I have an intellicenter I5p single body w/SCG. It was installed in 2020 and has worked well the past 3 years, but after trying to start the pool up after the winter, the display is blank with no signs of life.
My current level of diagnosis was to confirm I’m getting power to the board. I measured the voltage on the i5P Main Control Board (P/N 522079) and I’m getting 28vac reading on the terminals that are supposed to be 24vac, and I’m getting 20vac on the terminals that are supposed to be 18vac.
I’ve also confirmed I cannot connect to it with my phone with the blank screen.
Looking for advice on how to find the problem and fix it.
I didn’t see anything that looked alarming to me. See photo attached

I was a slow/late convert to SWG. Wish I had done it sooner now!
In year #6, out of the blue, my Circupool RJ-60+ gave the "Cell Not Match" error. Prior to that, the only issue had been that the buttons on the control board became stubborn. When the cell error message came up, none of the control board buttons worked at all.

Calling Discount Salt Pool, their courteous and knowledgeable rep said that the two issues were unrelated. I ordered a replacement touch pad and they sent a PCB adapter. There was no charge for the adapter. Separately, I replaced the cooling fan as I had heard noises over the past few years coming from the control box. After installation, everything is back on-line & functioning properly.

I remove my salt cell every winter and clean it. There are no signs of wear on the plates. I asked the rep if I should bring my control box in for the winter, too, and he didn't think it was necessary. I must say that the insides of the control box appeared to be quality parts and workmanship.

I'm a satisfied Circupool customer. If these fixes hadn't worked, I'd buy another RJ-60+ without hesitation.

Hi all,

The home I just moved into has a ~17,000 gal pool. The pump is a single-speed Sta-Rite Dura-Glas P2RA5E-124L with Century HSQ125 motor (I think it is 230V 1-phase). I'm guessing the pump is around 2 ft above the pool water surface, and the pump is located around 6 ft from the corner of the pool. There is a Hayward C9002 cartridge filter, 1.5" plumbing with three suction lines (L to R in photo): pool drain, skimmer, and vacuum. And no, the pump and piping are not level or plumb. The pump is tilted as much as 5 degrees from horizontal. The suction pipes are not vertical, so I'm guessing the whole mess just settled over the years and it is what it is unless I can fix it with 11-degree fittings or something. The vacuum is a Hayward Navigator Pro W3925ADC. The previous owner had a solar pool heater on the roof, but removed it when they changed shingles. Water is piped from the pump outlet to the filter, then from the filter it goes through the old heater pipes to the left, up to the diverter valve, then back to the right and into the chlorinator before I assume it goes underground and on to the pool returns. There are 5 outlets around the perimeter of the pool. The previous owner was running the pump 3 hours a day, which I suspect is not even close to sufficient and was probably done to save money with the single-speed pump. I would like to replace the pump with a VS model, and was thinking about buying one of the Calimar options since they are supposed to be the same as the B&D (and others) but for much lower cost. I'd still consider the B&D if better or if 2hp is the "right" size for me to use. I was going to just go for the 3hp VS pump, but I read some things about 1.5" pipes that worried me a bit. I would have thought I could just run the pump at lower speeds and then schedule it to run for 2 hours at whatever max speed is needed to equal the current flow rate, then 10 hours at a mid speed and 12 hours at low to keep water circulating 24 hours a day.

I plan to do the work myself, and am also planning to install a salt chlorine generator, possibly a CircuPool Core-35 or Core-45. I'm also planning to remove all of the 2" plumbing that used to go to the solar heaters since it's just creating unnecessary headloss at the moment and gives me more potential locations for leaks in the future. I will also remove the pin timer for the existing pool pump since the VS pumps have their own control panels with 4 speed settings that I can program.

I would really appreciate any recommendations/explanations. Thanks!

Hi All, recently bought this tub and it has shell issues and wondering if it's anything I can have repaired, has anyone ever seen issues like this, the clear coat has gone hazy in places and there are also little spots of bubbling. When you rub your hands on it you can't feel any obvious clear coat issues and it's not flaking or anything, I paid $2500 for it so I really don't mind as it's only 4 years old but just wondering if there is a solution...maybe the previous owner over chlorinated it for a long time to keep it from turning.

Has anyone ever re clear coated a tub before?

Thank you

The Recommended Pool Chemicals topic in Pool Care Basics states:

Free Chlorine (FC)
... TFP recommends using liquid chlorine or a SWG. These three options ...

Is there a third option?

Hi all, we installed solar few years ago and last season when we turned it on the temperature setting is backwards, so In order for it to heat I have to turn the desired temp lower than the pool temp….im not sure how it happened I don’t know why they make this thing so complicated. Does anyone one know what could be the cause? We have the pentair solar touch, I called the company who installed it and they charge a 200$ fee to come out and service it.

As I add more muriatic acid, I'm regularly adding baking soda to keep the alkalinity level. I understand I may need to stop raising the alkalinity and let it drop to 60.

This being said, when you folks mention the alkalinity level, are you talking about the raw measurement or the CYA-corrected one?
With my test kit, I measure 125ppm of Alkalinity. But given that my CYA is 70 (I know, too high, but that's another story), I understand my corrected alkalinity is 125 - 70/3 = 102. Which one should I let drop until 60, the measured one or the corrected one?

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 can't find my receipt for the part number of the valve pictured. I had this installed based on recommendations on this site, when I added a salt cell chlorinator. Recently, my ancient MiniMax died and it was replaced with MasterTemp 440K Ng heater. There was also an Intellivalve installed when I had added the salt cell. Everything was controlled by my Intellicenter.

The new heater installers said they had to cut out the Jandy Never Lube but installed a new one along with reinstalling my Intellivalve.
Next they removed the part pictured, I think it is a check valve, and replaced it with Pentair R177228.

Question, it this, Pentair R177228, a better part than the one I originally had installed based on the advice from this forum? If OK I will let it go, but if not, I need to reorder what I had and have them put it back.

I have been reading, learning, and following the advice here for over a decade.

Thanks for the help.

Christine

Flo switch seems to be stuck cl displayed not working what to do

So first time pool owner, just trying to figure out my actual targets and I have conflicting information.

Our pool is a San Juan fiberglass, we have Pentair SWG, pump, and heater, and I have read the TFP Pool School stuff. Just wanting to see where I should actually try to land.


Based on the above, I am thinking I should be targeting:
FC - 4
TC - 0
pH - 7.6
TA - 100
CH - 300
CyA - 70ish (pool is 75% full sun all day)

With all the moving parts, just trying to make sure I hit a target that makes everything happy. Does this seem about right?

Since my new plaster is past 30 days and water temp is good, planning to start the SWG for first time this week.
My current levels are in poolmath logs (pH 7.5, TA 120, FC 4, CH 200, CYA 30).
Plan is to raise all the chemicals to right levels, test salt level, add more salt based on results.
My SWG comes with salt recommendation level of 3200ppm and CYA of 40. TFP recommends CYA 70-80 for plaster pools. What shall I target?
TA is already out of bound, planning to raise CH to 400 for now.

If I plug in pH 7.5, TA 120, CH 400, CYA 40, Salt 3200, current water temp 73 into poolmath, it shows CSI of -0.04. That sounds good to me. Am I missing anything in this plan?
thanks.

Hi, I have a Jandy aqua pure saltwater generator. The pool pump keeps shutting off and when I opened the control panel this wire looked burnt that’s coming from the salt cell. Does that mean the board is burnt or do I just need to trim off wire and put on a new terminal?

After hearing from you guys about the endless benefits of SWGs, I decided it was time to get on board: I installed a CircuPool RJ60+ this weekend! My wife jokingly calls TFP “the pool cult” — so I guess this switch was the last inevitable step!

Up until now, I’d been a Stenner guy. For any future readers who are on the fence about that conversion, here were my personal pros and cons:

PRO for SWG:

• Long term savings. You just can’t beat the $/ppm. Just ask @Newdude (proof here)!
• Ease of adjustment. I’d discovered that my daily chlorine needs with the Stenner fluctuated more than I had expected. In practice, I ended up FAS-DPD testing at least every other day -- and making occasional small adjustments to the Stenner output. Though not hard, that involved both changing the settings on my wi-fi switch and then [annoyingly] converting the planned “run time” to fractional gallons of bleach (PoolMath really should do that automatically). I’m hoping that the SWG will give me a “sticker” chlorine level -- regardless of clouds or sun. But regardless, future adjustments are now even easier.
• No more schlepping of bleach (well, at least less schlepping)! Last summer my WalMart ran out... just when I needed to refill the Stenner. With a SWG, I won’t have to worry about monitoring, finding, and hauling fresh bleach. The countless containers in the recycling bin also didn't seem to be so planet friendly.

CON against SWG:

• The water is definitely salty. Sure, sure, the salinity is way less than the ocean — human tears, and all that. But there is no question that I can taste the salt. I’m still waiting on the critical feedback on this from my wife and kids!
• Up front cost. This sucks. But the return on investment is a no-brainer.
• I'm curious to see what happens to my pH trend. Things had finally stabilized this year (I was using way less HCl than last season, probably now that my plaster is fully mature).

The DIY installation went smoothly, except for one hiccup: the two pipes on my pad that I’d eyeballed as parallel were not. So my last two PVC 90s didn’t fit! But once I converted those to four 45s, I got enough play to make the connections (and maybe also reduced the head loss).

I gave myself a “bonus” connection for a Stenner port proximal to the SWG cell -- in case I decide to pump acid in the future. But for now, my existing "bleach Stenner" is still connected distal to the SWG (ready for the cold weather or a SLAM).

For future improvement, I might rethink the power source. For now, my SWG is connected to the "Aux Relay 1” on my Jandy VS pump. That means that I need to run my pump at 1725 RPM or more to keep the relay active and the SWG powered. But that was the easy/safe solution to get started.

Anyway, the “RJ" is running and the hydrogen gas is happily bubbling out of my returns!

"CYA later!"

Sampo

Before vs after pictures below.

It's that time again. CYA high, been a few years since the pools was drained. I hate this. I don't want to do a SWG because I don't want to deal with Salt corrosion.

I have a Pentair 320 Chlorinator presently.

So can a few of you folks talk me "into" or "out of" a Bleach pump?

My pool is 12,000 gallons Pebble-TEC in South Florida.

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

27 foot round above ground Ester Williams aluminum pool installed 1985, new liner 1990, so old but well cared for and equipment has been trouble free all these years. Wall has two or three pinholes in one area two inches above ground level and can see some water leaking through. Remainder of wall has some minor signs of corrosion but generally in good shape. Winter cover still on, water level 8 inches below bottom of skimmer. Pulled winter cover back and see no visible sign of damage or leak. Leak appears to be very slow at this time.

Considering adding some water, say one inch at a time to see if leak gets faster. If leak is not too bad would then fill pool and try to use it this season and see how it goes. Would really like to get one or two more years out of it since may be moving after that.

Any ideas and suggestions greatly appreciated.

John

First time poster, long time lurker!

This started a few weeks ago: my heater is making a rather loud clicking sound as if it’s trying to ignite or “click on” even though it’s turned off on the heater itself (and off on my Intellitouch board and app). After 2-3 seconds it makes a loud “click off” sound. Several minutes go by and it will repeat this cycles.

Has anyone run in to this?

Other conditions:
This seems to happen more frequently when the pump isn’t running — I have it running every day from 11am - 5:30pm; it’s more frequent at night (when the ambient temperature here is warmer than the morning fwiw)
For a few days the heater wasn’t respecting the set temp in my intellitouch, I flipped the breaker to power cycle it and it seems to be following the intellitouch now. Previously the heater was chasing the set point on its display (which should be the max temp) vs the set point in intellitouch
After that restart I had a “fault check flow” error which I was able to correct with a slightly higher RPM going from 1800 to 1850; the error didn’t return
I have a new filter arriving Friday.
I have a ghost in my intellitouch that randomly schedules the lights to come on from 8am - 5pm; while under warranty Pentair hasn’t successfully sent anyone out despite 2 service tickets
Pentair DID send someone to flash my pump firmware when I called them about that issue a couple years ago based upon what I read in this massively helpful forum
I live in cold winters of foothills to cascade mountains in Washington State and keep the pool full all year, heated to 45 degrees and run the pump so it doesn’t freeze. So I’m putting more strain on the heater than 2 years of ownership and service might imply.

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,
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!

I just had a semi inground pool installed. I don’t know how to build the deck around it to make it easy to get to the pool liner. I need the pool liner to be easily assessable when it’s time to change it.

So pool math and the cya fc chart recommend 60-90 cya for swg. The Jandy manual for the swg says to stay between 30-50. Just wondering if anybody has a recommendation. I generally like to follow the manufacturer specs, but I know there is a reason that a higher level is recommended here.

I'm trying to redo the waste line off of my multi-valve. My tubing is pretty heavy PCV (I think) 2" layflat. I've tried several different barb fittings but they all leak. I even when to the tractor supply store that used to sell the layflat. They had a fitting that felt right and had two barbs, one at the end and one halfway up. I've tried building up the barb with vinyl tape and used some decent claps too but they all leak past the barbs.
I messed up what I had working, trying to make it better. It's a thick wall piece of PVC that fits in the layflat, but now it's leaking when I put it back together.

I'll learn one day to leave well enough alone, but for now is there a specific type/model/brand of fitting that for a hose end for layflat?

So I kicked the Pool Store to the curb and took everything over mid last year. Just opened pool 2 days ago, water was Green as it is every year, could not see the bottom. Water Temp 56. I put in 2 bottles of Algae 60, 1 bottle Pool Magnet, 1 bottle Scale Inhibitor. Seems like I always have to put a lot of Liquid Shock in at start of season, so I put in 16 Gallons. Tested it 24 Hours later and Chlorine was down to basically zero, PH below 6 (lowest my test kit goes), and CYA which was at about 75 at end of last year is below 30 (lowest on my test kit). Had 13 Gallons of Liquid shock left so I put those in last night. This morning chlorine is zero again. Should I first be putting in some Borax to raise PH instead of trying to get a chlorine residual? And what about my CYA being that low. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Had some slightly cloudy water and our pool service wasn't able to resolve it and stumbled upon TFP! Has been great to dive into the details and learn a ton from all of the resources here. Going through my first SLAM currently, started about 2 days ago. At the beginning measured pH: 7.3, CYA: 70 which gave me a SLAM level of 28. Been maintaining that and water cleared up pretty quick with pump running 24/7, brushing a couple times a day and maintaining SLAM levels.

One piece that's confusing is when it's good to swim again. The SLAM post says "Our SLAM FC levels are designed to break down contaminants quickly while posing no risk to the pool or anyone swimming in it" and "though your free chlorine levels may seem high, you can safely swim in your pool so long as you can see the bottom." Where I've read in some other threads statements like FC levels too high to swim...

So if following the SLAM process for CYA of 70, and the pool has now cleared up, should I wait until FC drops back down to normal levels?

I would like to install two of these thermometers into the inlet/outlet piping of my heat pump. It appears that the tip of thermometer gets pushed through the nylon insert and sits into the plastic well. The long end of the thermometer is round and the hole in the nylon nut is square and requires some force to seat it. By doing so, there is no direct water contact on the thermometer tip. Is this designed that way so the heat transfer from the plastic tube is enough to give an accurate reading on the thermometer?

I have a brand new SW pool- unfortunately the SWG initially installed was a dud and pool builder will not be able to install a new one until Monday. In the meantime he seems to have shocked it last week when it was fileld, and stuck a couple of chlorine pucks in the baskets that are there now but it's not going to bring the pool to the correct levels obviously.

Here are my current Taylor kit results:

FC- .5
CC- .5
TA- 90
Calcium- 200ppm
CYA- 0
PH- looked to be 7.6 on color test

My plan is
remove pucks from filter baskets
add HDX bleach - TFP app says 1qt, 3cups, 3oz
add CYA with stocking in filter baskets- app says 11 pounds to target level of 70



I'm most worried about the CYA- I see the preferred method is a sock in the basket or in front of the returns, but it seems like once this level is changed it's a no going back sort of thing so I want to make sure I'm on the right track

The pool will be heated starting Monday and I'm unclear on how much temperature will affect what I'm doing and if the addition of the CYA and bleach will throw the TA and PH out of whack and I'll need to plan for that if it's a wait and retest later situation?

After adding CYA how long do I wait to retest levels? How long do I need to wait before using the pool robot after adding chemicals?

I'm in no way affiliated with the brand, just wanted to share my experience. I just got my dolphin E30 back from warranty service. They fixed the issue, replaced the power cord, gave me new rollers, and filter screens. This cleaner has been in my pool and run almost everyday for 2 years.

I don't know what the issue was, but the machine would not pass its startup tests and would shut down before actually cleaning anything. I tried the at home troubleshooting and nothing would fix it. The warranty process was easy, but I did have to pay for shipping the robot to them.

I hope it lasts another 2 years, and I wouldn't hesitate to to buy another Maytronics machine. I did order this machine from home Depot originally.

Happy summer everyone.

Recently had my IntelliCenter installed and they set it up for the pump to run 24/7 with a higher speed during the day. I have been running my swg 24/7 and relearning how to keep it dialed in because of the swings in FC at night. However I have found it easier to just run in at a higher % during the day and have the swg off at night. It is more predictable. I would like for my pump to stay running 24/7 though and then run the swg at 40% for 10 hours during the day. Is there a way to program that then have the percentage go to 0% at night?