Proper valve settings

[bulsworth]

I am trying to make sure my valves have the proper settings as I am worried it is causing the pool to lose water and our pool guy only does cleaning and chemicals and is completely useless when it comes to the equipment.

 

[txnole]

Correct position for what? Operating the pool? Spa? Pool cleaner?

 

[Texas Splash]

Ooooh. If your pool guys is useless for equipment and answering that question, he's probably not so good in the chemical department either. Unless I'm missing something, the top valves you show above simply divert water to different areas like your pool returns, spa, etc. The second pic adjusts the "pull" of water from those locations - back to the pump. There should be no reason to lose water from adjusting those valves - unless there is a leak from one of those areas. And since you have a cartridge filter, you don't do backwashes, so there's no water loss there either.

If you suspect you have a water loss, you might want to checkout this page: Pool School - Leak Detection.

Please let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[bulsworth]

Yes it is set up to correctly manage the pool. We do have one of those cleaners that operates when the pump is on. I just want to be sure our settings are correct bc previously our pool guy touched the settings and it drained the spa. I wanted to make sure the same isn't happening with the pool based on current settings.

I am planning to look for a new pool guy but haven't already paid for March.

And am going to do the bucket test today but will probably need someone to help if it comes back with bad results

 

[Texas Splash]

Absolutely. Shame you're having those problems. And like txnole noted earlier, if you have a specific question about operating any of those items, let us know. Check back in please after you've done the bucket test and let us know how things went and if you still have questions. Good luck!

 

[bulsworth]

Filling the pool now and will start the bucket test in the Morning.

I did make one change to the pool valve settings. Will this change do anything good or bad?

Do you guys recommend any of those auto fill equipment? I saw one on Amazon that was liked $84 and looked good Amazon.com : Swimming Pool Auto Fill Valve and Protective Cover- EZAutoFill - The Water Wise Solution! : Monitor : Patio, Lawn Garden

 

[Texas Splash]

You've got me thinking a bit more now ... in this last pic/valve position, water should go to the pool and should also go to the spa and return. But I wanted to verify ..
- Where/what is the "return" specifically? The waterfall perhaps? Because I would think the "Pool" is simply the return jets.
- Just below this pic (can see if better in pic #1) ... the bubble thing .. is that your Rainbow 32o chlorinator?

 

[bulsworth]

I don't know what is the return. I barely know anything about the pool. We hired a company when we first bought the house 2 years ago and he did everything and we Barry had to worry about anything. But they stopped offering weekly maintenance services and we went with a different company that only does chemical and cleaning but seems to know nothing about the equipment.

Yes it is the chlorinatir but we don't use it at all. We use a floater instead as I don't think this works. Most of the equipment we had to replace when we bought the house but no one mentioned the chlorinatir being used

 

[Texas Splash]

Okay my friend. We'll help. One thing at a time. That last pic you uploaded in post #6 seems to be water going back to the pool, return, or spa. When you have the handle pointed at something (Pool for example), the other end "OFF" is currently pointed at nothing. That basically means nothing is "off" and water should be allowed to flow to everything that has plumbing. You can experiment with that valve and slowly turn it one way or the other to focus water return to just one or two items. It's okay to move and experiment with that valve so you can see where the water comes-out. Try that, and let us know if you were able to successfully see how that valve effected the flow of water to your pool, spa, and return (possibly the waterfall).

As for your chlorinator and floater, that's a whole new discussion and might be best served if you post a new thread in one of the forum topics like "Just Getting Started". Then we could focus on the pool chemistry and show you how to test and add the chemicals your pool needs - mostly like simple household bleach.

 

[bulsworth]

Thanks I plan to leave the valve settings as is for tonight since I just filled the pool up so want to see if there is any change. Then I plan tomorrow to turn it back to the settings in pic #1 while I do the bucket test with the pump on and then next day do the bucket test again with the pump off. Then I will post all my results

 

[duraleigh]

If your pool guys is useless for equipment and answering that question, he's probably not so good in the chemical department either.

Sage observation......I completely agree.

I would immediately start looking for the type service you need to manage your pool.....both mechanically and chemistry-wise.