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Be sure not to over tighten the bolts. If all of the seals/o-rings are in good shape and lubed, it should not take a lot of torque to avoid leaking. If the bolts screw into threaded inserts embedded in the plastic body, they are very easy to pull out.

No changes of late to the Liquidator. I did replace my filter about a month ago, but I have gone through a few jugs of bleach since that unscheduled repair. None of the plumbing changed and the flow was the same with the new filter. Using the same Chlorox unscented from Costco.

This has me a bit baffled. I have had my Liquidator running very successfully for several seasons. Just over the past few week, I noted that it was no longer keeping up with the chlorine demand. First thought it was all the debris from recent rains. Now I notice that the chlorine bed is not...

I have a similar issue with my pool. I keep the water very well balanced and chlorinated per advice here. I have never had an algae problem with the water. But above the water line there are several areas of natural stone and grout that get algae from time to time. It is usually in areas that do...

Here is something worth a try. It worked for me in a similar situation. Use a toilet plunger on the spa return to try dislodge whatever is stuck in the check valve. You may have to hit is a few time. If it works, your in luck. If not, nothing much lost and you'll have to replace the check...

I had a similar issue (with a much newer pool) and ended up using a leak detection service. They used an underwater microphone and were able to locate the leak to within about an inch. It was actually very impressive. If you go that route, be sure to have them check out the entire pool. Multiple...

Mine has always been R2D2 :wink:

I chickened out. I have a leak in the pipe that feeds the spill over spa when in pool mode. Rather than try to fix it, I capped it in the spa and am re-plumbing to direct that flow to the spa jets. I'm able to do it all above ground at the equipment pad. Only requires some PVC pipe, fittings...

Many people use TSP, about one cup per five gallons. You can get TSP at most hardware/home centers. I have heard people also use dishwasher powder. You may need to soak in dilute muriatic acid if there is significant calcium scaling. Good luck. Marc

My Legend has been pretty maintenance free. From time to time I have to remove a twig stuck in on of the wheels. The debris bags seem to only last about a season (lots of sticks from overhanging live oaks). And last year I had to replace the backup valve. But other than cleaning the bag when it...

Mine is essentially a permanent resident of my pool floor. It only comes out for parties; too lazy to take it out daily. The finish of the plastic body is a bit dull after 15 years but otherwise continues to suck (in a good way) :-D Marc

You do have to be a little careful about supercooling. If the equipment has a view of the sky over a substantial viewing angle, the radiative cooling on a clear night can lower the temperature well below the air temperature. That is the same phenomenon that causes frost when the air temperature...

I agree, a deadband would be minimal good engineering practice. I am hoping one of the gurus here knows about a firmware upgrade that solves this. The unit is ~15 years old and I am sure the previous owner never upgraded the firmware. I may just disable the freeze protection and manually turn...

Hi All, I have an Aqualink RS4 that and the cold weather has activated the freeze protection. What I am noticing is that when the temperature is right at the set point, the pump is being turned on and off rapidly (as much as 15 to 20 times a minute). That can't be good for the motor. Is this a...

You can buy a spigot mounted pressure gauge at Lowes/Home Depot for a few bucks. Then you can open the spigot and measure the pressure in the return line. That way you don't have to permanently install anything.

It is probably glued. The better check valves used for pools can be repaired rather than replaced. If it has a cover with screws, you can take off the cover and replace the flapper without changing the valve body.

To use the dilution method, you test a sample that is 50% pool water, 50% distilled water. Then multiply the result by two.

I suppose you could use OTO by diluting the sample 50/50 with distilled water to get the chlorine in the range of the OTO test.

The best bet is to use the FAS-DPD test you are using but work with a 10ml sample rather than 25ml. With 10ml, you multiply the drops by 0.5 rather than 0.2, certainly good enough if you are aiming for >5ppm. That cuts the reagent a good bit.

Re: CYA level is 140-20,000 gal fiberglass pool I just did a partial drain to lower my CH. I used a small submersible pump to drain and filled at the same time with the garden hose. The drain and the fill were almost exactly equal, so the water level stayed the same. Its not as efficient as...

You could plumb the discharge to your sewer. I understand that some communities do not allow DE discharge into sewers, so you have to check your local regulations. I have found my separation tank works very well. It does save a good deal of water and keeps the spent DE off the lawn. The cost...

I have seen these used as covers for the mounting holes used for volleyball net posts as well.

Welcome to TFP!. Always good to have another Austin engineer on the site. You'll find there is a great deal of expertise here when you have questions. Nice pool :goodjob:

Thanks Jason, great job. I downloaded it and it works great. This will be very handy indeed, at least until I drop my iPhone in the pool while entering my test results. :cry: Marc

Such a short release time surprises me. I always understood that the UV binding of chlorine to CYA had a large impact on the availability of chlorine to sanitize, hence the higher FC required with higher CYA concentrations. But only a small volume of water is exposed to UV since it is absorbed...

Thanks Richard, That is interesting information. I'll collect some real data, but my sense is that I am getting more like a 100mv increase warming from 55-60 to 75-80. What I am now thinking is that in addition to the temperature rise, the other significant variable may be keeping the sample...

I know there is a long list of "interferences" for ORP measurements including CYA, pH, etc. It appears that there is a complex relationship with temperature as well. I get very large swings in ORP readings as my sample of pool water warms up from ~60 degrees to ~75 degrees. I say complex...

First, thanks for making the calculator available and for keeping it updated. One useful addition would be to include the effects of borate concentration on dosages required to change pH. Oh, and an iPhone app would be nice too. :lol:

I am one of those who loves my DE filter. I did invest in a separation tank so that I am able to capture the DE and dispose of it rather than dump it on the ground. I plumbed it so I can (optionally) return the backwash water to the pool. The combination really makes it easy to maintain the DE...

I stumbled on this one: I picked up a pole with a spring loaded gripper to change a light bulb on my cathedral ceiling. Turns out, the water sample bottle that Leslies gives you fits perfectly in the gripper. I put the bottle in the gripper and dunk it several feet down to take a sample of pool...