price point made it more attractive. You are spot on with my findings and analysis of the device. I hope it keeps on working.

 

[Journeymnn]

I can chime in here. I’ve had a Genie for 4 years now. I recall paying $3000 for it, and I installed it when we were re-doing our 60 year-old pool. When it works, it works really well. Dirt cheap to run, and keeps my pool evenly chlorinated. I buy a few bags of salt at ~$8/bag and each bag lasts for about 300 hours of run time. I typically run it 8 hours / day, so I add a bag every 5-6 weeks. I acid wash the cell at the same time. That’s pretty much all I have to do. So I’m talking <$8 and 5 minutes of effort per month to keep my pool chlorinated.

I do have to keep the valve open all the time to keep the pH reasonable, as my water is somewhat alkaline, and it would climb to >8 with the valve closed. However, I created an automatic acid feed system using a Stenner pump and a WiFi pH probe that gives me a continuous pH read. Both are hooked in to Home Assistant, so I follow calcium saturation index (CSI) instead of pH and my pH usually floats around 7.8 - 8.0 anyway, keeping the CSI between -0.1 and +0.1. The acid turns on as needed to maintain that range. With the Genie valve open, I’d say the acid turns on every couple of weeks, dripping acid in for a few hours before shutting off when the CSI reaches -0.1 The water feels great and I have absolutely no scaling.

I’m alarmed to see that Ultimate Pool Water, the company that bought the Chlorine Genie from the inventor, seems to have folded. Website no longer exists. The Genie is a great concept but the companies behind it have been inadequate. I’ve had to make several mods to it over the years, and I pretty much talked to one guy. I‘ve tried reaching him recently, but all his old contact info with Ultimate Pool Water is no longer working. I hope it has a future, and I’ll maintain mine as long as I can.

 

[Journeymnn]

Just got off the phone with Bruce who was the guy who kept my Genie running. He worked for the original Chlorine Genie Company, then Ultimate Water who ran the product into the ground and have gone bankrupt, and who has now started his own company to maintain Genies. He can supply parts and tech advice for any generation Genie. He's knowledgeable and helpful. The Genies may yet live on; we'll see.

(Mod edit : PM me for his personal info)

 

[kgrett57]

Just got off the phone with Bruce who was the guy who kept my Genie running. He worked for the original Chlorine Genie Company, then Ultimate Water who ran the product into the ground and have gone bankrupt, and who has now started his own company to maintain Genies. He can supply parts and tech advice for any generation Genie. He's knowledgeable and helpful. The Genies may yet live on; we'll see.

(Mod edit : PM me for his personal info)

I’m looking for info on how to winterize the Genie. Can you pm me your contacts info please?