I’ve had my Pentair rebel since we had the pool redone in August 2021. The rebel has worked fine until recently. It stays in the deep end. I’ve tried everything—replaced the tires, the left drive shaft, and even purchased a new one! Same issue. Even with the new one. So it’s got to be something else. We’ve done everything with the equipment as far as cleaning the filter, etc. And the rebel seems to have great suction and the wheels rotate at the correct speed. What could be the issue?

Hi all,

I was given this dolphin premiere that doesn't move. The cleaner is in pristine condition. The last owner had it for a year, moved doesn't have pool anymore. Anyways, The impeller is free of debris and so are the tracks. My plan is too check the voltage of the power supply , then the cable, taking apart the swivel.

All the videos on the power supply show 2 prong power supplies. The premiere has three prongs. The readings I got were, 27 and 2.2 is it additive for a 3 prong or is this a bad power supply?

The unit will not run the self test. I have not yet opened up the swivel/

Hi all,

My water was crystal clear this morning but noticed the PH was a bit low. I guess I added more than necessary because it went very purple on my Taylor test kit (I assume over 8). The water got very cloudy.

I used a PH decreased and got it down to normal levels, but the water is still very cloudy.

Alkaline 60
Calcium 220
Chlorine 3

Should I just run the jets for a day? Or do I need to drain and refill?

Hi @Michael z
I'm looking to replace my Polaris 9550 with a cordless robot because it has a problem with a wheel I need to try to fix and its cord has developed a twist and keeps fighting with my Betta skimmer. The 9550 was purchased 9/2021 so I'm hoping my next robot lasts longer than 3 seasons.

I don't need a remote control, I've never used the one that came with the 9550. I'm trying to keep the cost around $1,000 and take advantage of some of the sales going on this week.

My pool is a vinyl liner made in the mid 1980's. It's 36' long and 25' wide. The shallow end is 3' and the deep end is 9'. I'd describe the shape as eggplant or pear shaped.

I'm considering the Aiper S1 or Beatbox Aquasense. I'd like something that used some logic to clean the pool rather than random patterns. The picture of the pool is with the cover on but gives an idea of the shape. Thanks.

Got this last year to replace my old Polaris 380 pool cleaner. Pool store recommended the Active 40 for my size pool. It has been nothing but trouble since. It ate 2 power supplies in a month. My fault as I did not see in the direction you are not to use an extension cord to plug it in. I did not have an outlet close enough to the pool to operate it without one. Bought an extra heavy short one and had an outlet put close to the pool. That problem was solved. My other problem is that is does not do a very good job of cleaning the pool. The Polaris 380 did a much better job and did not miss anything. The 40 worked ok-ish for the rest of the year. I had to use the brush to get most of the stuff it missed by sweeping it into the drain in the deep end. This year I opened the pool, and it will not pick up anything except the extremely fine stuff. I check everything. Made sure the impeller was not blocked; the filters were not clogged. But did find the rubber thing in the back was open about a 1/4 of an inch so I took it off and reshaped as I seen on a YouTube video and finally thought I had it figured out. Wrong, still does not pick up anything but the extremely small stuff. Took it to my pool place and turned it in to get looked at. They gave me a loaner an Active 15 to use while mine was going to be looked at. Well, I put the Active 15 in the pool and watched it. It picks up almost everything. Does 100% better than the Active 40 I have. So, I studied the machine once it was finished. Noticed right away two main differences. The first is that the 40 has a cloth thing for an inlet to the basket for pick up. It does not spread very wide so I believe this is a design error with this model. The 15 has a wide spring-loaded trap door that opens with the suction of the machine. Huge difference as my active 40 will not pick up anything through the cloth opening to the basket. Second is that the 40 has two spinning scrub rollers one at the front and one at the back. The 15 only has one at the back. Noticed while watching the 40 the the rollers were pushing water forward and scattering the debris instead of running over it to pick it up. The 15 only has the one at the back and so it goes one way and the scrubber scrubs and if it is going backwards, it does the same pushes the debris out of the way, but it reverses direction and goes back over it in the forward direction sucking up all the debris. Once again, I believe this is a design flaw. So, I took the basket out the 15 to see if it would fit into my 40 - no joy it is too small. So, I am wondering if they make a basket with a trap door like the 15 for the 40. However, do not know that if that will fix the problem as the two scrubbers seem to push the debris out of the way. Has anyone had this problem with their 40?

Questions for you guys. I learned something new every year and this forum has been a great resource.
So I have 15 foot Intex above ground pool with the 2800 series Intex sand filter and I just use the basic Intex skimmer basket that hangs over the side of the railing.
Yes, one day I intend on getting the Hayward skimmer that goes in the side of the pool, but I haven’t done it yet because quite honestly I don’t trust myself to cut a hole in the side of the pool and not end up with leaks lol but that’s another story LOL!!

My question today is when I plug off one of the inlet ports so that the skimmer gets better suction, my pump becomes markedly louder because of the air being sucked in. I have tried using a plug that had the little tiny hole in it to let minimal water through and I have also tried using a plug that was solid to just close it off and I have the same issue. If I have both ports open, the pump is so quiet I forget it’s running and it’s beautiful. But then, of course I get no suction at the skimmer and its effectively not doing its job

So my question.. is this normal? I feel like it isn’t because I can see the air bubbles going through the line and it does cause the pipe to pulse occasionally. And I know that’s not good for the motor.
So what is the trick? Do you guys just bypass that one inlet all together and run one hose straight from the pump to the skimmer port? I currently have it teed off to where one hose is going to each port and then converging in the third hose that goes to the pump.

Hi,

I've gone through multiple threads and figured out what I think I need to do, but I still have a couple of questions I wanted to ask help with.

I found out today after opening one of the ball valves for my pool fountain that it's leaking (red arrow in pic below). I can't see any water coming out of it when it's closed, but when I open it there's a steady stream. I need to replace it. The other two are OK (for now).
After reading through the other threads, I got the idea that I should replace all three ball valves with Jandy valves. I think I have enough basic skills to do that, but I don't want to start anything until I understand what I'm getting into.

1. The Jandy valve with the green allow doesn't allow to completely cut off the flow towards the fountains (right side of T). When all three blue ball valves are shut, the three fountains don't work. But the Jandy valve has a stop that prevents me from shutting off the right side completely. I don't understand why. Additionally, the Jandy valve "Inlet" port is the one at the bottom of the T, even though the water flows from the left of the picture. Is that the problem?
2. Other than shutting off the pump and closing off any valves that I can to prevent water from flowing into the manifold that I will be replacing, what else do I need to take care off?

Just received my TF-Pro kit and maybe I'm holding it wrong. First test I tried was the free chlorine test. Instructions say to fill 10ml of pool water and one scoop of R-0870 power. The water turns very dark pink and takes around 90-100 drops of R-0871 to turn clear. We're new pool owners, just moved in last fall and used the company the previous owners had used for closing/opening. They opened on Thursday (24th) and put in opening chemicals (I have since learned that might not have been great). Pool store test (I also know not great, hence the kit, but was there to get a new vacuum hose) came back with 6.0ppm of free chlorine. What am I doing wrong, and thanks in advance!

Hey there everyone,

I've been lurking for about a year and have learned so much from this community on maintaining the 15k gallon in ground pool we inherited when we moved. After maintaining with liquid chlorine the last year, I decided to put a SWG in for this season. Since I was already on the upgrade train and Duke increased their incentive for energy star pumps, I bought one and am looking to replace the 17-year-old Pentair pump they had in there. Looking at the manual for the new pump, it's telling me I should have 12.5 inches of straight pipe before the inlet (2.5" OD). How critical is this? The new pump has a coupler so I will need to modify the current pump inlet anyway but, it's currently a lot closer to that 3-way valve than the manufacturer recommends.

After we got the place I had to fix several suction side leaks including cracked 3-way valve housings and I basically replumbed the same way the builder had it but, added the 90 degree sweeps with new valves (please feel free to laugh at my horrible PVC cement job!).

I'm looking for some opinions on if I should just add the coupler to the short inlet pipe and be done with it? The new pump has the same inlet/outlet configuration so I would just have to add the coupler that came with the pump.

Alternatively, I am thinking about re-plumbing to extend the straight inlet section to 12.5" and move the 3-way valves back in line with the 3 supply lines from the main/skimmers. At the same time, I would replace the pump outlet plumbing to add sweeps, move the hose fitting, possibly get rid of the 2-way valve that goes to the vacuum port (seems redundant?), replace the canister that's leaking, and replace the coupling that goes to the spider valve.

See my pictures, hopefully they give a better picture of what's in my head. (The circuit on the left with the black jandy pump is separate for a waterfall. I have no idea why it was done that way but, that's what the owners did when they built the place. I have a bunch of other problems from the winter with this that I'll save for a separate post hah). Unfortunately, I think I would have to throw out those two new jandy valves I just replaced if I moved everything but, also seems like a good opportunity to streamline the plumbing?

My Hayward Astrolite is not working Has voltage but not continuity.
Any suggestions I have 120V but not much available in the that voltage so might convert to 12V.
Any recommended brands prefer non Hayward as I am not impressed with there products.

Pool has been open since 4/7/25 and I am currently trying to learn how to maintain it, as a new pool owner. I used my Taylor 2006 kit today and measured the following:
FC: 3.5ppm
CC: .5ppm or less
pH: 8
Alkalinity: 90
CH: 250
CYA: <30 (Taylor test kit only goes as low as 30)

A few days ago I added 2lb of stabilizer to bring up the CYA, but it didn't change it in an amount that is noticeable. I am thinking I should add the other 2lb. TODAY I added about 1qt of muriatic acid.

Meanwhile my husband took a water sample to the pool store today, mainly to see if copper levels have come down since opening the pool (down to .6 from .8 if THATS accurate at least). I was shocked to see the difference in the readings from the pool store. THEY claim that FC is 2ppm and CC is 2ppm. Told us we are in "chlorine lock" and to shock the pool. Umm...what?

I AM CHOOSING TO TRUST MY TAYLOR KIT! Therefore, I think things are looking good! The pool is clear and sparkly. Should I add more CYA? Any other thoughts? Thank you gurus!

Also, my SWG recently was having problems with digital display. The control board was replaced today and it is currently working again!

Hello from warm Arizona! My family has purchased and built a 14 foot round, 48 inch deep pool. We purchased the HTH Pool Care Kit for Opening/Closing Pool, we used the test strips and HTH app to try to figure out how to get us to the appropraite levels for our 1st swim. We had it to where all but the FC (low) and TA (high) levels were good, we followed the HTH app recommendations of adding 1lb of Shock for the FC level and adding 13lbs of pH Down for the TA levels. After waiting about 20 hours, using another HTH Test Strip, FC is high, pH is low, TA is low, TH is normal and CYA is low. From everything I have read and after calling a local pool store, we are going to purchase a different Pool Test Kit so we can use actual water samples but I'll be honest - I barely passed chemistry/science. Any advice, support, prayers would be appreciated.

hello,
we bought a house (texas) with a pool and moving in soon. this will be our first pool so many things to read on. pool was built 2 years ago, vinyl, salt maybe, 20k gallon, service by local pool company. that’s all the info we got. thought i can get more info here. i’m planning to maintain it myself if it’s not too terrible. planning to buy the taylor kit and try it out. i included picture of the system. what do i have? where’s the pump, filter ( type?), generator? what can or should i control or change? is water loss a thing? do i replace the water loss with just water from the hose? any daily/weekly/monthly/yearly things to do will be greatly appreciated.

Is there any point in using a degreaser when opening the pool, to help with gunk removal from the vinyl?

Hello all
I just completed a complete overhaul of my pool. About 10k gallon plaster pool that I had resurfaced with pebble tec. All new equipment which includes:
Pentair intellicenter i5PS
Pentair IC40 SWG
Pentair CC150 Cartridge Filter
Pentair Superflo 2.2HP VSP

I followed all the recommendations for the new pebble surface as in daily brushing and just using liquid chlorine to maintain the chemistry for the first month. I am now at about the six week mark and I am ready to start up the SWG. I should add that this is my first time working with a salt pool so I know nothing except what I have tried to read up on! The pool chemistry, using a Taylor test kit is as follows:
FC=4
CC=0
PH=7.9
TA=90
CH=260
CYA=34 (A bit low but deathly afraid of overshooting!)
Salt=3400

My question: When I energized the IC40 for the first time (about 10 minutes ago) it came back with a salt reading of 2800. Of course this is telling me I have a low salt condition as Pentair recommends 3600. Now I tend to think that the Taylor test result of 3400 is way more accurate than the onboard IC40 result of 2800. How do I proceed going forward? Add a bit more salt? I added 40lb bags of salt, one at a time, and tested after 24 hours with each bag to determine how much one 40lb bag would raise the salt ppm. Turns out each bag raised it by 600ppm, according to the Taylor test. Water temp is about 79 degrees. Why is there such a large divergence in the two salt readings? I really don’t want to over shoot the salt content but I do want the IC40 to be happier. How should I proceed? Will the two salt readings get closer together over time, as in does a brand new IC40 need a “break in period” to get better salt readings?
Again, newbie at this salt water stuff and any and all help is appreciated!
Thanks for your time.

I’ve always had pool company open and close. Last year I opened myself! I did have them close, but I discovered all the things that weren’t being done and that we should be doing. I took a lot of extra care last year to prep and finish up. They never winterized my laminars all these years. Each year, I’d open, and it would look like an animal imploded- sludge everywhere inside the housing. It was disgusting. Last season, I cleaned, drained, disconnected, and turned upside down for storage.

Opened my first one- nearly dry, pretty darn clean. No sludge. Yay!!

2nd. No sludge. But full of water. This lowes bucket is nearly 1/3 full of what I scooped out.

I would have done all of this after they closed.

Thoughts? Rainwater not draining?

Do you guys put anyone in the bottom of your laminars housing? Mine is just a hole to the earth with no clearance!

I’m wanting to purchase a nice pool water tester. Is it possible to purchase one like what they use at the pool stores? One that works with a computer and I can print out step by step instructions?

First time poster but long time lurker.

I had to replace my 2 speed Jandy pump a month or so ago. Moved to Jandy PLUS HP 2.7 VSP. In the past all my work as been done by my builder but their prices went way up this year and a local pool repair company had much better rates so I had them come out and replace it. Unfortunately I think his tech had no idea or just didn't care how he setup the pump and had essentially every speed set to 2700. I do have a heat pump as well. We spend the majority of our time in the pool between 4 and 7 pm.

In addition this new pool group actually installed the wrong pump as I ordered the one with the speed set but they installed it without. The have offered to either refund the difference and/or come install a speed set.

1) Is there any real need for a speed set if I have aqualink?

2) After reviewing the site I think I got it but wanted to see if you all had any concerns or suggestions with this setup?

Settings:
1 Filter 1800
2 Low Speed 2000
3 Cleaner 2750
4 Mid Speed 2400
5 Temp 1 3000
6 Temp 2 2500
7 High Speed 2800
8 unused

Schedule (summer)
Filter 8:00 - 8:30
High Speed 8:31 - 11:00
Cleaner 8:45-10:45
Low Speed 11:01 - 4:00
Mid Speed 4:01 - 7:00
Filter 7:01 - 9:00

Schedule (Winter)
Filter 8:30 - 9:00
High Speed 9:01 - 11:00
Cleaner 9:15-10:45
Low Speed 11:01 - 4:00
Filter 4:01 - 5:30

We just bought a house with a pool and I'm on the learning curve to figure how to take care of it. TFP has been a great resource.

One item I recommend folks who bought a house with a pool do is to check in whether the prior owner replaced any items with an incorrect part number. I was completely unaware that the prior owners (or their pool service) replaced the skimmer float valve with the wrong part. This surfaced while trying to figure out what my particular pool components were with the help of @JamesW.

Turns out this is a particularly bad error. As the photo below shows, what I had was something with a smaller diameter. This makes it worse than useless as the edge of the disk actually covered the primary input line to the pool filter/heater pump (again thanks to @JamesW for helping me to know that)! For a while (since we first moved in) I had wondered why the waterfall from the spa into the pool was rather choppy. Turns out this was the problem: the pump had been working extra hard as it was being somewhat starved of water so the flow to the spa was reduced. Moreover, there was one occasion where the waterfall just mysteriously stopped. In hindsight, the water level dropped too much and the float valve was unable to do it's job (i.e. switch the water source from the skimmer to the main drain).

Once I replace this item (with the o-ring it came with -- which was also missing) the water fall started working beautifully with full force. Also I tested reducing water level ... this time the valve worked ... it dropped as designed to seal the skimmer from the input and all water was drawn from the 'equalizer' (main drain) with the waterfall still working. Although I can't hear a difference I'm sure my pump is working better as well.

Another, perhaps less important item, was that the Wier gate was missing entirely. I bought one of those and installed it as well. The cost being a drop in the bucket of a very expensive home. Note: the Wier gate had rough sides that rubbed a little against the skimmer and didn't rotate smoothly (which is perhaps why the original was discarded) so I had to sand both sides ~1/16"... now it moves easily and works to pull surface debris much more effectivly than without one

Hello all. Any recs for Hayward Aquarite S3 SWG and Hayward VSP installation services in SoCal? Currently have a Hayward 400K heater, Hayward 6020 DE filter, and single speed Hayward for 20k gallon plaster pool.

Hi all. I have an inground plaster pool/spa. One of the return jets in the spa moves sporadically up and down side to side etc. Not just the water but also the physical jet component. There is flow coming out of it. The other 4 return jets are working just fine. What’s causing this and how do I fix this issue?

I just happened to be hanging over the edge. Because my water isn’t moving yet, I was able to see all the black yuck behind this light! What do I do? Two of them are like this.

Hello
I dropped water level around October. Took 1st pic Dec 9th and 2nd pic today. Due to the drop of my above ground 10k gallon pool here in east Tennessee, was wondering if you think i have a leak or is it evaporating? I was also adding 30min of water every 2 days last summer.

Hey all, I just found this forum and did some reading on levelling.
Anyways, I am looking to do an AGP (18X48 Sam's club best way).
There's two spots I can install it in my yard. One is the preferred location by me and my wife, but the slope here as you can see in the pictures gets bad. All the rocks there is a French drain also. Will it work in this location? I'll have to dig down to the lowest point to try and get as level as possible. I don't want to do sand. I think I'll do the harbor freight flooring taped together.

Other location is relatively flat, but blocks my shed and gate.

The whole yard when it rains gets pretty damp and idk if that is a concern too. The French drain really helps clear it out though.

Hi, the pool company had the pump set up for me at 3400 because the pool equipment is about 70 to 80 feet away from the pool. I was playing around today trying to modify it so that I can have it run full speed during the day and then low speed overnight. I don’t know if I did it right does anybody have any experience with this and be able to help me set it up? Thank you so much for any input or help. right now I’m nervous. I just messed it all up by even trying to play with it.

What could this be. I scratched on it and it comes off after while.

Hello,

I live in Canada and my pool has now all the water melted. We didn’t covered it since in here they recommended us to leave it uncovered so that it fills in with the water from the snow. We only covered with a net in autum.

I have a question regarding the SWA. It is still too cold to turn it on, the water is around 5-6 degrees but I am concerned about the water developing bacteria. What do people usually do? Do they use chlorine tablets or liquid chlorine in the meantime? Or should I just not be concerned and turn my SWA on once the water is warm enough?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thank you

I will be switching my chlorine Stenner setup to muriatic acid (installing SWG). I understand diluting the acid is recommended. I'm planning on using a 4:1 dilution.

When adding water and acid to the storage container while there is still some diluted acid in it, is it better to:
1-add water first (but isn't adding water to acid not good) then the acid?
2-add the acid first, then the water (again, adding water to acid- no bueno)?
3-dilute the acid in a different container, then try to pour that into the first container (can't see how to do that without getting acid all over my pool equipment)?

I'm guessing the first option would be OK if the diluted acid is weak enough, but want to make sure before I make a bad mistake.

Just installed this motor on what used to be a single speed whisperflo pump. It works fine with builtin schedule b but when i set the dip switches for communication with The Pentair panel pump is not turning on. I am using a Cat6 ethernet cable and i have run it through the same conduit as the power wires. Could that be causing problems. I certainly haven’t figured out how to set a variety of speeds but selected VS in the intelliflo pump menu and set a single speed for now. But pump will not turn on. Any tips?

Hey everyone,

I'm coming up on about three years since my pool was built, and over time, the calcium hardness levels have steadily increased. I live in the Las Vegas area, where we're known to have hard water.

I'm currently looking into reverse osmosis services in the valley and was wondering if anyone here has used them. If so, what were your experiences? How much should I expect to pay? Is there anything I can do to help prevent calcium hardness levels from rising over time—like installing a water softener for the outdoor water supply? Also, how often is everyone replacing/reverse osmosing their pool water?

I’d really appreciate any input. Thanks!