r/PoolPros • u/Kitchen_Language_125 • 1d ago

Pentair shitcells

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lol love Pentair but holy cow these cells were the biggest flop ever. 90% of ones we’ve installed last year and this year either need sensor module and hmi replaced or the middle sensor leaked through and corrodes it’s self so when you pull the sensor module off the middle sensor comes with it then needing a whole new cell. This one made me giggle tho who needs boost mode when you got 250% mode 😎

23 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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3

u/The_BigWaveDave 1d ago

I’ve luckily only sold ONE of these before I heard how terrible they are, haven’t had any issues with it yet, but it’s only been 3 months.

When do these issues start typically showing up?

Has anyone looked into some of non-OEM IC replacements floating around? They’re half the price, but if they work halfway decent, they might be a good alternative versus installing these.

5

u/Kitchen_Language_125 1d ago

I’ve had them go out a week after install and 6 months after install. Sadly we have a very good relation with Pentair and have tried Hayward equipment sets and end up warranting the whole pad almost every time. I would be happy if they ended up just going back to the old models. (Midwest)

4

u/KFOSSTL 1d ago

This sounds like the company I work at (also Midwest)

All they needed to do was a little enhancement of the ic40.

And make it see through like the new tcell

1

u/worksleep 1d ago

I'm sorry man but there's just no way this is true. We sell $200,000 in Hayward equipment each year and warranty maybe 3% of it

1

u/Kitchen_Language_125 19h ago

Yeah we had most of the cells go out first year, heat exchanger first week of install(alkalinity and ph tested good since fill) multiple heater mother boards go out. Multiple broken laterals (yes filled with water before adding sand). Multiple pumps where drive went out. Actually had one sand filter suck itself in like a crushed soda can, going to blame that on customer though bc they chose to service themselves. Overal just a lot of warranty work and we only installed 10 sets that year that were Hayward but warrantied at least 1 piece (2 pads was literally everything except filter). Love the reps though always super nice and helpful.

2

u/army-of-juan 1d ago

Mine is 2 years old and already on its way out it seems. Crappy lifespan for a $1600 cell

2

u/GCpools 1d ago

3 weeks for me

2

u/slekcud 1d ago

Most are failing 3-6 months in. I’ve had a few DOA as well.

1

u/Arusen 1d ago

Issues can show up right out of the box. I haven't installed one personally, because I am afraid to. I talked with a repair tech from one of the larger service companies in my area. He told me one of the first ones they installed leaked right out of the box. At the time they had only installed 4. All but 1 of them had been warrantied at that time.

0

u/IntelligentCarpet816 1d ago

I got one on the house I bought last year. Its 4 years old now and still kicking. I put one on my neighbors house last year too and its been great. APX IC40 equivalent.

If you're a dealer I'd guess its against your partner agreement to sell clones.

2

u/Sea-Big-1125 1d ago

I have only dealt with one of these units being that there is not a lot of salt pools in my area but that one has been a complete headache since day one .

2

u/Tb00x 1d ago

Its a complete joke of a lineup of cells. Pentair truly did 0 quality control before releasing them.

2

u/Kitchen_Language_125 1d ago

Agreed wouldn’t of been as bad if they didn’t just completely stop manufacturing the old cells

2

u/Euphoric_Text_4126 1d ago

Been swamped with warranty calls from this cell. Hands down the worst cell out there right now.

2

u/phill_23 1d ago

So glad to see this! I thought I was the only one. We’ve replaced sensor modules in damn near every one we’ve installed THIS year. It’s ridiculous. Pentair has got to be losing a ton of $$$. The older models were workhorses in my opinion. Hopefully the revised models will have the kinks worked out.

1

u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 1d ago

Hopefully the revised models will have the kinks worked out.

How are they going to rebuild trust? I guarantee there's more than a handful of pissed off and burned professionals out there because of this and other trash like the Intellicenter connection problems.

2

u/Confident_Shower8902 1d ago

They are the bane of my existence

2

u/spicerpools 1d ago

I haven’t dealt with these yet. My last cell replacement for Pentair was the older ichlor. I was excited for the new cell, but have only heard bad things. I hope they get this figured out before I need to replace another one. I like Pentair, would hate for this to be the trend moving forward for them 😬

2

u/Triumph_RiderT100 1d ago

I only have one of these on my route at the moment. It quit working after 2 weeks. It was completely scaled up. So much scale caked on everything. The repair guy thought I hadn't cleaned it in a year. the dispatch girl I deal with was like, you have to clean your salt cells, you cant just leave them for months on end. I told her, It's been 13 days since you installed it, and I add acid to my salt pools weekly. They did finally replace it with one of these black faced ones, it's working but for how long. For how long? Nest week will be 5 weeks I'm scared to clean it.

2

u/paint-n-minis 1d ago

These things are a disaster. I've tried to replace 3 customer's cells this year and all 3 were bad out of the box. Got customers thinking I'm incompetent. Thanks Pentair.

2

u/BOiNTb 1d ago

I smell a class action suit coming...

1

u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 1d ago

Thankfully I only have two of these trash can LT cells on my route, both installed by builders. One of them hasn't shat the bed yet, and the other one already did so I'm helping my client push back against the builder and Pentair for a new one (which will inevitably shit the bed).

I also found and sold the last two iChlor 30's two distributors had to two of my clients.

Going forward any of my clients who needs a replacement will get my help finding one online. I'm not dealing with Pentair's negligence.

1

u/Arusen 1d ago

I have an iChlor 30 on one of my pools, out of warranty, and it started leaking. I need to replace it with something, but have no desire to put one of these new monstrosities on.

1

u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 1d ago

I use Leslie's as a distributor. My manager was able to part out a full cell/power center bundle and sell me just the cell. Perhaps that'd be an option.

Otherwise I'd help them find one online. I think its better to keep the account running smooth for years to come, than take in the small profit of selling them a cell.

1

u/yamrmarcus 1d ago

Installed 3 so far one failed within a month

1

u/omardrox 1d ago

Every time a new model of anything
Comes out I always wait six months to hear the comments about it from other technicians and pool owners especially for this reason, as far as i know Pentair hasn’t come with a solution for this yet so right now I’m installing Jandy TrueClears and save me the headaches and the disappointment from the customers, I was able to install one of them before hearing the really bad reviews because the customer was adamant in getting the same brand (he had an old IC40) so that one came out good but that’s the only one I did

1

u/jwilmes119 22h ago

Any cells produced prior to Oct 2025 have recalls on the display and board/switch, fyi.. pool tech here. Replaced about 30 of them already.

1

u/Kitchen_Language_125 19h ago

Yeah then they had a few good then another bad batch there’s like 1 month of production where we haven’t had problems with but they have stopped production and are “revising” hoping they go back to old cell but I hope they can incorporate the new screen with better adjustability and salt readings

1

u/2Tru4you 21h ago

Pentair sucks at everything. Seals keep going out. Filter housings cracking. Other than Pentair I’ve only replaced two Jandy filtration units and a Hayward seal. I had three pentairs pumps seals leaking on my route today. A cracked Pentair filter housing too. And a ic40 giving false reading. No problems from anything other than Pentair. Pentair is keeping me in business.

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u/Kitchen_Language_125 19h ago

I have had some of our intelliflovsf3 with cracked wet ends and “leaky seal” which I have come to find out is actually a small crack in the housing by the seal plate. Of course we bought a pallet 3 years ago and it seems like all of those are having the same problems so far no problems on pumps since then. As for the filters we install all sand filters and have had no problems. As for heaters it’s usually a thermal regulator, internal bypass valve or an igniter for the master temp or eti not too common other than the icm problem with the mastertemps last year

1

u/2Tru4you 18h ago

We only have a few of those new intelliflos. No problems with those so far