Hoping to learn how to do right by my new San Juan Desert Springs pool!

Hello, looking for help from the most helpful pool forum I know. So. . .

First upfront, I am aware of the syncing procedure contained in the manual for my Hayward Colorlogic LED (see pic at the bottom of this post). Several posts I found while searching before posting referenced it. But, it does not work with my lights and my Hayward Omnilogic, never has. I believe the main reason is that ever since getting the pool in 2016 it takes between 30 and 60 seconds for the lights to fully turn off (or more accurately the spinning wheel to stop so I can turn the lights back on) so that always far exceeds the “turn off light for between 11-15 seconds” and then turn lights on instructions. All other controls from the app and panel are activated practically immediately.

I have two lights in the pool and one in the spa. One of the lights in the pool is not in sync with the other pool light and spa light (See examples below). I’ve tried using the “sync” button in the Omnilogic app and on the main panel with no luck. it appears when hitting the sync button the two lights that are in sync do reset back to VooDoo Lounge but the light that is always out of sync does not - that light just goes back to the previous color it was on when I hit sync lights.

I’ve also shut down all breakers killing power to the system hopping for a default reset of light with no success.

Does anyone have any suggestions for next steps.

Hello,
I am in the process of fixing an above ground Dough Boy pool that was completely buried in the ground. There was a leak in the liner and the walls caved in at certain spots. My pool builder has recommended mixing and pouring slurry (concrete and sand without rock) in between the sheet metal and the dirt. Does anyone know if this is an effective retaining wall to prevent the dirt side from pushing into the pool? I have many more questions about my pool project, but if anyone can help I wouldn’t greatly appreciate it.

Hello all, I would first like to thank you all for being part of this community to help newbies like me out. My mother in law just bought a house with a pool and neither her nor I have experience managing a pool so I am here to learn.

I studied biology in college and worked in a microbiology lab for 5 years prior to starting my service for Washington State. As a drinking water regulator I enforce laws regarding coliform bacteria in an effort to prevent an E. coli contamination in public water systems. On occasion I even teach chlorination classes for employees of municipal water systems.

I feel a bit ashamed to be needing help as I work in the water industry and deal with chlorine and bacteria on a daily basis. I thought I could handle a pool, but there's many different issues at play with a pool than public drinking water systems.

With that out of the way, I am willing to admit when I don't know what I'm doing and here is one of those areas.

Our PB’s masons installed the coping on our new pool. We are concerned with areas that chunks were taken out when bullnosed or over sanded in some areas. See the pics. Can you gone me your thoughts?

Hello TFP!

I am getting close to the end of a successful SLAM, have had the filter pump running 24/7 since the afternoon of Saturday June 24th, and the filter pump has been making a loud pulsing sound with a rough periodicity of 1 second for the past 3 days. The pump has 5 days of continuous operation apart from episodic filter cleanings that take 30-45 minutes per day. This sound persists even immediately after I clean the cartridge filters and restart the pump.

The pool is 26k gallons, PVC runs are 2", and the pump is a Waterway SMF-120 (single speed). There are no suction side leaks, evidenced by the completely full pump basket. The pump motor is running hot enough that I cannot safely touch it for very long, which is partly related to it being unusually hot here in Tampa the past several days (90-95 F).

I am interested in input on how to diagnose what is going on with the pump and/or its motor. I am adept with low and high voltage electrical and can check the motor housing temperature using infrared.

Thanks for reading!

Last year I replaced the pump for my Hayward Xstream 150 Sq Ft System.
This year the locking ring broke, boy was I surprised when I found out why the pool was losing water!

I'm looking at a new system, I could replace with the same but is there a better setup for a 150-200 sq ft filtration system?

We have a pool - spa combo with spillover dam. During SPA usage we use valves to suck water from the bottom of the SPA through 2 x 2" drains, through Pentair 1.65 HP pump through Hayward S244S sand filter and the through Jandy Lite 2 heater and currently return through single 2" return located in SPA. Current there are 6 x 1" SPA jets with 1/2" venturi vents located just above each jet. The plumbing was initially setup with one 2" line feeding 2 x 1" jets and another 2" line feeding 4 x 1" jets. My question is with the filter and heater inline with the pump output, will the current pump drive all 6 jets or would I need a booster pump to get good spa operation. One option would be just to plumb the either of the existing lines...the 2 jet or the 4 jet and run it that way. Feedback requested...

Hi all! Thanks in advance for any help you'd be able to give me. My pool is about two and a half years old and I live in Tampa florida. The temperature is currently in the 90s and has been every day for the last several weeks. I noticed this error on my panel of my true clear system yesterday, so I cleaned the cell, took a water sample to pinch a penny, and added some salt to the water as they told me to. I also cleaned the filter. After doing all that, the error went away but this morning the error is now back. Does anyone have any idea how I can check the cell to make sure it is functioning properly? Or for that matter, anything else I can do to try to resolve this without having to buy a new cell? I thought they lasted a while longer than this. Tia!

Thanks to the member who had a thread about supporting sections of PVC!
I needed something for my SWCG and used a 4-hole cross connector with 3in on 2 sides and 2in on other 2.
I just cut it in half and the 2in side went on left over PVC and the 3 inch side supported the underneath of the horizontal PVC plumbing.
Pretty sturdy and don't have to worry about pressure on unions and other connectors

thank you.I need a place where i can get good advice,tips and ideas as a pool cleaner and this is the perfect place.

I thought it'd be fun to share what initially brought you to TFP and how you found it.

I'll share. i bought a house with my first pool. I previously had an above ground pool but had no idea how to properly care for it. The prior owner left an old TF100 test kit that had expired many years prior and i didn't pay much attention to it. I did what i knew....went and bought some test strips and trichlor tablets and a floater. Not just any test strips... probably the worst ones: Clorox brand. The strips told me my "hardness" was high and to add a bottle of their scale remover. So i did. I tested again and hardness was still super high so i added another bottle as recommended by their app. Little did i know, that little strip was never going to change and it would always recommend a new bottle. I quickly realized it was a complete joke and remembered the TF100 kit which had the website on the front. I bought a refill of the reagents, joined the forum, asked some questions and have had a completely trouble free pool from the beginning. I'm quite thankful the prior owner left the old TF100 kit. Otherwise, i may not have found TFP for many months, if ever and probably would still be doing the pool store dance.

Iam from Phoenix,Arizona I just started working for a really good pool company.

It seems everyone has a SWG. It's making we wonder why I don't have one. I am thinking of getting the RJ-45 Plus. I run my Tristar pump for about 9 hours a day, 5 hours on low about 1000 rpms and higher for about 4 hours (2400 rpm). The pump has internal digital screen and programable. Will the SWG turn on when the pump is on for both settings? How much FC would it generate in that time? Currently, my tests are:

FC 5
CC 0
TA 100
CYA 45
PH 7.4
CH 250

I am thinking I need about 4-5 FC per day? I live in AZ and its hot so I imagine UV burns that chlorine pretty fast. I'm getting tired of adding liquid chlorine daily and pucks will raise the CYA to unmanageable levels eventually. The pool guy I normally get information from has been invaluable and has never steered me wrong. He is super affordable and rarely charges me or charges me minimally for help. Another question, how much FC does one 3" trichlor puck have in it? I use a floater currently on and off between liquid chlorine. I put 3 pucks in the floater about every 10 days.

Thanks,

Hello all. As the subject states I'm considering having pool guy drain and refill (maybe acid wash while empty) the pool. It's summer in Phoenix 100+ degrees. Pool guy said not a big deal but someone else suggested that it's risky to drain the pool and risk pebbletech cracking.

Reason for draining is after weeks of slamming water was all good except slightly cloudy and won't go get clear. He said water is over 2 years old and calcium and TDS build up and should be drained and could explain the cloudiness. My calcium tests show 650-700.

So I’ve been fighting to get my pool opened this season, and while I have it at a teal blue color, it’s still cloudy and I cannot see the deep end.



Chemistry is still a bit off as I only got my Taylor kit yesterday, and I was using pool store’s testing results to adjust the water (I know, I know..). If my first FC test was correct, I’m around 42.5 with 0 CC, with CYA at 55.

Anyway, I was noticing some dirt coming back out from when I was vacuuming using filter mode, and I finally disassembled the multiport valve.

This was its state before cleaning, so it totally makes sense that I’m getting crud back into the pool:




I’ve cleaned up as best I can:



So it looks like I definitely need a new spider gasket. Has anyone just replaced the gasket on the diverter itself (Pentair 272512), or I am assuming that it’s probably just easier to replace the whole part since the gasket is glued in.

Now the question I have is, there are some scuffs and abrasions on the bottom part of the MPV, along the outer circle.

Will a new diverter and gasket be enough, or do I really need to replace the entire MPV? When replacing the diverter, do I lube the spider gasket (one video specifically said not to)? Also, does it matter if there is some sand/dirt in the bottom sections?

its probably time to replace a pool light. an LED bought in 2012 seems to have failed and ive been dreading this day. i have 2 pool, 1 spa on different outlets but in sync via intellitouch controls. so i wanted to either a) replace all fixtures and go with a standard LED bulb, or buy a single intellibrite and get back up and running.

what options do i have here? I use the modes on the intellitouch like sunset or royal, but i wouldn't mind reprogramming or turning off/on to make different colors. i just cant see spending $600-800 for a stupid LED light when I just know its gonna go bad again in 3 years.

Hello, I've been out of town with my family for the last 6 months for my 2 year old son's bone marrow transplant. My father in law has been taking care of our pool as best he can. We just returned home a few days ago and I have blackish dots of algae in my pool and I was wondering what is the best way to get rid of it. While we were gone the chlorine generator died. I ordered a new one which my father in law insisted when it arrived. Im not sure how long it was out before I noticed it wasn't working. I just tested my water and everything is in balance except for cya, which was basically nonexistent around 10 ppm fc was at .6 ppm. Which im sure is due to not enough cya. Im about to add 2 gallons of liquid cya to get that back up. I also threw 2 bags of cal shock in the pool the other night which seemed to clear up some of the algae. I have attached pictures of the remaining algae after shocking the pool. Thank you in advance for the assistance

Have a 15k gallon inground pool in Florida and was built in 1972 using gunite, has been resurfaced with fiberglass. Fiberglass is delaminating, I think, so getting quotes and trying to figure out if we should go back to a quartz or pebbletec or spend an add'l 6-8k for fiberglass

Fyi, finally got this installed and running. Here are my real-time Taylor numbers, just before hitting GO.

Sodium: 3,600
CH:470
PH: 7.8
CL: 8.0
CC: 8.0
TA: 750
CYA: 100 (yes, high, been fighting this but it's been coming down)

How do these look? Any feedback or advice? I find the Taylor CYA test to be quite subjective based upon lighting.

Hey Y’all! So great to meet you! It’s been a joy getting to be connected in this community and learning from each of you. My husband and I are building our first pool! We are so excited.

Today, our PB’s team came in to dig the trench to install plumbing and removed the peg board from around the gunite shell. When they removed the pegboard around our spa, there was plumbing exposed that I THINK (I have no actual idea) was supposed to be inside the spa walls. Is this something I should be worried about? I’ll attach a picture below!

Thank you all so much!

Hi Guys,

Getting a new error message here. "Chlorinator Off Sensor Fault" & "Cell Door Open." I haven't touched the thing.

To be quite frank, i'm stressed and busy with work so i'm about to call pinch a penny to come out and diagnose because I don't have time to be troubleshooting. But I wanted to come here first to see if it's an easy solve. Only troubleshooting I did was look at the wires (nothing out of the ordinary) and unplug/plug the SWG cell cable from the Goldline Remote board.

To be honest, we've had the pool/house for 2 1/2 years and I have never once cleaned the cell ( didn't even know that was a thing until recently). I don't know how old the unit is but i'm almost positive it's older than 2 1/2 years.

Other than that, water temp has been about 90F lately (according to the remote). The salt water is indicated at 3200-3300. My taylor test came out to 3600-3700 Saturday so not too far off.

Any idea?

Hi All,

I am a second year pool owner and I am looking to get some insight on what FC Levels I run in our pool.
I have a CYA at 50 and I have a noticed over last 2 years and when FC < 10, more around 6-8 range we start getting a white haze and eventually cloudy pool.
I have done SLAM multiples times and typically it passes in 1-2 days it becomes crystal clear.
Currently the pool is sitting at FC 10 and as per pool math FC should be between 2-8.
I know as per TFP for SWG I should have CYA around 70-80, I have intentionally kept it around 50-60 range as our pool stays covered most of the time.
Recommendations from other pool owners will be helpful.

p.s. in early June we went on vacation and I intentionally left pool at SLAM level for 2 weeks to prevent returning to cloudy pool

Hi All,
We picked up a used Swim Spa and converted it to run on propane so we can run it year round in Connecticut. The kids love it. We have had two hot tubs in the past, one Cholrine the other bromine, and they worked fine, enough.
Fast forward to this 2,500 gal tub, I'm having a hard time keeping the pH down, adding MA 31.45% twice a week aiming to get a pH of 7.0 to get the TA down - and its been working, we are at 110 down from 210ppm a month ago after the initial fill. First question - is this normal? it feels like a lot of acid, ive been second guessing myself if theres something left over from the "swim spa" heater that could be causing the pH to climb back up?
I've been supplementing with liquid chlorine while I dial in the SWG, and when the water has gotten a little hazy, bc the FC was low (at one point it was 0 because I forgot to turn the timer back on) it would clear up overnight with LC. I just did a test and FC is still over 5, for but the water is a little hazy.
The tub gets used about 2 hours a day, the rest of the time its covered with a standard heavy insulated spa cover. I flushed the tub with bleach and water after doing the conversion to propane and salt with 500 gallons of clean water, ran the jets and everything for a few days before pumping it out and having it filled. Haven't had to add more water in the 6 weeks its been used but rain water does get in from between the two covers.
Second question- aside from the MA and LC is there anything else I can do to clear up the water? does having the temperature at 95-99 have any effect on this?

Thank you for all your help!
George

Hello I recently renovated our pool area and installed Artistic Pavers Ivory. There has been an issue of some browing around edges, most notably under the covered lanai where it is more moist. They are assuring me it is because the pavers are still drying. 12x24 and 24 x 24 pavers have been installed 9/5/2022. Has anyone else had experience with this? the manufacture rep is saying it is do to moisture and give it time.
Any comments will be appreciated. Thank you. Overall I am very happy with the install and product I am just concerned about longevity? The pavers have been laid on existing concrete crushed concrete and river rock with an overlay of Masonry Sand over all the mediums. I will send more of the finished layout if people in the forum are interested.

So…my spa emptied out one night and I figured there was some debris keeping my diverter valve open. I remove actuator and pull out the diverter assembly and it looks like this:


So I purchased another diverter valve assembly for $80…and within two days it happens again:



First, anyone know what causes this? The inside of the valve is smooth. Could it be I need to lube up the inside of the 3-way valve? Not sure what to try next. Any guidance appreciated!

Hi All -
I had originally started this thread, back in 2019: Pool Build - Arlington, TX

Unfortunately, that project fell through, and thanks to COVID, parental health issues, we got delayed.

We're about to start the process over, and we're looking at getting a 16x37 fiberglass pool installed, and I'm wanting to get input into current trends in pumps, filters, lighting.


I'm debating again between DE filter or sand. My desire is to have low maintenance.

I'm also looking for automated vacuums/scrubbers.

We're having an initial meeting with the builder tomorrow to identify placement.

Pump motor comes on and switches off at random times. At one point when I noticed this I tried to turn the switch off and on but the motor wouldn't move. Then, I let it sit for a while and and tried again. It came back on. I thought it was the capacitor so changed that. Same behavior. Now, I'm wondering if it's the motor. Is this a common failure mode? It's a Ceturion single speed motor from 2003.

I'm thinking of adding a stenner pump to automate adding muriatic acid to my pool, and am wondering if I can use my Intellicenter to accomplish this. I have a GFCI switch on the side of the control panel that I could purchase a wifi timer for, but would prefer to tie it into my existing pool automation if possible. My setup is as follows (adding a picture as well, but the wiring is so messy that I'm not sure how much it helps):

120V 20A Breaker (Top)
Load wired to control panel transformer, and to the line of the GFCI outlet.

240V 20A Breaker (Middle)
Load wired to both heater and primary pump, and to line of aux1 relay.

240V 20A Breaker (Bottom)
Load wired to lines of aux2 relay, which are "daisy chained" to lines of filter relay, which are daisy chained to water feature pump.

Filter relay
Nothing coming out of the load ends, and is just a connection point between the water feature pump and aux2 relay line wires.

aux1 relay
Load ends wired to booster pump.

aux2 relay
Load ends wired to air blower.

aux3 relay
Line end fed by GFCI load, and daisy chained to aux4 relay's line end. Load end wired to pool lights.

aux4 relay
Line end fed by aux3 relay. Load end wired to spa lights.

I'm no electrician, but my initial thought is that the aux4 relay could be free'd up by running both the pool and spa lights off a single relay and have them turn on and off together.

So I made an impulse buy of one of the above ground vinyl pools with absolutely no previous knowledge or experience. I am pretty sure from reading the forums and researching the internet I have mustard algae. The pool was testing well (according to strip tests, I have ordered the in depth test reccomnded by the community) and then we went on vacation... and came home to what looked like sand in the bottom of the pool. Since we don't have an abundance of sand in the yard I thought it could be the metals from the well water we used to fill the pool as before we left I added hth metal scale powder.

So I have been cleaning the pool every day, spent endless hours and money buying different types of vacuums for fine sediment removal and when those didn't work I tried creating my own filter to add to the vacuum. I tried everything I could find on the internet yet everytime I would vacuum I could see the "dust" billowing out of the vents on the vacuum. So I decided to run the filter 24 hrs a day for a couple of days and readied the initial dose of pool clarifier. The water remains cloudy and everyday when I change the filter out there is this yellowish slime covering it. I want to slam but I'm such a novice I don't know what all the chemicals listed really are.

Can anyone link or post a list of what chemicals I should buy? I know ph up and ph down chlorine stabilizer shock and alkalinity up. I currently use chlorine tablets in a floater. I guess if someone could help me out with a shopping list I could use to order exactly what I will need to properly slam when the test kit finally arrives? I have attached pictures unfortunately I have just stopped running the pump so I can show a picture of the sediment when it has time to settle. If have inly seen this sediment on the floor of the pool not the walls and it doesn't stick to the pool brush like some guy in a video on youtube Said it should if it's algae.