I just purchased a Dolphin active 40. It constantly gets stuck on the main drain cover. I tried tuning off the pump for the main drain which helped somewhat. I purchased the zodiac unibridge main drain cover (on Amazon $76). I tried it with no modifications. The dolphin had some success but still got stuck. So I took prior advice and removed the unibridge from the pool , and then used a jig saw to cut the center out. Walah!! The dolphin has now been transversing the cover 100 % of the time. Had this not worked I was considering returning the dolphin.

Moved from here.

I have dual basic timers, one for the Polaris and one for the pump/filter. Last week the cleaner timer wasn’t working , so I would manually turned on and off.( inside the pump time). I noticed yesterday it wasn’t seated properly and corrected this and now it working fine, but the pump timer isn’t working now, seems to be correctly positioned! .what would your recommendation be, replace both? We are not very DIY here, so if it’s complicated ,I will need to call the pool person, who opens and closes our pool.

Morning folks!

I’ve noticed that each time we lose power, which happens every 3-4 weeks around here, the pool circuit reverts to off on the IntelliCenter. This results in the pump not running until I notice or remember to go check it. Is there a way to change the default to “prior state”? I’ve looked everywhere but can’t seem to find it if it is there. Thanks!

For those of you with a deck around your pool seems most of these have the decking going under the top rail. How do you get the winter cover on it.

A few months ago we had plaster pool resurfaced with tile. Within a couple of months, there were a couple of white spots in the grout lines. Now, approx 6 months later, there are hundreds of spots with a white substance on the grout lines. On the pool sides, the white substance is oozing down from the grout lines. Chemistry continues to maintained just as it was before the tile was installed. We never saw anything like this in the plaster pool that we maintained for 13 years before deciding to do the upgrade. It is salt water pool - always has been. The water is hard in the area.

Possibly unrelated - but the bottom of the pool is extremely slippery as well.

Any advice would be appreciated. What are the best practices for prepping a plaster pool to install tile? Should the plaster have been removed? Was there a sealer that was needed before installing the tile?

Thanks for your help.

My Taylor K-2005 rest kit arrived today. CYA is through the roof! I keep draining water and refilling, but I don’t seem to be making any progress. Pool is 3 years old. I’m only using liquid chlorine now. Started the season with granular shock which was my downfall.

I have a vinyl liner 18,000 gallon. Chlorine.

ph: 7.4
TA: 240 without the conversion for Cya
Free Chlorine: 4
Total Chlorine: 5
Combined: 1

I’m trying to refill with my hose. Would it be cost effective to have water delivered?

Thank you!

I have a pump suction cover at the deep end of the pool that has broken out in the middle.
There are locations for counter sunk screw but nothing in them.
Is this an O ring fit or are these threaded?
Thanks for your help

My pump is tripping breaker immediately on attempt to start the pump. Pentair equipment. Did get 1-1.5 inches of rain today. Also have had problems with salt cell acting strange over last month. Flow light often red but does turn green eventually (sometimes hour or more) and then will go back to red off and on. Cleaned cell, water pressure is very good when pump was running. Just seems something goofy with flow switch but sharing this just in case I have some weird electrical issues going on. Had panel display replaced in April because lightning strike fried it. Everything seemed to be working for 2 months except salt cell issues mentioned above. Thoughts on what might be going on and what to check first? Appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

did the bucket test and have about an inch leaking per day. plugged the returns and skimmer still leaked about the same level. found 2 tiny holes and patched it. this morning, when pump is off, saw lots tiny bubbles around the both returns and the patch area. what does that means?

prastic stairs have some small bump/ blisters , food dye test did not see water run into it.

l thought the returns and suction side is ok as the water was dropped under returns and a bit lower than light when we open the pool few days ago.

thanks for any help. leak detection company is about 1 hour drive away. hope to find some clues before we have to call them (holiday weekend. have to wait for Monday)

I see Marina recommended on the forum - does anyone have any feedback on Doheny?

I’m looking at their private label robotic pool cleaner Mercury which i believe is the same as the Dolphin Quantum but it is on sale for $899

Any help would be appreciated

I am currently in the SLAM process and Thursday will be two weeks. I have kept my FC at 14 with a few dips to about 10ppm for the entire time. I still have visible algae and am having 6ppm overnight loss. What should I do other than stay the course? Do I need to raise my CYA? I use the TFP approved Taylor test kit:

FC: 10+ (for almost two weeks)
CC: 0.5m (this has remained constant throughout)
PH: Was 7.2 prior to start. (has for sure gone up due to aeration)
CYA: 30
Water Temp: 92F (unusually hot 100+ temps)

The screen went blank on my Autopilot DIG220. It did go on once, but just showed gibberish with random numbers and letters, but only for a few seconds and then it went blank again. Do I need to replace the whole unit, or is there a part that needs replacing. Or is there something I can do to correct the problem. Any suggestions would b e appreciated.

Mastertemp 300 all last week the heater fired for 15 sec.stop and repeat. Today service heater light on. I Turned the heater off, then on, fan turned on, did not ignite and service heater light came back on. I replaced the high limit and the AGS as well as the flu stack sensor.

Hello!

We need a replacement lid for our Pentair filter. Best I can tell it it's a Triton II TR-100C manufactured in 2002... the lid has a part number of 35-5914 "black w/o hole" but all I can find online is part number #154575 which specifies for filters manufactured before 3/97.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you!

Chris

Have Hayward Filter 150 with 1500 pleated filter and an Aquagenie skimmer/return distributor. I am having high pressure problems on the filter. I recently cleaned the cartridge with solution and sprayed it out as usual. After returning it to operation it went immediately to 16 psi and within 3 days it was at 20 psi. Usually the pattern is 12 psi to start , then raising over 2 or 3 weeks to 19-20 psi, when I clean it. It's now at 23 psi - getting dangerous. Don't know if there is something on discharge system like Aquagenie pressure chamber/return distributor plates that are plugged up with something or what. Maybe it's the filter cartridge? One problem I have with this immediate high pressure is with vacuuming. I can't get good suction efficient vacuuming when the prssure gets up to 18-20 psi.

Setting up a heater on a 16x32 Kayak pool. A Hartford loop is recommended between the heater and chlorinator but does not spec a height or length. I found one manufacturer that says 6-8 inches above the chlorinator height. Any suggestions?

Hi there! This is my second year owning a home that has an under ground sand filter pool. I back wash it weekly, alternate shock & algae-side every other week (or occasionally shock it an extra time depending on what the test strip reads), add chlorine tablets weekly, brush the sides & use a pool vacuum weekly. This is the first year it’s not extremely clear, and I’m just not sure what to do. I tested the water and it looks pretty okay to me? But I’m completely aware that I still have no idea what I’m doing and that I’m in a “fake it til ya make it” situation- so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

I have a VS IntelliFlo pump and a Polaris 380 cleaner on a booster pump. The VS pump usually runs around 1400 rpm’s. However when the booster kicks on the VS pump increases RPMs to around 2400. I inherited the setup this way. Is this typical or can I continue to run the VS pump at the lower speed with the booster running?

I am not an expert in electricity and never like mess around with it. I noticed this bonding/ground (I believe this is called "bonding" as oppose to ground) wire somehow broke apart. Is this safe the way I have it "connected". I had to wedge it into the gap, the screw is really not doing anything since the two ends are tightly "wedged" together.

I have a few stains on the bottom of my pool and not sure what they are or how to get rid of them. Any suggestions please?

I'm working on getting the soil ready to plant several tropical plants in the area when it's not so hot. The grass behind the concrete, against the wall, is going to get ripped out. But, what should I do with this giant concrete slab? I'm thinking some kind of shade structure, maybe a pergola, but I'd love to see what other people have for inspiration. Many years ago, there was a hot tub on that slab, so it's wired for 240v, but not connected on the other end to a breaker anymore. It should be fairly cheap and trivial to have a new circuit installed for this area.

I might end up pulling those palm trees too, since they no longer stand up straight and I've had minimal success training them to grow in a direction that isn't annoying (notice the t-post). I'm not sure what I'd replace them with. Further from the pool, I plan to have two types of bamboo, several banana trees, and two mango trees. However, since the palm trees are close to the pool and currently lean over my decking, I'd want to replace them with something fairly small.

Hey all. Huge thanks to all who helped me, especially @Texas Splash !

Finished filling pool last night, added bleach and cya this morning. How long do we need to wait, if at all?

I just purchased a Air Supply 1HP, 240v, 3.5 amp blower.
Can I be safe to assume a double pole 20 amp breaker, #10 wiring, and #8 bond wire be sufficient?

Hi friends! New member and first time poster. A friend and former member encouraged me to reach out to the TFP collective wisdom.

I'm looking for recommendations for a new pool pump.

Context: My single speed pump has an irreparable crack where the tank body assembly meets the seal plate to the pump. Water sprays everywhere when the pump is on. Due to the cost of the replacement part, I'm looking at installing a new pump. A 3rd party pool service guy recommended by my local Leslies, came, looked, and said he could build me a new 1HP single speed Pentair pump and install it. His job keeps getting delayed and I'm not sure when he will be able to do it. Meanwhile a friend and some others have encouraged me this is a job I can do myself. However, I really don't know what I need in terms of a new pump. I also don't have much of a gauge for how much I should or could spend on a new pump. Our income is currently tight, but our pool has been filter-less for about 2 weeks.

I have a roughly 20,000 IG plaster lined pool. The skimmer basket return is the only suction point. This is where I run our Hayward cleaner from.

So, how do I know what HP pump to get? How do I know if I need at VS, DS, or SS pump? What price range should I expect? What pumps do you recommend?

Thank you for any help!

So I’ve been keeping my water perfect from outside the pool. Just got in today and noticed a larger crack at the top of the tile area and pool deck. I honestly don’t know if it was there last year. Is this bad? Can I seal it myself? New pool owner of around 3 years so not sure. Any help appreciated.

I have already learned so much. I have yellow algae and can’t wait to fix this problem. Thank you so much

Hi guys,

complete novice here, I "inherited" a pool last winter and are doing most things for the first time. The pool was fine last summer, and we uncovered everything two weeks ago.
Unfortunately, the pool is light green throughout, the sides and the bottom are not slimy and don't seem to have a lot of algae on them. So, I think it's time to SLAM.
The liquid chlorine (13%) is on its way and I wanted to double-check with you guys, whether I understood everything correctly.
Here are some quick numbers/parameters:

• 22.000l overground pool / 4839,324 gallons
• Sand filter pump (a year old), with a capacity of 8m³/h, set to run for 6h/day when the water is clear
• ph is at 7.2 (steady for the past two weeks).
• DPD show that CL (CC?) is between 0,3 - 0,6mg/l as of yesterday (tested with this kind of test: link to picture)
• CYA is at 50
• Which makes my slam level 20 - does that mean maintain FC levels of 20? I only have the above test, is there any way I can calculate the right FC levels.

I am located in Germany, and I would be thankful, if you could name a few trustworthy online shops for pool test kits, chemicals etc., if you know of any.
Thanks for your help.
zyl

Hello! I just got great advice in the "Pumps, Filters, and Plumbing" forum, helping me perform my very first pool repair on my very own, so I thought I'd come back for seconds.

We've had our pool for about four years, and before I took ownership of its maintenance (guided by the all the wisdom to be found here on TFP), the water chemistry was all over the place (due to unreliable and unprofessional cleaning services). During that time, there was a build-up of scale on the tile along the water line and beside the waterfall features.

The water's been 100% balanced for over a year now, and so I figured it's time for me to do some cleaning.

I got some 5% vinegar, bought a brush for my cordless drill, and I went to work. The result? Nothing. Zilch. Absolutely zero progress. I drained my drill's battery and made no noticeable dent in the scale build-up.

I've read that using a solution of muriatic acid might work, but I'm really worried about damaging the tile grout with that. The scale is so baked-on, so stubborn, it feels like the concentration of muriatic acid that would be needed would also do a number on the grout?

Attached is a pic of the scale along one of the waterfall features.

Any advice as to effective an effective methodology and/or cleaning product?

Thank you!

First, my question, I was putting the little drain plug back into the super pump and the head of it snapped off. Any advice on getting it back out?

And I guess another question, is the stuff inside the motor really bad? It looks white and chalky but idk what it is.

So, I definitely should've done this sooner, because I thought I took the whole pump apart, but I guess I missed a step because I think this would've been a red flag.. kind of assuming it's been like this for a while because it's been mine since late 2021 and the pump manufacture date is 9/2019, so I'm guessing it was installed in 2020. I'm a first time owner and just assumed that's what the pump sounded like... I have learned a valuable lesson today.

Hello, fellow TFP'ers!

I've been lurking and researching here for almost a month now in preparation of setting up our pool. I've come to the point where I think it's best I just introduce myself and put any assumptions/questions to rest. My cousin got a new pool this year and gifted us his very well taken care of Intex Ultra 20' x 52" pool with sand filter. The only thing we need to do is get a new liner. Like most with Ultra frames have come to find out, Intex does not make "Ultra parts" anymore. Though, some members have also discovered that many of the parts for various newer models are indeed the same part but some may have some small, minuscule changes such as paint color. Thankfully, I do not need to replace any parts as my cousin took extremely good care of the pool. The one and only part I do need to replace is the liner. In my lurking and searching I've come to the conclusion that the new 20' x 52" liners (only model with 20' x 52" option is the Prism) will fit my Ultra frame but with slightly smaller openings for the tee's AND with two returns for the pump versus a single return on the old Ultra liner.

Am I correct in my conclusion of the new 20' x 52" liners? As well, I recall one member who recommended purchasing the newest model liner to take advantage on the most recent model improvements. Is this correct/wise as well?

I've selected an area that I feel will be the best fit for the pool and that is also one of the more level spots in the yard. There honestly isn't a single 20' diameter spot in the yard that is perfectly level or doesn't have some uneven spots here or there. The spot I did choose does have a 4-5' concave area where I suspect settling had happened long ago over an old septic or drain field area as the home is connected to sewer. In the two options mentioned hereafter, this area would likely be what the area is leveled to OR what will receive a bit more of the crushed rock as a leveling base.

I am going back and forth on which way to go with this spot. Hopefully some of you could be of assistance here and lend some advice or recommendations. One way would be to rent a sod cutter (or throw my back out with a shovel which I really don't want to do) and perfectly level a 20' + area, place the under leg supports, add and compact crushed paver/rock, cover with foam and a pad (coming to the same level as the top of the under leg supports), and then placing the pool. The other way would be to kill off the grass in a 20' + area, place all the under leg supports, level them all together with a water level, and then place crushed paver/rock, compact, lay foam and pad (again all level with the top of the under leg supports), and then place the pool. Both options would then just have some landscape of sorts added around the perimeter to make it look nice and presentable. Thought's or ideas???

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback. It is greatly appreciated and I look forward to engaging with everyone here and the support as we ease into being pool owners!