News of the developing dichlor/trichlor shortage due to last year's fire at the Biolab plant found me thankful that I have a salt pool, but I have read a couple of articles quoting pool company owners stating that there are shortages in equipment and salt this spring as well, due largely to the great number of new pools constructed in the past year. It does appear that the costs of cells have increased sharply - I replaced my Intellichlor (IC40) last spring for $550, this year prices for an IC40 appear to range from $780 to $1200. What is everyone else seeing?
SWG costs
- Thread starter jkusmier
- Start date
SoCal_Pool_Owner
Member
- May 3, 2020
- 19
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Edge-40
I was pricing out Circupool SWGs and Discount Salt Pool had a sale that ended March 30. I rolled the dice to see what would happen on Apr 1, and the 2 models I was looking at went up a few hundred $ each. They still called them "On Sale" but I had screenshots of my cart that showed the prices had gone up substantially. That seems to mirror what you are seeing with Pentair.
I saw my IC60 with control unit in the $1200 range about 2 months ago. About a month ago I ordered a package and it was selling in the $1400 range. Today on amazon it is $1800.
My intelliflo was $1300 at the same time when I first started looking, $1400 when I bought it a month ago and $1900 today.
All of those prices were pre tax so the pump and IC60 combo were a hair over $1500 each out the door.
My intelliflo was $1300 at the same time when I first started looking, $1400 when I bought it a month ago and $1900 today.
All of those prices were pre tax so the pump and IC60 combo were a hair over $1500 each out the door.
With all the damaged Texas pools being replaced by insurance companies, I can easily imagine some price gouging going on.
Remember last year when I warned everyone that sticker shock was coming to the salt cell market? The main culprit has been the iridium and ruthenium minerals (coatings used on the plates) that are being mined in South Africa. The variant Covid strain that originated there shut down all these mines thereby choking off 80% of the world's supply. Couple that with the rise of these materials being used in new European hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing and there was also highly speculative demand that tried to the corner the market, especially for iridium. A 600% rise in these mineral costs can easily result in a 50% rise in salt cell costs although I'm sure the bigger players like Hayward and Pentair may have forward looking contracts that somewhat insulates them from that large of an increase (perhaps holding it down to a 25% increase).
Now for those manufacturers who haven't raised prices you should be asking yourself why. It's easy to go from 6000 hour plates to 3000 plates and keep the price the same because how would anybody know unless they test the plates on an expensive acoustic microscope. Or one can continue to buy CompuPool cells not knowing that you would have to call Australia for customer service.
Now for those manufacturers who haven't raised prices you should be asking yourself why. It's easy to go from 6000 hour plates to 3000 plates and keep the price the same because how would anybody know unless they test the plates on an expensive acoustic microscope. Or one can continue to buy CompuPool cells not knowing that you would have to call Australia for customer service.
Another super spike in Ruthenium prices , up 10% in just three weeks. Which will translate in higher salt cell prices.
As if the Iridium super spike wasn't bad enough, the other catalyst on the plates, spot Ruthenium prices have spiked almost 30% in the past 2 DAYS. While i don't think this is sustainable in the long run, if I'm wrong, then we could see $1000 salt cells by the 2022 pool season. Prices always take 3x as long to go down as they did to go up..
plus consider the cost or headache of board and cell troubleshooting when things deteriorate after a few years. I almost wanna get rid of my SWG.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,696
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Sorry to say it, but get rid of the Jandy cell. They are not known for their reliability.
Thanks for sharing your experience. What's your recommendation for an alternative?
Last edited:
- May 3, 2014
- 62,696
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
By far Circupool are well regarded on the forum. Hayward Aquarite are also but you must be cognizant of the thermistor on the board that goes bad, especially if you do not control the salinity.
I wish I wasn't in the Jandy/Zodiac eco system. I have the AquaLink RS panel with PDA which integrates with Aquapure PLC1400. Plus my heater and pump are also all Jandy. A week ago I bought a new cell and a new Power Interface Board and I am still having issues with my cell. I wish I could simply replace my aquapure plc1400 with a circupool without having to incur much more additional cost. Wishful thinking on my side
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,813
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Please add all that additional info to your signature. Given that you have automation, Marty may have provided an answer based on your automation.
It looks like, there is a chlorinator translator that I can use to get my aqualink rs work with Hayward
Chlorinator Translator
Connect your Jandy Aqualink® or TCX to your Hayward®/GoldLine Aqua Rite® or private labels like the Nature Soft®, Mineral Spring®, Smart Pure, and SwimPure.
www.chlorinatortranslator.com
As much as i love my Edge there is a price point where it's not worth it.
I hope I have many more years to enjoy it
A week ago I posted that spot ruthenium prices had increased 30% the previous two days. Would have thought that the market would have taken some time to digest this. However the speculation ha. continued to be very frenetic. Spot prices up another 22% in the past seven days. This equals to an 80% price increase since May 10th. At least Iridium is holding firm. Afraid that future salt cell prices are not going to be coming down for a good while unless cell manufacturers decide to really slash the hours (coatings) on the plates.
Is there any concern that this will make them too expensive to purchase?
Glad I bought early last year
I would think the dominant supplier, DeNora hedged it's position for most of this year but that will allow THEM to create higher markups to Hayward, Pentair, Jandy going forward. Spot prices over time will eventually become THE PRICE. There isn't much competition for those who make the plates. The transistor mfg, hard drive mfgs. and European fuel cell mfgs are the MAIN buyers of iridium and ruthenium, followed by the salt cell market.
Consumers are going to have to eventually weigh the cost of salt cells vs manual dosing. Convenience vs hauling jugs and buckets around (and storing). At what price point do salt cells become too expensive? $750? , $1000, $1500?
I don't know.
Consumers are going to have to eventually weigh the cost of salt cells vs manual dosing. Convenience vs hauling jugs and buckets around (and storing). At what price point do salt cells become too expensive? $750? , $1000, $1500?
I don't know.