MegaChlor-CD Saltwater Chlorine Generator with Auto Chlorine Monitoring, Automatically Activates as Needed, for Swim Spas and above Ground Pools Up to 17,000 Gallons

Okay, right at 6 months of use and I’m ready to review this. We started with the dumb version of this, and it just couldn’t keep our water chemistry steady. Returned that and took a chance on the smart version. Man, am I glad we did. The hardest part was adding a GFCI 120VAC outlet inside our main spa equipment area. I ended up tapping into one leg of the 240 main feed that hits the terminal blocks at our spa pack — this is where I got my ground, Neutral, and hot for the 120v outlet. I felt comfortable doing this as the wall wart for the smarter spa draws almost no current, this location will keep the wall wart warm, there are no cords running from the controlomatic across the ground to some other outlet, and I labeled the new GFCI outlet “for salt water chlorine generator only”. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, consult an electrician for your specific situation, but mine passed county electrical inspection without issue.I followed the instructions closely and filled our tub with fresh water from the garden hose. I then used a cheap Amazon TDS meter to get a baseline water mineral reading (the water was in the 400s straight from the spigot). I looked up the gallon capacity of our spa, and wrote down the amount of pool salt the manual said we would need — taking into account our baseline TDS in addition to the TDS amount the salt would add. Once I felt we had the salt perfect, I plugged everything in and dropped the controlomatic probe into the deepest part of our tub. I ended up tying a little floaty shark thing that came with a spa thermometer to the wire attached to the probe so the probe would remain vertical in the water and barely touching the bottom — I felt this was better than it laying on its side on the bottom.At any rate, this thing has 10 levels of adjustment. I spent about 2 weeks trying different settings and writing down my water test results after each adjustment. Based on the gallons in our tub, the amount we use the tub, and the temperature we like to soak at, setting 5 is perfect for us and maintains spot-on water chemistry (we don’t use oils or other fancy scented stuff in our water so I think this adds to not having to adjust anything further). For the last 5 and a half months, all I’ve had to do is test the water every week or two, skim out leaves and debris with a net, and fill from the hose as water evaporates. That’s it. No adding of chemicals whatsoever and NONE of the associated chemical smell or harshness. One thing I did do, was I added a little extra pool salt until the light turned green (blue led = ideal salt level, green = high but okay, blinking red/green = excessive salt, the unit will not operate). I did this because the little extra salt creates a nice soft feel on the skin.We went on vacation and the spa water wasn’t tested for 4 weeks. When we got home, I tested the crystal clear and odor free water and the chemistry was perfect and I used the spa that evening! If you’re willing to put in a little work to install it properly and then do some dedicated testing and adjusting to find your ideal level setting, this thing will amaze you with very little spa maintenance and none of the smells and work having to deal with nasty chemicals on a regular basis.Very happy with this purchase.

In September 2022 I purchased a new Jacuzzi J-245 hot tube to replace an old one. One thing I didn't like about my old hot tube was all the chemicals that needed to be added to keep the water clear and sanitary. Often, due to lack of use or overuse, the water would get cloudy. It also frequently smelled of the chemicals that constantly needed to be added. My brother has a saltwater hot tub and loves it. So, even though my new hot tube was not a saltwater model, I decided to convert it by adding salt and the ControlOMatic Chlorine Generator. I purchased the ControlOMatic on Oct 24th 2022 and immediately installed it. It's now been in operation for 11 months. It's been wonderful and a night and day difference in my hot tube experience. It took a week or two to dial it in. Once that was done, it has worked flawlessly. It keeps my water crystal clear at all times. I only add a couple tablespoons of powdered shock once a month. I use my hot tube almost everyday year round. My typically routine is to hit the manual "on" button every time I finish using the hot tube. I set my ControlOMatic to level "5" which seems to be perfect for my hot tube. I do the normal maintenance of submerging the end of the ControlOMatic in vinegar every month or so for 15 to 30 minutes. I change my hot tube water every 6 months. It seems like my new hot tube is maintenance-free compared to my old hot tube. I like not smelling like chlorine after using the tube and not having to worry about forgetting to add chemicals when I'm on vacation for a week or two. I don't know how long this device will last, but I will definitely buy another one as soon as it fails. My hot tube dealer did not recommend that I convert my new Jacuzzi to saltwater and told me that I would be voiding the warranty, but I listened to my brother instead and went ahead with the conversion to saltwater. I'm so glad I did! I think my dealer had his own interests in mind because I haven't purchased any chemicals from him in almost a year now. Anyway, that has been my experience with this device. I love it and will not go back to constantly adding chemicals. I hope this helps you with your decision. :)

TLDR, the unit cost me around $600 in the 3 years I owned it, so save your money and buy an integrated unit or a cheaper version.I bought this back in August of 2019 knowing the power supply would potentially create some issues. To potentially fix the issue I installed an outlet inside my hot tub’s insulated walls to keep the power supply warm since this seemed to cause the failure. A year later the unit wasn’t working and support said the power supply was the issue based on my results. I tested and sure enough the supply wasn’t outputting the required voltage under load. I then installed an industrial power supply (I’m an electrical engineer) which has much better regulation in a water tight box and things started working again. About a year later the unit started acting up again, support said it was the power supply but I sent test results with unloaded, loaded from a bucket of pure water mixed to exact salt levels. They then sent me a replacement cell to try but when it arrived the old unit had started working again after I left the controller unpowered for a week. Both cells worked great, but after 6 months the new cell stopped working. I put the original unit back on and it started working again only to die 6 months after. Now a new cell is $250 but I’m already in for $600 and a full plumb in unit is only $550. So save your money and send a little more for a unit designed for 10 years or buy the cheaper dumb unit and hope the power supply lasts.