Greetings! I'm in the midst of a largely DIY inground pool build - 36x18' rectangle with 90 degree corners and using polymer walls. Will be getting a contractor to pour the collar next week so just double checking everything. I'm off just under 1" corner to corner - would need to shift by about 1/2" to square perfectly. It's going to be some work to do that as I've got it all staked in at this point. Sketchup tells me that's 0.3 degrees out from 90 degrees. Is that an acceptable variance or should I suck it up and square it?

I am following the slam procedures as posted on the TFP website. I also used the Pool Math to figure out how much chlorine to put in. However, I could not find the decimal point and so I was struggling with how much so I just used the back of the liquid shock bottle. I have a 6200 gallon pool so tonight I put in 80 ounces for 30 cya and 7.4 ph….. revisited Coolmath and saw the decimal and redid the math and I should’ve only done 39 ounces. Is this going to be OK?

I’m in the midst of troubleshooting a leak and figured I start a thread to get advice from everyone.

1. I first started to notice their might be a problem as I was seeing the salt level in my pool drop. I just converted to a SWG and this dropping level of salt tipped me off on their might be a problem.
2. I turned off the auto fill, isolated the pool and spa and watched the water levels overnight. The spa level barely changed, the pool dropped 1/2“ in 12 hours.
3. I plugged all my return lines, turned off auto fill, marked both the spa and the pool levels and added a bucket filled with water as an additional indicator. In 12 hours, the spa and bucket dropped about 1/16“, the pool again dropped 1/2”.


So where I stand now, I appear to be loosing about an inch a day. I have no visible leaks around any of the pumps, plumbing or around the pool that I can see. There is no air bubbles in my pump or return lines. Since I’ve isolated the return lines, so I think I can rule them out.

What should I focus on next?

Pentair EASYTOUCH PL4/PSL4, ScreenLogic 2
Haven't looked at ScreenLogic since last year.
App on my Android phone connects to SCREENLOGIC and correctly displays Pool temp and lists the features and schedules
But I cannot get anything to go: lights, pump, water fall. Just edited the daily filter cycle will check tomorrow to see if it took.

Just did my spring dump, clean and refill on my 250 gal stand alone hot tub. My fill water alkalinity is a whopping 440! What is the recommended TA for a hot tub? And is the only way to get this TA down to reduce PH and aerate to get it back up and repeat until TA comes down? Here are my current fill water levels with a TF100 kit.
FC 0
PH 7.5
CH 200
TA 440
CYA 0

Hi,

I recently (3 years ago) bought a new house with a 16x25 fiberglass pool (10 000 gallons) and I am having recurring Iron Stains issue which comes back at least once or twice every season. It covers the entire submerged fiberglass which becomes yellowish.

Before I start my acid ascorbic treatment:

FC: 0 (I did let it go to for the ascorbic treatment, previously was 4-6)
CH: 400
TA: 80
PH: 7.2
CYA: 50

I followed the directions as per the following link: Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

Filter on recirculate, about 1 pound of ascorbic acid, add enough sequestering agent, etc.

Within minutes, all stains are gone and submerged fiberglass is pristine white... YAY! After 24-48 hours, I balance water again with PH between 6.8 and 7.2 and start pouring liquid chlorine VERY SLOW until all of it is eaten by the ascorbic acid... After my first poured gallon of liquid chlorine, I slowly saw a few stains come back... i continued to pour liquid chlorine very slow (half a gallon and then wait 30 minutes and check for FC... Result is always 0... continue to pour.... but after 3-4 gallons, FC was still 0 but ALL stains are back covering the entire pool..

I am getting very discouraged and I do not know what to do next.. I live in the city, I don't believe water has that much iron in it. I have a 2019 Hayward heat pump and a very old pool pump that I believe is rusted.. I had to get it repaired two years ago and I remember it was pretty rusty.. Could my water pump be the cultpit ?

I just do not know what to do anymore and before I start the process again, I was hoping you fine folks can provide some guidance on how to permanently resolve my issue.

If you are still reading, thank you VERY VERY much!

Peter

We have a new gunite build, pool/attached spa. A bucket test verified that we have a leak, and a dye test revealed the leak is in the spa at one of the inlet jets (about 300 gallons per day). Looks like the leak is at the joint between the plaster and the plastic flange/socket of the inlet. We "red neck" fixed it with underwater duct tape (see photo) that is surprisingly is working.... and we're back to our normal "evaporation" loss, which is about 3/16". The tape fix, I assumed, eliminated the possibility of any cracks in the actual plastic. The spa inlets are different from out pool inlets that they are these translucent recessed two-piece inserts that thread into the plastic housing/socket. they have two little protruding tabs on top, presumably for a "tool" that we don't have. The tabs are about 1/4" x 1/8" high and about 1-5/8" apart center-to-center, clocked 180-degrees from each other. I can easily drain the spa water into the pool in a few minutes to get complete, dry access.

What is the preferred permanent fix for a hairline crack/gap like this? I am envisioning anything from an epoxy to a silicone to a plaster slurry to a plaster removal & repacking. Assuming it's a silicone or epoxy, what is the preferred product I should buy? I'd like something with low viscosity that can inject into the hairline crack/gap-- preferably in a small syringe that's injectable. And what is the "tool" I need to remove these rings from the spa? I could only remove one of them by hand.

I have a ball valve that used to go to a drain/waste line, but that line had a leak in it underground that actually damaged our pool several years ago. (The line was shared with house sump pump which did the damage.) So we never use it anymore, and always keep the valve closed.

For the last 5+ years this valve has leaked VERY slowly (~10 drops / minute), and often only at the beginning of the season. But suddenly in the past week it has started leaking much faster so I need to fix it. Picture:


The connected line used to go underground, but is now just open above-ground as you can see at the far right below. The water trickles out the line, not out the valve handle or anything.


I'm wondering if I can just get a PVC cap like this 1.5 inch FPT cap and attach it somewhere? Or is there a better way to repair this? Sorry I am a complete newbie when it comes to pool plumbing so I have no idea how these fittings work.
(But I am also thinking a cap may be good for another reason -- a complete failure of a valve could end up flooding my basement with all the water that would pour out so near my house.)

EDIT: another question, as a temp fix, do you think I could slow the trickle by playing with how far I close it? Like if I back off a tiny bit from fully closed or something like that?

I have the new intex pool with the new t-joint design and i am having problems getting the last T-joint connected, I have tried everything i can think of but it i cannot get it to connect i can't seperate the 2 top rails far enough to get the t-joint into the last top rail....PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have an inground pool with attached spa and spillway. There is a retaining wall on one side of the pool that has 2 waterfalls plumbed in. If the spa is on and the waterfall feature is turned on, the spa will drain. If the system is in pool mode, everything works ok.
I'm certain that our pool builder did not setup the automation properly as the system should either lock out he waterfall feature in spa mode or have the automatically switch to pool mode when the waterfalls are activated, however he has been unresponsive to this (and other fixes).
We have an Pentair EasyTouch controller. Does anybody know how to fix this automation problem?

Hello,
I replastered my pool last November (8 months) and been keeping up with pool chemistry and water testing at Lesslie's pool and tips from the good folks on this forum. I have been noticing a few calcium nodules on some of the walls and I scraped them and they have re appeared. I have been reading information online about plaster bond failure and cracks on the plaster and some post states that this will eventually go away as the material under plaster will eventually dry up! I called my contractor and sent them a few pictures and he claims is ""High Calcium". My last pool test and calcium test was within normal range. They will send someone to clean them next week.

I know they chipped around and broke off a big huge areas around my pool and used Bond coat before they replastered the pool. Should I be concerned and is my new pool plaster failing?

Thanks in advance!

New pool pump motor was installed, it was started up, ran for a few seconds then started smoking. After this first startup, there was spilled clear oil inside the back cover near the capacitor.
The motor will turn on and run for 5-10 seconds, then make a click sound and turn off. It's not tripping the circuit breaker. Nothing appears to be burnt around the wiring in the back panel. It's ran for less the 30 seconds in total.

The reason for the new motor is the last one burnt up last week after a particularly bad thunderstorm (for what it's worth).
It was 6 years old. It too made a loud pop, smoked and then fire literally started coming out of the bottom of it.
With this brand new one popping and smoking as well... could it be the wiring? Or was the capacitor bad on my new motor?

The motor is an identical replacement of the old one, so the specs are definitely correct.
It's wired correctly as it's just two hots and a ground. The pump is a Max-E Pro.

Could it have to do with the start switch? The metal piece that holds the springs seems off center relative to the prongs.
Any insight is appreciated!

We've had a pool slide that we've never used due to the lower runway being broken (interfab wild ride), and not being in budget to replace with new.

Now we're considering just removing the whole thing. I guess I'm wondering what to do about the plumbing? removing the leg bolts in the deck isn't really a big deal, but the water supply pipe comes up right in the middle of the deck. the most conservative way to manage this seems to be disconnecting the flexible water supply line, coiling it up, and I guess covering the PVC and flex pipe with some kind of decorative cover or box. That might preserve the ability to add a slide again (but this is highly unlikely). We could also cut the flex pipe and just leave the stub with the ball valve sticking up, and cover that with some kind of hazard reduction object (maybe put a decorative planter beside it?). If we wanted to cut it flush with the deck, what would be the best way to do that an cap the line? We're not removing the line to the slide, but we probably will when we rehab the equipment pad here in the next 5 years or so.

The upside of removing the slide entirely and not planning to replace is that I think it will open an auxiliary spot in our aqualink RS8 to allow us to program a spillover, instead of manually putting it in spillover mode to circulate the spa in to the pool.

IMG_7876 by Carrie, on Flickr

IMG_7877 by Carrie, on Flickr

I'm planning to put an Intex Ultra Frame pool onto blocks of pressure treated wood like they suggest (see image).
I'm going to put down a 12'x24' but since that has the direct dimensions of the bottom of the pool I'm assuming that this will just cover the space between the blocks, not the blocks themselves. Do I need to do something to protect the liner from the block's edges? I know that a lot of people lay down styrofoam but the kind of styrofoam (XPS) that people use is incredible expensive out here and not an option, unfortunately. And I can't dig the blocks in because it's a concrete driveway underneath. Does the pool liner extend out to the edges of the blocks? Or do they never touch and it's nothing to worry about? If they do - is there some method to protect the liner? Using pool noodles or something?

I am not sure what I need to add. What does 1 cup “by volume” of the acid mean? Is that 1 cup or 1 cup per so many gallons?

Also- any other advice given the other numbers? We have added UV shield every week but the CA number isn’t getting much higher.
Obviously there is something wrong with our SWG so I need to add chlorine but wasn’t sure about the other numbers in combination.

I bought a house with an inground pool. House was built in 1974 pool was put in sometime after that. I have no record of who manufactured the pool or who installed it. All I know is that it is huge, 40-45K gallons. 4' shallow end 10-12' deep end I assume. Since I have no real facts about the pool all of this information is just what I perceive. I'm looking for help from anyone who may have seen or worked with this type of pool in the past. I had one pool manufacturer guess that the pool was manufactured by Clayton & Lambert. I do not see any visable leakage and the pool typically stays filled. I have had to put a few inches in, but I attributed that to evaporation. The pool worked fine for me last year and i'm sure it would work fine this year, but I had to drain it anyway to get rid of high CYA. Now I am looking to do some repairs while it is empty.

The pool has a poured concrete bottom with one main drain. Under the main drain is a PVC type well with one pipe to the filter. One extra hole in the bottom which I assume is some sort of ground water relief plug. It has a spring loaded rubber stopper in it, but underneath that is another PVC plug with a female square head on it. I assume if I somehow got that out it would lead to the ground. Another interesting thing about this main drain is that the drain cover is just a piece of concrete or metal with holes drilled into it. It was not screwed into the well, but it was sealed to it with some sort of pourable gasket. When I removed the gasket with the pool drained I had water fountains shoot out of two holes on the top of the well. for about 15+ minutes water was coming out of these holes. I assume these holes must go to the ground, but I cannot be certain. If It were ground water I would have guessed it to be a lot colder than it was. The holes where the water was coming out are the size of screw holes. They look like the other screw holes where the drain cover was supposed to be screwed into.

The sidewalls are made of stainless steel panels joined together. I would guess 18-20 of them about 4' tall. Horizontally along the bottom of the panels where they meet the concrete there is some sort of sealant. Vertically where the panels meet each other there is some sort of sealant. I would not guess which type or brand the sealant is although it appears like clear to grey silicone.

The above ground area around the pool is like a stamped textured concrete.

I have multiple issues this year:

1. I need to replace the drain cover. Whoever painted the pool throughout the years painted over the drain cover multiple times which plugged all but 9 of the drain holes. It makes filtering tough and is not safe. I would rather get a new, safer plastic one that I can screw into the well. I am reluctant to do so because of the previous cover and the gasket it had. I wonder if it had a gasket for a reason since water was shooting out of two of the holes on top of the well after I removed the gasket. If I just find a universal drain cover that fits, will that mess up how my well is supposed to work? Is there a way to tell what make model the well is so I can get a data sheet?

2. In general main drain well engineering, what is the purpose of the bottom plug? I pulled out the rubber plug and there is another pvc plug screwed into the hole. Do I need to take that one out to to relieve water table pressure while I have my pool drained? Why are there two plugs on top of each other, it does not make sense to me. The pool seemed to fill up quite a bit from the water coming out of the two top holes in the well whether or not the rubber plug was in the bottom.

3. The sealant between the vertical joints in the stainless steel side panels is coming off. That being said it looks like someone tried to put sealant over another original layer of sealant. So one layer is coming off and one layer looks to be in OK condition further in the joint. I called a few pool stores and manufacturers to find a suitable sealant to use submersed with chlorinated water and I can't get a straight answer. Even googling submersible pool sealant gives me every sealant under the sun and then some. None of which come out and say use this to seal joints in your stainless steel panels. Does anyone know of something I can use for this and where to get it? I also had one place say the sealant was just for aesthetics, that the stainless steel panels are jointed and waterproofed from the outside while being installed. does anyone have any experience with this one way or the other? I would gladly forget about it if I was sure they were waterproof whether there is sealant inside or not.

4. Whoever painted the pool did so multiple times with multiple blue hues. The layers have bubbled and chipped. I always get paint chips in my pool vacuum every time I run it. Should I bother with power washing the paint off and acid washing the concrete and repainting it? My concern is the sealant that was used horizontally where the stainless panels meet the concrete. If I blast the paint away it will probably blast that sealants off as well I imagine. With the hard time I am having finding a sealant rated for underwater I don't want to mess that seal up.

First time using this kit... I went all the way up to 100 drops and there is always some pinkish tinge at the bottom.

It goes from vibrant pink to clear in the middle. Is that considered clear??

See attached pics for 8 drops vs 12 drops. Sorry for no initial picture, but it was very vibrant pink. I watched a YouTube and it looked very binary to me so not sure what to do here. Also read that if I go too slow the pink will come back so I tried to do this very fast.

Can anyone recommend a good robot pool vac that does not climb the walls? Last vac that I had that climbed the walls wound up putting a hole in the pool liner at the bottom where the pool walls are bolted together. Apparently the pool installers did not put enough duct tape over the bolt heads and flat steel plate that the bolts go through. I have since repaired the leak and sold the robot on E-bay and am currently using a suction cleaner which goes through the filter. Unfortuntly this dirties the earth filter and I am looking for a robot vac that that collects the dirt.

Only making 1/2 FC per hour

Its a Pureline 60k Pl7703 from inyopools

It appears one of the skimmers suction/water flow is slower, but, when I put my hand down, the suction is strong (about the same as the other one). The hatch door seems to be operating normally. The water level was higher due to the massive rain recently (but now about 3/4 to the skimmer hatch) as I drained some with a sump pump, I will drain it so it's 1/2 to the hatch opening. The PSI is about 4 to 5 higher than baseline (not yet 10) so I am not sure if a backwash is warranted? It seems that instead of the water flowing in, it's more like its idling there (but the skimmer does accumulate similar amount of leaves/debris ).

Any ideas what this could be?

So my Dolphin S300i is just over two years old and has recently developed a tendency to “lose” the rubber flap on the bottom front of the unit. Three times in the past couple of weeks this black rubber piece has turned up in my skimmer. I’ve popped it back in every time (not very easy), but I’ve had enough of this game. Anyone else ever had this issue? Any tips for a permanent solution?

Hi All - There's various spots in my 6 year old liner that have become sort of pitted and rough. I took an underwater picture, look toward the bottom right. Is this a sign that the liner might fail and should be replaced? Also the top of the liner is starting to fade in spots to white. The differences from last year to this year are 1) My FC is more consistent at about 11 now that I just put in a SWG and 2) I'm using a 2 speed pump on low a lot and not sure how well the water is moving around. Thinking maybe the Chlorine is just sitting at the bottom of the pool? Could be wrong. Maybe it's high calcium since I was using a lot of cal hypo last year before the SWG? My numbers are also as follows
FC - 12
CYA - was 40 bumped to 60 a few days ago
PH - was 7.8 lowered to 7.5
Calcium - 250
TA - 70
Salt 3800

My vacuum hose has become detached from the collar which attaches to the vacuum head. There are adhesive remnants so it was glued in somehow before. What kind of adhesive can I use to reattach it? Salt water in-ground pool.

Hi,

I have just completed an ascorbic acid treatment to get rid of my iron stains. I have raised water as much as possible and the treatment so far is successful. That being said, I still have a waterline stain which I tried to remove with magic eraser to no success. The stain is light but you can definitely see a line all round the pool at water line level. Assuming it's not IRON has I just did a AA treatment, what do you suggest to remove the waterline stain ?

Would acid muratic do the trick ?

Thanks,

I had to level my driveway in preparation for the pool - which I did with mason sand (took me weeks).
Now I'm about to put up my pool and I'm getting from Intex's support a very stern "We are not recommending sand in any shape or form". Do I need to be concerned?

Hello,
I believe my vinyl liner has the medium blue color that is susceptible to fading. Regarding the FC/CYA chart, is there any information to support it's better to be on either the low end, or high end of the chart to prevent fading?

Thanks!

Hi, just joined TFP today. I live in Houston and have been struggling with green algae in the pool. Leslie's pool supply wants to sell me ammonium sulfate but I've read that this can do more harm than good in the long run. I like the idea of SLAM but I have one question. Using the calculator for a CYA reading of 50, I get a result of 20. Is this the desired FC shock level or the amount of liquid chlorine in fl oz to add to the pool? I assume it is the desired shock level. Seems VERY high to me. How much liquid chlorine would I need with 13000 galloons pool water to raise the FC level to 20 ppm?

Not sure what’s going with our pool light. On the Intellibrite pool light box there is 2 small dots that are flashing green and our pool lights won’t come on. I tried to google search the problem but can’t find anything on it. It’s 2 lights that are above hold and recall button that are flashing green.

Got some algae, doing a SLAM. Maintaining FC @ 20. Can I enter the pool, to vacuum and brush? I find it difficult to do a thorough job outside our above ground pool. Thank you!

We are having a issue with plaster just installed in our pool. There are no stains anywhere, the water is perfectly clear, it's just having a green tint to the water.