had to use pinch a penny for pool service since knee replace. they use a riptide vacuum. which is best riptide or hammer head ?

Hi, for those of you using the Apera PH60 pH tester, how do you store the pen and all the associated solutions once you've opened them all and are storing the pen with the KCL storage solution in the cap?

The supplied case (photo) is fine for shipping, but pretty much useless once you open all the containers and fill the pen's cap with storage solution since no matter how you orient the case something will be on its side and prone to leaking out. So for now the pen is precariously standing on its cap and I've got multiple containers (storage solution, buffer solutions, etc), all just sitting on a shelf. I've ordered the Apera CalPod which will help some with the buffers, but there are still lots of separate containers that need storing right-side up, as well as the pen itself.

I use Tanos Systainers for my other hobby storage needs, but curious if anyone has already found a good way to do this for the PH60 + accessories.
Thanks!

I am adding a solar heater (in between filter and existing gas heater), and am using @Rancho Cost-a-Lotta 's amazing post as a guide for the automation for contolling the actuator-enhanced 3-way valve. Most folks here seem to opt for the Sonoff line of products for wifi relays and sensors. I am trying to stick with devices that work with the Tuya/SmartLife app since I already have a bunch (including Dewenwils pool switch), so I have purchased this relay and this temperature gauge, which appear to have identical hardware to the Sonoffs and I assume the apps include similar features (but if I need to I'll buy the Sonoff versions).

My question is about programming the logic for turning on and off the solar heater. My thought is to use two temp sensors, one right before the solar heater and one coming out. Solar will go on automatically in the morning and will stay on as long as the water coming out from solar is higher than going in, and if not, then turn off (and it will turn off in any case in the late afternoon when the sun is gone). By the way, I'm in Michigan, and the pool is only open from around Memorial Day to around Labor Day, so this doesn't need to be a year-round solution.

Problem is, I don't know if the Tuya app (or Alexa routines) supports comparing two temporature sensors. I can set a trigger for if the temperature is below or above a set number, but I can't figure out how to use two sensors in concert to define the trigger.

Does anybody know how to do this? Is this supported by the app the Sonoff app, or is there a third service (IFTTT or something) that can enable this functionality? Did I buy the wrong product? If I flash the firmware and install Tasmota (which I know will entail a learning curve) will that add this functionality? I'll do that if I have to, but I'm curious if anybody has gotten this to work with the stock smart home platforms.

Taking a step back, is this even the most efficient logic to control the solar? Should I be measuring air temperature or light (which the sensor I bought also does) instead?

Tuya and Alexa can use weather data (reported from an online service, not based on sensors, so reliability is questionable). Is the simplest solution to just use that, i.e., on during normal daylight hours, turn off if weather is "cloudy" or "rainy," turn on if "sunny" (BTW only options are sunny/cloudy/rainy/snowy/hazy)? I want to balance efficiency with ease of use so I can set it and forget.

To my fellow TFP super humans

My pool is super clear
but the texture isn't right,
feels a bit like sticky/tacky
Any ideas?

Hello TFP community.

My pool’s main drain was plugged at the bottom and skimmer. The previous owner (2005-2022) told me they never unplugged the main drain (I’m wondering if they were scared out of doing it by the company they used to service the pool). I’m still SLaMing the pool but yesterday I removed the plug at the skimmer. It’s now been over 12hrs and I have not had any noticeable drop in water level. Am in the clear or is there still the potential for a leak to come to light when I unplug the drain at the bottom of the pool?

Thanks for your help as always!

Hi all,

Since purchasing my house, I've been wondering about this pipe (capped with an open T):




As I'm doing a SLAM at this time (and my water is crystal clear but still something is consuming quite a bit of chlorine), I'm wondering if this could be linked to the issue...

Thanks,
Bernard.

I guess thread title says it all. Due to pool leak (now fixed), CH gradually fell to 200 (no hard tapwater here, thankfully). Other #’s are TA 60, pH 8.0, CYA 60, and temps in the low 80’s, gives CSI of -0.21 and pH ceiling of 8. I’d like to just leave things there until weather turns cold. Seems should be ok but is there something more to be thinking about? The Poolmath recommendation is CH 250 minimum and I hesitate to deviate from that without asking — is there an important reason for that or is it just a general best practices type recommendation?

I recently bought a house with an older inground pool. Air slowly accumulates in the pump strainer basket over 3-8 hours until there is virtually no flow coming from the pool jets and I get a low flow error from the pool heater. The DE filter pressure is a little high goes from 23 psi to about 30 psi less than 24 hours after backwashing. To keep the pool clean and circulating, 2 - 3 times a day I need to blow out the air from the system by setting to "recirculate" which blows out the air. (Backwash work too). Then I have decent flow from the pool jets for a few hours until the air accumulates again.

My pool service company first replaced the DE filter grids and manifold. That didn't work (Pressure levels are similar and still getting air in the pump strainer). Next replaced the pool pump.... that didn't work . Next, they think there is a suction side air leak. (water level is fine in the pool). They have tried to find an suction side air leak and can not find anything. Checked all of the valves, connections and lubed up all "o" rings. They now think there is an air leak "underground". I called another pool service company and they said my filter is VERY undersized for my pool and that is causing the high filter pressure and air getting into the pump strainer. I would rather replace the filter than rip up the landscaping to find an underground air leak, but I don't know if the Filter is the problem. Does anyone have experience with this? Can an undersized filter cause back pressure that would cause air to accumulate in the pump and loose flow to the pool jets? I appreciate any help. Thanks

Hello all, this is my first post on here and my first pool (details should be in my signature if I did it right). I have been lurking for a few weeks and learning what I can. I bought a TF-Pro Salt test kit but am waiting on the SmartStir which is on backorder. According to calculators on TFP my ideal levels are:

FC: depends on CYA
PH: 7.6-7.8
TA: 60-80
CYA: 70-80

My pool builder (PB) filled my pool on June 3rd and did all the startup testing treatment balancing for about 2 weeks at which point we were able to start using the pool. The PB staff continued to do testing, cleaning chemicals, etc. until July 17th on that date a local pool service PS company that the PB works with took over and does four weeks of free service at which point I will have to decide if I am going to maintain on my own or have this other company continue to do it for me at $150/month.

While the PB was maintaining the pool I received test results on a note they would leave behind for me which I have entered into Pool Math as I followed along. Here is a partial history for background:

July 12 PB test reported:
FC: 0
PH: 7.4
TA: 50
CYA: 50
Salt: 2800
Water Temp: 85

They added :
- 25lbs of Salt
-128 oz of Bleach
- 8 oz of Liquid Stabilizer
and SWG running at 30% 9am to 5pm daily

July 21 Partial Testing (by me):
FC: 1 (R0600)
PH: 8.2 (R0014)
CYA: 50 (R0013)
Water Temp: 88

I added:
- 6oz of 20 Baum
- SWG up to 40%

July 23 Partial Testing (by me):
FC: 1 (R0600)
PH: 8.2 (R014) Suspect 7/21 test was well above 8.2 and still not down enough to register lower

I added:
- 6 oz of 20 Baum (rechecked after 2 hours and PH was 7.5

Today July 24 8am Partial Test (by me):
FC: 0 (R0600)
PH: 7.5
Turned on filter pump at 8am before testing
Added nothing as Pool Service visits Mondays

Today July 24 12:30pm PS Test: (spoke to them and asked as they do not provide the test results in emailed report just a summary of what they do)
FC: 5
PH: 7.8 (different than what I got 4 hours earlier)
TA: 120
CYA: 50
Salt: 3200
Water Temp: 85

They added:
32oz of "Acid" (not sure what strength didn't get to see the bottle)

I rechecked about 2 hours later:
FC: 0.5 (R0600)
PH 6.8 (may be much lower than 6.8 as when I added 6 oz of 20 Baum it came down from 8.2 to 7.5)

So here are my questions:
1. Am I using the right test to check FC level? Why might there be such a difference between what I read and what the PS told me?
2. What do I need to do to level things off as they seem to be quite a bit off? I am thinking:

• TA needs to come down to about 70 and PH needs to go up to about 7.6, I think I can aerate using the spa bubbler which would do both of those? How long should I aerate for or how often do I recheck while aerating?
• CYA needs to go up to 70 or 80 do I do this first or the TA and PH first?

3. Is there anything else I am missing or need to be doing at this point?

Thanks

Hi,

I am planning on building a lean to over my pad and I had a question about the concrete support tiers that I need to put in. The plumbing runs about a foot out in front of the pipes (red lines in pic) and I'm wondering how close I can put the support tiers to the plumbing. I want to get them as close as I reasonably can but wasn't sure how far away I should stay from the piping? Is 6 inches away far enough? There is a gate right there and I want to keep access through it to a max for the landscapers and such.

thanks

I have upgraded the pump that came with our Coleman pool to a Intex 2500gph pump. I am using the 1.25in hoses that came with the pool for one outlet and a thru wall skimmer. Those are connected to a 1.25 t joint, which then connects to the bigger 1.5 hose via an adapter.
Would there be any benefit in changing those hoses to the bigger 1.5 hoses?
About to get this all cleaned up and looking nice but before doing so I didn't know if I should change these to the bigger 1.5 hoses or if there was any need? Would there be any noticeable difference in flow rate or filtration with larger hoses?
Don't want to waste time and money if there isn't any benefit in going bigger.

Attached a few pics if needed for reference. Thanks!

My 1.5 hp pentair pump went out on my AGP (metal). I have a sand dollar filter. I'm swapping out the pump with a Doheny 1.5 hp. The hose from the pump to filter also sprung a leak the other day so it's getting changed out too. The problem is, the threads on the hose don't match for the pump. We've looked everywhere and can't find an adapter to work. So we're considering converting the *pump to filter* hose to pvc.

Is 2" pvc fine, as is a 2" flex hose previously?

Can we just go straight up from the pump, install a 90 and go straight to the filter?

I know we need a disconnect in there as well.

Any other tips besides - don't use purple to avoid looking like a crime scene?

Well we have been getting over an inch of rain a day lately and the CH has been steadily decreasing to the point it’s time to add some. I did a search of threads but the sources and brands are all several years old. What is the brand of ice melt seems to have the purest concentration?

If I have a limited number of sweeps versus regular 90s, should I prioritize using them on the suction side (before the pump) or pressure side (after the pump)? Or does it not matter, and the head loss is calculated on a system-wide basis, no matter where any individual fitting is located within the system?

So, my wife went swimming today and unplugged the pump since she doesn't like the jets. When I got home I went to get water to test the chlorine and pH, noticed this and plugged it back in. 0 PSI and weak pressure from the return jet.

I tried to reprime the pump but unfortunately I can't seem to find the pressure valve, so whenever I remove the top seal the water just gushes out. I don't have a valve that I can close from the skimmer so I blocked it with a skimmer plug.

I tried letting run for a bit but still nothing. I tried backwashing in case the Sand filter was clogged. It was dirty but not terrible.

After backwashing the water level is a little low on the skimmer but it seemed fine before that. So I might try adding more water but I hate doing that because my well water is alkaline and high iron.

For reference I have an 18 foot Cornelius above ground pool and a Hayward Powerflow LX pump hooked up to a 100 lb sand filter.

Hello to all
24' above ground

I have a problem that started last season, which what I believe has been dead algae appearing on my pool floor. Pool water was perfectly clear, little smelly, and once I turn on the pool pump after robot vacuuming the floor then what looks like dirt/sand comes back immediately. It’s not dirt because when I touch it, it will puff up and disappear. When I learned about the SLAM process on this site I ordered up the TF100 kit and went to work. Seemed like everything worked decently with the SLAM but I suspected the water wasn’t quite perfect as I noticed a little of the algae coming back; however, it was time to close the pool so I figured I’d get back at it when I opened the pool, if necessary.



I opened the pool and sure enough I had the issue still. So I SLAM’d. I went so far to hold the SLAM for a week extra after passing the overnight loss test, and continued to test every day still. Everything looked great with the testing and water clarity and no evidence of the algae. Only issue, my pool liner looked to have some staining, I suspected it was metals so I added metal stain remover. The stain seems to be gone now, however, after almost a week after completing the SLAM I am getting this “dead algae” forming again. Any suggestions?



Currently:

TA 100

PH 7.4

CYA 60

FC 4.5

CC .5



Above ground vinyl lined pool.

Thanks!
Matt

We are having a warranty issue with our salt cell. It is intermittently working. I've been keeping the water clean regardless. We also just had the cell cleaned as well.

However we had to get out of town for a couple of days, so I tossed a bleach tab in my skimmer to hopefully keep everying rolling whole we were out.

Well my cell worked more than not while we were out and my chlorine is higher than I keep it (3 to 4 ppm) at 8.5. I really don't worry about that, the sun will eat that up soon (115 tomorrow) BUT...

On my steps today we had these white chunks. Now, I've seen some in our robot cleaner before, but much smaller, and I think that was something from the salt cell after researching it. But these are big. Photo attached. Plus the overall pool water in a photo. Salt was a bit high (3900) before I left, but I don't think that's the issue.

Thoughts?

Hello! I am currently going through a remodel of our 1974 gunite pool. The tile was just redone and I am not happy with the appearance at all. The owner of the company is telling me that it is normal to have a gap like this when new tile is put into an old pool. Is this true? He said if he sets the tile up higher we will have an inconsistent tile line. But honestly this gap is just unacceptable and unsightly IMO. The previous tile was not like this. There were some small gaps in a few areas from settling over time but they were nothing like this and the size wasn’t nearly the size of these. He had no plans for filling it until we discussed it and he said he can put caulk in there. I would love some professional opinions from those who have done remodels on pools with cantilevered decks, please! Thanks in advance!

I finally have my 12x24 Intex Ultraframe XTR 12x24 up that I bought used, and it's so great. The only problem is that the sand base underneath the pool is wet in places, and that patch seems to be spreading (think the movie blood that is moving outwards from underneath the body of a character that was shot). So I figure I have a leak, or several. Is there a trick to find it? Is the only way to try really to find it by eye and then use the ink to see if it is getting sucked into the potential hole?

We have chosen to go with a 42x30x20 foot vinyl lagoon pool. We were unaware until recently 48 inch walls were an option so we're probably going to stick with the 42 inch. I'm not super excited about 3 feet of water, but it will benefit our preteen daughters one of whom may not even see 5 feet tall when grown.

My question: Is it better to have a very gradual slope or a steep slope? The pb said we can play with the slope and stretch it from the usual 3 feet of length for every 1 foot of drop. I do NOT want 18+ feet of 3 foot depth nor do I want a massive amount of 6 foot depth. A neighbor with a pool said it is better to go with a very steep slope since gradual slopes are useless, but I know how slippery vinyl slopes are so I'm not keen on that. I don't see how a gradual slope is useless, but having never owned an IGP I'm not sure what to do.

Hello TFP,
I've been getting estimates for a resurface for my pool (including tile). I received an estimate I was happy with --
Stonescapes mini pebble
+ Install a Auto-water leveler
+ Install 6x6 ceramic tile (customer provides tile)
= $9.2k total

In the original estimate they quoted me for a (customer provided) tile, as I told them I'd be buying my own waterline tile. However, they quoted me for installing a 6x6 ceramic tile even though I mentioned I'd be buying glass tile.

I had them amend the original estimate to install the glass tile I chose...a 1x4 tile (see photo).

The new estimate came out to be $2.9k more to install the 1x4 glass tile over the ceramic.
My question -- Does this seem reasonable? I asked why it was so much more versus installing the ceramic tile and they said material/labor costs were more for installing glass over ceramic and she mentioned having to use a different type of grout.

Wondering if I should make a fuss, or if $2.9k is a reasonable price increase to install glass over ceramic tile. All advice is much appreciated!!

Edit:
The perimeter of my pool is 89ft with a 977 sq ft interior

Hey gang. Moved into a house with a pool years ago. In ground pool has no ladders, but does have the holes to instal them. Where should I get a ladder? I would like the ability to fold it up so I can close the automatic cover.

I’m found bat poop crazy with this one post. I’m obsessing over it. Many will probably say drain and tweak it. Has any one had one upright post look like this ? And it was fine ?

Hi all,

I want to switch to liquid chlorine. My pool has been a pain this year mainly because the FC levels have been difficult to maintain with powdered cal hypo. I also do not want to keep adding calcium to my pool. It is cloudy recently, so I plan to SLAM until things are in check.

Current levels and questions are below.

1. Can I immediately switch to liquid chlorine, like today? I put 6lb of cal hypo in last night.
2. Can you add liquid chlorine at any time of day?
3. What is the method for adding liquid chlorine? (Dump straight in pool? Brush?)

Current levels:
TA = 100
pH = 7.4
FC = 2.4
CC = 0.5
CYA = 40-50

Thanks!

Hi,
I made my first post yesterday and may have been too long winded to get any replies? Thought maybe it would help if I broke down my questions a little.

Can someone please offer a little insight on this? I just installed a 24' dia. Costa Del Sol pool that is plastic resin except for the wall, which is some sort of coated metal?
Now that the pool is full I am looking closely at things to make sure this is totally safe before I cut my kids loose. When i pull back and forth on the uprights (not too hard, but a fair amount of force) i can move them back and forth a couple inches pretty easily. All screws are tight. Seems like this movement may be normal but I have zero to compare to.

Does anyone else have a similar pool? Do your uprights behave in a similar manor? Needless to say, i have zero experience with these pools.

Thanks,
Mike

I am recovered from a bad algae outbreak - now passing the overnight test (two nights in row). My TF-Pro test kit gives me:

CH: 200 (goal is 300)
CYA: ~20 (currently adding, goal is 40)
pH: 7.5 (goal)
TA: 100 (goal is 80)

Shallow end is 3 (or 3.5 feet) and I can barely see the bottom the water is so cloudy. I cleaned my cartridge filters the day before the first night that my overnight test passed. I suppose it should be done again. What else do I do short of a partial water replacement?

Thanks.

PS Clarifier seems to do nothing; I've added 6 ounces (per label) each day for three days now. I use 10% liquid Chlorine.

In another thread I mentioned that the pool builder did find the location of a leak…inside the skimmer tubing/pvc. He sent some guys out today and they filled said edges of the skimmer with silicone. Said to wait 24 hours before adding water back to the pool. They drained it just below skimmer level. Pump has been off since around 4pm. Not sure what to do as the pump isn’t running. Eating dinner right now but will do some tests, if needed, after I eat.

Thanks y’all!

Hello! I have an inline chloronator for 3" pucks that I use from time to time to supplement my daily liquid chlorine upkeep when I want to add stabilizer. I use the pucks because I have a lot of them available for free. I run my pump on a low speed and low GPM almost exclusively. My question: Is there a minimum amount of water that needs to flow through the system in order to dissolve the pucks efficiently? I know they will dissolve eventually because they eventually dissolve. It just seems like it takes quite a while compared to other systems I've seen with just pucks. And, the design of the chloronator seems like it needs more gpm flow (head pressure) to operate efficiently. FWIW, the dial is at the top of the tube and it is never full of water when i open it.

Thanks!
michaelmew