Zodiac TRi Series Salt Chlorine Generator

4 Year Old and Saying Check Power Supply for past year – Useless I have had Zodiac out on several occasions to tell me there is nothing wrong with the unit even though the pool is constantly green. Only then for them to blame my solar system, but problem occurs even when solar is turned off. Now out of warranty and having to replace. Will never buy Zodiac again

Overheated and Failed – Failed after 4 years. Zodiac do not want to know about it as it is out of warranty. Salt cell only lasted 2 years. Very expensive failure. Roughly costing $400 per rear. Show details

ZODIAC TRi Xo Cell ---Check Cell – ZODIAC TRi Xo Cell ---Check Cell message--I recently had the message "CHECK CELL" and the blue power light flashes on my Zodiac Tri Xo. The gas coming off the cell was very good so why was I getting this message? (By the way mine is a mineral pool but Chlorine pools will still be affected). Apparently what the instruction manual does not inform… Read more ·  1

you is that this message does not mean that the cell may need changing, in fact it only means that the cell has done more than 6000 hours.Mine 6180hrs The solution is simple. Press the "SELECT" button for 15 seconds and the cell total usage hours comes up, then select "reset" . The cells total operating hours goes back to "0000" When you go back out of the menu by pressing "menu" you find the message has gone away and the power light will be not be flashing. Wish they had added this to the instruction manual instead of saying "your cell may need replacing".Mine was only 3 years old and with reversing the polarity every 2.5 hours in the menu settings,I have had no calcium build up ever.

Great product for the price – Even though cell only lasted 4 years. The cost of replacement was $346. Which is very cheap at $1.66 per week. As any pool knows that cost is one of the cheapest things you can put into a pool. So Zodiac keep up the good work. I highly recommend this product.  Show details ·  1

Great when it works but – TRI 35 bought winter 2017 (replacing older model which ran for five years with generally no problems), ran great all summer 2017. Brought in for the winter, re installed in May 2018, all fine until early July when it quit producing chlorine. No error message, no salt alert (but verified salt anyway, all ok). Put the pool on chlor tabs and was… Read more ·  5

away rest of summer. On return, decided to clean (though self cleaning, the calcaire) and gave it another try, still not producing chlorine. BUT I discovered it IS producing chlorine if I use "Boost" . Anyone have any idea what that might be? Product was not bought locally so to have service I must mail to distributor who then sends back to Oz for diagnostic. Hoping that the very peculiar problem may ring a bell with somebody

Atrocious - Do not buy Zodiac – We bought this product in 2015, it worked well from the outset, but after the 3 year warranty period it was continuously faulty, it has now completely stopped. We have struggled on, but feel anyone who is considering a Zodiac product should rethink. We have now had to replace every Zodiac item we bought for our pool - very poor quality. Show details

High price low life – 4 Years old and told the unit needs replacing all together. I thought I was purchasing a good quality product. Same issue as many others. Salt light on and flashing LED's indicating issues. Not buying another Zodiac product to have it expire just outside of warranty. Show details

Only 3 years use without issues – I had the tri x installed by a pool service engineer just over 3 years ago. Now I'm constantly getting low salts and was just about to replace the salt cell until I read the review about resetting the salt cell clock. However the worst issue is that the salt cell now leaks around the blue pin Show details

Very disappointing – Zodiac LM 24 this is the second one of these I have had. The first lasted around 7 years. This one purchased Nov 2017. Was a problem from day one with timer. 2 months out of warranty and the check salt light and out put giving problems. Did all the usual checks sill no improvement. Spoke to Zodiac several times and sent a e mail with proof of… Read more

purchase asking would they consider replacing or give me pro rata warranty. Never heard from them. I have been told this is not the same as my original one. A rebranded imported unit which I am told not worth repairing.

Warranty Service – Purchased a Zodiac Tri Large Cell on the 12/01/2019, was working great up until 05/02/2020. The pool started to go green, went to the pool shop, no chlorine. Lodged online with Zodiac 15/02/2020, nothing until the 20/02/2020 got an email asking for the serial number, purchase inv and model. Emailed photo of the box it came in with all the info on… Read more

it, sent invoice from purchase to them on the 20/02/2020. Have not heard anything from them. Have tried ring them for last 2 days, on hold over 20 mins both times before I tried option of call back, don't use this as when you press the option the phone goes dead. Cost me $65 in Chlorine so far and still have ducks and frogs living in it. Don't expect any after sales service. Don't get me wrong there would be a lot sold, this is just my experience, all my pool equipment is from Zodiac and I have never done a warranty claim before.

genuine or generic large TRI cell – I bought a genuine large TRI cell from an authorized agent of Zodiac. I inspected it and found that there is no 'TRI' embezzlement on top of the cell. I was advised that new Zodiac genuine TRI cells they now do not have the embezzlement on top. I know a generic one has no 'TRI' embezzlement on top. so, if a genuine one also does not have such… Read more

embezzlement. how do I know whether I have been given a genuine one or a generic one? A genuine and a generic one should not be looked identical, otherwise, it is a waste of money to pay for a genuine and receive a generic one.

3rd cell in almost 6 years... RUBBISH!!! – Purchased a zodiac tri mid in feb 2014. Had to replace cell in May 2017 ($495 and just outside 3yr warranty). Now up for another $495 2.5yrs later for another replacement (just outside 2yr warranty). Pool is regularly cleaned so cant be any fault in that regard. Always shows either a NO FLOW, NO SALT or CHECK CELL error message and appears again even after a technician has looked at it. Absolute rubbish!!! Avoid at all costs Show details

Rubbish unit ...very disappointing – Same as others... the display died recently and the cell wasn't producing either... the unit is just over 3 years so hopefully i can claim under warranty...however, been trying to contact zodiac for couple of days still no luck!!!! Show details

Lemon law – There is a hell of a lot of the same issue on here relating to no flow and check salt issues which requires fixing or replacing of parts.. should be replaced free under lemon law..

It’s in the bin – I replaced my Zodiac LM a few years back with a tri mid system. Four years on and the tri is in the garbage bin. Corroded middle cell fin, no flow, low salt, battery backup fail....you name it, I experienced it. Water chem checked regularly and has never been an issue. Local pool guy suggested I got conned buying the tri mid and that Zodiac had… Read more

reverted back to the LM series.

I wasn’t keen to purchase another Zodiac product but also wasn’t keen to modify the plumbing to take another brand. A bit of research led me to the retrochlor system. 5 minutes and the entire new unit was up and running. 30 seconds longer to put the tri series in the bin

Zodiac Ei 25 low salt light on – Hi, My Ei 25 low salt light is ON and I have the following observation: - Salt level is ok, 4500 ppm - Chlorine bubble is in the cell chamber - Chlorine level in the pool is very high, I have to disconnect the cell cable - No improvement when a new cell was used My next step is to replace the PCB. There are two PCBs I can find, one is the display PCB and the other is the power supply PCB. Which one is responsible for this sort of fault? Show details

Lasted 2 years. Broke immediately after warranty – Took it into the pool shop (not the one I bought it from and they said “oh, the TRI series” and ROLLED THEIR EYES. Not a very good model. Spent at least as much as it’s original price in servicing and upkeep, thrown in bin 4 years later. Show details

Zodiac Tri Mid Salt Chlorinator - Bad Quality – A new Zodiac Tri Mid Salt Chlorinator was installed as part of the filtration system of a brand new concrete pool constructed only 4 years ago (December 2014). At the beginning of January 2019, the Zodiac Tri Salt Chlorinator stopped producing salt, so I took the Chlorinator unit with the control box unit to Captain Nemo’s (Zodiac's authorised… Read more

dealer/repairer) for diagnostics, and the technician informed me that the chlorinator cell (electrode) was broken and needed replacement. So I ended up buying a new chlorinator cell for $400.

It appears to me that the quality of these Zodiac Chlorinators is very poor and substandard given that Chlorinator only lasted 4 years. I now understand why Zodiac only provide a 3 years warranty on all TRi Series chlorinators, it seems that Zodiac knows that this type of product will only last 4 years, however any chlorinator's Life Expectancy of only 4 years is just not acceptable. Anybody buying a brand new chlorinator (any brand) would expect the product to last around 7 years, especially if the new product is from a “well known” brand.

I contacted Zodiac to ask them about the poor quality of this product but all they said is the chlorinator was out of the warranty period.

My advice to anybody is "Don't buy a Zodiac Tri Series Salt Chlorinator", they are designed and manufactured with poor quality.

Motherboard malfunctioned after less than 10 days use. 6 weeks after warrenty claim still waiting – The Product malfunctioned after approximately 10 days of minimal use. I called zodiac and asked for replacement product as the chlorinator was obviously faulty. My request was refused and i was informed i had to get warranty on the product. It took over a week and 2 calls to Zodiac to get the service agent to look at it and declare a… Read more

motherboard fault. 27 days later the “warranty” motherboard was fitted by the service agent who declared the new motherboard faulty as well, because “everything died when he put it in”, in short the chlorinator stopped working immediately and completely when the motherboard was installed. The chlorinator was then removed by the service agent, leaving me without a chlorinator and no offer of replacement chemicals or product.

I called Zodiac immediately to request a replacement chlorinator again and were asked to email my concerns. I have emailed Zodiac and asked for a replacement product. Today almost a week later, when i called to see the outcome of the email I was informed they would put in another Warrenty claim.

We are taking the matter further.....

I have found appalling service from all involved we have had no communication from the service agent or Zodic unless i have called and asked for updates. The product is faulty and should of been replaced immediately.

My tri 17 chlorinator broken again – My second zodiac chlorinator has just failed "again" and I am completely over it. The little screen says "output fault" I will not be buying another zodiac chlorinator, I just spent more money yet again to find out that it is "probably" another PCB board failure. My first zodiac chlorinator lasted 5 years and went out with a board failure (cost… Read more

about a million dollars to replace) and I bought another one and have got 3 years out of it... It's not good enough and zodiac should try to label, use or buy better quality components to sell.

Pools are costly enough as it is and this is just hopeless.

11 months old and no warranty support – My pool is only 11 months old and the Chlorinator is playing up, its clock doesn't keep the time and ends up turning on at random throughout the day and night. I've contacted Zodiac support to start a warranty claim and although initially being responsive they have gone very quiet with no reply for over 2 weeks. Are they trying to delay… Read more

until the 1 year warranty is over? I don't know, but apparently the battery that needs to be replaced is soldered in place and isn't user replaceable. Why they designed the unit like this I do not know, seems like a terrible design flaw.

Not Happy with Zodiac – I have owned this Zodiac Tri Chlorinator for a little over three years. Often says No Pwr Check Supply or similar. Phoned Zodiac said just move leads to cell. Worked for a while. Now can't get error message to leave and won't make chlorine. Also purchased Zodiac cleaner at same time on recommendation of pool builder. Never worked well. After… Read more

replacing a throat nearly every month for the first year at $40 a pop, decided to throw it out. Won't buy Zodiac again.

Not impressed with Zodiac – The pool had a Zodiac Tri chlorinator when we purchased the house in 2013. When it stopped working, we purchased another exactly the same so as not to change any plumbing, we also had to purchase another cell. We also have the zodiac pool cleaner, as we assumed they were a good make. Both have now stopped working again and now hesitant to purchase zodiac again as they are not cheap and don't want to have to keep replacing every 4 years.  Show details

Never buying Zodiac again – Built in features which stops cell from operating so you have to call a technician out to punch in “the special code”. Unit stopped working at 3yrs, been operating for more than a year without a chlorinator due to cost of replacement, thanks Zodiac for nothing! Replacing the unit now with something more reliable. Thumbs down Zodiac Tri Series.  Show details

What does a flashing blue light represent? – I own a Zodiac tri series chlorinator and the blue light is flashing and yellow light is on. I only placed 3 bags of salt into the pool three weeks ago. I haven’t been able to find out what the error message is? I’m wondering if it has something to do with the cell.  Show details

Everything does not last and is overpriced – Built a new home and had a new pool installed installed with Zodiac equipment. 4 Years later the cell fails(fair enough)purchases another one from Australia- it failed within 1 year- so had zodiac rep around. He put a large cell in our tri chlorine generator instead of a compact and flicked a switch on the back of the unit and said this works?… Read more

confirmation on this would be appreciated? because before it had a compact cell. So in the end had paid the rep over $1500(including giving the pool a little scrub) for this and now it does not produce chlorine(only for 10 seconds) when it first starts up or when we push the 'low' button. Have now taken the unit to another distributor locally to look into it? If this costs any more we are throwing the whole unit away and getting something that will last and is more affordable for parts. How can you possibly charge $1125NZ for a salt cell especially when they don't last.

This is clear that Zodiac also knows this because their warranties on these are so so low (1 year i think)

This is a complete rip off. Looking at these other reviews we are not alone.

Seriously how can you justify over $1500+ after only 4 years?

And i already know what you will ask- what output are we running at? well we have tried it on 10% right through to 100% and yes had rep around again- he had no idea-(could it be the large cell he put in and the switch on the back adjusted?

Keeps on breaking down – Have had a TRI Large for a little over 4 years and it started playing up a little over a year ago, when just out of warranty (how convenient...). First the power outlet to the pump stopped working and then the low salt light kept on coming on even though pool salt levels were in the middle of acceptable range. A year later, it just stops making… Read more

chlorine a few minutes after coming on. I would expect these things to last more than this for the money.

Would not recommend zodiac – My pool was built 5 years ago and over the past 3 years I have had nothing but problems with the zodiac equipment it came with. Each time zodiac have said the problem is not warranty covered. Today was the last straw as it seems we are not producing chlorine and similar to another review our self cleaning cell has had most of the centre… Read more

electrode erode away. These are not cheap devices and should be better supported. Our robot cleaner has twice lost its wheels, our pump shorted out and now this. Not very good.

Not overly impressed – I have just replaced my unit as the cost to replace was more cost effective than repair. My previous unit worked okay for a while but I wouldn't classify the experience as brilliant. If it fails again I will be definitely looking at other options/suppliers not only for this piece of equipment but for my other Zodiac products (eg pool heater).  Show details

My experience – This review is posted at the request of Zodiac after I completed a "How is your replacement electrode" survey they emailed me. When working properly, the tri is a great device - just sits there and does its job. However the four year mark seems to be a common theme here. I have samples of pool water tested regularly at my local Zodiac-approved… Read more

pool shop. I also clean the (supposedly self cleaning) cell every year when taking the pool out of winter mode). In the last year, some water samples returned a zero chlorine content, but randomly. It was clear that my tri was developing a mind of its own as to when it feels like producing. Some months after this started happening, the display lost its backlight and several rows of pixels, and started giving false low salt, no flow and flashing blue power light indications. Then several weeks ago it lost its time and settings memory. I reset it, but it did the same two days later. I reset it again and two weeks later it had still retained its settings. At this point, water sampling indicated that it had not been producing chlorine for some time. I inspected the cell and found that the centre plate had around 5cm missing - corroded away.

So I took the unit to the Zodiac dealer and was told it required a new cell and a new PCB that holds the backup battery, as the battery is an integral part of the PCB. The latter is an obvious design flaw - the backup battery should be easily accessible and a simple user-replaceable item. The biggest shock was the cost - $445 for the cell and $275 for the PCB. I cannot imagine how these parts could cost so much, even allowing for reasonable margins. They are all simple, basic technology and manufacture.

I just hope it lasts!

Big heap of junk on the market – Have had the Tri large saltwater chlorinator and cell for 3 years and its been back for warranty repairs 4 times. Now its showing a no flow fault The cell has been cleaned and there are no blockages. My previous chlorinator lasted 10 years with a single issue. Zodiac is pure rubbish so don't waste your money!!! June 2nd 2018 Update: Piece… Read more

of crap

For a new unit to have issues within its first year is a bad sign.

Its been back for a replacement of the flimsy power inlet 3 times in the first 2 years.

The backup battery is hard wired and can't be easily replaced without open heart surgery.

Its simply a very bad design.

Don't buy this rubbish!

Internal battery died after 4 years. Bad design – Works OK but the backup battery died after 4 years. Cannot remember the time anymore and every time the power goes out (on off-peak tariff) it will reset time to 0:00 and worst... it will set the output to 10%. This is annoying - why the default output is 10% anyway?? Turned out the battery is hard wired on the PCB. Yep great - Who the heck… Read more

design this? No battery last forever!

I believe some pool shops will say you need a new PCB and happily slug customers hundreds of dollars just to actually replace the battery.

If it's not one thing, it's something else – There seems to be a common theme in these reviews; 3 - 4 yrs (amongst other things). The screen is constantly indicating low salt, regardless of the level in the pool. We have come to expect seeing the red light on. AND NOW... it is short-circuiting, blowing fuses and tripping the house safety switch. I cannot believe the trouble. Not only is it… Read more

the cost of the unit, it's the chemicals to bring the pool back to scratch after the filter has been in operable and out of action. I think I will run the other way if I see a Zodiac sign out front of a pool shop.

EI Series Cell Error – I purchased a new cell last year and this year have had trouble with the colour of our pool. We now have a cell error, and is now saying 'Testing Cell'. We have done a full clean of all pool equipment and pump is running well. There is cloud in the cell when running so it is producing chlorine, but still have an error saying 'testing cell'.  Show details