Here is how I think people should look at products from Sta-rite and the other pool companies: compare the quality to similar products used in other applications. That's when you start to see how flimsy and poorly engineered this stuff is.
Weak materials. Materials that can't stand up to UV radiation and...get this...chlorine. Bizarre means of clamping things together. Persistent leaks. Valves that require periodic greasing. Like that's normal. All sorts of gaskets and O-rings that fail quickly.
My pool had a huge DE filter from Sta-Rite. It looked like something from a science fiction movie. Very unpleasant to work on, needlessly. I took it to the dump and installed a cartridge filter. The cartridge filter cost me about a grand. In any other industry, it would have cost maybe $300, and it would have been built better.
My system also had an inline chlorinator that was really hard to seal. And the O-rings wore out fast, even with lube, which shouldn't be necessary. It was stupid, so I plugged it up with epoxy and used a floating chlorinator instead.
I have ridiculous pop-up nozzles in the floor of my pool. They're supposed to push dirt toward the main drain. They do nothing whatsoever, but they can deteriorate and need replacement just fine, and the pipes can also start leaking underground, so $$$$ when that happens. They're a gimmick sold to gullible homeowners.
The pool industry is full of BS products. My dad had a pool with long hoses that stuck out in the pool, supposedly to move dirt around. Did nothing but increase the builder's profit. And look bad. Someone sold him a machine which was supposed to magically create chlorine. That didn't work.
There are people out there selling miracle algae-prevention products made from copper. They don't work, but they sell.
My dad's old house had a sprinkler pump with a cast iron housing. Lasted something like 60 years. In the same shed, there was a pool pump that gave out every few years. I have no respect for this stuff.
