AstralPool Viron eQuilibrium Salt Chlorinator

I purchased this system as it promised a healthy pool with much less chemicals & a set & forget economical pump when running on Ai mode. However, my experience has been very frustrating. I live in North Queensland and the sun here is very, very hot. I have had my pool go green many times with this system as the Chlorinator struggled to make adequate chlorine to compensate for the hot sun taking it out faster than it can make it. I have had many, many visits from the pool shop technician trying to adjust settings to get it working right. They replaced the chlorinator circuit board & data leads & replaced the cell with the larger 35 cell. This was still insufficient & they have just replaced that with the 45 cell which apparently is the largest. We are hoping that it will work better. If need be, we will need to put a small amount of chlorine stabiliser in to keep chlorine from being removed by the sun. This system is not designed to have stabiliser as it interferes with the ph & chlorine probes working properly. The pump does not drop down to low speed during the day while the sun is out, so not sure there will be a lot of cost saving on power in Summer. Also with this system it needs to run for 12-14 hours per day in Summer! I think it will be a great system if we can get it working the way it should. It was designed for a temperate climate which is so very different to Nth Qld conditions. I have been a pool owner for 18 years in North Queensland & I have very rarely had a problem with algae until I got this system. My advice, if you live in a tropical area, stick with a normal chlorinator!

As a swimming pool technician with over 38 years of experience in the trade with 30+ of those years operating my own pool business. These are without a doubt the most problematic brand of chlorinator on the market. PC Boards, cells, i would not recommend any of their products! The warranty is questionable and the cost of spare parts especially the main PC Boards doesn’t make them economical to repair. The EQ models if fitted with pH control, be very aware of where you locate the acid. Astral Chlorinators cooling fans draw from under the chlorinator meaning any fumes chemical or otherwise will be drawn past the internal electronics. If you have one check for corrosion under the chlorinator. High price, poor quality. Nothing like the original cells, probably using inferior material.

My pump has started running continually at a high speed instead of slowing down. Could you help me fix this. I don’t know why. I’ve put it to medium (it wouldn’t let me select low). Otherwise I’m very happy with the machine. I noticed my power bill was up on last year so it’s concerning.

We had a Magna blu clorinator for 10 years and replaced it with the eQ25 as it had all the bells and whistles, well, what a mistake that was, it is the biggest load of rubbish I have ever come across, I have never had an issue with the balance of my pool until this crap was installed, it never reads the ph correctly and is always out (even after calibration) and I would seriously think about changing the name if I was Astral as it doesn't produce chlorine in summer, well not enough anyway! As stated earlier in the 10 years we have had our pool we have never, repeat never encountered a green pool, now I have to keep topping up chlorine manually which defeats the purpose of the system, expensive and annoying. Astral pools response is that it assists in the maintenance of the pool.....are you serious, why would I pay this money for assistance, I'm more concious of the pool maintenance now than when I had a manual system.
So, I don't know who reads these posts but please do not invest in this crap, get a basic salt clorinator and maintain your ph levels manually and top up the salt in you pool when needed and enjoy your pool and save the headaches.

Disgusted and overpriced.
Changed after 4 months to Hayward Chlorinator PS Series.
No Ph sensor which is fantastic and no replacement of PCB boards as EQ board and sensor over $1000
Thanks to Pool Guys Adelaide we now have a trouble free unit in the Hayward .
Astral EQ is a absolute over rated waste of money with serious reliability issues.
Warranty was a nightmare and Astral Customer service shocking.

We got the Viron as replacement for an earlier Astral chlorinator which had had some issues later in its life.
So far we have had to have the entire new chlorinator replaced twice and the 'board' replaced or fixed three times, fortunately all under warranty. The issue being in each case that the chlorinator does not 'reverse cycle', so is consequently only producing chlorine on half of the hours it runs. Our chlorine therefore runs down to virtually nothing over a relatively short period of time, costing us more in chemicals and increased maintenance time.
Maybe we have just been unlucky and scored several 'lemons' in a row. Fingers crossed that the most recently fixed chlorinator will give us no problems.

I got my pool installed by Leisure pools in July 2015. I am generally very happy with the install and the fact that they use Astral products. All their gear is great. Astral have been terrific in dealing with warranty claims.I have had my pump rebuilt and the leaking filter cap has been replaced. You could do much worse than having your new pool equipped with other than Astral products. I know this sounds like an advert for them but l am very impressed with their service. Recommended.

I had my pool installed about 5 months ago and currently have weed mat around the pool that has prevented most of the sand going back into the pool.
I have a once a month pool service guy that worked for the pool company I quized him about the error "no water" and he mentioned it the lid not secured properly the second time I had the error message. I was unable to back wash the chlorinator which was switching itself off the next day I found the pump on but was slow.
I rang a pool shop and the person suggested take the filter out and see if this starts the pump again you know its the filter.
I did not end up having to go to this trouble.I checked the basket had water and then I noticed the back wash glass compartment had a bit of sand once i flush it manually the pump was operating as normal.
My suggestion is such an expensive pool pump best to consult the experts and try the simple things before start altering the setting on the pump its not always the cause........

Maintains a steady level of chemicals and a well balanced pool - very impressed with the simplicity of it and how automated it is. Very little maintenance and happy with the overall ease of use of the machine. Calibration of the system is a little difficult and still to be mastered.

My unit is around 3 years old and it just started switching itself on and off every few seconds continuously, does anyone know why this is happening? I have maintained the unit well and clean all the probes every few months. It does this whether it's cold or hot so I don't think the unit is over heating.