Hayward Salt and Swim 3c - good? bad?

[Andrew_D]

Title pretty much says it: Hayward Salt and Swim 3C - Good? or Bad?

Price point is obviously attractive.

Based on what I've read, cell life is on the lower end? Pool gets used 3 months-ish up here. Open for 4-5 months. Drained over winter.

For reference, price up here for the system is $720, on sale currently $620.
Replacement cells are $450, sale $270.
(Best price I have found up here for liquid chlorine is $7/5L ($7/1.32 us gal). I average 1.5-2 L per day over 5 months. More in July, less in May/Sept, obviously. Around $400 per year for liquid.)

If I have to budget for a new cell each season ($270), would take 6-7 years to pay for the initial system (@ $100 per year) just to break even. The big advantage, of course, being less hassle with chemicals.

Andrew

 

[ajw22]

Some prior threads....

Hayward Salt and Swim 3C standby led blinking

Hi, new to the forum. I have a Hayward Salt and Swim 3C that I just replaced. The standby led is blinking. Last reading of salt level was 2850. Temperature of the water is 78. Scratching my head. Any ideas?

www.troublefreepool.com

Hayward Salt and Swim 3C

I am contemplating changing my old and inefficient set up and would like to hear from anybody about the quality,ease of use and efficiency of Hayward S&S 3C.

www.troublefreepool.com

According to Compare and Review Saltwater Chlorine Generator Prices and Features | DSP the 3C generates 0.98 lbs of chlorine/day. For your 15,0000 gallon pool you would need to run it at 100% for 9 hours to generate 3 ppm of chlorine.

 

[Andrew_D]

Yes, I've read some previous threads. Reviews seem pretty mixed.

Not worried about run time, as there is a pump running 12+ hours/day for the solar heaters.

Andrew

 

[Andrew_D]

Just an update on cell life in case anyone is searching in the future...

Installed the Salt'n'Swim in Spring 2021. The original cell ran all of 2021, 2022, 2023 seasons. Towards the last few weeks of 2023, it was giving cell life errors, but still seemed to be working. Spring 2024, I initially installed the old cell, but it would no longer make chlorine. New cell went in and it is making chlorine again.

All in all, I think 3 years on the original cell is pretty good for this type of system, especially given the price point.

Andrew