Confuzzled by my new Pool

[alieneila]

Hello everyone, I've just bought a house that has an in ground salt water pool with a DE filter, pebble lining, and water fall (details I know off the top of my head are in my signature, I'll add more after I get home)

Needless to say... I am at a complete loss at the complexity (well complex because of my ignorance lol) of the setup and I could really use some explanations of some items. I was wondering, if when I get home tonight if I take some photos of my system setup, if someone could explain the flow and valves and can give any suggestions to my filter pressure issue detailed below. I have determined the following:

1) It has a big DE filter - of which I took apart and cleaned last night, hosed down, put back together - because my pressure is at 40, and even after cleaning it it says 40 (and yes it goes to 0 if the filter/pumps are off)
2) It has an SWG, Turbulent Flo Chamber (not sure if that is the brand off the top of my head) and I'm thinking either my salt is too low (currently at 2000ppm, according to AquaRite system panel) or if the cell doesn't work, but my Chlorine is at 0 (using dip strips, I know not accurate but I just moved in and they were left behind, haven't bought a good kit yet)
3) It has a big heater
4) I see what looks like 3 different pumps, I'm guessing 1 for pool, 1 for spa, and 1 for waterfall? Not sure exactly.
5) It has a tablet chlorinator (since it's an SWG, not sure why?)
6) It has about 12 different valves all over the place

I've been reading through the forums all day, learning as much as I can, and went through the visual encyclopedia and all, and this forum is really great so far! So I thank anyone who would be willing to inform a pool system n00b! =)

 

[Leak Specialist]

My guess is, (pictures pictures pictures! ;D) 1 main pump for pool and lower jets in spa, 1 pump is for the bubbler jets in spa, the smaller pump is for a polaris or similar cleaner.

All this is a wild guess without pictures.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

If you take pictures, we can certainly help you figure out the plumbing and equipment.

1) What does your water look like? Did you add DE back into the filter after cleaning it? 40psi is awfully high. I think at this point you may want to clean the grids as described here: use-and-care-for-de-filters-t4086.html

2) Independently test the salt level to determine if it is too low. One sign of a failing SWG cell is reading lower salt level than reality. Also, you should inspect the cell to see if there is white scaling on the plates and if so clean it. You should be using liquid chlorine / bleach to maintain the FC level until your SWG is functional. And you certainly need one of the Recommended Test Kits.

3) Ok

4) Could be

5) Don't use trichlor tablets in it ... unless you know your CYA is too low.

6) This should be fun to figure out

Order the kit ASAP and read Pool School starting at the top with these to start to learn the chemistry:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

 

[alieneila]

Thanks for the quick replies =) I will def take pictures after I get home from work.

The pool was clear when I moved in a week ago, and with my ignorance of the pool system and thinking that the SWG would take care of the chlorine, I didn't do much to it besides run the pump for about 7 hours a day (that's what the timer was already set to). I had an above ground Walmart special with an SWG previously and never had to do anything with it except clean the filter, so since that was easy I figured this one might be as easy.. but I shouldn't have assumed that... as the water is now green.

As for the filter cleaning, I did do all of what was listed in the link provided, and re-added the DE. I just haven't done a chemical clean yet, as I don't have a tub large enough at the moment. It's on my todo list though, as well as taking off the cell and checking it /cleaning it tonight =)

Edit: Oh by the way, I have read all of the Pool School articles and took a lot of notes =P

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, alieneila

Edit: Oh by the way, I have read all of the Pool School articles and took a lot of notes =P

Have you ordered your appropriate test kit yet?:http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison It is the single most important thing for pool chemistry. Many of us have the tf-100 since it is the best value.

 

[alieneila]

Hey All, sorry it's taken a while to get these pictures up, I've had a seriously busy couple of weeks... Anyways, I've made some comments on some of the pictures. A couple things baffle me, I am sure a lot of the normal valves are just returns to the pool or spa. But there are a couple that look like they're electronically controlled valves or something? Also the bell looking thing circled in red?

Also the tank pressure, after completely cleaning the filter, taking it apart washing it off, acid bathing it, is still at 40 PSI. When the filter/pump kicks on, there's so much pressure in the tank that water is leaking out around the seal of the tank.

 

[jblizzle]

Wow, that is a mess. Best to try to only look at one pump at a time and understand the system.
First, the red circle is an airblower to force air into the flow for the spa.

Now look at the main pump (the one on the right).
The 4 valves in front of the pump are the suction pipes. The valve on the top selects between the spa (pipe on the left) and the pool (the 3 pipes/valves on the right). It has an actuator on the valve that will automatically turn this valve and the one on the pressure side when "spa mode" is selected in some form of automation that you did not picture. So there is one suction line from the spa and 3 suction lines from the pool. I am going to guess that the 3 from the pool are the floor and maybe 2 skimmers? The valves allow you to adjust the suction from each line.

On the pressure side, the water exits the top of the pump and loops around an enters the filter. The pipe laying on the ground below the filter is the backwash pipe where the water will exit when you backwash. The water passes through the filter and then through the pipe on the top and through the grey valve which is shown open (my guess is that there used to be a solar heating system that was attached to the 2 capped lines and the valve would turn the solar on/off). The water then passes to the left and through the heater and then through the SWG cell and the SWG flow switch and into the actuated return valve. The return on the right is for spa mode and the returns on the left are to the pool. That is a chlorinator for pucks which is not needed. Hard to say where the 2 valves adjust the return to the pool. The black thing below the valve on the right is a check valve ... so there is a chance that the valve on the right actually returns to the spa so that the water is filtered and then spills back into the pool. You can figure this out by closing the one of the valves and see what happens.

So that is the way the filter pump works. I did not see anything obvious that would cause the pressure to be so high. Are you sure the gauge is good?

The pump is the middle is likely the spa jets. It looks like it has one suction line and then one or 2 return lines with valves on them (???) I can not tell where the valve below the electrical is plumbed in. It is kind of odd that there are valves on the spa outlet, although it would allow you to restrict the flow and lower the force of the jets.

The pump on the left is a mystery. It is not an air blower. Could be a dedicated pump for a water feature???

Are you able to switch the main pump to spa mode and see what happens to the pressure in the filter?
It will not hurt anything to move the valves (not the actuated ones) by hand and see how the water flow is affected. Then write down your finding for each valve. You just never want to close all the valves either before or after the pump.

Post back with further questions.

 

[alieneila]

Thanks for the quick reply Jason, your explanation helps a lot. I've been tinkering with things... like taking apart the filter and cleaning it, as well as taking the SWG off and acid soacking the cell. My original issue of the pool turning green turned out to be a mix of the cell being crusted up, as well as the pool being about 7 bags of salt low. Pool is crystal clear now, just trying to figure out the pressure issue. As you can see in the picture that shows the ground around the filter... that water is what leaks from the seal when the filter is running. Which is why I thought for sure the gauge was right as I didn't think it would leak like that under normal pressure.

As for the pressure gauge, not 100% that it's good. I just went by it going to 0 when everything is off. I may take it to get tested if that's possible. I'll play around with the valves tonight if I get some time.

And yes you're right about the 3rd pump, I didn't think about the waterfall feature.