In-floor cleaning system

[IzzyB]

Does anyone have experience with in floor cleaning system. We had one when this tech first came out and it was OK, but I think they are better. We are getting a new pool (moved) and the one guy said we shouldn't need it and the other guy said since we never had to deal with a hose in our pool with the other cleaners that we should go with the in-floor system because the hose will annoy us. I think it will because we were at a party the other day and they had a hose in their for their floor cleaner and it was pretty annoying.

What is your experience with this. The one place quoted us for this type of system Paramount 99% swim ready in floor cleaning system with MDX drain and remote leaf canister.

 

[chiefwej]

I have an A&A in floor system. It only does a fair job of cleaning the pool. At the cost, I expected a lot better result. In fairness to A&A and in floor systems in general, my neighbors system works very well. They have a deep area and mine is a play pool. A&A is working with me to optimize the system, and says they should be able to make it work much better. (We shall see)

My previous pool had a Polaris with a booster pump and it would clean the pool spotless. I agree the hose is a PITA, but I would always just pull it out and leave it in a deck box when the pool was in use.

Kind of a trade off, but I think if I were building a new pool I would spend those thousands of dollars on something else. Just my opinion, your experiance may be quite different.

 

[JayBauman]

I reviewed my Paramount in-floor system with MDX in this thread. I would definitely do it again. It works great, and requires very little time on my part to keep maintained.

 

[IzzyB]

I reviewed my Paramount in-floor system with MDX in this thread. I would definitely do it again. It works great, and requires very little time on my part to keep maintained.

Thank you, this was awesome! I think the other pool builders I am using must use A&A because they are doing one variable speed pump. The guys who stated Paramount wanted us to get 2 speed pumps instead of variable. I have no clue what I had last time. We had dead zones, but now I know a lot more and know I shouldn't have dead zones and that if I do the company can fix it so this won't happen.

ETA: I found all my paperwork (pamphlets) and I was wrong. All the pool builders I am using use Paramount. They all are doing 1 variable speed motor though. Maybe Paramount now works with one? I know the one pool guy said I would run at a higher speed for 2 hours and then lower speed for 6 hours.

 

[cwritner]

My in floor system works very well. 8 months in and have never had to scrub my pool. As a side note, using the methods in this forum, the water feels very "silky" and is as clear as can be. Passes the coin test in the deep end. Spent 15 dollars on chemicals last month. Very happy to be a pool owner.


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[MARCO...polo]

I like my in-floor (PV3) but I have no experience with anything else to compare it with other than pushing the vacuum around the Intex. What I've read about robots, at times makes me question my decision. The one thing I have found is that I wish I had thought to put in a by-pass to the riser/head/module and allow for a return other that thru the cleaner. There have been a couple of times that I have wanted to do this for some maintenance issues but my configuration only allows bypass return thru either the raised spa or sheer descents or pausing the system. Plus it might have made it possible to lose the whole system in the future if I were to decide it's not to my liking. I don't know if this would be "allowed" by Paramount or even worth the extra cost. Just a convenience I see in hindsight.

 

[IzzyB]

I like my in-floor (PV3) but I have no experience with anything else to compare it with other than pushing the vacuum around the Intex. What I've read about robots, at times makes me question my decision. The one thing I have found is that I wish I had thought to put in a by-pass to the riser/head/module and allow for a return other that thru the cleaner. There have been a couple of times that I have wanted to do this for some maintenance issues but my configuration only allows bypass return thru either the raised spa or sheer descents or pausing the system. Plus it might have made it possible to lose the whole system in the future if I were to decide it's not to my liking. I don't know if this would be "allowed" by Paramount or even worth the extra cost. Just a convenience I see in hindsight.

Thanks. That is my thing, I don't know anything different because the one and only pool I owned had this in it. My husband had a pool growing up, but they have nothing but a hand vacuum and his mom spent a ton of time cleaning the pool he said. No one in his family wanted a pool because of the time they spent on the pool. But when we went to get a pool the guy told us about all the fancy new stuff and of course we got it because he didn't want to deal with everything else. So I have no experience with the robot or those types of things.

 

[JayBauman]

Thank you, this was awesome! I think the other pool builders I am using must use A&A because they are doing one variable speed pump. The guys who stated Paramount wanted us to get 2 speed pumps instead of variable. I have no clue what I had last time. We had dead zones, but now I know a lot more and know I shouldn't have dead zones and that if I do the company can fix it so this won't happen.

ETA: I found all my paperwork (pamphlets) and I was wrong. All the pool builders I am using use Paramount. They all are doing 1 variable speed motor though. Maybe Paramount now works with one? I know the one pool guy said I would run at a higher speed for 2 hours and then lower speed for 6 hours.

My Paramount uses a single-speed pump. But my in-floor cleaning system is completely independent of my filtration/chlorination loop. My Paramount pump is on only when I'm cleaning the floor. For this purpose, there is no reason to have any type of multi-speed pump. In my discussions with Paramount, they are strongly against having the pool filter in the same circuit as the in-floor cleaner. As the filter gets dirty, the higher pressure (and resulting lower water flow) make the in-floor less effective.

 

[IzzyB]

My Paramount uses a single-speed pump. But my in-floor cleaning system is completely independent of my filtration/chlorination loop. My Paramount pump is on only when I'm cleaning the floor. For this purpose, there is no reason to have any type of multi-speed pump. In my discussions with Paramount, they are strongly against having the pool filter in the same circuit as the in-floor cleaner. As the filter gets dirty, the higher pressure (and resulting lower water flow) make the in-floor less effective.

Interesting. All the PBs I talked to would put everything together and seem to recommend it because then your pull gets heated better since the water is coming out from the floor. It is also interesting because their pamphlet talks about how having this makes your heater bill less and saves on chemicals because the water is always coming from the floor. The pamphlet is from Paramount.

 

[JayBauman]

Interesting. All the PBs I talked to would put everything together and seem to recommend it because then your pull gets heated better since the water is coming out from the floor. It is also interesting because their pamphlet talks about how having this makes your heater bill less and saves on chemicals because the water is always coming from the floor. The pamphlet is from Paramount.

I don't think we are disagreeing or that my setup is different than what Paramount recommends. In my case, this is exactly true when my in-floor cleaning system is running, since I get quite some volume of water returning to the pool through the floor. It is partially true when it is not. What I mean by this is I have 2 "permanent" floor returns on my filter loop and the remainder of my sidewall return jets are directionally focused towards my floor. My PB originally programmed my automation to have the in-floor system running for the entire time my filter loop is running. For my pool, this is overkill so I generally only run the IFC long enough to keep my bottom clean, with 2 exceptions:
1. I turn on IFC (and all water features) when adding chemicals to the pool
2. On the rare occasions when I heat my pool, I always turn on my Paramount so that I am getting good water turnover to help with heating.


On an unrelated note....the MDX floor drain is awesome. But if you go this route, make sure your PB installs the in-deck debris-collection canister. This makes sure that none of the big junk that MDX picks up ends up in your filter basket (or worse, in your filter!).