The Calcium Hardness in my nearly 3 year old plaster pool was always steadily maintained in the 350 to 400 range. So much so, that I haven't checked it in the last 3 months. That is, until it started to get a bit cloudy and I ran a complete chemical check using the TFP test kit. It is now 750! I know I have few options on lowering it and am considering either RO or draining. (I am also considering a stain control chemical and maybe a flocculant to remove some calcium to see what they can do, but I doubt it'll make a dent in lowering it).

But before I do anything, can anyone tell me what would have caused this sudden increase? I don't want to incur the burden of remediating this without knowing if it'll happen again because of something I'm overlooking.

Thank you.

The filter replacements for Pentair DE line are expensive, close to half the price of the filter which comes with cartridges, around $130 per cartridge. There is a brand called Optimum sells a 4-pack on Amazon for a few hundred. Does anyone have experience with replacement cartridges by Optimum or companies other than Pentair brand?

I've got a Heyward Pentair filter for an 18k gallon pool we inherited with the house we bought last August. When I backwash I have to put the hose over the exit valve hole and clamp it down with a metal adjustable ring. Not to mention I have to stretch the hose quite a bit to get over the little bit of the valve hole that protrudes out from the spider valve, and more often then not when I go to send the water out the pressure kicks the hose off making it a wet mess. I see the inside of the exit valve hole has threads for a reducer to make this easier. Why the previous owner didn't have one I have no idea.

What I can't figure out for the life of me is what this part would be named and where can I get one? Is it just a PVC reducer? Is it specific to the filter?

Going through SLAM.

1. Cleaned the pump filter last week
2. Backwashed and re-filled DE
3. When I dumped DE into the skimmer, I noticed white powder coming out of return jet (not the typical salt-based Chlorine)
4. Just opened and saw this - I think everything is intact

Not sure why DE is not "sticking".....I have done the filter cleaning 1-2 times a season...will check whether I have any damages / rips in the media but when I was washing those filters last week, didn't have any. Any inputs / advice is greatly appreciated, as usual!! Struggling with numerous issues this season.....unbelievable...

I’m looking to see if there are better things out there to clean my cartridge. I was looking at something called the Aqua Comb attachment for cleaning cartridges. It sells on Amazon. Right now I just use hose without any attachments. My question is are these types of attachments that have these “fingers” - are these actually supposed to be placed in between the pleats? Thinking that could separate the pleats and make cartridge less effective?

I have an Intellichem that shows Label P/N 521349 Rev B. The LCD has gone bad due to sun exposure. Can I easily replace just the screen, using this?


A new PCB board is $500, so I'm hoping the above is an easy swap?

Thanks.

Hi all,

I just unboxed this heat pump:


Hopefully it's right-sized for our modest setup and anyway, it seemed overboard to me to get something 3x the cost of the pool itself, and we don't have gas or 220V readily available. Water is already sitting at 82 degrees without it and the thought is we can get a few degrees boost when needed or stretch out pool season a bit. One review was from a fellow Chicagoan, albeit with a smaller pool, but I was encouraged by that.

I welcome general thoughts/opinions, but also wanted specifically to ask -- I've noted that it has 1.25" connections. Our pump output has a 1.5" connections, and I've also seen a review that mentions that this heat pump noticeably restricted flow for them. I wasn't sure if that was going to be the case for me given how basic the pump we have now is. My thought to correct this issue is to buy two of these:


And attach the 1.5"output of the pump to one of them, and the 1.5" output of the pool to the other one. Then I will join these two parts by adding a 1.25" hose straight through on one pair of the 1.25" connections, and then add the heat pump between the other pair.

My question is would this potentially starve or reduce effectiveness of the heat pump? and then on the opposite end of the spectrum, is this overkill and should I let it ride as is or could restricted output potentially put some strain on the filter pump?

Thank you!

bradgray said:

I have no experience with heat pumps, so others will have to chime in.

We have a lot of chillers on our routes. Glacier brand. They technically work, but we hate the maintenance on them.

I second Maddie's suggestion. If you can add a neat feature, you'll have some visual candy with a purpose!

Click to expand...

Brad, I don’t want to hi-jack this thread, but I would be interested in more detail on your maintenance experience with the Glacier chillers. We will be using ours for the first time this summer. What do you recommend for preventive maintenance and operating tips besides what is in the operating manual? Thanks, Mark

Moved from here.

Got a call this morning the robot doesn't want to move only to find this cordless formally corded robot in the deep. Now with Maytronics is this cable even available for the DIYer?

Any insights on why my CYA is dropping although I am adding more? We did have a few (2 inches?) of rain during that storm around July 4th but I also added more after that....

Hi, just installed a Pentair Clean & Clear 420 cartridge filter and new Pentair Intelliflo3 VSF pump on my pool. Replumbed for SWCG at the same time and getting ready to start that up.

Everything in general is running good but the filter leaks around the clamshell seam when the pressure first comes on and then it stops. Seems like the gasket has to seat or something.

Is this normal for this filter or do I need to crack it open and reseat the gasket (or something)?

BTW, really like being able to set up programs and control the pump via the Pentair phone app. Very handy.

Thanks

My heater was working fine for about 2 weeks, and then I noticed strange sounds coming from it. 3 days ago I saw "bd" code. And now when the heater receives power it makes a loud buzzing sound, so I cut power from the breaker for the heater.

My guess is that I need to replace the boards but I'm concerned that maybe something else caused the boards to fry first. My plan is to open the panel and take a picture of everything in the inside. I've looked up videos online on how to replace the boards (ICB, FUSE).

Hello,
My name is Jim and I just bought a house that has a very nice pool. It is about 35 feet by 18 feet. I do not want to use a pool person, so I am going to fast track myself on learning pool chemistry. I'm sure I will be doing lots of post and look forward to all the repsonses. Thank you.

New to the forums wasn't sure exactly which category to ask my question but I want to start a slam I'm pretty balanced out except ph (at about 7.7) how long should I wait after adding sodium bisulfate to start adding liquid chlorine.

What about adding salt through an in-line chlorinator? After battling high CYA, I do not plant to use it for tabs anymore. Draining the pool now. Going back with the BBB pool treatment.

Moved from here.

Hey guys,

We are doing a traditional pool style with a shallow end of 3’6” that then transitions to a “deep” end of 6’6” with a slide in the deep end. Our PB is asking if we want the traditional transition of a 3:1 drop or more gradual of 4:1. I’m attaching a graphic here of how that affects our space for shallow vs deep end. What is better? Obviously one option gives us some more shallow end but a steeper slope. Also, any other opinions on the way this pool is split up? Will we wish we had more deep end or does this look okay? I know so much is preference, just looking for your experiences and insight.

Good morning,
My main drain has been capped due to a leak so we're trying to limp by this summer before looking at options. I knew we'd have a rough summer fighting algae because of poor circulation, but this one I can't figure out. I always end up with algae this time of year when the sun shifts so I keep it at SLAM level to combat stubborn algae. At 0730 this morning, I check the pool before the filter kicked on and there was no algae in the pool. Great. Go back out at 0830 after it kicked on and the shallow end is covered in algae, mostly in the direction of the return. I vacuum, brush, and backwash daily. Is it possible the algae is in the filter? How did it bloom THAT fast once the water started moving around? CC = 0.5
Thanks!

I run my VSP 12 hours a day, at 1800rpm, from 8am to 8pm. I just fired it up on July 5th, the day after all my salt, so I've been tracking my levels pretty carefully since then. It's been holding pretty steady for several days and went up yesterday, and I'm trying to figure out why.

Here is my FC readings for the last several days:

• 7/5 - 6.0 (had added liquid chlorine to get it to this level before starting the SWG)
• 7/6 - 4.5
• 7/7 - 4.5
• 7/8 - 4.5
• 7/9 - 7.0

My kids wanted the bubblers on higher so I ran the VSP at a higher setting, something like 2800rpm for most of the day and when I checked my chlorine at 7pm last night, I was a little surprised to see it at 7.0.

Rest of my levels:

• CC: 0
• pH: 8.0 (I'm trying to get my pH and TA balanced... it's been around 7.9 to 8 most days)
• TA: 90
• CH: 375
• CYA: 70
• Salt: 3800
• Water temp: 80F

Any thoughts? Thanks!

I posted last week about our liner failing and we have decided to go the new pool route and are going with a 24ft vogue panache. The pool store is trying to sell us their package but we don’t really need a new pump or filter. If we do go with it, is sand (what we have now) or cartridge better? I added a circupool edge 25 swg a couple years ago but they are saying the warranty doesn’t cover salt and we have the option of chlorine or their mineral system. I’ve read not so good things about mineral systems so I wanted to get y’all’s advice, TIA!

Hello,

I noticed that over the weekend the water is higher than normal. I can't figure out where this drains out of but seems like we have an overflow pipe. Any ideas of why its not draining? Maybe clogged?

Also I am cleaning the pool from leaves getting in there. Any insight will be helpful.

Thanks,
-jb

Hey, I have a Raypak 106a. It's the 105,000btu model. Brand new, received it a few days ago but had to wait on a regulator for my tank. Finally got the regulator(10.2-13WC regulator) and went to fire it up and wont even try to spark. Any ideas? I read on some forums its probably the rollout switch. Is there a way to jumper it just to diagnose it? Or any other ideas on the reason it won't even spark? I have the Funsicle sfx1500 pump feeding it(not the best pump I know).

Is it possible that adding muriatic acid and baking soda raises salt level in SWG hot tub?

Hi! I’m Alison from Naples, FL! Appreciate the knowledge and support as a pool owner.

I recently installed a new Hayward VSP super pump and a Circupool RJ60+ SWCG. I have both units running off of the pump's breaker. Its the original GE 20 amp GFCI. (23 year old breaker)
The idea there is that if the pump loses power, the SWCG also does and is therefore not relying solely on its flow switch to kill the chlorine generation. It's wired properly. 2 hot leads on the breaker go directly to the pump. White pigtail on the breaker goes to the Neutral busbar. Ground wire on the pump goes directly to the ground busbar. Bonding lug on the pump housing goes to the bonding 8 gauge wire at the pad. The pump runs 24/7. I had no issue for the first 9 days then yesterday that breaker tripped for what I am assuming is a ground fault trip because the current never went over 5 amps. No rain, weather was dry. So, that's a mystery. I have an amp clamp on the panel monitoring 24/7. So I know the voltage max/min and the current mx/min. The house main panel already has a Siemens FS140 SPD and the pool panel has an Intermatic PS3000 SPD. I reset the breaker and it has been running fine again for the past 24 hours. No more trips. Do these new VSP's generate any sort of issue that would cause false GFCI trips? Is there a recommended brand of breaker to use with this setup? I have never had a GFCI trip before with the old pump. So this has me concerned. My fear now is that when I go away on vacation, it will trip again and I'll come home to a swamp.

In the fall of 2021 my daughter moved into a home that had an above ground pool that had not been opened in at least three years. The property is at the base of a mountain with forest close to the house. The pool cover was ripped and there was a ton of debris in the pool, including tens of thousands of tadpoles. In the early summer of 2022, she asked if I could teach her how to clean-up and maintain the pool.

Once the ripped cover was removed, we scooped out 20 wheelbarrows of debris which included leaves, branches, at least one dead hawk and a few dead squirrels. Since the pool had not been opened in many years, the amount of chlorine it would take to clean it up was more expensive than a water replacement, so we drained the pool down to about 1 foot and continued to remove more debris. As the pool was filled we added enough chlorine to achieve 10 ppm chlorine, stirring the mess with a brush, till we had enough water to run the pump.

Once we got the level sufficient for the pump, we attempted to run the pump/filter, the pump ran but was very noisy and some of the piping was cracked. She didn't want to spend anymore money so we did some temporary repairs with epoxy putty (I claim it was bubblegum and baling wire), we slowed the leaks to acceptable range, but we were finally flowing water. At this point we added CYA to 30 ppm and started the balancing process, but we were still using 7-9 ppm of chlorine a day. The SLAM process continued and she was getting discouraged because it took almost three weeks to get the water clear enough to swim.

It was early August of 2022 till the water was clean,,,, still not TFP crystal clear, but she was happy.

Fast forward to this year, the winter cover was mainly intact, with about 1000 gallons of water on top of the cover, and still thousands of tadpoles on the cover. We expected to open the pool to a complete mess again.

But when the cover was pumped and removed this is what we found.

We replaced the leaking filter system and upgraded the electrical to add a timer and proper weather protection for the electrical system.

The process works, she now has a trouble free pool, it does require daily dosing of chlorine and periodic testing and brushing/vacuuming, but she can relax and enjoy what was a mosquito and frog infested pool, and it now qualifies as TFP clear, I'm so proud of her for following thru, and my granddaughter is loving having a pool in her backyard.

I've had this pool for seven years now. My frequency of vacuuming seems to continuously go up. Last year I thought I had an algae issue so I shocked it. Still had the problem. Shocked again and left it shocked for quite a while despite otherwise clear water and no overnight drop.... Same problem.

This year, same thing. I can vacuum one night come home the next night and vacuum and there is a clear and significant later if something on the bottom of the pool. Over the last weekend I vacuumed twice a day. Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night. By Sunday morning nothing on the bottom, clear water but I continued anyway. Come home Monday night.... Have to vacuum.

I run the pump 3 to 4 hours a day everyday. Filter seems to be working as if I vacuum twice a day it captures everything.

I am in the process of running lower PH because the bottom of the pool got a build up on it and was rough. That was not the case last year though.

All the other Numbers seem to be fine.

We do have a lot of trees around but this is not debris but a greenish layer of stuff that clearly looks like algae that just settles out.

Any idea what I should be looking at.... Really tired of vacuuming.

Thank you.

I recently hired a pool guy because I have been busy. He never uses shock and my water has never been so clear. I also never have algae anymore. Does anyone know the answer? It's a question because I thought shock was needed weekly. Thanks

Jumping in here as I'm new to the game. I have a hayward variable speed pump installed a year ago. Starting the journey of taking care of my pool. My psi in the filter is 10 psi when the motor is running at 70%.

Hello all,

This is about the fourth time this summer that we have found this lump of gray foam floating in our pool. We thought it was poop until we gloved up and opened it. It was the consistency of polyethylene foam, with the same kind of cell structure (pourous).

I'm not sure if it's a pool chemical balancing issue (chemecials are within range). It also seems to appear most often after a significant rain. I also know it is not an animal because I dropped my security camera down to ground level and it captures everything around the perimeter of the pool.

Key stats: vinyl liner, salt cell onground pool. Cartridge filter (1 year old). The only other problem are mineral staining on the pool stairs.

I have been trying to maintain chlorine for about three weeks, and I am on day two of the slam process. Prior to slam, I tested my pool regularly, and even after super chlorinate mode at 100%, along with two tablets. I was waking up each morning to 0.5 free chlorine. I am also part of a Facebook group called saltwater pools. Often times I see people comment. Why are you adding chlorine to your saltwater pool? Just put it on super chlorinate. Why do people question the chlorine/slam process on that Facebook group? Obviously as saltwater owners, we have tried everything..