Making the Leap - CircuPool Edge 40 or Pentair IC-40

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Utlmnop

Utlmnop

0
Jun 22, 2011
34
Knoxville, TN
We should have made the leap years ago and just put it off... now with liquid chlorine being a hot commodity going into the summer - it's past time to move to a SWG.

Here's my issue. I want to go with the CircuPool Edge 40. My husband really does NOT want to DIY this. Honestly, we're fine with the plumbing part - but he's not keen on doing the electrical (we CAN.. he just doesn't want to). He says that after it's done - the "wear and tear on husband" fee would balance out just having the pool store install a SWG.

Calling the pool store today - they all seem to be hawking the Pentair IC-40. I've looked at the comparison chart on discountsaltpools.com. The IC-40 looks subpar to the Edge 40.

I think with the discount price for the Cricupool unit - I could call a plumber and an electrician and probably still be out better than if the pool store put in a unit I really wasn't thrilled with.

Thoughts on the two units?

Lastly - does anyone know if there are any locking features on either of these units (physical or systematic)? Our pool equipment pad is outside of our back fence (on the side of the house) - but open to the "public" .. so the speak. We live in a small neighborhood - and we've never had anyone mess with our pool equipment but it is open in that someone could come by and tinker with things. It's always irritated me but it was done that way before we bought the house and aside reconfiguring the fence line - there's not much I could do about it. I'm slightly concerned about having a SWG with it's control pad mounted and open.
 
Unless you have Pentair automation, the IC40 is not the right choice. Circupool units are a good choice. The one you show is OK. You will have to run the pump 12+ hours per day with the SWCG at 100% during the summer to generate the FC you need.

Do realize you need a timer for the SWCG so that it is only powered when the pump is running. The flow switch on the SWCG is the secondary safety device. Removing power from the unit is the primary safety device. SWCG can explode if powered on with no water flow.
 
mknauss said:
Unless you have Pentair automation, the IC40 is not the right choice. Circupool units are a good choice. The one you show is OK. You will have to run the pump 12+ hours per day with the SWCG at 100% during the summer to generate the FC you need.

Do realize you need a timer for the SWCG so that it is only powered when the pump is running. The flow switch on the SWCG is the secondary safety device. Removing power from the unit is the primary safety device. SWCG can explode if powered on with no water flow.
Click to expand...

We actually run our VS pump 24/7. We know we don't have to - but energy is cheap here and quite honestly, we got lazy after that was installed (2017? 2018? The years are blending together) .. and never figured out how to use the auto timers to program the darn thing. (Shamefully) - we use the Ronco method of "set and forget".

That said - I was told I wouldn't need a timer if we ran the pump 24/7 - but we totally intended on having a timer installed anyway - regardless of which pump we pick. We have an old school timer from when we were thinking of putting one on our Polaris cleaner and then decided that was more work than it was worth...

No plans for automation at this point. We ended up with all Pentair products because that's what the pool stores sell. There was never an intent to automate - our pool is so simplistic, it's not really necessary.
 
Utlmnop said:
We actually run our VS pump 24/7. We know we don't have to - but energy is cheap here and quite honestly, we got lazy after that was installed (2017? 2018? The years are blending together) .. and never figured out how to use the auto timers to program the darn thing. (Shamefully) - we use the Ronco method of "set and forget".

That said - I was told I wouldn't need a timer if we ran the pump 24/7 - but we totally intended on having a timer installed anyway - regardless of which pump we pick. We have an old school timer from when we were thinking of putting one on our Polaris cleaner and then decided that was more work than it was worth...

No plans for automation at this point. We ended up with all Pentair products because that's what the pool stores sell. There was never an intent to automate - our pool is so simplistic, it's not really necessary.
Click to expand...
I also run my pump 24/7 and have the edge40 set around 3 of 8 bars and my FC has stayed around 6.
I just put a 120v end on the power cord and have it on a smart plug if I need to cut it back
 
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U,

I am a highly biased Pentair kind of guy and currently have three pools with the IC40.. I have no complaints, because I have Pentair automation systems.. I would never install an IC40 as a standalone Saltwater System..

I suggest that you go with one of the CircuPool units..

PS.. I would not walk into a pool store even just use their bathroom.. I can't think why anyone would buy any type of equipment from them. :poke:

If you don't want to do it yourself, any pool related electrician should easily be able to do it for you..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
U,

I am a highly biased Pentair kind of guy and currently have three pools with the IC40.. I have no complaints, because I have Pentair automation systems.. I would never install an IC40 as a standalone Saltwater System..

I suggest that you go with one of the CircuPool units..

PS.. I would not walk into a pool store even just use their bathroom.. I can't think why anyone would buy any type of equipment from them. :poke:

If you don't want to do it yourself, any pool related electrician should easily be able to do it for you..

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
So.... here's the deal. We are very luck to have pool stores into our area that get the TFP method. Last year I walked into one to get my first 1/2 season supply of liquid shock (they had a wicked sale going on) - and when the kid cashier looked at me - surprised I was buying so much - I quietly told him WHY I only used Liqud Shock. His manager overhead me and leaned over and asked if I need a job. ;).

I have literally never had a pool store push anything on me other than shark shaped plastic floating thermometers and Polaris parts. My husband - an engineer - could totally do the work himself - he just doesn't want to. like.. "petulant teenager, rather be pecked to death by baby ducks, hard pass" DOES.NOT.WANT.TO.DO.THE.WORK. (eyeroll). The pool was in horrible shape when we bought the house and we've had to replace pretty much everything - liner, pump, filter, etc. The liner we couldn't do on our own. We SHOULD have done the pump on our own - the Dang pool store had to come out three times to plumb it the way we wanted. I ran into warranty issue with "self installed" filters. What's a girl to do?!

We call the three big players in town - and usually settled on whoever is going to give us the equipment we want at the best price.

my issue here is that none of them sell the equipment I want. And I still have a husband who is adamantly refusing to install this himself (week 3 of mandatory "safer at home" quarantine is probably not the best week to say "you know... we should upgrade"). I think I can do the plumbing - no problems. but I don't trust myself to do the electrical. My electrical skills cap out at smart thermostats.

I'll likely order the Cricupool unit (now I'm leaning toward the RJ-45) and have one of the independent pool guys come and install it.
 
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U,

I was painting with a wide brush... I was referring to one specific large chain of pool stores more than to the mom and pop stores...

If your store is as good as you say, they should be glad to come out and install your CircuPool unit for some reasonable fee.

Another option would be to install the Hayward T-15, which is a much better standalone cell.. As much as I hate to say that as a Pentair kind of guy. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
U,

I was painting with a wide brush... I was referring to one specific large chain of pool stores more than to the mom and pop stores...

If your store is as good as you say, they should be glad to come out and install your CircuPool unit for some reasonable fee.

Another option would be to install the Hayward T-15, which is a much better standalone cell.. As much as I hate to say that as a Pentair kind of guy. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...


Let's not get carried away. They still won't install anything you don't buy from them.....
 
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E-Konomy here in Tucson is very happy to sell us Hasa liquid chlorine. They are WELL aware of us TFPers. Some of their staff seems to agree, too. Never had an issue with them so far, so decent stores are out there, like with anything else.
 
U,

I applaud your choice of the RJ-45+. I can tell you how to hook it up and I can tell you it's not at all difficult but in the end, if you're not comfortable then you simply are not comfortable doing it. Done.

In that case I would go with the general electrician or even the friend of a friend's husband that knows his way around electric mostly. It's not terribly difficult really and even the "friend" should be able to do it for a nice glass tea or a beer ;) and 15 mins time
 
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Our local pool store just wants to sell..You go in for a water test and they start grabbing stuff and say $175 before they even go over the results!
then I have to say " I already have that stuff" which means I will buy it for 1/2 that price if at all. :)
 
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onlyjeeps said:
U,

I applaud your choice of the RJ-45+. I can tell you how to hook it up and I can tell you it's not at all difficult but in the end, if you're not comfortable then you simply are not comfortable doing it. Done.

In that case I would go with the general electrician or even the friend of a friend's husband that knows his way around electric mostly. It's not terribly difficult really and even the "friend" should be able to do it for a nice glass tea or a beer ;) and 15 mins time
Click to expand...
It really doesn't look that hard. I'm getting the bypass kit also.

I actually went and crowd sourced someone who would do the install and one of the local pool companies contacted me to say they would do it.

Truth be told - we've been dying to put in a kill switch for our pool cleaner (Old School Polaris) on the deck. He's our third child - totally unpredictable (we've adjusted him.. and adjusted him. sometimes he cleans well.. sometimes he gets himself tangled in his own tail. never makes any sense. Last year he high sided on his booster pump plug and snapped off a wheel. ). With our equipment pad being on the wrong side of the fence - turning him off/on is a pill for one person or a solid two person job (one person out the front door to turn him off, second person out the back door to wait to untangle him, then yell at person 1 to turn him back on). A kill switch on the back patio would be a 100% improvement.

Long story short - we have another need for an electrician besides wiring this SWG. ;) So.. I think I'm going to hire this local company who does electric, plumbing, etc.
 
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**Update**

Ordered the RJ-45 from discount salt pool (using the $1 upgrade sale). Ours came missing an O ring but they were snappy fast to send out another set and we were good to go.

I convinced the husband to do the plumbing. We went with a vertical install (had plenty of space so we didn't need the vertical space saving kit) - and like y'all said - it was super fast and easy to plumb.

Opened yesterday to a cloudy but overall decently clean pool. Water maybe in the upper 60's (burrr). Less than 24 hours into SLAM (and 3 hairnet/skimmer sock changes later) and I can see the bottom! Woot!

The electrician just left (he spent more time wiring our booster pump kill switch on the patio than wiring the SWG).

Gotta get my water chemistry just right but y'all - we are offically a SWG Pool!!!! YAY!!!!!
 
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If I can hijack this thread temporarily, I am also looking to switch from liquid to a salt chlorine generator. I have a 34k or so pool so I’m looking at the 55-60 series. My vague impression was Pentair tends to be more expensive and the CircuPool models are typically cheaper, but the top end RJ and core lines from CircuPool are 1500 at discount salt pool, while the Pentair IC60 ranges from 1150-1250 online. The SJ model is closer to 1000, but seems to be a more basic unit. Are the other CircuPool generators a step up in quality from Pentair, or are the discounts just throwing prices out of the norm for things here?

I have an intelliflo pump so I thought I would get a Pentair generator in case I ever get automation, but I’m intrigued by this free upgrade discount salt pool is running where I could get the large CircuPool generator for the step down price.
 
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The real price from DSP is generally the "step up" deal as they seem to always have a variant of that offer on line. It's interesting marketing. And yeah, DIY and actually having a warranty is nice.
 

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