So when opening our pool for the first time and every time I open the cover iam get alot of these and they are alive. I get them on our deck also. Anyone know what they are and how to get rid of them.

I have a client that recently treated the pool with copper algacide and the pool is now green. I tried metal free and it's still this color. What else could I use?

Our local pool stores (PaP, Leslie's) do not seem to carry much equipment for AGP's. Need a wide mouth 18-hole skimmer gasket for Hayward skimmer. Our first one came with the pool.
Can I get a recommendation on where to order online? Thanks in advance!

We've been using 3" tablets for years, and very excited for all of the potential benefits of a SWG system. Less so with the cons: cleaning cell w/muriatic acid, equipment damage and staining of concrete coping & decking. All things I feel like we don't need to deal with currently. Can anyone speak to their experience with these drawbacks, perhaps in my climate area?

Happy Spring to all my fellow pool owners! We are taking advantage of the weather and replace our abg liner. Just spent a lot of time pulling Torpedo grass roots out of the woven ground pad. We treat the ground & perimeter, and will while changing liner. Looking for a recommendation for a non-woven, puncture proof ground 'tarp' that can be placed on the sand, under the pad & liner. Thanks so much!
GeminiSq

Every owner of an IntelliChlor knows, or should know, how to check Usage Hours. Like this, from the owner manual:

IntelliChlor SCG Usage Hours Meter
The IntelliChlor® SCG provides a built-in cell “usage hours” meter that reports how many hours IntelliChlor has been operating. The IntelliChlor SCG is designed to operate for approximately 10,000 hours before replacement is needed or roughly five (5) years of average use.
To access the system status mode:

1. Press and hold the MORE button for three (3) seconds until the lights scroll across the unit.
2. One (1) of the five (5) Sanitizer Output LED indicators (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%) will be lit,
   indicating the hours of usage. The Output LEDs are as follows:
   • 2000 hours (20% LED on)
   • 4000 hours (40% LED on)
   • 6000 hours (60% LED on)
   • 8000 hours (80% LED on)
   • 10,000 hours (100% LED on)

But I always seem to struggle with how Pentair manuals and instructions are written.

I performed the test, and I just got one LED (20%). I think that means I have only used 2000 hours (or 20%) of my IC. Not that I only have 20% life left. And that I still have ~8000 hours of chlorine generation to look forward to. Correct?

Put another way, if I ever see all the LEDs lit up (100%), that is signaling at, or near, end-of-life.

==============
Sidebar: If I had such an Hours Meter, my brain would surely be showing five LEDs...

I am new to above ground pool ownership. My skimmer hose came loose from my pool and water drained out to below the skimmer hose attached to the pool. I have an intex above ground pool 12 X 24 ultra XTR pool with the salt water system. Should I be concerned that my pump and filter system is damaged? Thanks

I'm hoping you guys can help me here, I've recently purchased a Pentair Intelliflo3 VSF pump as well as a Bayrol Automatic PH/CL WIFI doser.

Myself and my electrician are unable to wire the doser to the pump, so that the doser stops when the pumps off and there's no flow of water.

Before purchasing the Pentair pump the old pumps timer was on an analogue panel in the pool room, but the new pump is now app based and the timer is therefore done on the app.

Anyone know either of these pieces of equipment and can give some advice on how to get them to talk to each other through the wiring?!

Cheers,

James

I'm planning to have my concrete pool deck sandblasted which I understand will make a mess in the pool. They recommend vacuuming the pool afterwards, but I have a pressure side cleaner (a Polaris 360) and from what I can tell pool vacuums tend to be suction side. Is there a vacuum solution for a pressure side pool setup?

Thanks!

Recently replaced the previous owner's corrugated piping with all rigid, seeing it as an opportunity to try my hand at learning something new as well as add a couple of new features - a convenient way to vacuum to waste and an external heater bypass. I'll be getting the old heater swapped out next week, at which point the plumber will finalize the hookup (I don't mess with gas lines).

Happy to report no leaks. But looking back on it, I do see a couple of things I wish I had done better in terms of placement/alignment of piping. But alas, I didn't expect the first time to go all that well. Much respect to those who do this stuff daily and do it well. I am sore all over.

I welcome feedback as I'm sure I missed the mark some best practices, but it's a chance to learn.

PSA - Ive never heard of POOLBIDS in Tomball Texas, but my bank let me know they tried to charge my debit card for 763$- Twice So be on the lookout

I googled them and there is no info available about POOLBIDS and they don't have a website.

EDIT: Apparently as per the comments below, this company may be circupool or related to them.

I am building my first pool, signed the contract today. I live in the Panhandle of Florida. The pool will be 13' x 26' salt water, gunite pool. I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time on the site as I know completely nothing about pool maintenance. I know I will ask a lot of stupid questions question, so in advanced please be kind and patient.

Ok, have been lurking and reading a lot. Pretty sure I have had a mustard algae issue. I am on about day 8 of SLAM. I have passed the OCLT test once- 2 nights ago. Am using the 2006C kit from Taylor.

My CYA is @ 40 and I’ve maintained FC over 16 for a while. I even had a few days at MA slam level.

After passing, I then cleaned my main light out thereafter (contained a lot of hard, black “chips” and a rusty powder). CC went up and loss went up.

I think I am back on track to pass OCLT again. Hopefully soon. I am running as of writing 915p at about 21 FC.

So my issue is this - I’m still seeing very small amounts of something in a certain spot. The same spot. But, I don’t see this stuff when I run my bubbler on a slightly open setting. I am not sure what I’m seeing is algae even. It may be dust, pollen, or heck even sand from my concrete decking. But it seems to me that the added circulation from the bubbler is not letting this stuff settle.

My water is clear as can be aside from this one small thing. CC has stayed good aside from the post-light cleaning.

So, I guess I’m trying to justify passing all three phases of slam with this context ….. thoughts on whether I’m good? I pass the “no visible” part (assuming it’s algae) with the bubbler on. Should I just leave it on?

I’ve cleaned main drains, behind light, and have scrubbed weir doors to extent I can.

Also, not sure I’ve seen any literature on cleaning a Brilliant Wonders bubbler or Hayward accent lights - but I am not sure either of those have niches to clean so I’ve not messed with them….any ideas to contrary ?

It is time to start getting things cleaned up and my dogs have made a mess of my white pool coping! Does anyone have a good suggestion of how to treat ground in dirt before pressure washing?

I have a new pool with auto cover by CoverPools. About 6 months old. Same oil slick on top when I open the cover. Same pump as photos in start of thread.

Something I did notice is when I shocked the pool and left the cover open for 2-3 days was that when I closed the cover again the top seemed slimy. My best guess is rolled up wet with pollen from spring, bacteria or mold or something thrived in that moist rolled up cover.

I used pool brush, hose, and pump to scrub the top of the cover, opening 10' at a time.

Long story short, I think a few days of wet rolled cover produces some of that oily substance.

I am trying closing every night and may clean the top again, this time with dawn dish soap to see if I can solve this.

Interestes in opinions on my theory.

I'm located south of Chicago and the wind in March and now April has me stressed. We installed a used 27ft pool last July and this is our first time covering. The cover was punctured by branches during the storms 3 weeks ago but has held fine.

My concern is that the wind will lift and damage the rails or the pool wall will buckle. I have water bags on the outside, excess water on top from the rain this morning, and 2 spring clamps per panel. I've peaked in through the skimmer basket and water level is still 4in under skimmer from winterizing.

I've read through just about every issue in the last 20 years but the wind just keeps getting worse. We have a field in the back behind the pool so there's nothing to help with gusts. Am I being overly paranoid or is there anything else I can do? I don't see any buckling at the moment.

I've just purchased a home with a pool, and have never owned or cared for one before. I've got a few questions I'm hoping someone could help with. First it's an older pool and has an older style as far as the deep end. It has a diving board and is deepest right in front of it, not a uniform slope from the shallow entry side. I hope that makes sense. From my research I think this is called a well, but unsure. I'm wanting to get something to help keep it clean. I have read that poolskims are really good but have to be connected to a return. I cannot find any return holes in the pool. It has the drain at bottom of deepest part in front of diving board and the skimmer. I was thinking a pool robot vacuum but unsure what would be the best one for this style of pool. I'm concerned it would just get stuck in the deep part as the sides are quite steep. Seem steeper than modern pools.
Also I have no clue how many gallons it is and the construction makes it harder for me to guestimate with the slope not being the whole width of the deep end. Ive included photos if anyone could give me their best guess id appreciate it
If anyone has any tips in general on pool care I need those too. I'm in a little over my head with it all haha
Thank you for any and all help!

I bought a house in November with a semi-buried AGP. I'm in FL, So there's no winterizing. I'm well aware it's not a super fancy, high dollar pool. And it's got some rust. But I'd love to make it last for the first summer at least, then I'll figure out what I'm doing, long term. I posted on Reddit, but didn't get much help.

The plumbing/equipment setup seems a bit janky. Every time I do something, whether it's emptying the pump basket, changing the filter cartridge etc, a leak seems to develop. There was a small leak at the filter outlet because the pipes aren't lined up perfectly. The filter is half hanging off the weird paver setup that the previous owner used. I tried to realign it, which made it worse. There was not shutoff valve, so I said, screw this, I'm installing a shut off. Well, in doing that, I developed a new leak at the pump outlet (feels like the threads on the pump are screwed up.).

I'd like to share my plans with the experts, and get some advice on what you would add, take away, or do differently.

Firstly, I plan to get one of those plastic equipment pads, and put all of the equipment on there. I was told to leave the "loop" after the filter. Though I'm not sure why, or what the 1-2-3-4 valve is for. Seems like a regular ball valve would work there? I'd also like to remove the shut off after the pump, and put one after the skimmer, before the pump. Does that make sense? Should I just leave it as is and try to make the leaks go away until next winter?

Should I bother with painting this filter? How are those cheap cartridge filters from Doheney's? Like these?

Thank you so much for any suggestions.

And here's some pictures of my mess.

I have notice as my last two cells approach their life expectancy, the screen reported a lower salt level then the actual salt level. Currently, my 6 year old 15 T cell is reporting 2800 when the salt level reported by my nearby pool store test the salt level at 3400. I know the salt level reported is an average over time. Is there any way to double check the stalt level my cell is reporting.

Hi,

Third season into pool ownership and am finally taking the step of diving into TFP. I’ve used Leslie’s the whole way and had really good water quality to date but have spent a lot of time and money keeping it up. Last year I started using the Leslie’s AccuBlue but this year bought the TF-Pro Salt kit to do it the right way. I did my first comparison testing today a few minutes apart and I have to be doing something wrong. The results are just so completely different on some tests that it can’t be just misreading. Also I am worried because I have trouble with color matching so I feel like I could be off there too. Any advice for a newcomer who wants to do it properly? It’s a 28,000 gallon fiberglass pool with an autopilot SWG PPC- (RC-35)? I attached the latest testing which the first two are the accublue and the last one is the TF-PRO SALT testing system. THANK YOU to anyone who can help!!

Bought 1992-built house in 1999. White plaster pool was already in the ground, with some mottling and a stain. Sine 2022 a few plaster blisters started showing up, and I am now in the midst of getting replastering quotes. I almost had a heart attack when I heard the cost of basic color-changin LEDs, at $1200 a piece and I have two lights in my pool. Not believing it, I turned to this trusty forum not only to find that that is indeed the going rate for the sealed Pentairs I've been quoted for thus far, but also to hear they don't last. In fact, my nesighbor has a new pool (within 5 years) and just mentioned that he needs a new light already. So, my question is, do I try to keep the ~30 yr. old housings that I have and try to just replace the bulbs and seals, or should I replace the entire units with some less-expensive serviceable types like the PoolTones, so I can at least just change bulbs when they fail? My gut tells me to consider that the wiring from my existing lights to switches is also ~30 yrs. old, so I should replace everything. What say you all? I am open to any and all suggestions.

Also, near my light switches are two black boxes stamped with American Products on them, which I assume are transformers. Is it possible that way back then 12volt lighting already existed and that I indeed have 12 volt lights?

Thank you all in advance.

Was totally clear 30 minutes ago, then the wind blew...

First post. First pool. Been up and running for less than a year. Track with the TFP app since pool was started.

FC - 2.5
CC - 0.2
TA - 100 (working on getting down)
CH - 250
pH - 7.3
CA - 50

Pool covered with auto pool cover. Temps usually 80-90°f.

What are the thoughts on the red spots? Used a filter sock for the first time starting about a week ago. Never had any water problems.

Thank you in advance!

11K gal, IG fiberglass, Jandy VS 1.85hp, 460 sqft cartridge filter, Jandy TruClear SWG, Jandy JXiQ 399k NG, DEL Ozone, Taylor K-2006 Test Kit

@dfwnoob
I replaced my old Jandy Pro antenna that works with the PDA remote by the wifi antenna iAqualink 3.0, it was quick and easy and I can now control the system with my phone, I have access to the web interface to modify the schedules, no issue here, however when my pool guy wants to force the system to "service mode" or "time out" mode directly on the panel, the system flips back to auto after 10s on its own. What can I do to fix that ? TIA

I have a 3" pipe, and I was wondering if just attaching the hose would be sufficient or is there something else I have to do? Also is it possible to convert it from 3" to 2" since I noticed those hoses are cheaper.

Thank you

Hello TFP,

I am a newish pool owner. Just opened my SW pool for the first time after closing it in october. I have a pentair intelliflo/pro3 VSF pump, pentair quad DE filter and salt cell on the 15k gallon pool. I cleaned the filter yesterday which was moderately dirty and was vacuuming the pool with the dolphin yesterday. Last time I cleaned the filter was october. After cleaning the filter and adding the right amount of DE per manual, the pool was running at the settings that I had it on all year which is 40GPM (per the app) with the pump running at 65%, 10 PSI on the filter. Several hours later in the day I checked the app and it was saying the estimated GPM was fluctuating between 3-20 GPM at the same settings. The salt cell was reading low flow. The water level is appropriate, I emptied the skimmers and couldn't figure out why the flow would be low. I re-cleaned the filter thinking maybe it was clogged because I had been vaccuming the pool and the pool is fairly green. The skimmers initially were both working. The filter cleaning it the second time wasn't that dirty and I thought I had fixed the problem as again right after cleaning it, everything seemed to be working properly. I noticed over the next several hours the estimated GPM was slowly decreasing. As of this morning the filter is showing that at my original settings the PSI is 30 at the same settings and the estimated GPM is bouncing between 5-20GPM. I have no idea what is going on as the filters to my knowledge seem to be okay, the filter manifold isn't broken and both the skimmers were originally working. Please help because my stress is through the roof rn. What could this possible be so I know where to start? :')

So easy! Post ONE pic related to the theme title above. I bet you have a good pic saved somewhere. See the contest rules below to enter.

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Hi All,

I got an Aiper Segull Pro in late 2023 after reading some reviews here. The gist was "works fine, but who knows on durability". I decided to get one because I was tired of spending every year on expensive Polaris pressure side cleaner (280) parts. I had an old one that lasted for years, but the replacement parts were only lasting a few years. I figured if I'm going to spend so much over 2-3 years rebuilding it, why not see if the cordless robot can last that long.

Anyways, I've had it for 18 months or so now. I'm in Austin, Texas, so pool is open year round. Salt water generator. We get leaves in the pool, but nothing crazy. We have a egg shaped pool with a bench, a ladder and round stairs. Maybe 800 sq ft, 15k gallons.

I don't think it was worth it overall. At my price point, the Polaris works better. At higher points, maybe I'd try a corded robot.

Cons:
I'm on my 4th unit with a bit over 6 months to go under warranty. I've never paid for shipping either way and they've been generally helpful, but I can't imagine it lasting much longer than the warranty. I haven't just had one problem. It has failed to charge . . . I think it was the charger, but they had me ship the whole thing back. The knob has gotten stuck . . . they said it was salt water (which it is rated for). I had to replace the knob myself after they sent me a free replacement. Nothing hard, but maybe 20 screws so took a while. It has stopped running parallel, missing swaths of the pool floor.

The pool chemistry it's rated for is a bit off except for salt.

Your Aiper pool cleaner is best used in the water conditions detailed below
pH Value: 7.0-7.4
Chlorine: Maximum 4 ppm
NaCl: Maximum 5000 ppm

Click to expand...

It's not as good as the Polaris at picking up stuff. If there's a lot in the pool it takes multiple runs. If there's a little, it might take multiple runs, depending if misses stuff.

It sometimes gets caught on the ladder. I doesn't clean the stair or the bench, but neither did the Polaris.

Pros:
It recharges pretty quickly and runs for a long time.

Support was prompt and never charged me. No hassle getting replacements.

It's way better for walls than the Polaris. I don't have to brush algae when I lose control of my chlorine level.

I prefer putting this in and taking it out to either putting the Polaris in/out or always having it rambling the pool and catching people with the hose . . . tempting the kids to do something bad.

It cost about the same as a new Polaris without a pump motor.

Hello,

First time pool owner on a new-to-us home, and already I'm tired of pouring chlorine daily into the pool. Very certain that I want to get a SWG and am looking for advice on how best to install it in my limited equipment space. I'm thinking of removing the existing inline feeder to get some space to install SWG (and its flow sensor) vertically. Planning on the CircuPool Edge40. Below are some notes, hoping you experts here can do a sanity check for me:

• There's only 19.5" of horizontal space before the return, and this space is occupied by 1) a tee that goes to a Polaris PB4-60 Booster Pump, and 2) Pentair 320 inline feeder
• I don't use the vacuum-type pool cleaner, but I don't really want to remove this
• I don't use the inline feeder, so planning to cut it out to make space
• In the space where the inline feeder used to be, make a vertical U for the SWG. See picture
• 
• Current control system is a Pentair EasyTouch PL4/PSL4, haven't opened this up yet but assuming I can wire the SWG into the load side
• Not sure yet how to cut out the coupler area after the pump tee to give me a place to connect an elbow. Are there elbows that could go right over the coupler?

So, do y'all think this plan is doable?

I have a Pentair VS pump. This morning I noticed the pump noise is much louder. It's a fluttering or ticking noise. I'm not sure where it's coming from but could be the fan. I posted a link to a short video so you can hear it. I'm looking for thoughts on what it could be before I start disassembling anything.

I've tried changing the pump speed and the noise is still there. The flutter is just faster at high speed and slower at slower speeds.