Smartpool S601P SunHeater Solar Heating System for In Ground Pool

I installed 8 2’ panels on 2/12 pitched roof in pacific north west(Vancouver b.c. / Seattle Washington. On 3 of our summer days(approx 75degrees) raised 16x32’ pool to 88 degree from 73 defrees Like everything, quality of product isn’t as good as old ones from 15 years ago, but so far so good.

Muy buena calidad

OK, here is a great invention with a product handled by a terrific company. Smart Pool.THE FACTS: I live in Miami Florida and yes it is hot here in the summer however my pool has a lot of landscape and palms around it which provides shade to about 2/3 of the pool so my pool water rarely gets to the desirable temperature it normally stays between 82 to 85 in the summer while the temperature outside is 91 to 95. we like the water in between 88 and 90 especially those days when we use it in the evening and into the night.THE PROCESS: My pool holds about 12,000 gals of water so as per their chart I needed two boxes (4 panels) but I went ahead and ordered 3 boxes (6 panels). I installed it myself with the help of my two sons and took us a few hours. I ran the piping myself as well. at the first try it didn't work - there was too much pressure on the pump and there was not enough flow to run the jets so I contacted the Company directly (Smart pool) and this is the part that gets really good.THE COMPANY: Their customer service was great; it exceeded my expectations. They took all the necessary time on the phone to review the installation I had done, the layout, etc. we even traded pictures over the email so they consulted with their experts and came back with recommendations including changing the configuration of the piping connecting to the pool pump and worked with me all the way through until it was resolved. Kudos to this company for their superb Customer Service.THE PRODUCT: I am Completely satisfied with this product. it is a great invention and works well - easy to install. I was expecting to raise the temperature of my pool water by 4 to 5 degrees and to my surprise it went from 86 to 93 by the the second day. I hope I can extend my summer a month or two here in Florida with this Sunheater. BTW: the water stays warm at night as well it only cools down 1 to 2 degrees through the night.We are enjoying it!

First set arrived in a severely beat up box and when we opened there were obvious defects in the panels. We didn't even unwrap. Had a replacement sent. Box wasn't as beat up but same thing with the panels. Visually you can see major defects in the channels. No way water would flow through correctly and not leak so we didn't even open and unwrap. We then had to figure out how load these two heavy large boxes into our vehicle and get them to Canada Post to return. What a huge hassle from start to finish.

I bought two of these heaters. I thought the quality was very good. They were a bit of a challenge to unroll. I used a torpedo heater to soften the plastic so I could lay them flat on my garage floor so I could tell what I was working with. The roof on my small barn work shop is 20 feet long and I wanted to be sure these would fit. They measure just short of 20 feet so they fit fine. Each heater comes with 2 solar panels, 4 rubber connectors with hose clamps and a bunch of metal pieces about four inches long that have a right angle bend on one end and a screw hole on the other end. Each panel has small slots in the plastic near the top and bottom edge that I assume these "hooks" are suppose to grip as you screw them down. I saw no way to use these with strap of any kind. I can understand the problems and confusion some people have had with these because they came with zero instructions. No suggestions on how to plumb or fasten these down or together. The most important thing to understand about these is that you can not run the full flow of water from your pool pump through these. They can not handle that much pressure. You have to install valves in the line that control how much water flows to the heater and how much goes straight back to the pool. The people that have leaks at the connectors or the connectors rupture must be trying to run all the flow through their heater. Complaints that the rubber connectors won't work because the ends of the pipe are threaded are unfounded because the pipe ends are designed to use with either threaded fittings or hose clamped fittings. The rubber connectors slide past the threads and on to a wide groove made to seal with a clamp. If you plan to run water through one panel and then back through the next you will have to buy four 1 1/2" threaded pvc pipe caps and thread sealer tape. To connect the input and output water lines I used the rubber connectors and inserted a 1 1/2" slip to 1" female thread reducer. Then I threaded in a male 1" threaded to black plastic pipe barbed adapter. I also used unions in a couple places so I could easily disconnect the water lines if needed. My system worked great on the first try with no leaks or problems. To hold my system down to the roof I used five pieces of 1/2" metal conduit. I laid each piece down across the assembled heater and marked the conduit just below each panel then drilled a screw hole through the conduit at each mark. I cut a 3/4" piece of 3/8" rubber gas line type hose to use as a spacer and seal between the conduit and the roof. I filled the short piece of hose with silicone, put it under the conduit and ran a galvanized screw through the conduit and spacer into the shingled roof. The hose will squash down and force the silicone to squeeze out a little so you can be sure you have a good seal on the roof. Other than lack of instructions the only quality issue I had was one of the heater panels had been trimmed too close to the last tube and that tube would have leaked. Be sure to look for this before installing so you can fix it easily. I cut out a small piece of that last tube at both ends and ran a small screw into where it connects to both pipes. On a sunny day these warm the water by several degrees. How much it heats your pool depends on how much water is in your pool, how much sun you get and how cold it gets overnight. These only raise the water temp a little so if the water in your pool is 50 degrees the return from the heater may be 55 to 60. If your pool is 80 degrees the return maybe be 90. Also, temp is relative to flow. If the water trickles through it may come out very hot. If it flows through fast you may not be able to feel much difference. Either way you may be adding the same amount of heat to your pool. I hope this review helps a few of you. I thought the product was worth buying and I may buy one more to add to what I have next year.