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Astral electric pool cover - a cautionary tale
Astral electric pool cover - a cautionary tale
I had an electric pool cover installed in 2006. I accepted a very competitive quote from Costa Santos who had done the plumbing work on the house build but the supply and installation was from Astral. After 3 years just outside the guarantee period the roller stopped working. It turned out that the motor had moved in the roller and cut the electric cable thus letting water into the motor. The roller has the motor built into it and operates below the water level. Astral said that corrosion on the roller had been caused by the excessive use of chemicals in the pool. I pointed out that this was not the case and that an aluminium roller with stainless steel fittings was unfit for purpose because it would be attacked by electrolytic action. In the end Astral eventually supplied a new shaft free of charge and a replacement motor at 40% discount producing a final bill with labour of about €2500.
Four and a half years later and the system has failed again. I went to the Astral office at Alcantarilha only to be told that they had no technicians in the Algarve and I would need to contact Lisbon. There was no offer of any help on this. To avoid any misunderstanding I got Suzanne at Costa Santos to send an email in Portuguese to Astral in Lisbon on my behalf explaining the situation and asking for some one to contact me. Result - a big fat zero response so I asked Solambiente to come and take a look at the problem. They were there in a couple of days and dismantled the system after removing the slats from the pool. They were surprised that an aluminium roller had been used because of the likelihood of electrolytic action. They use stainless steel rollers for this reason. After they had inspected the motor in their work shop they reported that water had got in and ruined it. I have now arranged for the system to be replaced by one supplied by Solambiente in stainless steel and I am waiting for this to be delivered from Belgium. Overall I will have spent about €4500 more than the cost of having the system put in by Solambiente at the outset but I shall hopefully have a system which will give many more years of troublefree use.
The morals of the story are:-
Astral electric pool covers seem to be built to achieve a low price rather than offer the best quality
´
Astral customer service is absolute crap
Solambiente continue to supply high levels of customer service and quality products
A low quote can cost you more in the long run
Four and a half years later and the system has failed again. I went to the Astral office at Alcantarilha only to be told that they had no technicians in the Algarve and I would need to contact Lisbon. There was no offer of any help on this. To avoid any misunderstanding I got Suzanne at Costa Santos to send an email in Portuguese to Astral in Lisbon on my behalf explaining the situation and asking for some one to contact me. Result - a big fat zero response so I asked Solambiente to come and take a look at the problem. They were there in a couple of days and dismantled the system after removing the slats from the pool. They were surprised that an aluminium roller had been used because of the likelihood of electrolytic action. They use stainless steel rollers for this reason. After they had inspected the motor in their work shop they reported that water had got in and ruined it. I have now arranged for the system to be replaced by one supplied by Solambiente in stainless steel and I am waiting for this to be delivered from Belgium. Overall I will have spent about €4500 more than the cost of having the system put in by Solambiente at the outset but I shall hopefully have a system which will give many more years of troublefree use.
The morals of the story are:-
Astral electric pool covers seem to be built to achieve a low price rather than offer the best quality
´
Astral customer service is absolute crap
Solambiente continue to supply high levels of customer service and quality products
A low quote can cost you more in the long run