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My son and his girlfriend came over to swim while we were gone. Apparently, the pool cleaner hose kept getting in their way so they took it out and set it on the deck. Problem is, the cleaner valve was open and it pulled all the water through and then began sucking air. He didn't know any...

Hey everybody, I've been away from the forum for a while since everything seemed to be trouble free. ( that's the point, right? ) Over the Memorial Day weekend we were gone for 5 days. When we were about 100 miles away I realized I hadn't balanced the pool water before we left, and it had...

Hi all, I'm having a problem with high CH levels and I'm wondering what causes it to rise over time. The level was at 250 ppm in early January, 2011 and then started rising in mid-March. Between April, 2011 and June, 2012 it rose from 270 ppm to 575 ppm. It's now up to 675 ppm and I'm in the...

I had my pool replastered in Sept. 2010 and I've kept a pretty close eye on the chemistry, but the CH level has been steadily climbing. My fill water has a CH of 140 and as of Feb. 2011 the pool CH was 250. Since then it's been steadily climbing until it's now up to 575. I'm going to have to...

Recently the low salt light came on on my IC-40. The cell light is still green and it appears to make chlorine. The salt readings are 3570 with the Aquacheck test strips and an even 4000 with the Taylor 1766 drop test (not sure which one is the more accurate - anybody know?). The water temp...

Recently the color of my pH samples has gotten more intense and it makes it difficult to accurately determine what the proper color match is on my Taylor test kit. Nothing has changed in the chemicals I'm using however the water temp has gone from 74 deg. to 64 deg. in the last 12 days. I've...

How sensitive is the FAS-DPD test to the amount of DPD powder used? This morning when I tested my water I used 2 scoops of DPD powder. The first scoop turned the water pink as it usually does and then I added the second scoop. In this particular instance both scoops were just a little less...

According to the Pool Calc app my CSI is somewhere between -0.48 to -0.57 depending on my pH, CYA and salt level. FC = 4.0 CC = 0 pH = 7.4 TA = 70 CH = 300 CYA = 50 Salt = 3280 (strips) Temp = 70 CSI = -0.48 or FC = 4.0 CC = 0 pH = 7.5 TA = 70 CH = 300 CYA = 50 Salt = 3600 (drops) Temp = 70...

In my last go-round with CYA I attempted to raise my level from 60 to 70 by adding 2 lbs. of powdered conditioner and a week later it had gone from 60 to 100. So, I drained about 8,000 gal., refilled and adjusted all the other chemicals first. My CYA level read a pretty solid 50. I picked up...

Is this anybody from here??? Couldn't resist! :twisted:

For the last day or so my Intellichlor IC-40 has had the red "Low Salt" light on steady and the green "Cell" light has been off, regardless of where I set the output from 20% to 100%. I tested the salt level with both the AquaCheck test strips (3570 ppm) and the Taylor K-1766 drop test (4000...

Back on May 8th I tested my CYA level with both the Taylor K-2006 and the Blue Devil CYA test kit. They both read about 55-60 ppm. Using the Pool Calculator app on my iPod it recommended adding 2 lb. 3 oz. to my 26,200 gal. pool to raise CYA from 60 to 70 ppm. I put 2 lbs of Leslie's...

So, I came home from work today and all the power in my house is off. D*mn! Seemed a little early in the season, and not hot enough for a large area outage from everyone using their A/C so I decided to check with the neighbors on both sides - they both had power. Double D*mn!! Well, after...

I've been having to add about 32 oz. or more of MA roughly every 3 days to keep my pH between 7.5 and 7.8. The pool was re-plastered in Sept. 2010, so about 7 mos. ago. Just wondering if this would be considered excessive and what I should do about it. Latest test results from my Taylor...

I'm still trying to figure out what happens to the salt in my pool. My understanding so far is that the salt is broken down by the SWCG into its more basic constituents, one of them being chlorine gas which is dissolved into the water. After the chlorine is used to sanitize the water by...

Since installing my EcoStar VSP a month ago I've been having a problem with air collecting in the strainer basket. If I let it go for 2 or 3 days it will drop all the way into the inlet port, so I end up running a high speed cycle, about 3200 rpm for 5 min. or so, to purge the air out on a...

Well, it's been about 4 weeks since I had my EcoStar installed and it's still getting air in the filter basket. If I run it at high speed, about 3200 rpm for 5 minutes or so, it will purge all the air. When I run it at the speeds I normally use, 2200 rpm for running the Pool Cleaner for a...

For salt level testing I've been using the Aquacheck test strips. They seem to do an OK job but I'm wondering if the drop test is more accurate. Who makes a good salt drop test and where can I get it? My local Leslie's is unaware of any drop tests for salt. Thanks, Gary

I'm having some trouble figuring out how many drops to use to get an accurate reading on my TA test. The sample first turns and stays red at 7 drops but one additional drop makes it a more definite red. Additional drops beyond 8 don't make any noticeable difference. Should I read the TA as 70...

I have only a very basic understanding of how an SWCG works and I'd like to understand the process by which the chlorine is generated and what becomes of the remnants of the sodium chloride. As I understand it when regular bleach is used up it is converted into salt. How is the chlorine...

My TA was a little high (about 90-100). Following the recommendations in the Pool Calculator I lowered the pH to 7.0 and began aerating the pool on Sunday evening. Yesterday morning the pH was 7.2 and today it's 7.4, but the TA went from 70 yesterday to 80 today. I understand that 80 is an OK...

I was reviewing the recommended levels in Pool School and I've got a couple of questions: In a plaster pool the chart calls for a CYA level of 30-50 ppm when using bleach, but 70-80 when using a SWCG, yet the recommended chlorine levels are higher for bleach (3-7 ppm) and lower for SWCG (3-5...

My TA is a bit high and the Pool Calculator is telling me to add MA to lower the pH to 7.0 - 7.2 and then aerate to bring up the pH. I don't have any water features to aerate with, but I do have a small 1/4 hp, 23 gpm submersible pump from Harbor Freight. If I put the pump on a step just under...

Just curious. With my new EcoStar VSP what should I consider as the safe upper limit for motor rpm or gpm flow rate? I figure I'm most likely to use the highest rpm while vacuuming or running the Pool Cleaner. The Pool Cleaner in particular has a relatively small suction orifice, about 1" x...

Well, I had 2 pool cleaners laying around, a new toy to play with and some time to kill this last weekend so I decided to make a couple of videos of the cleaners in action. I recently got a GoPro HD camera. It comes with a waterproof housing and a variety of mounts. I used the 3" suction cup...

I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem I'm having using Mark's GPM Estimate v3 spreadsheet. The problem is entirely with me I'm sure, not with the spreadsheet, as I really don't know what I'm doing in Excel. I recently installed a Hayward EcoStar SP3400 VSP and I'm trying to get an...

Since I installed my new VSP I've noticed a lot of bubbles coming back through the returns when the pump is on low speed (1100rpm) and the Intellichlor IC40 is active. the higher the percentage of run-time, the more bubbles I notice. When I turn the cell off the bubbles go away. Is this...

After having my new Hayward EcoStar pump installed last Saturday I've noticed that when it's running at higher speeds there's an air pocket about an inch deep under the strainer basket lid, right about at the level of the top of the strainer. When I turn the pump down to low speed for a couple...

I just had a new Hayward SP3400 VSP EcoStar installed yesterday and so far I'm really pleased with it. It's very quiet compared to the Pentair 1.5hp SuperFlo it replaced. The installer noted that even though we had the pool builders replace all the plumbing when we replastered the pool and put...

I'm pretty finicky about doing my water tests; I use exactly the number of drops called for, hold the bottle vertically instead of at an angle and generally follow the instructions to a "T". I occasionally take a water sample to my local Leslie's just to see how well their results agree with...