MiniChlor 110 Hot Tub and Spa Saltwater System Chlorine Generator, A Natural Chlorinator

This item is wonderful and if you buy it you will love it. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUTSTANDING. Everything these reviews have said is true. One has a "silky" feeling after getting out of the hot tub. I have struggled with chemicals and this is so easy.SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT THIS CHLORINE MODEL - I spoke with the guy who wrote the program and there is a small software glitch. For future reference – the manual said in "off cycle" mode the lights were green flashing lights – but because of the glitch – it has one red and one green solid light. This does not affect performance. The manual just has not been updated yet. Also remember it operates on a six hour cycle. You will most likely not see it producing chlorine when you open the tub. However, as long as you have the flashing green lights OR the one red, one green sold light - it is working fine.Now for customer support - Duane and Scott are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do not refrain for asking for help or advice. I have never seen such "human" support. You do not get a digital run around. You speak with real people - HELPFUL PEOPLE.Another tidbit I learned from the guys – the new "DO" model will produce more chlorine than the MINI. This is because it has three plates instead of two. Therefore one can use a lower setting and it will last longer! So if you are considering buying the mini or the DO - I hope this information will be useful.Finally a few things I have learned from hours of working on this tub. I have tried everything. I tried chlorine, bromine, the "blue" stuff and so forth. I fought cloudy water. I fought scum and foam. I have spent over a thousand dollars on different chemicals I clean and disinfect my filters weekly and I rotate them out weekly with another set of filters. I measure the chemical water levels daily - most days several times a day. I have spent hours cleaning and disinfecting. Yet, I still fought a bacteria invasion. It was so bad that it looked as if I had ocean jellyfish floating it. (The bacteria have a gelatin coating that makes it resistant to the effects of chlorine. I would suggest getting a bacteria test kit - they are sold here on Amazon.) I could not figure out how I had bacteria with the high levels of chlorine and bromine I had in the water. I kept researching and ......Little did I know that the diclor (chlorine) contained cyanuric acid. This is added mostly for pools and can become a problem in a hot tub. Each time I added the diclor it pushed the cyanuric acid up. That is fine until it reaches a certain point - at which it requires a higher dose of chlorine for the chlorine to actually work. I had high levels of chlorine but it was not able to be effective due to the cyanuric acid level. THIS IS WHY THIS SALT WATER SYSTEM IS TERRIFIC! It adds chlorine without changing the cyanuric acid level. I was ready to get rid of my new hot tub but now I can use it with little work.The salt water is what the chlorine generator uses to produce the sanitizer (You can choose a salt to produce either bromine or chlorine) but the nice thing is you do not have to keep adding to it unless it tells you to do so. You will still need to shock the water and to check on the PH and chlorine/bromine levels but after what I have been through the past three months that is nothing. I would suggest that you use the little strips to only give you a quick general level of the balanced water. One should get one of the liquid drop testers to truly determine the levels in the water. Amazon has several, I chose Taylor but there others that you may find better suited to your needs.I am thrilled. I can get my life back from the "hot tub time drainer". SALT WATER IS THE WAY TO GO. Controlomatic and Saltwater Chlorinators are the people from whom to make your purchase. They will stand behind their product.

First off, I have used the minichlor continuously for about 18 months, and this product works great, and is FAR SUPERIOR to using hot tub chlorine or bromine tabs. Over time, I suspect it might also be cheaper.I use the pool salt they sell at the local big box home and garden supply. The salt was only about $10 for a LARGE bag, maybe 40 or 50 pounds, which should last us years. Initially, I used the Himalayan pink salt I bought over the internet, but decided that it is too expensive, and inconvenient to get, so I switched to pool salt.We use our 300 gallon Softub regularly, but not heavily, one or two of us in it for half an hour several times a week, on average. The Minichlor keeps the water clean and clear without any of that nasty chemical smell you get with bromine or chlorine. It is softer and somehow smoother than when we used bromine tabs. We far prefer it, and I believe it is much healthier too. Bromine and chlorine exposure is known to be very unhealthy.We notice that we need to change the water 3 to 4 times a year because for some reason, the water will start to get a bit yellowish and smell a bit odd after three or four months. Maybe the salt is just exhausted and cannot generate any more chlorine ions, who knows? If anyone has any specific explanation of this, feel free to leave a comment.Maintenance: I notice that after a month or two of use, the unit has built up a rather large accumulation of white granular material around the upper end of the two electrode plates, and over time, it becomes somewhat impaired in its effectiveness. When that happens, I take a narrow, stiff object and poke around in there to dislodge this material and shake it out of the tube and throw it in the trash. After getting out what I can, I then immerse the entire unit up to the top of the electrodes in vinegar and let it sit for several hours to overnight. After that treatment, the unit will be clean, as the vinegar dissolves the build up. Then I follow the instructions to reset the unit when I put it back in the tub, and it continues to work like a champ. This whole process takes about 20-30 minutes of active work, plus the vinegar soak time.Issues which cause me to deduct one star:1) This thing is a bit of a hassle to clean, as noted above. Version 2.0 of the Minichlor should have a removable housing to allow you to get at the electrodes with a brush to make it easier to clean. Sure, I know it is a safety feature that it is completely sealed into the plastic cylinder, but it shuts itself off automatically when you take it out of the water, so it should not be a problem.2) There are no buttons or digital readout on this thing, just two sets of multicolored lights that blink in different patterns which you will need the manual to figure out. SAVE THE MANUAL, or you will end up having to do an internet search for the manual if you want to figure out how to operate this thing, which you will have to do frequently, because every time you take it out of the water, it resets itself. This will happen each time you clean the unit, or change the water in the tub. Sure, it turns back on after you unplug it, then plug it back in, and quickly put it in the water, but not until it is giving you the signal for the correct operating strength. Very inconvenient, and not at all self explanatory! Version 2.0 should have a control panel OUTSIDE THE TUB which should have on and off buttons, a digital read out indicating the operating strength, and buttons to adjust it.If the Minichlor would correct the issues described above, it would be perfect, and I would also be willing to pay an extra $50, which should easily cover the cost of the improvements.Verdict? Highly recommended if you are willing to put up with the issues noted above!UPDATE, April 2013: The maker has come out with a new product which addresses several of my complaints above, the Chlormaker DO, also available on Amazon: "http://www.amazon.com/ChlorMaker-DO-Saltwater-Chlorine-Generator/dp/B00A4599HQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1366087740&sr=8-6&keywords=controlomatic" It doesn't have the digital readout, but at least it has out of the tub controls, which is a big plus, and for an increase of about $70 more than the minichlor, I guess it is a reasonable upgrade. At this point, I would probably recommend that one over this, assuming it works as well. It claims to be more powerful, and have the auto boost feature, so it is a definite upgrade.

9 months old and no longer works! and the company expects me to fork out the money for return postage, NOT.

I have purchase two of these. The first one lasted a season but warrenty was up when I opened the following year so I bought another because I loved the product so much and it didn't even last a year. These are a great idea, but there are serious issues with longevity and I cannot reccomend them. ie. I was very carfull the second time around to follow cleaning and maint. instructions exactly.

So far this is an amazing purchase, very low maintenance and if it continues to work as it is now we will save lots of $$ on chemicals. It has been very easy to use, the water quality has been great (better than it ever was with chemicals) and the salt water feels much better on the skin. We have had it installed for about a month and so far so good, but only time will tell it's longevity.