I'm planning to build a deck and have to move my pool equipment. The heater is broken so I'm just focusing on the variable speed pump and sand filter. I'm planning to attach 2" PVC schedule 40 and extend my drain and 2 skimmer lines about 20 feet. My pool equipment now is sunken in and causes rain water to flow towards the house. I don't want to put in a new pad in the existing location and the new deck doesn't leave any room for this equipment. I'm based in central NJ and have a 35k gallon 20x40 vinyl pool. Was planning to dig a 18 inch trench and leave it exposed until I open the pool in June just incase there are any leaks. Any tips or suggestions from this group? Appreciate any advice.

I'm going from black poly to PVC. Would you cut the black poly and insert a 1.5" barbed adapter, run the pvc to the new location and get new unionized ball valves? Any sites you would suggest to purchase from?

What's the best method to remove pipe fittings from the pump? I'd really like to replace the tiger striped pipes but the fittings are glued to the pump.

Thanks for your help!

How many times per day can I add Muriatic Acid? I'm seeing scaling on the beach ledge wall and the steps. I know CYA is low and added 1.5 cups of dry stabilizer today but am coming off of CYA over load from last year and adding a little at a time... thanks in advance for your help

FC 4.0
Combined C .2
PH 7.7
TA 175
CYA 30
CH 440
CSI .53
Water temp 75 F

Help!! Went to drain hottub. Make sure you push drain 1/2 in to let the water actually drain. Still didnt work so i siphoned water out by hose. Next water here in Canada 50F, so cold system wouldnt heat til i blew dried the heater element for 10 mins. If you’re worried about an air lock remove filter and see if this helps jets run smoothly. If you cannot access entire panel turn your salt system to 1. Now that front cover. Had hubby take off and bleed airlock (which there wasn’t) . About to attempt to replace now. What a FLAW!! Thought I’d share what I’ve learnt.

So i've been online researching everything. and i'm stuck so now i'm here looking for real world opinions.

Pool size 40' x 20' - approximately 36000 gallons
No large debris in pool typically, nothing like someone with trees hanging overhead - no trees close by but we do get occasional leaves or rose pedals etc

i currently have a hayward filter/pump combo. pump is a single speed 2hp i think tristar....6 years old already fixed once. i am traditional chlorine now. moving to salt.

just ordered the new core-contorl55 from circupool and their 3hp VS pump. I'm considering adding in an AquacalS220 while i'm doing all of this work as well.

I was ready to do all of this and never considered my standard Hayward Pro-Grid Veritcal DE filter (48 sq ft). DO I CHANGE THIS???

The biggest issue i have every year is POLLEN. There is a critical two week window early in the season where we get pollen storms basically and it covers my pool. this wreaks havoc on the pool, filter system, and chemistry for usually a few weeks.

DO I get rid of the hayward DE filter also and potentially go with the CIRCUPOOL COMBO? The typhoon pre-filter and their largest size cartridge filter? I can't find much real world feedback on how people like these....definitely can't find info on if the typhoon can capture pollen...that would be great even to add just to my hayward filter.

Is that also an option? Typhoon added to my system but keep my current hayward filter system? I would love to have to backwash less....especially now going to a variable speed pump, little more worried about that than my current single speed with a simple on/off switch.

Sorry for the long thread but that's everything i'm going through...i've LOVE opinions on everything i'm considering but i know this is a filter/pump thread....so i wanted to focus there for this thread

Thanks!

Hi,

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post but I need some advice.

We have decided now is finally the time to get a pool. My family (wife and 1 kid) want a pool for fun and relaxation. My kid absolutely loves swimming but gets cold very quickly.
My wife wants a pool she can swim in, not laps (we can't fit a lap pool).
I want something to relax in. I like to submerge myself and listen to music.

We have 2 areas of our backyard to choose for the location.
Our preferred location is directly off our back deck. This would be great as you would be able to walk straight out from our living area and into the pool. We currently have a garden bed retaining wall here which would need to be removed. Another challenge with this spot is our sewer line placement which is 1.4m deep. I have had a few installers out to quote and was told the zone of influence means the pool needs to be 1.4m away from the sewer line.
In this location it limits the width of the pool we can use (if fibreglass). If we go a concrete pool I actually have a quote for pretty much our dream pool - but i don't want the hassle of a concrete pool which i understand to be (extra chemicals, harder to heat and shorter warranty). This area is also sloped which complicates things especially for a fibreglass pool.


The other area of our yard is much easier to place a pool. We can fit a 7 × 4 fibreglass pool there. It's still a good location but not what the wife wants.

I guess my main questions to help me decide what to do are;
Is a concrete pool really much more work?
Is the width of a pool more important than length in terms of feeling spacious?

We are looking to use the rebound process for our pool steps. Looking to see how it is holding up for people after a few years. Are you still happy with the results? I live on Long Island. I'm not hearing all good reports. I'm being told by the installer it will last for up to 20 years. Rebound indicates a 5 year warranty and it will fade similar to a liner. Although it is cheaper than new steps it is still costly. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

See attached pics. I assume this is crystallized calcium. Customer called me about this. Other company did an acid wash and closed up the pool and I'm afraid they did nothing to balance the chemistry. (have not been out to test chemistry yet, but obviously it is off).

From research, seems like some folks have buffed or polished it out. On the last image, you can see the fuzzy crystalline structure extending off the step.

Last fall when I closed my pool, after lowering the water level, I noticed that the ring that supports the skimmer basket was loose. Looking around it's edges, it appears the ring is starting to separate from the main body. Should any action be taken before raising the water level. I spent some time studying the ring and see that it appears to just sit in place, and possibly manufactured separate from the skimmer. Should I epoxy / Schmear? It appears like the skimmer body is intact and watertight. The ring is still attached in some areas, so was thinking an in place repair would be best as not to make the problem any worse (I.E. I don't want to break it fully loose). It would be hard to fully work in the fill between the two surfaces. I'm not real familiar with these, so would appreciate any thoughts from the community. Thanks in advance.

Video:
Login to view embedded media
Pictures:

Hey folks!

I have heard great things about this forum from Reddit so wanted to join the community. I am a first time pool owner as it came with our first home purchase last summer and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. I was able to maintain quality water last summer thanks to the previous owner keeping the pool in great shape and showing me some of the ropes before we moved in. A bit about my pool below if anyone has tips I should consider. I'll be opening the pool for the first time this year so I'll have a lot of questions.

Region: Quebec, so the climate is humid summers and frozen winters.
Above Ground - about 7,630 Gallons
Vinyl Liner
Salt Water Generator
Sand Filter
Heater
Skimmer and Bottom Drain

What has always confused me is the competing opinions or information about what chemicals I need. I plan to open the pool in the next couple of weeks, water is sorta clear but definitely has some green to it. I have a pool chemical opening kit the previous owner left me I plan to put in, along with the Pool Salt.

Do I need algaecide for a SWG pool or will the SWG and Filter/Backwash/Vacuum be the only thing I need? Someone mentioned putting liquid chlorine at the start to give a shock boost but I haven't seen anything to back that up, and it seems like shocking a salt water pool is a bad idea?
Is CYA something I need to put in a salt water pool? I heard conflicting opinions on this, particularly because its a vinyl liner?
I plan to use Borax and Baking Soda as my chemicals to level out alkalinity and ph, is this advised?

Let me know if these questions should be posted elsewhere on the forum.

Cheers!

Hi everyone,
So when we went to change out the little circular pool valve that we substitute in during the winter to put in the eyeball jet back in for the summer, we could not get it out.
So we just opened the ‘shutter’ type coverings on the winterizing ball so that there’s an opening for the jet, but I’m not sure if that’s gonna cause any problems?
Thanks!

Added salt couple days ago to get me to a level to fire-up SWG (min 2600 and added what I had on hand to hit 2800).. need to get one more 40# bag to get me to target 3200 and picking that up today at Ace store (along with 4 more bags to keep on-hand). Allowed salt to circulate for 48 hours before powered on SWG.

However, after my SWG has ran for about 12 hours, it is showing a reading of 3180.

So my question, do I let the SWG go by it's reading and don't bother adding the additional salt?

Back in 2021 @Chuck_Davis asked for anyone with experience with inverter technology heat pumps (HERE) He got one reply, suggesting they are smoke and mirrors. Lately it seems many brands are flooding the market and making some interesting claims – of COP up to to 15, even 30, etc. Some argue that you can efficiently heat a pool in 40 degreeF weather.

One can read more about how it works, but simply stated they use variable speed compressors and fans together with controls to achieve energy savings. There is more detail offered in an HPAC article here. Rectify the incoming AC voltage, invert it to 3 phase variable frequency and you have continuously variable compressors and fans that claim to save energy like a variable speed or two-speed pool pump achieves. I even had a recent refrigerator using the technology – but it averaged similar efficiency to the 15 year old fridge I have in my garage.

Still, we all know we get great energy savings from the variable speed and two speed pool pumps. Since the pumps use far more energy at the higher speeds we save substantially even if we run the pumps for far longer periods, even 7x24 at lower speed saves substantially. For example I save about $40/month running my 2 speed on low for 11 hours/day, versus the old 1 speed at 8 hours. All that is fine and dandy, and so obvious that local governments often mandate use of two-speed or VS pumps when replacing a pool pump.

So, can you get that kind of savings on the pool heaters that consume tons of energy? Or even on heat pumps used for residential HVAC? We might think so, given the continuously variable speed compressor (and evap fans, condenser fans, etc) running on lower speeds. But pool water pumps are not prone to massive efficiency variations based on weather – i.e. ambient air temperature and humidity, whereas heat pumps are dramatically affected by air temp, humidity, etc.

Some or all of these newer inverter technology heat pumps offer control in two modes: “Turbo” aka Maxx” heating mode, and “Silent” aka “Efficient” mode. One provider claims you use max mode to get the pool to temperature, then run the heater more constantly at the far lower speed to maintain temperature. At some point, of course heat losses limit the extent of that ability, but we get the crux of the claim. Is it more efficient overall, even if the heat pump is far less efficient running during the cooler nights? Even most COP ratings reflect the lower COP running at lower temps, often half the COP at 50F vs 80F. But if it used less than half the energy doing so, it might still net out to be more efficient.

Does it net out savings? If anyone has one, I suggest a simple test, perhaps in a more reasonable climate (not 40F) wherein daytime temps rise to 75 or 80F, and nightly they dip to 50’s. Select a 6 day interval. First get the pool to desired swim temp, eg 85. Run for 3 days in max mode, heating as we might usually do, for 6-8 hours per day or whatever it takes to recover the nighttime losses to get back to the desired temp of 85. Record total pool heater energy consumed. Repeat the test over the next 3 days running the heater (and pump) 7x24 or as needed in silent / slow heat mode. Record energy consumed and compare. Best to leave the extra pump run time & energy out of it for now, but cannot ignore it totally.

Any thoughts? If there is much savings, there would seem to be a more widespread market for it in home HVAC. Run your summer cooling on low speed constantly and save $$ ?? As noted my kitchen fridge used inverter technology but wasn’t any more efficient. Then the VFD blew and I found it not worth repair.

I live in Michigan and I was losing a good amount of water over the winter. I had to fill up the pool multiple times on a warm enough day to keep it from getting too low. On my shallow end, the water got as low as 12”.

I suspect there is a leak in the main drain. I have someone coming to perform a leak detection. In the meantime, I was planning on plugging the main drain with a rubber plug. If I notice the water level is holding, then that will confirm a definite leak in the main drain/line.

If that’s the case and the only way to fix it is through digging it up and shelling out thousands to do that…. Can I just keep the main drain plugged permanently and only use the skimmer to filter and circulate my pool? I’ve seen a few other posts about a main drain not being a necessity in a pool.

My other question would be for winterizing, how could I get the water out of the main drain that’s just sitting in the pipe from being plugged in?

Chemicals from my kit were old and order refills on line but have not received yet. While waiting I took sample to a local pool store. They said everything was fine except for FC and posphates. FC was 5.5 which I am not concerned about. The said phosphates were reading 300 and tried to sell me a bottle of Pho Free for about $50 which I declined. Is this a reading that I need to worry about?

Had our pool opened today and there's some chipping in the surfaces of the sun ledges and also on a corner that steps down to different levels of sun ledges.

Resurfacing the pool isn't in the cards this year, so curious what needs to be done here. Not sure if it loses water yet but the pool was pretty full from the winter precipitation so I don't get the impression it's leaking yet.

Any direction would help.

Getting started w/SWP and hope to gain knowledge about it.

I think I've been VERY lucky and have a Polaris 280 that is going on 18 years. Have done normal maintenance (tires, bearings, hose, etc) and it's still going but things are breaking more frequently.

1. New one is $600. Have they changed anything in the design that would be a plus (or minus) to buying a new one?
2. Is there another pressure cleaner that's better? (just replaced the booster pump so not looking to move to a robot... plus this setup has worked VERY well for me over the years. If it ain't broke....)
3. Keep fixing / rebuilding parts on the old reliable workhorse.

Thanks!

Hi all - wife and I are owners of a brand new 11,282 gallon fiberglass chlorine pool. We have a Hayward 120k heat pump but the rest of the equipment is standard stuff. I have been religious about taking a sample weekly to Leslie’s and adjusting with baking soda and dry acid. I just downloaded the Pool Math app but am struggling to understand how to load my recent test results. From what I have read so far - it seems I need to get a good test kit, likely the Taylor k-2006 kit. As a new owner (only been in the ground a few months) my biggest concerns are;

1) Consistently elevated levels of pH. Not terrible, but normally 7.9-8.1.
2) Calcium Hardness - Leslie’s tells me every trip that I do not need to be concerned about this since we have a fiberglass pool. I did a bit of my own research and found that extremely high hardness can be damaging to heat pumps. Ours is consistently low - usually around 135. Do I need to address this?
3) cya - having only owned the pool a few months I don’t have the experience yet to fully grasp how our trichlor tablets (from Doheneys) affect the cya. So far, it has been on a slow and steady rise from 0 to where it is at now, 44.
4) Chlorine is still a bit confusing to me. I am currently sitting at 1.19. I have seen some mention of liquid chlorine. Is there some reason I should be using that instead of the tablets in my auto chlorinator?

With all of this said the pool looks very gorgeous and clear. I have a Hayward QC robot which I use nearly every other day. I also have a Betta solar powered robotic skimmer that runs 24/7. I very much enjoy managing the chemicals and maintenance of my pool by myself. It is very calming for me to be outside manually scrubbing the safety ledge or sides of the pool. I have a very flexible schedule and want the pool to be in the best shape possible. I am willing to put in as much time as needed for daily tasks. I look forward to learning more from this site.

Take care!

Hello community.
What pool brushes do you recommend ?
I bought one at Amazon that is made of some soft metallic fibers.
It seems to leave pieces of itself when I brush rhe pool. Which then show up in my robotic cleaner as tiny (soft) needles.

Appreciate your input.

I’ve been a proud member of the liquid chlorine club the past two years, and haven’t been able to talk myself into a SWG.

A season’s worth of LC only costs me about $120 - and even this year we’re still at $4/gallon for 12.5%.

The cost of trichlor to accommodate the occasional vacation, though, looks pretty ugly this year.

While I still couldn’t bring myself to pay $800+ for one of the popular units, I came across a Solaxx Saltron Reliant CLG220A, which uses their 25K R5 cell, but comes in a kit designed for above ground pools, for only $550.

Taking a bit of a gamble as I couldn’t find many reviews on this unit - which is also in part why I’m posting this to document my experience.

To break even, I need it to last ~ 4 years. That covers my annual LC cost plus the cost of a bucket of tabs for vacations.

It has a 2 year warranty, and I purchased with a credit card that gives me an extra year — so year 4 will be the gambling year.

Strangely, the going price for this SWG appears to be $669, but it’s only $549 via Walmart.com “sold by Pool Supplies Superstore”. Pool Supplies Superstore is Doheny, and that’s who it shipped from, even though it’s $669 from Doheny directly. Go figure.

Water is still too cold to test it out, but I’ll be sure to provide feedback once it’s running and keep this thread updated with its longevity.

I unzipped my hot tub cover and there is serious deteriation of the inside foam. There are no cuts or holes on the inside. How does this happen? The hot tub was bought and set up 5/22/2022. Is this common to need to replace this soon? I have a dimension one latitude.

I have a Hayward HP31005T. It was professionally installed in July 2024 and we are using it for the first time this week.

The control panel doesn’t indicate any error and the pool water is heating.

Is it normal for the unit to have frost rings on the inside and ice on the coils after running for 4 hours on an 80 degree day? Starting water temp was 74

My heater went on by itself this morning. I turned all the breakers in the controller off, and then on, but it started up again. The controls and the app show it as off when this happens. Any ideas why?

Hi all, finally took the plunge and ordered my diy IG vinyl pool kit from Royal.

Location: Pittsburgh PA
Size: 18x36x26 L-shape
Wall height: 4' steel
Depth 4' to 8'

Personal background: Automation Engineer with four young kids. All boys. They will be my helpers on this project.

I will say my experience working with Royal was extremely pleasurable. My ordering process was probably unconventional, however the salesman was easy to work with through the entire process. To help trim some costs, he suggested I explore building my own full width steps and tanning ledge, which is the route I'm going. I was a bit shocked at how expensive the full width step kits were. As I'm doing the install on my own, I only initially ordered the bare minimum of what I needed to get started. I still don't have a lot of the major pieces figured out yet (pump,filter,heater,liner, etc), but I didn't want to delay getting the walls and coping forms ordered.

I picked up my permit from the township last week, they weren't too thrilled with my doing it on my own. I feel like the permit process will end up taking longer than the install itself.

I apologize, I will probably have a million questions that have already been asked, I'll try my best to search before asking.

Question #1: I have to approve the design/build drawing for the pool and I requested two cutouts on the panels for skimmers. Being that I have not ordered the skimmer boxes yet, am I going to run into issues where the hole they punched out isn't compatible with the skimmer box I order? Are skimmer box holes a standard size across the board? Or should I just tell them to not punch the holes for the skimmer just to be safe and handing cutting out once I determine which skimmers I'm buying?

Question #2: Being the pool I ordered is pretty bare bones, I don't think the locations for the skimmers is ideal for my end design. When they drafted this up, I dont think they knew that I was planning on making the bottom "L" portion of the pool a tanning ledge. Since I am doing that, it's probably not ideal to have the skimmer on the tanning ledge, right? If so, where would you recommend I have them relocate them to? It might all be a moot point, it looks like both skimmers are on 8' panels straight panels, which are interchangeable I'm guessing. Either way I need to get this figured out quick because I need to approve the print before it goes to fabrication.

Question #3: Similar to above, they proposed Q2 discharge returns on the drawing. I assuming I will want/need more. Should I just have them not drill for these and I can worry about that later? I plan on also adding two bubblers on the tanning ledge.

Question #4: I tried to do some research on this, but any good articles/videos on how to build your own steps and tanning ledge for a vinyl pool? I poked around and found a few different approaches that seemed to get the job done. Some used block and backfilled with gravel with a layer of concrete on the top, some built forms and did the entire thing with concrete. My FIL has experience with both block and concrete, he can give me a hand. I thought this video did a good job explaining how he does them. Login to view embedded media . Unfortunately not a ton of info on this topic. I wasn't about spending $4k for some sheet metal steps from Royal.


Appreciate the help!

-Kevin

Hi everyone

My l Leisure Pool ultimate 35 fiberglass with a built in spa. It is leaking and I’ve narrowed down it is at the spa after shutting pump off for 3 days , cover closed, spa plumbing isolated, and measured water level.

Result
1. Pool water no drop
2. Spa water dropped 6cm (2.3”)
3. Pump off, cover on, spa suction valve closed. Spa return valve closed

I highly suspect this has to do with what I did when I closed my pool this last winter:

1. I used duck plug w/o telflon and screwed in too tight. When I tried to unscrewed it to add teflon, I unscrewed the actual return wall fitting itself (see photo; the one with expansion black plug).
2. I was able to screw it back in with a channel lock but from what I’ve heard, you’re not suppose to be able to unscrew the wall fitting itself.
3. The spa was filled to the top at closing. The suspected return fitting is at the bottom. When I opened the pool this year, the water didn’t decline to the leak location which is puzzling.



What I’m doing next

1. I plug the suspected return with an expansion plug and marked the water level again to see if it lowers in 24 hours.


Meanwhile, any advice if this can be fixed without having to dig up the ground? Any advice for next step? I don’t want to accidentally do something to make it worse.

Hi all,

I am doing my due-diligence on my first pool build. My pool specs are below

• 12'x24' rectangle with an additional 6'x12' tanning ledge
• depth from 3.0' to 5.5'
• 2 bubblers/LED combos in tanning ledge area
• 4 deck jets
• 1 LED light in main pool

After doing my research, I am leaning towards the following equipment

• Pentair Intelliflo 1.5 HP
• Pentair Clean and Clear 420 Filter
• Pentair Intellichlor LT15
• Pentair Intellicenter LITE with Wifi
• Pentair Lights? (TBD)

The pool is located in south Louisiana, and no trees nearby. I am open to suggestions on different equipment or pool layout.

I would like to be able to control the lights and customize color from my phone. I see a lot of conflicting reports on pentair lights, so I am open to other brands.

I am also a data nerd, so I would like to be able to track water temp, salinity, etc through an app if possible, so looking for suggestions for things I can tie into the intellicenter.


Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m so confused how to get the metal stains and metal out of the water. I’ll make question simple.
I understand vitamin C lifts stains but what I’m not sure of does a product like Pro team metal magic only sequestered the metals and then I need something like Culator to get it completely gone? I guess I wanna make sure that I need all three products? I wanna make sure I’m not buying something I don’t need. I vitamin C test and stains lifted right off.

Hi all, I’ve been battling with pool stains look like rust around the edges, spoke to pinch a penny and they said they can try a rust treatment which I’m not to confident about , they have started adding 2 cups of muric acid once a week adding photos thanks

Hi! First-time post here. Looking for feedback from people more experienced than me.

We have an indoor pool that is very colorful and tropical flavored from previous owners. Interior walls are painted T1-11 on 2x4s with 6 mil vapor barrier with batt insulation and exterior Hardie board siding.
Ceiling is marine grade painted plywood.
We have some exhaust fans for ventilation, but plan to add two more in ceiling.

We are trying to aim for flagstone pool decking and a wood plank type look for the walls. See this AI image. And also trying to ball on a budget.

Keyword: budget. Hence no tongue and groove cedar planking (would be ~$12k)

With this in mind, I was thinking we have three options for wood planking.

1.) Either buy 75 sheets of plywood ($1.8k) and rip them into faux planks (SO MUCH TIME), or

2.) just buy cedar fence pickets ($2k) , or

3.) buy SPC vinyl flooring ($4k)

I'm thinking of doing the fence pickets and letting them dry out all summer to minimize bowing and cupping, then stain (marine grade) each side of them and nail to existing T1-11 interior walls and plywood ceiling. Will use a planer if needed, or quick sand the edges and front face.

Questions:
1.) Would you advise against this?
2.) If I go this route with the pickets, should I Tyvek wrap the interior T1-11 walls?
3.) Would you stain or epoxy the pickets?
4.) If this is a horrible idea, do you have any recommendations for a cost effective approach that gives the wood paneling look with mold and rot prevention a key priority?

I realize having a system that auto fills the pool as needed can keep you from noticing a leak, but I need to come up with something because I'm out of town most of the time and can't depend on someone else to sit there for 1-2 hrs/week adding water to my pool during the summer. What is the best way to accomplish this, is there a system I can buy or DIY something that will notice when water needs to be added then it opens a valve or something along those lines?