VX9T: 10902: $2422.20. Manual dosing of liquid or granular chlorine can be hazardous. Over dosing can cause eye irritation, itchy skin and a strong chlorine order. The Hurlcon VX salt chlorinator continuously generates the precise level of chlorine required into your pool. With the convenience of a touch pad the level of output can be.
When my swimming pool was built, I had a Poolrite salt chlorinator installed. That unit failed after 39 months, and I bought a Poolrite Surechlor 4000 (about $1500) to replace it. Inside of one year, the LED of the SureChlor indicated “low salt,” even though the salt level was right.
A few months later, the display was showing that the unit was operating at 70% effectiveness – sometimes 80 or 60 percent, but most of the time at 70. I described the problem in an email to the address on the Poolrite website, asking if there was a dealer where some diagnostics could be done to check the machine. There was no reply from Poolrite, but they forwarded my inquiry to a local dealer who said that I could bring the machine to be checked and I took it to them. Eventually, the dealer contacted me and told me that there was a “broken buzz bar” on the chlorinator cell and the cell would need to be replaced. I returned to the dealer who showed me a broken metal arm on the cell, told me that it would need to be replaced and that it was not under warranty. The Poolrite web site states that the cell is under full warranty for two years and pro rata warranty for three years after that.
This cell was 17 months old and came with the installation of the SureChlor 4000 machine. The dealer’s service staff was hiding in the back room when I came in, and the cell was lying in parts on the floor and had not been put back together. They were called out to reassemble the cell for me to take it away, and I looked around the service area. The workshop was littered with all sorts of SureChlor 4000 machines, just like mine. Everywhere you looked, there were broken units, some covered in heavy dust. I had a sick feeling in my stomach – this machine had been on the market for less than three years and this was just one dealer. It was a SureChlor graveyard.
I asked what was wrong with the SureChlor machines, and I was told that they had all kinds of problems – LED problems, motherboard failures and cell problems just like mine. Clearly, the SureChlor 4000 is a product failure and I felt sick for myself, as well as the various friends I had recommended. The dealer gave me the email of Tony Eagleton [email protected] Administration Manager, and suggested that I explain to him how well my pool and equipment is maintained and that this was a product failure and not shoddy maintenance.
Eagleton had sent the dealer an email, telling them to give me a discount on the purchase of a replacement cell. Meanwhile, the service staff dumped the parts of the cell into the assembly and gave it back to me. I had another pool maintenance company come to my house to properly reassemble the cell and start the machine. When the machine was restarted, the display showed 10 percent effectiveness – the dealer had broken the cell when opening it. No diagnostics were performed. I sent an email to Tony Eagleton and received no reply. Over the next month, my communication to Poolrite was once or twice a week.
I sent another 2 emails to Tony Eagleton and got no reply. I phoned his mobile phone Mob: 0488 162 323 and talked to him.
I asked if he had received my emails, and he claimed to have not. He agreed that he would check his email and get back to me the same day, so I resent the emails to him. I received no reply. I called Tony Eagleton on his mobile Mob: 0488 162 323 and office 07 3323 6509 and left voice mails, asking him to call me or send me an email. I got no reply. I sent emails to the two addresses on the Poolrite web site and with copies of my emails to Tony Eagleton, asking for someone to get back to me.
There was no reply. In the meantime, I received email from the dealer offering me a replacement cell, but refusing to pass on the discount Poolrite had offered. I called the office general number + 61 7 3323 6555 and spoke to the woman who answered. When she had heard my story, she suggested that I call Brad Richey Chief Operating Officer Mob: +61(0) 419 733 189.
I called him and agreed to send him copies of the emails I had been sending to Tony Eagleton. Brad Richey sent me the first email I had received from Poolrite in over 6 weeks of my contacting the company. Unfortunately, he did little to address my problem: “Tony will contact you on Monday with a quotation for the pro rata warranty off the Australian RRP.” “In the past we have left the warranties up to our agents to assess based on their local market requirements.” He also included this: “At Poolrite we pride ourselves on our product and the service we provide” I am unsure whether the above is merely lies he tells a customer, or if he actually believes it. I replied to his email and told him that I wanted nothing more to do with the unscrupulous dealer, but he did not reply to mine.
The next week, I received my first email from Tony Eagleton. He would not address the fact that my cell had been rendered useless by his dealer, nor did he recognize that the dealer was trying to screw me on the price of the new cell. I gave Eagleton my mailing address and credit card details and asked that the cell be sent directly to me.
Poolrite charged me over $400, including $70 dollars for courier shipping. The cell arrived 31 days later, having been addressed improperly. Conclusions The SureChlor 4000 product is garbage and a product failure.
Poolrite does not care much about the customer. Poolrite has dealers who are incompetent, dishonest and unscrupulous. Poolrite does not much care about this either.
I do not know if Poolrite is in financial difficulty. They are a private company and the only listing I have found says that they have revenues of $28 million and 20 employees. There is no way to confirm this.
However, any company with such poor products and total disregard for the customer will eventually have financial problems, and that would mean that warranty protection of any kind would be in doubt. Tony Eagleton must be a family hire – my guess is brother-in-law.
Either that, or he brings in pastries for everyone each day. There is no way that someone like him could have a paid position otherwise. Brad Richey is not much better. Recommendations A swimming pool is a wonderful lifestyle addition, and I would suggest that the salt chlorination technology is the way to go. There are plenty of alternatives to Poolrite and the SureChlor 4000 that are cheaper and many of my friends are pleased with these products. I will perhaps post a link to the manufacturers of these products in the future.
If readers have any recommendations, you can add them to the comments of this blog, or email me at [email protected]. I had a similar experience with Poolrite a few months ago. I attempted to contact them via their website – no response. I tried a further three times – no response. I eventually called the Brisbane office and the receptionist could not care less – she put me through to sales, who told me that they do not sell parts! I then tried to contact a regional office via the web site – again no response. This time when I contacted the regional office via phone they chased up the problem with their IT section.
I know that I could have resolved the issue via the phone much earlier than I did, but what is the point of having a website with a ‘Contact Us’ link if they are not going to use it. Poolrite is not the only company that has such poor IT connectivity, I have tried many other companies for a quote using the relevant website, only to be totally ignored. I have recently inherited a surechlor chlorinator. The unit is about three years old. The motherboard was replaced 18 months ago by the previous owner. When we moved in the chlorinator was not working.
The metal arm had been eroded and hence there was no longer a circuit. Previous to this the controllers battery backup stopped working. Whenever the power goes off all memory is lost. I contacted poolrite who admitted the old battery backup only lasted two years and they now had a ten year version.
I had to get it from a dealer though. The dealer in Moroochy has been trying to get one, but no luck. On top of this, a replacement cell is $550.00, where I can get an aquasphere for complete unit for $475.
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Surechlor 4000 is an expensive lemon. Poolrite/magnapool/Intercolonial spa employees just got given the arse today. Thanks Ross Palmer and (astrid) you have right screwed your customers and now, your staff. Thanks for nothing you underhanded prick. So many families are now going to suffer because you are a hopeless business manager. There are a lot of hurting families and staff out there. Appointing an administrator just a few days before pay day is disgusting.
Let alone the low paid fortnightly staff, the monthly staff get shafted even harder. Reversing polarity is a function that is supposed to clean the cell. Of course Poolrite is now in liquidation with a bid by Austral being accepted by the creditors as the drip feed payment proposed by another Australian company. A sorry end to a company that seamed to loose the plot with all there great ideas that can not only be blamed on Ross Palmer but the staff that was employed by Poolrite that helped send them down may be they should have changed the name to Poolwrong because they did nothing rite.
Hi Dino, Unfortunately, Poolrite is in the hands of a receiver (SV Partners) The original warranty is unlikely to be covered by anyone. If you know a good boilermaker, you may be able to tig weld a titanium strap over the one that has eroded. The electrode insert was designed to make reworking difficult so that you would be locked into poolrite for spare parts.
If the erosion is inaccessible, then you may be able to drill the 6 sonically welded spots on the inner casing and split it. Then you can access the internals and spot weld a new connector in place. You can then reassemble the electrode and rely on the outer casing to hold it together (we prototyped these parts without sonically welding them) Your last option is to purchase a replacement electrode.
I can configure one for you if you like. Regards William. I have a surechlor 4000 and it starts and stops the pump for a brief moment every 3 minutes. It has been doing this for a few weeks and now that has caused the skimmer box cover to crack as it slams up and down against the increase and release of pressure. Having read your blog and experience I went to the address of Poolrite in Braeside however they are no longer at this address. I am interested in a replacement unit. Did you find another brand to replace yours with?
If so can you advise accordingly. Regards Andy. We too have inherited a PoolRite system.
So far it seems to be working, but not sure how well. Time will tell. I do have a couple of ‘issues’ that I’m addressing. Are these product faults manifesting, or just bad maintenance or handling? A) Extreme white build-up between the plates: Calcium I read. Have had multiple goes at removing this with 1:8 solution of hydrochloric acid (32%).
It is going, but a few more goes will be necessary as the reaction uses up the HCl and the bubbles slow down. If what I read above is true, the plates are short-circuited. And the cell should not be working??
BTW, what is the source of the calcium? Salt is NaCl so no Ca there. What is the gas given off- is it Hydrogen? Chemists??) b) My cartridge filter has a crack in the top and is allowing a bypass route for inlet water to pass into the centre and on to the outlet. Actually looks like physical damage, such as being hit with a hammer, or perhaps the cartridge was dropped. Damage is just in the central ‘well’ on the top. Cartridge is otherwise quite servicable.
I can fit another plate over the damaged part. I’m thinking a circle of plastic fitting in the hole and glued in with silicone or? Any reason this would not be appropriate?
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