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As we all know, you can only adjust the Intellichlor's output by 20 percentage points at a time using the controls on the cell. This is proving to be difficult. I am not willing to spend thousands more just to gain finer control of the cell, so I have been exploring my options. I'm wondering...

Does anyone know about the affinity of citric acid for ruthenium? Citric acid really goes to work on calcium deposits and seems not to affect things like aluminum negatively the way hydrochloric acid does. I can descale faucet aerators in two minutes with a citric acid solution. I was trying to...

How are the TFP FC recommendations for pools with an SWG calculated? Specifically, what are the assumptions behind it? For example, if you punch in CYA of 50 it will recommend a target FC of 3. If I followed that recommendation my FC would fall below the minimum every day. It seems like perhaps...

I probably know the answer, but I just thought I'd check. The IC60 cell indicates water must flow from the bottom to the top. The only possible location on my plumbing is a vertical section where the water flow from top to bottom. That means the IC60 controls will be upside down and the cord...

Chlorine is now costing me about $4 - $5 per day and I've been trying to get my hands on a IC60 or IC40 for about 9 months with no success. Stores report stock but when you buy it you get a cancellation notice a couple of days later. Rather than spend over $1,000 on liquid chlorine and...

When I view my PoolMath logs on the TPF web site the times of the log entries are shown in GMT instead of my local time.

Was away on vacation for a few weeks, so the pool didn't get brushed or vacuumed for a while. I didn't think it would be a big deal. WRONG! My pool is covered in dots that do not brush off unless I spend about 5 minutes on each spot going back and forth with the brush using all my might to apply...

The other day I found a large (American robin size) dead bird in my skimmer basket. There were no visible signs of trauma. I've only had a pool for 7 years, but I've never seen a dead bird in the pool before. It's unlikely to have happened during the day as I would have seen it. I look out the...

Please, please, please tell me that Deck-O-Seal is much darker before it cures. The builder sent his guy out to do the mastic between the coping on the deck today. When I came out to look after work it looks black. Not gray ... black. They never asked me to specify a color for the mastic, and...

I have always estimated my pool volume to be 20,000 gallons based on measuring the results of chemical additions, like CYA or salt. The pool builder was certain it was 30,000 from looking at it. Since it's a totally irregular shape (sides and bottom) I had no way to directly measure it ... until...

The pasterers finished yesterday and I began filling right away. The pool is about 2/3rds full now, but the plaster is very mottled. The parts that are submersed are just as mottled, but I had trouble photographing it with the reflections. Will this go away after a bit, or is something wrong?

Got home today and saw that the builders laid the coping today. All around the pool the gap between the coping and the deck is different widths because the had to lay a lot of them cockeyed to make them fit. There are some places with huge gaps on the pool side and the pieces butting up against...

For the last 6.5 years that I've had this pool the diverter valve in the skimmer box has been stuck with the lever broken off. Today I finally took a basin wrench to it and discovered why it was stuck. It was one of these Pentair Admiral valves: It was wrapped with about 1/4-mile of electrical...

The installation instructions only have instructions for installing in a system with a pump timer, which is a bit ironic if you're using an Intelliflo. How does Pentair recommend installing in a system with an Intelliflo? I know I can use the flow switch to trigger it, but I don't want trouble...

My Pool Math App looks like this: Note the CSI says "-0.11 today," but when you open CSI it says it's -0.31. How do I tell which it is? And how do I make those two number agree?

After years of suspicion I finally confirmed that I have a pressure side leak somewhere. I've always noticed that the pool seems to loose a ton of water, and it always seemed to be overnight. I finally turned off the pump last night and only lost 1/8th of an inch over 12 hours. Turned the pump...

I was getting a replaster quote from a local pool company who mentioned that our city has new pool fencing requirements that will have to be followed even for nothing but replaster. New fencing will cost between $2,000 and $4,000, which I don't have. I was thinking I'll just leave the pool as-is...

The zip strips that were used when my pool was constructed over 40 years ago have become bad enough that they're a danger to barefooted swimmers. I've been removing them with a flathead screwdriver, but it's really slow going mashing it into pieces and sweeping up the pieces. I was wondering if...

I've had my Intelliflo for a few weeks now and it has been very quiet ... up until last night. Last night it started making what I can only describe as a "tone" that resonates through the entire house. It's like a musical note that you can hum to in musical harmony. It woke me up at 2 o'clock on...

I installed a new Intelliflo a couple of weeks ago. Coming from a single-speed power hog it's been relatively nice so far. I am taking advantage of the increased efficiency by doing low flow for long periods. The other day I noticed a change in my pool - I caught a whiff of chlorine while...

Tried the ping pong balls. They float with 80+% of their volume out of the water. The slightest breeze scoots them along the surface in the direction of the breeze, even counter to the water current. I was thinking that the little styrofoam 'beads' from inside a bean bag would work far better...

Hi guys. I'm preparing to do a remodel this off-season. I thought I had picked out a good builder. They had tons of positive reviews everywhere I looked. They came out the other day to install an Intelliflo for me ahead of my remodel and based on the quality of work and lack of follow-up I have...

The display panel's backlight on my new Intelliflo is on 24x7. That's not going to be good for longevity. Is there a way to turn it off?

If I use the PoolMath App to calculate the effects of adding bleach, weird stuff starts happening. Here is a table summarizing the results I see for a 20,000 gallon pool: Bleach Concentrations Amount Added Raise FC by ... 2% 64 oz 1.4 3% 64 oz 1.4 4% 64 oz 1.4 5% 64 oz 1.4 6% 64 oz...

Being colorblind, the calcium test kit that comes with the TFT-100 is impossible to use. I noticed that Taylor has the K-1567 kit that goes from red to blue which is easy to use. The only potential caveat is that it's measuring calcium hardness as CaCO3. Is it a simple matter of converting the...

I have repeatedly measured my TA at 80 ppm with the TFT test kit. It has been more or less the same for more than 5 years. However, I have to input 200 ppm in Pool Math to get the amount of HCl required to achieve the desired pH change. It takes about 64 oz. of 31.45% HCl to drop the pH from 8.2...

The only place I had to mount my CircuPool controller box was a south-facing wall that is in direct sun for 6+ hours every day. I knew the plastic wasn't going to fare well, so I wanted to shade it somehow. After thinking about it for far too long I came upon the idea of a lightweight box that...

I've quadruple checked my calculations and tested and re-tested at least a half-dozen times over the last three days and there is something I'm clearly messing up or not understanding. I installed my first SWG over the weekend. It's a CircuPool RJ60+. The unit is advertised as capable of...

While walking past the CircuPool control unit this afternoon I heard a noise coming from the unit. Placing my ear to the unit I noticed that the internal fan is running. Is it normal for the fan to be running when the unit isn't producing chlorine? The power and low flow lights are lit. EDIT -...

From reading older messages it seems like there used to be an option to export CSV, but I don't see that in the latest version. Before I go paid I want to verify that I'm not going to suffer from "vendor lock in." I'm guessing nobody would intentionally remove the user's access to their own data...