Hi All,
The multiport valve in my system is leaking a small amount of water from the top. It appears as though the handle is not seating when moved. Considering that it's over 30 years old, I can't complain about it. I'm getting a considerable amount of air bubbles going through the system. Questions I have

Are the air bubbles caused by the valve? (I've gone through other possible causes and not solved it)
Can the valve be fixed?
Would I be better off replacing it? There is a Pentair valve on Amazon that looks like what I have.

I've attached a couple of pics for reference.

Thanks

I am going to start keeping a log of my CYA here to determine what if anything is up. I have gone and bought the expensive CYA from Doheny.

CYA is 70. I am going to bump it up to 80 today and then measure over the next several weeks.

Hello, everyone!
I'm back with questions.

I am suddenly reading zero CYA in school pool.
Date: FC: CYA:
April 29. 7.5. 40
April 30 7.5. 30
+1.5 gal bleach
April 30 13.0
April 30. 13.5
May 1. 13.5
May 1. 11.5. 35
+0.5 gal bleach
May 3. 13.5. 40
May 6. 6.5 40
May 8. 7.5. 0

On May 7, I reloaded CYA reagent. First, I tested dad's pool and got no CYA reading, which was reasonable for the pool that became complete mess after flooding (his area got 10" of rain). So I didn't think anything was off.

But then I also get the same result at school pool, which looked nice and clean through all this time.

Do you all think that it is a bad reagent or that I suddenly got a problem in school pool that causes CYA to truly dissappear? If latter, what is it and how do I fix it?

Thank you!
Ig
Pool log: PoolMath Logs

P. S. I'm currently in third attempt at SLAMing the pool. Previous attempts were interrupted by torrential rains.
P. P. S. Dad's "complete pool mess" included solid green walls, liner that floated up and off the retainer ledge, water receding below skimmers, etc. We're still working on it.

I have 2 variable speed pumps that run during spa operation. Both pumps run around 2800rpm and are located approximately 10’ from my spa. With one pump running it’s mildly annoying but with both running it’s moderately distracting and takes away from the relaxation of the spa. Furthermore, it’s loud enough that normal tones of voice are tough to hear which results in louder voices which sucks for my neighbors. Does anyone have any remedies besides a large fence/wall/gate in front of it? Unfortunately, I don’t have room for a brick wall to close it off. Don’t mind spending money to fix the problem, but there just aren’t a lot of great options out there from what I can find. Any companies that build custom sound absorbing enclosures that still allow for proper airflow through the pump motor? I’ve seen different versions of THESE but they don’t really have any sound absorbing qualities.

Thanks!

I had a fiberglass pool installed with a SWG and a cartridge filter. The pool company left it sitting for weeks with water in it before they hooked all of the equipment up. It looked like the scariest of swamps with crazy stuff growing on the surface. They got my water blue but never clear. It’s currently so cloudy that I can only see a few feet down but it is blue. The levels all tested in range on my Taylor kit and at the pool store. I tried a clarifier that didn’t really do much. I’ve been vacuuming, running the filter constantly, and scrubbing walls but nothing seems to help. I’m not sure what else to do.

Had a giant thunderstorm come through last night. Got home from work today (I leave before sun up) and the pump wasn’t running and my pool was full of dirt. I checked it out and the fuse was flipped. I reset it and fired it up to back wash. The pump immediately started smoking. As for the dirt in the pool, it washed in from the side yard. Poor drainage. Now I’ve got a swamp of a pool and a presumably dead pump. My go to guy says he can’t get here until early next week. What can I do in the meantime to decrease further problems? So far I’ve just added some liquid chlorine, skimmed the floating debris, and am running my crawler.

My pool was finished about 18 months ago. I have an in ground floor cleaning system and for the most part it works great, but wanted a little more coverage, so I bought a cheap robot, Apier Seagull about 8 months ago for about $200 to help with some of the dead spots. I have been noticing a bit of white sand in the robot basket almost every time I use it. If I go longer without using it (say a week), I notice more sand. Note that I do not have a sand filter. I have a cartridge filter. This is a gunite/pebble tec pool and I am pretty sure it is not related to that - the sand looks to be the same sand the masons used for all the stonework around the pool. How likely is it that I would have a leak in one of the pipes which would pull in sand from around the pipe? My pool builder claims that the pressure in the line would push the sand away, not let it fall in. Also note that the equipment is about the middle of the water line, so it is always under pressure, even when the pumps are not running.

Any thoughts on this? Is the only way to confirm this by having someone come out and do an ultrasonic test? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

My IC40 is erratic.
Actual flow in the pool is excellent. Filter is clean.
New flow switch added. Fins in the IC40 are open.
Unit blinks on salt yet salt measures 3800 ppm.
Flow light will not turn green and no chlorine is being generated.
The unit is five years old. (Originally I had three years.)
Any further suggestions as what to do/try?
Troy

There’s so much info coming at new pool owners. I went with the frog which I may not do again next year but this year while I’m learning (and because the installers put it in) I’m keeping it. But that doesn’t mean that I have to go low with my FC or CYA does it?
Also so much rain today. I bought a bottle of regular household bleach. I was gonna pour half in (6,500 gallons) just because the water had been sitting for a week (was waiting on electrician) and the frog just started working yesterday. I’ll pour it in front of the jet.
Any reason not to?
Also I bought the Taylor test kit k1004 but it doesn't seem to have a CYA test. Is there a trick to that or do I have to buy a new Taylor test kit. (2006 I think)

I am a new pool owner. I am putting up an above ground vinyl pool that holds 3,995 gallons. What test kit is the easiest straight forward one to use? Also what products will I need besides liquid chlorine?

Hi I have the easytouch and am currently using 4 of the valve outputs (solar, spa, etc). Is there no easy way of expanding to a 5th valve? I saw a post about adding a relay but would prefer having an add-on board which it seems they sell for intellicenter. I have a new robot the Polaris Maxx and it seems to need me to run pump at 2900 rpm and all on robot return without any skimmer otherwise it won't climb the walls and get sufficient suction. So i'm thinking about adding a valve there. Does it seem reasonable to need to run at 2900 rpm for about 25gpm? Usually when i use the skimmer there is a lot less friction and i get about 28-30gpm at 2400 rpm which is typical.

I've also found that when i switch to robot suction instead of through skimmer, there was some air getting into the pump basket window. i disassembled each valve and replaced orings and also found the drain plug on the pump not tight so i tightened it. but when i run on robot only mode there seems to be air in the window and i'm not sure what is acceptable and expected and if i haven't fully gotten rid of all my return line leaks. THinking i have found them, makes me head towards adding a 5th valve which i'm pretty sure i need to do. I do like the polaris maxx it climbs the walls and cleans the waterline really well when i get the right rpm/gpm but that requires disabling skimmer and i'd rather not manually do this, thus the 5th valve discussion. I was going to see if two valves maybe are oppsites and could be combined with one valve output but haven't gotten into the details of that yet or if there is a valve output controller splitter etc. maybe wishful thinking, i haven't mapped out my valves to see if that would even be helpful. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thank you.

We've had our inground salt pool up and running in Florida for roughly a year now and have not had to deal with any water chemistry issues outside of normal maintenance (reducing pH w/ muriatic acid as needed, adding salt, CYA, hardness increaser, etc). We've been using the WaterGuru Sense2 for about the same length of time so have been referencing that in addition to Taylor testing as needed. Running our salt cell at 11-14% has generally kept us at a good level for FC (between 2-3.5) and have not had a need to shock the pool to date.

Over the last week or so however we've seen our FC levels start to freefall, reading 3.0 on May 2nd and then starting to fall off daily to 0.4 today (May 10th). We bumped the salt cell percentage from 15-20% yesterday and still saw a drop from 0.7 to 0.4. I've checked the salt cell and there's no error code, all indicator lights show as good, and the interior is clean with no scaling. Only other change made was to reduce the run time of our water features (bubblers and bowls) from 4 hours in the evening weekdays/11 hours weekends to about 30 minutes in the morning when we have everything run at a higher speed for about 2 hours. Doing so was an effort to reduce the pH climbs and save some energy by running at a lower speed (features require higher rpm). Pump generally runs at about 1500rpm now for most of the day outside of the morning high flow period.

Below are the measurements from today (both Taylor and Water Guru) as well as the last 7 days of FC, pH, temp, and flow from WaterGuru and 1 month of FC specifically.

-----------Taylor--------WaterGuru
FC---------0.4---------------0.4
pH---------7.6---------------7.7
TA 90(25ml)/100(10ml)----139
CH---------310--------------267
CYA--------30----------------32
Salt - 3300 (aqualink)

At this point there are three main things to correct that I see - FC, CYA and TA. My question is what order to tackle them in and how. I purchased some granulated shock this morning (1lb Shock MaxBlue sodium dichlor), which I've seen with raise CYA, with the thought of trying to bump the FC quickly. Should I start with the shock and then adjust CYA further as needed? Or should I be looking to add granulated, liquid, or tab chlorine instead with CYA and skip the shock? Should both of those levels be stabilized before tackling the TA (which I'm unsure as to how to handle aside from "aerating")?

Aside from addressing and correcting levels, any thoughts as far as what the issues with the AquaPure and chlorine generation might be? Very much appreciate the help as we've not had to deal with something like this previously!

Hi there, I recently purchased a new home that has a pool. It was a new house ad for some reason the pool builder put in an EasyTouch panel that I'm just now learning seems pretty old/obsolete. I've got it connected up to my internet and am able to do some very basic controls using the "Pentair ScreenLogic" app on my iPhone. It's pretty clunky and I'm still trying to keep straight what Aux 1-4 actually do in my new pool. I have several questions that are probably answered elsewhere and so I apologize if I've just not been to find them, but here goes:

1. Is the main pool pump usually controlled form here? My understainding now is that my Aux 1 is for my pool robot, Aux 2 is spa jets, Aux 3 is spa blower. Is the main pool pump usually an AUX circuit? How do I control it's schedule?
2. Is there some way to name my "features" something more useful?
3. Measuring the the temperature seems really awkward. It doesn't seem to update on it's own, only when I turn the heater on. There's a chart for temperature history, but it just always shows everything at 55 degrees.
4. When I tap on Pool or Spa, the screen is confusing. What does the button at the top do (it says Pool or Spa)? When I tap on it it turns green.
5. There's another app called IntelliCenter2 that looks so much better, but I'm guessing that is not compatible with my system, correct?
6. I've heard of SLConfig but haven't really tried it yet. Should I be trying that instead or in addition to this app?

I'm trying to get my builder to help me but he's been really slow to respond so I'm trying to figure this all out on my own.

Hello. I am experiencing the same issue . Taylor 2006c test kit. At about the 29ish mark, the color is decidedly purple. At around the 35-40 mark - then I notice it turns blue. Can I count the point where it turned blue as my CH hardness or is the fact that it is going from red to purple and then blue indicating that my results aren't accurate? Also - I saw you all mention the speedstir...do you use this only for CH or for all tests that you do? Thanks!

We're upsizing our AGP and I'm contemplating going back to SWG. On our 12' we used the Intex SWG and it seemed great until it stopped working. I replaced the plates twice and it never seemed to produce the way it did when new. It's entirely possible that it was operator error but I digress. I've since learned about the extra chemistry things to watch out for as well as the routine maintenance of the plates but I maintain, it just never seemed to work as well as from new.

The real hesitation I have with going back to SWG is that the first pool really deteriorated rapidly and I feel like the salt water was to blame. We ended up taking the pool down in 2022 because I noticed one of the connectors was completely rusted out at the top on both sides. Upon disassembly of the pool I discovered that the entire pool was virtually freestanding! So many of the connections were rusted right out or just barely hanging on.

I plan to install the "gap covers" on this new pool so that will minimize splash out and in turn minimize water contact with the pipes AND I'll be pre-coating the connection points with an extra layer or two of rust paint but I'm still hesitant. I know many of you here use SWG without issue and I wonder if you've maybe got some extra maintenance steps that you take like rinsing the pipes after splashing? I did enjoy the hands free SWG life and the soft water but also, adding a cup of Chlorine each day was pretty easy too. Thing is, this pool is considerably larger so that "cup of chlorine" could be 2 or 3 cups a day which will start to add up. That said, it could be a moot point since I'd likely need to run an SWG longer (so run the pump longer) and with electricity prices as they are around here these days maybe chlorine would be cheaper!

Hi,
Today I started getting service code 170 and the pool pump isn't working anymore. Attaching pics of the wiring board.

Can someone please suggest what do I need to replace to resolve the error code 170? As per the manual, error code 170 indicates "Possible Front board service condition or unit not correctly wired to 120 VAC."

Searching through the forum, my understanding is that I need to replace the salt sensor but I don't know where that is! My salt cell isn't working so we have been using chlorine tablets for the past one year. Is there a way to not use salt cell system, and start the pool again?

Appreciate any help! Thank you!

Haven't seen a definitive answer here. Everything for AGPs talk about 6" below the skimmer which Intex AGPs don't have of course. I am thinking to just gravity drain below the lowest port, which is draining about 12". Does that seem reasonable? Thank you!

Hello everyone,

I found out I have a small leak on the tube going upward from my pomp to my filter. I try putting it tighter but it didn't help. Looking at the installation, it seems there's some kind of silicone that was applied at the installation. How do I fix this?

Thank you!

Hi all, one more thread here... Pulled out the solid Intex pool cover that came with the pool for the first time -- have used a solar cover for the entirety of our first season with this puppy. I was dismayed to see it has some nickel-sized holes punched into it. I searched around and didn't see much by way of any definitive answers -- is this ok to use as a winter cover? I have considered duct taping the holes or supplementing the cover with a leaf net, but OTOH, most of the leaves in my vicinity wouldn't even fit in these holes for the most part, so I am leaning toward just running with this thing as it is. I'll appreciate any thoughts and input.

Thanks in advance!

Happy Friday All,
I switched my above ground pool over to a SWG about 2 years ago and now I am finding rust specs in the water and rust spots on the liner. This is coming from the stabilizer rails. I do not know the extent of the rust just yet as I am still working to get the pool opened up so I havent pulled off the rail caps to see what it looks like. I would like to find something made of a composite material that would hold up to a salt water pool or is steel my only option? Would painting the rails help any (obviously after removing the rust) ? Appreciate any input anyone may have!!

Have a great day!!
Tom

We noticed these wrinkles forming from our integrated steps and moving towards our skimmer box towards the end of last season.
We contacted our builder (pool was just over a yr old at that point), and they took photos. They returned today for more photos to send to the GLI rep.

Any clue what could be causing these?
Our chemistry has been pretty spot on (thanks to this great group at TFP), and we do not have any leaks (no water level drop from when we noticed to opening this year).

Hey there!! I have an intex 15x48 stock c1000 pump and the delux skinmer.

Pool is full of water, got the pump on. The return (blowing water) is great. I bought the skimmer put it on and there is no suction now.
Do i plug an intake? Yes i installed the skimmer correctly. It’s about an inch half under water the blue thing is bobbing. It’s on the furthest intake and stretched out a little. No suction at all not even a light amount. The filter is slightly dirty from the few hours i used it before installing the skimmer.

Also another question pool is full need to put chemicals in. I bought test trips and by reading these forums i have been told i need a taylor kit. Until i get that my strip said very low bromine very low chlorine and very hight alkalinity and ph. ( obvis nothings in it yet) i got a floater and 3 inch tabs. I got some ph down and some liquid chlorine.
What else do i need? Any specific brand.

Do i need to shock since the alkalinity is so high?

Thank you in advance.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and just took over my pool for the first time. A few weeks ago my testing at Leslie‘s showed a CYA of 180. Did a partial drain that resulted in a revised CYA of 120. Did another partial drain, and subsequently learned about TFP. I purchased the TF pro test kit today and here are my results:
CYA 75, FC 4, CC 0.5, CH 700, pH 8, TA 130

Obviously, I can add chlorine and baking soda to adjust the FC and TA levels, respectively, but it also looks based on my high CYA and CH levels that I need to do another partial drain. Does that seem right? Ugh I really hope not. If I do, should I even bother with the chlorine and baking soda today or should I just start with the partial drain??

If I do need to drain, can I drain and then refill or do I need to instead fill at the same time as draining to keep the water levels up? this time of year the temperatures are low of 60 and high of 90. I have a pebble tech (plaster) pool that Leslie’s (I know I know the devil) says is OK to drain even when it’s hot, but it’s 20 years old so I’m very nervous about damaging it. Hence the partial I have done in the last few weeks. The last two times I’ve done it, I have drained a little more than half of the pool overnight taking about 14 hours and then refilled it with two hoses, taking about seven hours. It’s starting to get a bit warm out, though, so wondering if I should, drain from the deep end and refill from the shallow end?? Any advice would be very appreciated!

I have a pool with a very complex shape (hopper style) and received very detailed instructions on using the TA test and precisely adding baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) to raise TA or acid to lower it and using the new TA (total alkalinity) achieved to back figure the pool volume but I don't understand how this can work. I appreciate the instructions but something must be missing since no specific starting PH or TA is required. The tests do suggest running the pump at least 3 hours after addition but in my experience depending upon the PH or TA of the water initially one impacts the other. In my case acid demand seems high and its impact on TA seems lower than expected. It would seem using an addition of calcium chloride and measuring the increase in calcium hardness would be immune to such interaction and a better test for measuring pool volume so I hope someone will explain this to me.

But recently I did have far less increase in CH after adding over 40 pounds of calcium chloride so I would appreciate instruction on what I may have done wrong. I dumped it directly into the pool and brushed away any flakes that reached the bottom. It appeared to have totally dissolved. I did not back flush the filter for 5 days but I did run my Dolphin pool cleaner. I now wonder if the vacuum bag of my Dolphin cleaner could possibly have collected un-dissolved calcium chloride I could not see but as soluble as it is supposed to be I would have thought the massive amount of water moving through the bag would have finished dissolving any it might have picked up.

I did do this during a SLAM with elevated chlorine if that can have any impact. Thanks

I am opening my pool this year to pure green crud, so I had to SLAM right out of the gate. 24hrs in and things are much better. Water is clear, but lots of settled-out dust/algae on the bottom. More brushing and vacuuming today, for sure. And changing up the skimmer socks 6 times a day. Skimmer socks, man, they're awesome.

My question is, I am about to install my new Circupool Core55 unit. My salt test kit is arriving today. Since I am in the middle of a SLAM, should I wait until my FC is back down to "normal" levels before I test for residual salt in my pool? Does high FC affect salt drop test results?

Thanks!

I've been rummaging through all the old postings on the troublesome ancient MiniMax NT ... This one was working "fine" until massive rains, now:

On the 6800 analog dial control panel ...
* Shows TFUSE light
* Does NOT show a PV light
** I checked the vacuum sensor and tubing, seems to work as expected
** *Might* have a gas supply issue-- can't smell any gas

All switches and sensors replaced recently. I realized the blower speed is slower than it was originally, don't hear an ignition attempt at all, blower just keeps blowing at a less volume than it used to ... currently thought is more likely to be blower capacitor or ignition module than the actual gas valve. I was close to tearing out the burner tray and all that to clean it, but maybe somebody has a different idea based on the blower running slow?

I live in Andalucia in Spain where summer temperatures can reach 35 ° C – 40 ° C (95 ° F - 105 °F).

I have a concrete pool 6m x 4m (20ft x 13ft), 170cm (5’6”) at deep end, of which 30cm (1ft) is below ground.

Originally painted the walls & floor are now covered with mosaic tiles.

The water leaches about 4cm (1½”) per day indicating that the pool is leaking 2cm – 3cm (1”) per day.

We have removed the mosaic floor tiles to reveal a substantial crack & some minor cracks. Along the line of the crack the concrete has failed & is like wet sand.

Elsewhere there are large areas where the tiles could be easily removed from the cement to reveal the presence of green algae.

So it would appear that the grout had become porous too.

I plan to refurbish the floor & to paint it.

Initially I will dig out the crack and re-fill with concrete, reinforced with rebars.

I’d like then to re-surface the floor & to seal it.

What would people recommend?

Any other thoughts?

Trying to figure out what the upper end limit is on microbrites which are advertised as 12 vac lights.

The manual says :

When using longer runs of cables or multiple lights per transformer, it is recommended to use the 13 VAC or 14 VAC tap on the transformer.

Click to expand...

I tested my new transformer output and it's showing 14.4 VAC. My larger original pentair transformer outputs 12.5 vac and 13.5 vac. The microbrite manual calls out being able to use 14vac on long runs due to wire resistance and voltage drop; but I'd like to know if 14vac at the actual light is acceptable since I don't want to cut the wire and measure the voltage at the light itself.

Anyone reading this that has used Microbrites at 14vac or can provide input?

My spillover spa has a dedicated Hayward pump with a Century motor. The pump badge is too faded to get any information from, but I'm pretty sure it's an old Super. The motor is about ten years old judging from the previous owner's notation with a paint pen on the motor.

Lately when I turn it on, it's not starting up on the first attempt. It can take as many as four or five tries before it starts moving water. I can hear a "thwack" in the motor when it gets power, and then a pronounced hum, but no circulation. After a few attempts, it's been kicking on after a pause and running fine until I turn it off.

Before I start posting pictures and checking voltages, centrifugal weights, v-switch contacts, etc., does anyone care to venture a guess as to what symptoms like this usually indicate? A failing bearing maybe? I know just enough about pumps to be dangerous, so before I crack into the thing, I'd be grateful, as always, to get some input from the TFP hive mind... and maybe a save me a few back-and-forth trips to the tool chest and laptop while I'm trying to figure out what's going on.

So unfortunately both my unions cracked and I need new ones asap.

Do I need to by the branded genuine unions from Raypak or would any 2 inch connector slip union work?

I attached a photo of the Raypak ones which are $60 bucks, but I believe I can just pick up unbranded generic ones that would fit. Anyone have experience with this? And can verify it?

Which would you recommend?

Thanks so much!