AstralPool Viron eQuilibrium Salt Chlorinator Series

Installed in November 2020. Have had one warranty claim due to screen not working, now been told power board needs replacing due to it not controlling pump, but of course warranty has finished. Astral washed their hand of it and told Me to seek advice from local pool shop! Apparently it’s a known issue with these chlorinators if you have an… Read more

astral variable speed pump which is the one the recommended to go with this set up. Been told a replacement will be about $900-$1000. System is only 5 yrs old. The module Is kept out of the sun and is looked after. I payed top $ for this system as I thought it would be the best. I have been advised no to put the pump On a separate external timer instead of plugging it into chlorinator. Very poor show especially when this is a know problem!!

Had a brand New Viron EQ25 installed in Dec 2020 for $2K. March 2025 and the unit dies. Been informed that both motherboard and power board needs to be replaced. What a joke, choose Made in Australia and the thing does not even last. Show details

LCD display failed after 2 yrs – Not happy. Been close to 5 yrs , LCD display and buttons failed while chlorinator was still functional. Luckily for me 1 month before 5 yrs warranty expired, fluidra repaired my chlorinator. Now every thing works well and I am able to change settings with bluetooth connection.

The chlorinator allows you to leave the pool alone during the week and you know it will be fine on the weekend – This is a chlorinator, it does its job may need a little more assistance than what I thought but I love it. I glad we have one to help us day to day. Show details

Astral Viron pump keeps restarting - why? – My Astral Salt Chlorinator and Astral VironXT variable speed pump are experiencing issues that no-one seems to be able to identify the cause of. My main issue is that the pump randomly shuts down 20+ times a day for 7 or 8 seconds, then starts (priming) and may run anywhere from 2 minutes to 40 minutes, until the next random shut down! I… Read more

initially thought that air in the pump (identified by a pocket of air always visible), may have been causing this, but I expect it is something else. The water flow is solid through the cell and more than enough in the pool - so lack of water is not the problem. I am suspecting the PCB, but seeing as they are so expensive, I don't want to shell out a lot of money for the wrong fix. Everything else with the Chlorinator (which controls the pump), is working fine. The system is about 6 years old and I am waiting for a replacement pump cover, to try and eliminate the pocket of air in the pump. Has anyone else experienced this issue of constant pump shut downs and restarts and if so, what was the solution? Thanks

Absolute junk!! – These things are junk. Our pool has all Astral equipment and it is all faulty. Chlorinator display screen not working, pool pump bearings noisy, pool lights not working. Only 4 years old too. Will be replacing everything with good quality gear, not this Astral/Hurlcon junk!!! Show details

EQ35 has provided me with pretty good long term service and reliability – I had my Viron EQ35 in constant service for nearly 9 years. In the end, I had to get the main PCB replaced after a significant component failure but it still continues with original chassis, accessory PCBs and probes without issue. I changed the salt cell out 3 years ago. I have had very little to do in the way pool maintenance over the years -… Read more

just make sure the acid is available, clean and calibrate the probes once a year and check the salt levels. I rarely need to change orp or ph production thresholds. My word of advice when using the product is to understand basic pool chemistry and how this unit is designed to maintain it in a balanced state. The manual actually explains it. Run the chlorinator at the start and end of day; don’t run chlorinators in bright sunshine as the UV destroys the chlorine immediately - you are just wasting energy and your pool pump will keep running hard to reach impossible chlorine production targets. Also I keep my unit out of the sun as sunlight kills all electronics and plastics.

My biggest gripe with this product was Astralpool’s customer service. Which in the later years after a change of ownership became woeful. So difficult to get a person on site to person to service the unit when out of warranty. Not sure what they are like now.

Nothing but a power chewing, pathetic performing piece of equipment – Installed in September 2017. Had installer and technicians out almost every other month for nearly three years due to errors, motors not running, chlorinator not working, The list goes on. Motor over heated inside pool box, lost display NOW for the second time, Chlorinator has NOW in 2023 lost all display, ability to press buttons, released… Read more

chlorine, JUST do what it is meant to do WORK!. Motor has never fluctuated, been told that this was normal besides disputing it. Various items replaced January 2022 for it to all die last month and Astral have said "not their problem" it is out of warranty. Despite the fact our system has been a LEMON from the start and now to be told it is going to cost us over $4k to replace. Totally disgusting customer service and equipment. I have been waiting 3 weeks to speak to a manager now abut the Lemon of a unit to which no one will talk to me. Absolute piece of crap is the system and will NEVER recommend anyone to Astral or any subsidiaries. This unit came as part of our POOL Purchase

Astral EQ25 DONT BUY!!!! – Here's an accurate fact ,the Astral EQ25 is CRAP!! the stupid press buttons are crap,I've had it for nearly two years and have called in Tech for warranty repair 3 times .I just then tried to adjust times for change of season & yet again this rubbish product doesn't react to any buttons being pressed, so do yourself a favour and don't buy this product. Show details

Monitor Backlight burnt – I've just moved into a new house and my EQ25 backlight has failed, making it impossible to see what's on the monitor. I contacted customer support and was informed that the device is still under warranty. However, I was also told that the warranty is non-transferable, which doesn't make any sense to me. This seems to be a common issue with this device, yet the company is refusing to take responsibility for it. Show details

Customer Service – Well I've had this unit 5 years alongside my first pool. Every time I went to the pool shop it cost me money for chemicals. The unit then gave me fault 18 and the Orp not working, couldn't recalibrate. Pool shop advised me to unplug the probes and set the dosage manually, which I did. Not cost me any money at the pool shop the last three… Read more

visits! Now the clock stops so the unit timer is either on or off. I reached out to Astralpool for a reset sequence. I was told no, they don't give the sequence out as it resets the unit Duh! With customer service like that who needs warranty. One thing is certain, another brand awaits me.

Doesn’t produce enough chlorine – I have had the EQ25 for just on 5 years and have had no end of problems with it. More recently the system was saying “low salt” so i bit the bullet and replaced the salt cell ($500). Now for some reason the system won’t produce enough chlorine to hit the ORP set point…in fact the ORP goes backwards during sunlight hours and sits at about 620 when… Read more

the set point is 670. I contacted Astral who acknowledged that the EQ system was only just outside or warranty but they would come to the party anyway (nice). They notified me of when the technician would visit and I responded “no” to the text when asked if the time suited. Despite telling them that the time didn’t work for me, the technician arrived and without permission went through the side gate (on video). He proceeded to increase the run time on the pump from 10 to 12 hours and increase my pool size in the system to 55000 litres. He declared that the system was generating chlorine and left. Not knowing that he had visited I contacted Astral and asked for a time to meet with the technician. Astral said that the case had been closed and when I said that the problem remained they told me to raise a new warranty claim. I asked to speak with a manager ….or for the Astral rep to raise a new warranty claim. All requests were denied. So I have had to spend more time raising a new warranty claim. So in summary, Astral entered my premises without permission, failed to actually look into the issue which was raised, quickly shut my claim, refused to reopen the claim, refused to provide the details of someone more senior to talk to, and refused to assist with raising a new claim. What a joke …

Poor design, extremely unreliable, multiple warranty calls and still the unit fails after a few months – I purchased a Viron Equilibrium unit in 2015, which is compatible with the Astral multisided pump that I had installed at about the same time. The unit has been nothing but trouble. After a few months, the control panel buttons become unresponsive. The replacement card costs a fair proportion of the chlorinator and once warranty expired for the… Read more

unit, I purchased a second head unit in the hope that Astral had rectified the problem in a later version, but no, same issues.

The unit incorporates a fan-forced vent, it exacerbates moisture ingress which in turn corrodes the internals of the pushbutton switches on the control panel board. I examined and tested the buttons on the control panel and indeed they do not operate. They appear to be components that are intended to be installed indoors in reasonably dry environments, so my conclusion is that the fan forced ventilation accelerates corrosion.

I do not believe that the design of this unit is fit for purpose. Clearly the environment in the vicinity of pool filtration equipment is very likely to be humid. It would seem logical to create some sort of protection for the control board (silicone boot around the control board to keep out moisture, conformal coating, use of buttons that can tolerate moist environments etc) but none of these controls seem present.

Recently the unit will intermittently fail to recognise the pH and ORP sensors, and will stop producing chlorine. I have decided to cut my losses and go with a different smart chlorinator (I now have a Zodiac Exo Pro, which has a completely sealed case and therefore should be better suited for the environment in which it is installed)

So, after spending over $6500 on the two units, multiple warranty call outs for each, and failing reliability, I cannot recommend Astral equipment at all, not the least its chlorinators. Thsi is a pity because my pool originally came with a Hurlcon chlorinator, that lasted nearly 15 years without a single problem. (Hurlconin time became Astral).

(I am a professional instrumentation and electrical engineer, so I know something about correct design of electronics for harsh environments)

I don't know if product is good, but customer size is terrible – The Australian run office is terrible. Its hard to tell if the product is good if there is terrible customer service to look after it when it is not working well within the first year. Waiting 6 months for it to be fixed. Show details

Ongoing issues with this product – In May 2021 we had the cell and the electronics of our chlorinator replaced under warranty. We were happy with ASTRAL service and it was Winter so not such an issue, however, we are having the exact same issue as last time - no chlorine being made and it is the middle of summer, prime swimming time and we are having to worry about the pool, dose… Read more

it with liquid chlorine and so on. The system is still under warranty and the pool shop is going to put another claim in for us. It is simply not good enough to have these ongoing issues with a $3000 product which has never worked for more than 12 months before breaking down. This time it has worked for not quite 9 months before breaking down.

Eq35 not producing chlorine – I purchased my E35 from a reputable pool outlet was recommended the Astral E35 by a friendly sales person. Noticed the pool wall was getting a mould build up ,so I checked the chlorine level and to my disappointment it had zero chlorine and had friends coming over for New Years eve. Tried checking the the main board , the LED readout has faded… Read more

,Could just make out the timer is programmed for 10hours daily and on max output. The unit is less than 12 months old. I just want this thing repaired or replaced with a more reliable model. Will try their office again next week.

Disaster – To say this chlorinator is a disaster is an understatement. On my my 4th motherboard in 2 years, Astral refuse to replace the unit with something else. Keep attending around 2 to 3 weeks after a service/warranty call is made to replace the board, while I have to self chlorinate in the meantime.

This breaks and needs replacing right after the 2 year mark – They say that you get what you pay for but in this case I paid way too much for a really really substandard product. This breaks right on the 25 month mark, when the warranty has expired. DO NOT BUY.  Show details

Poor quality product – I installed a brand new pool with the AstralPool viron eQuilibrium EQ25 which is less 4 months old. The up/down bottom is so hard to press. I can only figured out how to work it recently. I have to use my nail and very hard and push on a certain small spot for it to function and I don't get it going every time. I doubt the quality of the product is reliable if the button don't even seems to work well. Show details

Failed within 3 days of install. Warranty needed they take 6 weeks to come out – Great unit when it works I brought one in 2015 then broke out of warranty so got a new one and already had 3 warranty problems with the main control box. Not sure what’s happening  Show details

3 service calls within 12 months and no response from Astral!!! – When renovating my pool I went with Astral as in my ignorance I believed Astral was providing quality products with good service. How wrong I was for with both assumptions! Within a year I logged my first service call as the mobile app stopped working. Astral cancelled the repair visit 3X. So 2 months later I had to get Fair Trading involved after… Read more

which they suddenly showed up! To be fair, the service engineer does a great job. Within a year the same unit stopped working again. This time they came around was reasonable quick (within 1 month). Then within an other year the Chlorinator stopped working. After 11 e-mails, 6 phone calls and still NO RESPONSE from Astral (this is so frustrating and costing so much energy, totally not worth it) I had to log a case with Fair Trading again. According to my Poolshop they did not even respond to them!! After the Fair Trading case we magically got an appointment within 2 days!!! Now the appointment has been cancelled again and we will likely be without a Chlorinator for at least 3 months.

Not fit for outside use – Bought this product one year ago with a 5 year warranty, was installed in the same place that our previous chlorinator was installed which lasted 10 years. Ants however were able to infiltrate the casing on this product and short out the circuit board which Austral would NOT cover under warranty even though this is clearly a design fault not being… Read more

a fully sealed product for outdoor conditions. Recommend DO NOT buy this product unless you can install it indoors and away from any environmental influences. Now in the hands of consumer affairs.

Worst pool system ever – Has PH sensors fail twice at $300 a sensor the chlorinator cell fail $450 and two weeks later the main unit fail $1550 this whole system is nearly 5 years old , told by the supplier that’s normal to only last that long ! Absolute crap!  Show details

Still works, but like others haven't had a good experience with Fluidra – We had our pool installed 18 months ago with all Astral products since installation. Eq25 with both probes, HX120 heater, infloor cleaner, the works. Unlike others so far my Eq25 has worked fine. The pH remains stable as long as the buffer is maintained and the chlorine was fine as long as everything remains balanced via regular testing. That is… Read more ·  1

key. Most advice is test monthly, but given what I know now I'd say test weekly. Whilst I've had my in floor cleaner, filter and now recently the heaters heat exchanger fail within 18 months, despite having an eq installed and maintaining the balance since pool installation, Fluidra blame pool chemistry to get out of honouring their warranty despite having one of their products that you thought was meant to be doing that for you not meeting their own requirement. So whilst you assume as a novice that this eq will do everything for you, there still a lot of manual filddling around and testing required to both get your orp set correctly to maintain a stable chlorine ppm, and then regular pool tests to ensure everything apart from the pH is still balanced to ensure a stable pH and chlorine ppm. Once you understand all of that, and realise that there's still quite a bit of messing about with regular testing and that this isn't a broad spectrum testing product that keeps everything done for you automatically as what is sold to you as a novice when you first buy it, then the product works well given those revised expectations. So whilst I've had a horror time with other Astral products failing, and the excuse always being chemistry for why they won't follow through with warranty, I must be honest and say that luckily for me it hasn't been the case with this product yet. I'm not holding my breath given other experiences however.

Seven years old, broke down for the third time. Service is useless – Built date October 2013. Within 3 years the mainboard was faulty (chlorinator kept on starting and stopping). The mainboard was replaced under warranty in 2016. Within 1.5 years (in 2019) the chlorinator had the same symptoms. It was just out of warranty and the warranty on the previous repair was only 90 days. Astralpool was happy to cover this… Read more

under the pro-rata warranty and charge me 80% of the total $750 repair bill. I didn't agree but they were impossible to communicate with, they kept on hiding behind their "warranty manual". I told them that doesn't exclude them from Australian consumer law and I suggested to discuss this with the ACCC. The life expectancy of an expensive chlorinator should be longer than 5 years especially since the mainboard was only 1.5 years old. After a few weeks, it was repaired for free.

November 2020, the same symptoms. Starting and stopping. I can't be bothered contacting them. I'll buy another chlorinator and stay away from Astralpool and Zodiac.

Zodiac merged with AstralPool under Fluidra in 2018. I had good service in 2016 (first fault), since 2019 horrible service. My local pool shop stopped selling Zodiac because their service was very bad and since the merger, they also stopped selling Astralpool.

Overpriced "top of the range" JUNK! – We had the whole Astral suite installed with a new pool. It functioned flawlessly for about 6 months before the first probe failed. Soon after the pump needed to be rebuilt which took 2 weeks. on both of these occasions the after service was great so we didn't think more of it. After 3 years of use though, we have had the main board replaced… Read more

twice from fault, the screen needed to replaced twice because it stopped working and could not be read. The probes both failed again and even the new Gen2 ORP probe has failed. At around $350 each, it becomes quite expensive to replace them roughly every 12 months. The ORP sensor has again failed after 12 month (just out of warranty). The product is terrible and i could not recommend any Astral product. The reviews on here are proof that it is over priced and no where near the premium product they suggest it is. NB: the Astral heat pump water heater we also had installed with the pool has now broken. That equals 100% failure rate for every Astral part installed in my pool system. Pump, EQ25, ORP/PH PH probes and also the heater.

The service...... Well, the service is worse that their actual product line. It takes forever to get through on the phone (should be a good hint there) and they do not respond to the preferred web service requests. The service technicians continue to find blame in the consumer and find every excuse to exclude the warranty claim. The technicians are rude and to the point where i needed to leave work as my partner was starting to feel bullied.

I had no idea about pools before i purchased my new install, i now know something....... Steer well clear of anything ASTRAL. (also the Zodiac pool cleaner has broken down after 3 years. Also from the same group of companies!)

Astralpool is bad and after sales service is non existant – I have an E25. I live in Perth. I bought the E25 around 2 years ago from a company that is now (recently) bankrupt and has no record of my purchase. The Chlorinator has a manufacturer label of September 2017, so I like to think of it as pretty new in the scheme of things. My chlorine level was low so I thought I'd get the cell checked. I had no… Read more

error labels on the unit, except on occasion I would look and it would be fine one minute, then have a no salt/ no flow error the next. It was sporadic - I thought it might have been the flow but then it was fine on maximum pump flow but then show an error. Salt was added - no still sporadic errors. I went to 2 pool stores who told me "we aren't able to check the cells on that brand they don't have the ability to let us..". Ok, "weird" I thought, especially as my previous Chloromatic brand was 15 - 20 years old and the last cell was easily checked (with a 5 year warranty - this one only has 2) every time I asked. The guy in the shop gave me some advice seeing as though there was apparently no way to test the cell apart from sending the entire unit away - he said to test the cell in a bucket of pool water and see if you get a bubble reaction, if not then the cell is dead. So I did this - and apparently the cell was dead. $440 for a new (genuine) cell, and 1 week later my chlorine levels are still non existent. So I take the entire unit (with brand new cell) to another place who look at the unit, and low and behold the unit has an issue. Apparently the board needs replacing (ergo the reason why no output from the old cell in the bucket of water - DER!). $700 for a new board, on a unit that is less than 3 years old. I was astounded. I tried calling the perth number on my manual - disconnected, so I called the 1300 number advertised on the website "Sorry due to high traffic a 17 minute wait." I wait 22 minutes before I hear "Sorry due to high traffic a 17 minute wait." Can't believe it. Hang up. I talk to 3 pool places - they all tell me this company has NO service centres, and if you need things fixed it's basically a replacement. Lucky for me, my pool shop had an old unit given back to then which they sold me for $200 - it's older than mine, but it seems to work (let's see - I got it today). This company pride themselves on being Australian, but everything I've seen reeks of foreign made crap. What gets me is the lack of accountability for service, it took me ages to be able to find the number to talk to a real person, then realise that nobody real exists. Did I try the email/web enquiry? No I didn't - why would I? I want to talk to a real person. If I use email/web then they might take 2 days to get back to me, in which case my pool is green and I have to start again. Don't they understand what game they're in?? My advice is to spend more on quality tried and tested stuff. Stay away from Astralpool products. You can't even contact them. Everything they sell seems to require maximum effort as a consumer.

Certainly wouldn’t recommend – Chlorinator has played up almost from new, sometimes won’t turn the pump off at night and other times it won’t turn it on in the mornings and other times it just turns itself off! This has happened on occasions since about 6mts old. Pool shop said I need to take it in to the to be sent away. My issue there is if I was to do this my pool would be… Read more

without a chlorinator for about 4 weeks as I work away from home. Although I shouldn’t have to I’ve just put up with it being faulty. Now at 4 years old the problems are much more regular and the salt cell already needs replacement as it’s not making enough chlorine due to plates being worn out already. Time to shop for something different. Certainly disappointed with the Astral products as my matching pool pump (P320 eVo) now has a faulty screen. On a positive side the Astral sand filter is still fine!!

Poor long term quality – Purchased the top of the range salt chlorinator system at a significant price in Sept 2016, system ran well for the first 6 months, then commenced having issues with acid dosing unit and low salt level readings. Readings were checked physically and established the chlorinator system was incorrect on salt readings. March 2020 the entire control… Read more

panel shut down, no readings, no power to unit. Original installer( large franchise) advised the main electronics board was cooked making the unit unworkable. Best Astral could do was a 20% reduction on the total repair cost. My advice would be seriously check out alternative brands, 3 odd years for a premium system that is their top line model is a joke. Could have selected 3 alternative mid range systems and still had change. Poor form

Constantly fails, Consumer Affairs here I come – Purchased the Astral Chlorinator with the pool. Worked great for the first 3 months then the party was over. For some reason every 3-5 minutes the system Shuts down and does a pre purge. This then increases the PH levels and forces the pump into high speed. First attempt at and Astral repair was to change pump. 2nd repair was to change the… Read more

mother board, hoses and revisit the pump.

3rd repair change the unit including the pump

4th repair! Who knows what they will do but the other week the screen also went dim making it even harder to see.

Sent a few emails to Astral and Westside pools in Melbournes west who sold the product as part of the pool, they are as yet to also respond.

Best advise for quality and service is avoid, look else where.