New pool owner

[rustystang]

I just purchased a new house that has a pool that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. I have absolutely zero pool experience, but have been reading pool school as much as possible. It has an infinity edge so the plumbing seems a little complex. Check my sig for details. It seems like pump1 is hooked up to the main pool only, pump2 is hooked up to the spillover pool only, and pump3 which runs the waterfall must be pulling water from the spillover pool since it causes the infinity edge to spillover. Does this sound right?

The current status is pump1 filter is set to "filter", but the pressure gauge shows 60psi. When the pump is off, it shows 30psi. I tried backwashing, but it didn't change. Maybe broken gauge?

Pump2 filter is currently set to "Recirc", and the drain plug on the filter is pulled. The pump looks like it's pumping quite a bit of water, but also has a good bit of air in it. Is this normal when in "Recirc" mode? I bought a drain plug for it today, but should I leave it in "Recirc" mode until the Spring?

All 3 pumps were set to run 24/7 which seems like a huge waste of electricity. What is my best strategy for the rest of the winter here in Tulsa?

Thanks in advance for the help! This site has already taught me a ton of info.

 

[JasonLion]

The pressure gauge associated with pump1 is clearly broken. If it doesn't go back to zero when the pump is off, you know it is broken.

You might as well get the filter associated with pump2 working. There isn't a huge rush as long as things stay cold, but worth working on none the less.

There are two basic strategies for pump run time with a infinity edge with three pumps: either run the spillover one hour a day, to keep the two bodies of water mixed and run pump1 roughly four hours a day for filtration and chemical mixing. Or get the pump2 filter fixed and run pump1 and pump2 each four hours a day and treat the two bodies of water as separate pools. The first option is easier for you, as you only need to test/adjust chemistry on one body of water, but it might be more expensive as it is possible that pump3 draws more than four times as much electricity as pump2. In either case you run pump3 anytime you want the infinite edge effect, typically when you are around and appreciating the pool.

One special case, the pump1 plus pump3 strategy assumes that the lower basin is much smaller than the upper pool. If the total volume of water in the lower basin is even half as large as the upper pool, then you will want to use the pump1 and pump2 approach.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi Rustystang!
Welcome to TFP! First let me congratulate you on getting that TF100 test kit without being recommended to. Thats the best investment you will make.

Your pump set up sounds right.
Pump 1 is pulling water from the skimmer and keeping stuff skimmed and filtered.
Your Filter is set correctly to "filter". The pressure guage needs to be replaced. Its history if it reads 30 with the pump off.

Pump 2 is pulling water from the spillover and with filter 2 set to circulate, is not filtering (obvouisly because of the missing plug you cannot filter). That missing plug is not helping the air bubbles. I would put the plug in right away and see if that helps.

Pump 3 for the waterfall sounds feasible but hard to know if its pulling water from the spillover or if there is a valve somewhere which diverts water to the water fall.

There is no need to run any of the pumps 24/7.
The filter pump just needs to be ran long enough to keep the water skimmed. Maybe a few hours a day. Since your sig doesnt mention a SWG, I assume you dont have one. But if you do, then you need to run pump 1 long enough for hte SWG to provide correct FC. Determining that run time is a matter of trial and error over a period of a week or 2.

Pump 2 - same as pump 1. Run it just enough to keep the water skimmed and clean.

Waterfall pump - only run it when you want the waterfall working.

Hope this helps,

 

[rustystang]

Thanks guys!

I'll plan on swapping out that gauge this weekend, and also try to get pump2 filter sorted.

My rough calculations for the size are 14.5K gallons for the upper pool and 2700 gallons for the spillover pool. One thing that doesn't make sense to me is why would pump2 be the biggest pump when it's hooked up to the little spillover pool? Seems like it should be doing pump1's job.

 

[Divin Dave]

What is the elevation difference between the main pool and spillover? If the spillover pump is having to pump the water considerably higher in elevation, that could be why.

 

[rustystang]

The elevation difference is about 2.5-3 feet. It doesn't seem like pump 2 returns to the main pool though. With only pump 1 and 2 running, the main pool doesn't spillover.

First time readings with my TF100 from last night:

FC: 2.5
CC: 0
pH: 8
TA: 110
CH: 325
CYA: 50
Salt: 3000
Temp: 55

 

[Casey]

Get that pH down but your numbers look good.

Congrats on your pool. Once you get it all figured out, we'd love to see pics!

 

[rustystang]

Picked up some acid tonight and added based on a target of 7.8. Is that a good goal for pH in the winter, or should I shoot for a little lower? How about the FC? Should I bump it up a little, or not worry about it until water temp starts coming up in the Spring?

 

[Jabooh1]

I hover my PH around 7.8 in winter to help the csi number some. I keep the FC at 3, which is the SWCG running about 1-2 days a week.

 

[Patrick_B]

It will likely be ok. Your CH isn't too high so I wouldn't worry. My CH is high so I like a little more headroom for pH rise. Just keep a close eye on it for upward drift.