Saltwater system in hot tub.

[eskewj]

I’ve been a pool owner for years and at one point looked into converting my pool to saltwater. I wasn’t able to justify it at the time purely on an economical basis since the math did not work out when considering the payback period. I recognize that it’s a completely legitimate reason to convert for convenience reasons though.

Fast forward and I’m now in the market for a hot tub! Everything I’ve read says hot tubs need to be completely drained, refilled, and water rebalanced every few months. The sales pitch from HotSpring is with their freshwater salt system, you only need to do this once per year. Seems like a big win to avoid all that hassle.

The question I have is why would this be the case? If the salt system is just manufacturing its own chlorine, how is that different than adding your own chlorine bleach regularly for sanitation?

 

[Jimrahbe]

E,

Sounds more like "marketing" than a real thing. I have an older spa that I converted to saltwater and I need to drain a refill it every 3 to 4 months.

Maybe they invented magic water...

That said, I find that a saltwater spa is much easier for me to maintain.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[BravoRomeo]

On my old Hot Springs Jetsetter tub which I added a plumbed-in SWCG, I was able to push the water change out a bit past 6 months. That said, if you lower your expectations, you might go longer. What's a little cloudy water and foaming between friends... a year though? People soup! I'd have to see it to believe it. Changing 200-400 gallons of hot tub water is not really that big of a hassle and gives you a chance to clean / inspect everything.

A difference with a SWCG vs dosing manually is it can prevent the chlorine from crashing to 0. There is also some thought that as water circulates through the cell, it gets really walloped (technical term) with strong chlorine. You also reap the benefit of being able to leave the tub for a week or two and come back with it still sanitized.

I looked at the Saltwater Fresh system HS sells and wasn't convinced vs. conventional SWCG. It sounded too much like an income stream for them in the form of expensive proprietary cartridges. My old Chloromatic SWCG lasted for years. I didn't even have to clean the cell, as it periodically reversed polarity and my water was fairly soft anyway.

 

[eskewj]

You might be onto something about the income stream for manufacturer. I tried to estimate the cost and all I could find was:

“The salt cartridges you use for the FreshWater Salt System cost you about the same amount of money as drinking seven lattes a month for a year. That’s it. And, because the system requires virtually no bottled products, you won’t be spending money on those either. AND! Think of all the time you’ll save to boot!”

I do like the idea of having it installed at the factory though instead of modding it myself considering the warranty questions that would raise.

 

[BravoRomeo]

You might be onto something about the income stream for manufacturer. I tried to estimate the cost and all I could find was:


I do like the idea of having it installed at the factory though instead of modding it myself considering the warranty questions that would raise.

So basically $400/year just for replacement SWCG cells? That’s more than I spent on my aftermarket system. The salt is cheap, too. Just plain pickling salt. I’m surprised some HT manufacturer hasn’t come up with a proprietary pool salt cartridge. Oh we shouldn’t give them ideas.

Warranty is nice, but I believe in the US the Magnuson Moss warranty act compels manufactures to honor your warranty unless they can prove your modification or actions directly caused the problem, and even then they have to continue to honor the remaining warranty on the unrelated components.

I had no corrosion issues after switching to a SWCG. About 5 years later the 10 year old heater finally gave out. I replaced it myself. It probably would have failed regardless of the SWCG as they do from time to time, and there is already salt in the tub from people sweat and all the sodium based chemicals.

 

[darkrider]

You could probably get 12 months with very low usage, but chances are it will be less than that. I've got a 2010 Hot Spring Grandee with ACE Saltwater, and have been able to get 8-10 months on average between fills. If you keep the CYA at about 30ppm and your water balanced, I don't know why you would need to change more often. I normally wait until I see some CC in the water. I switched to aftermarket cells from Scepter (plug and play with the Hot Spring controller) a few years back, and they tend to average 3 years each for 1/4 of the price of the Watkins replacements.

 

[wayner]

I bought a Drape Over salt cell for my spa. I like it WAY better than the bromine system that I had previously. The water is clearer, doesn't foam up the way that it did with bromine and doesn't smell chemically. I still drain and fill 3 or so times per year. I could probably get away with less as my spa doesn't get a ton of bathing hours - generally two people, twice per week for 20 minutes per soak.