Hello All! It looks like I need a new robot. Have a Dolphin M400 about 9 years old. Stopped working last year. My son in law repaired it with a new cord, circuit board and other parts. Worked fine for a while now it stopped working again. I don't want to mess with it again.

I am happy with the performance of the robot and would like to buy another dolphin. I see models on Amazon from $799 CCplus to $1499 for the premier model. I do not need any fancy WiFi features or a bunch of wireless stuff I will never use. I just want a robot I can drop in the pool and have it do a great job cleaning. Any recommendations? Will the $799 cleaner do a good job or do I have to buy the more expensive model? Thanks!

Hello, we recently had our pool opened and discovered that we had a break in one of the lines. We are in the St Louis area so a freeze break could be a possibility. I am posting the break for any input. Thank you.

Drawing up deck / patio plans for my 18 ft AGP. We're replacing the a-frame ladder with a generic deck-mount resin one. Not big steps, just what I would call a basic normal ladder.

Where we want to put the ladder is immediately next to the return jet eyeball. Other than physically blocking the jet with the ladder leg, is there much to concern myself over here? Can it end up too close?

MS Paint rendition

A couple days ago, we had a storm blow through that blew the cover off the tub, and left some small branches and leaves in the bottom of the tub.
I turned the power off, and fished out what I could with a net until there was only some small pieces of leaves etc. I turned the tub on and it seems to be working fine.

I have a Lazyboy Relieve Hot Tub, built by Hyrdropool. There are two cylindrical filters off the skimmer. that I can remove to clean.
But where does debris captured by the floor drain, or side wall suction ports get captured/cleaned.

I am very new to this, but I'm going to finally get a pool for our back yard. I don't have a signature because I don't have a pool yet So glad I found this site.....
I'm all over the place but probably going to go with a 15 x 30 x 54" ish... Steel sides-? above ground pool.
My wife doesn't want chlorine, so I'm thinking Salt Water ?

We have some guy coming out Sunday 3/30/25 from Blue World Pools for a free estimate. I am not opposed to installing the entire thing myself, but their ad caught my eye. So....
I asked the lady on the phone if they used Saltwater, and she said "no" that they rust things out, but they used some environmentally natural sanitation. I am just now trying to figure out what she was talking about. I think maybe Ionized? is that true?
Is that bad? Does it have Copper in it? YUK.
All I want to do is get a Quality Pool, with Saltwater sanitation, a great Pump, etc.
We have a couple of great sons-in-laws ready to go to prepare the site and help with installation as soon as I find out where and what kind to buy.
I would really appreciate some advice from you all. My wife, kids, grandkids are all super excited, and I want to do this the right way the 1st time. So, feel free to share your expertise with me. Thanks to all! Don

Hi all,


I am wondering if anyone can help me, this corner joint came out completely after filling and I can’t get it to go back in. I’ve had the pool for 3 years now and never had an issue. It dosent seem to be affecting the structure of the pool at all. Can I leave it off??

I'm in the middle of relocating my pool pump, filter and SWG that have been out in the yard about 10 feet off the corner of the house, approximately 10-12 feet in order to be up against the end of the house, so that I can add a pool heater to the mix, and have the natural gas more readily available, as well as have everything out of sight.

The entire pool was plumbed with 1.5" PVC, so that is what I've kept at the pump and filter over the years, even as I went through different filters and pumps. There are two supply lines - one from a skimmer and one from a main drain - that come in to a 3 way valve, then that goes to the pump. The Variflow multiport valve on the side of the Hayward DE filter has 1.5" threaded fittings, currently with 1.5" PVC glued into male threaded adapters. There is a SINGLE 1.5" return back to the pool, to supply two return jets - one at the deep end and one at the shallow end. From my digging, it appears that the 1.5" return line splits under the concrete pool deck somewhere, likely at the deep end return, then runs around the end and side of the pool to the shallow end return.

The new pool heater - a Hayward 250k BTU unit -has fittings for 2" or 2.5" pipe, depending on whether you use the outside or inside of the fittings. But I am plumbed to 1.5".

I realize I could buy replacement union/fittings for my pump, about $80, and switch the pump over to 2" pipe. I could replace the 3 way, and have the two incoming 1.5" lines go out in a single 2" from the 3 way to the pump. BUT there are still a 1.5" retriction at the DE filter's multiport valve. And even if I use 1.5" male thread to 2" PVC adapters, and were to replace the slip nuts on my SWG cell housing, eventually that return line will be a restriction, even if I bury the 2" to 1.5" transition 10-15 feet away.

So my question is - is there any point in trying to change any of the plumbing to 2" while I am moving things and putting the heater in? Or should I just put a 1.5" to 2" PVC adapter before and after the heater?

A second question I just thought of - how hot is the water coming out of a pool heater? I know PVC is only rate to 140F, but surely pool heater output is much lower, as I sure don't think you want folks getting scalded at the return jets?

Thanks!

I have a Pentair IC60 that generates chlorine when initially turned on, and then a couple minutes later flashes "inspect cell". I've had it for about 3 seasons. It was doing the same thing toward the end of the season last year, but the water was pretty cold and I dismissed the issue due to cold water. It seems somewhat insane that it will produce chlorine when initially turned on, but then go to "inspect cell" after a couple minutes and stop generating chlorine.

Any way to fix this problem, or does this mean I need a new SWG?

Hello. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Nick, and a couple years ago I bought a home with a 24’ above ground pool. I’ve learned as I’ve went.

Last year I (regrettably) left some water in the skimmer and it froze and cracked.

I ordered a new skimmer from Amazon, and it’s not tall enough and the holes don’t match. It seems the hole size is similar, but my old one seems to have a large bezel.

My concern isn’t necessarily this, it’s that there are screws behind the bezel thru the aluminum behind the liner holding the skimmer on.

Any one have any idea how to remove those without damaging the liner? Also anyone have a direct replacement?

Over the past few months, Ive been trying to figure out why my pool flow / pump output has decreased a lot since I first bought this house with my pool. At the end of last summer, I did replace the sand in my sand filter and installed a new primary pool pump with the same one that came with the system when I bought the house.

I have checked all of the obvious stuff:
-clean skimmers, pump basket, blockage/build up in pump
-I've tried switching to recirculate mode to avoid the sand filter
-I've tried only pulling from skimmers and then only pulling from main drain to see if that changed anything.

I have had some pebbles from my spa start to come loose last year so I am not sure if they are stuck somewhere in the system causing flow issues. Some of them got into my multi valve on the sand filter making it hard to turn it so I had to remove that and clean the pebbles out.. so wondering if that is causing lot flow issues somehow.

My sand filter PSI seems to stay at 10psi before / after backwash. It is a 500lb sand filter and when I replaced it, I did put in a full 500 lbs.

Another issue I notice which may be a contributor is when I run my aux pump which is used for the pool cleaner... after this runs for a while, my main pump flow gets even worse and my spa overflow slows to a trickle.

From when I first got the pool, i'd guess my current flow is 20-40% of what it originally was just by judging the overflow from the spa waterfall.

Would appreciate any advice you have in helping me figure out the issue in my system. thanks.

Few pics of my system:

Hi everyone,
I’m looking to replace my Hayward W3T-CELL-15 TurboCell Salt Chlorination Cell (for a pool up to 40,000 gallons) and would love your input.

Has anyone here recently bought one from a reliable supplier with fair pricing and fast shipping? Only interest if it’s a genuine part and not a knockoff.

Appreciate any links, names, or tips you can share. Thanks in advance!

M

Hello All. I am just about to enter my first full season as a pool owner. I acquired one of the salt water test kits as recommended on this forum. I removed the cover from my pool yesterday and got the filter running and did a thorough vacuuming of the pool. I had tested TA and it was in the 20 range added baking soda last night and this morning it tested at 70-80 and PH tested between 7.2-7.5. The CYA and FC were testing at 0. Currently, I’m using the sock method to add stabilizer to increase the CYA to be > 30 for the purpose of starting the SLAM process. However, since the water is very clear is SLAM necessary? If not, what should my next steps be?

Ancillary question. My pool came with a nature 2 cartridge installed. My research seems to show that these are not recommended by people on this forum because it introduces unwanted metals into the pool that can cause other issues. Should I remove the cartridge or is it enough to just not change it with a new one?

I know that I’ve been asked to update the logs when I ask certain questions in Pool math and I tried to update the logs for whatever reason it’s not allowing me to overwrite the numbers that are there now can somebody point me to a tutorial on how to use it perhaps I’m just missing it. Thanks so much.

Hello everyone, I’m new to the group. This is my 2nd year as a pool owner. I’m struggling to maintain healthy water levels. These are my readings:
instant salt 0 ppm
salt levels reads 3900 ppm
Cell type: T-Cell-15
Gallon: 19000 salt water pool
I struggle with 0 chlorine and 0 free chlorine. CYA was 0. I shocked it and a few hours later added CYA. My pool guy recommended 2 bags.
EVERY trip to the pool store is at least 250-300.00…I’m trying to get it right without being taken advantage of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have an awesome day!

I sure hope someone can help us. We hired a pool company to install an automatic pool cover. They installed the pool cover but would not install the
bench or construct the bench. It was in the contract that a bench was included to cover the pool cover when it was retracted. Now, my husband and I are left with the problem of how to construct the bench and still allow free movement of the pool cover. Has anyone constructed an automatic pool cover bench?

Pool build is getting ready to be underway. Dig starting next week. What days of construction are must be on-site days. I can take off some days what days should I be here for. I will be home everyday after work.

I'm going from a Hayward SP to Calimar VS pump and I see in the specs that there is a .2" difference in the center line of the hayward vs the Calimar. Am I looking at replumbing the whole inlet or is it possible to make it work with the existing plumbing? I've currently got 1.5" pipes so I'll need to use the appropriate unions as well. Thanks!

Hello there. I have just noticed my Hayward H500FDN heater was not firing and went out to check and it has a bit of a slow, dripping leak at the front left bottom and mid-right bottom of the unit. I took off the front panel and can't see anything leaking in there but that's as far as I have gone.

Based on what I have read on this forum, it seems likely this could be the heat exchanger and that replacing the unit might be my only course of action. But, I wanted to check here to see:

1) Is there anything else I could/should do or check on my own?
2) Is it possible to get the heater to fire and run even with the leak, or will the leak always prevent it from firing (I guess what I'm asking is whether the leak and the ignition failure are related or separate issues)?

Thank you!

Hi all,

We are looking to convert from liquid chlorine to SWG this year shortly after opening - this is all new to us but we've heard good things in terms of maintenance and ease of use, in addition to it being not as harsh on hair/skin as liquid chlorine. Though cost is likely the same in the long run, we're excited to not be lugging gallons of chlorine back & forth all the time. Looking for recommendations as to what type of SWG system may be the best for pool...

Pool is 25,000 gallons, so we've been targeting systems rated for around 50k gallons (2x). Our system (below) is pretty old - the pool was originally put in in the 80s, no filter automation (just runs on a timer), and pretty sure our pump is just a single speed. Filter is brand new as of last season and is a cartridge filter, but because some parts of the system are still very old and may need to be replaced in time - we would likely opt to replace with SuperFlo VSP / Easy Touch Automation, so we would prefer an SWG system that will be compatible with that in the future + work for us for now. Ignore the old caretaker system and heater you see pictured, both have been disconnected.

Our pool company who has usually been pretty good has recommended the Solaxx Resilience E Series 60 + (18) 40 lb bags of salt to start. Does anyone have any experience with this one and can confirm if it's a good option? From reading through various threads here we were considering the Circu Pool RJ-45 or RJ-60, possibly the Hayward AquaRite T-15 - but it seems like that's only rated for 40,000 which may be cutting it a little low for the size of our pool, and it didn't have as high of reviews on this site: Compare and Review Saltwater Chlorine Generator Prices and Features | DSP. Some of the Auto Pilot/Pool Pilot options also seemed to have good reviews, but not sure if they are compatible with our system. Have also seen a few mentions of the Pentair Intellchlor IC40 on here, but don't see it anywhere on that list - is that one we should stay away from? And just to be sure, once we put the system in, it'll just be replacement of the cell every ~3-5 years?

We'll likely have our pool company do the installation just to save ourselves some time.

Appreciate any input or recommendations!!

Hello,

Any idea how to add the intellichlor to the Pentair pool app? I have an Intelliconnect and have been able to add the whisperflo, master temp and light no problem, but I added the intellichlor following the prompts in the app and it is on my dashboard with no control. Any ideas? Here’s are couple screenshots for reference. Thanks in advance.

Desperately trying to find a solution to this since there are no local dealers that will work on an Artesian spa.

Our hot tub stopped heating. We've replaced the display panel because it was fading and needed done anyway. After connecting to power it would display Pr to indicate priming and then show a wildly high temperature when it's actually like 65 degrees. Turn the jets on and the display rapidly climbs to 110 followed by an overheat warning or HFL indicating that a significant difference between temperature sensors was detected.

So we bought a new HQ heater assembly and replaced that. Again it's showing a temperature much higher than it actually is. Would also sometimes display 'dr' indicating poor water flow or bubbles in the heater. LED for Filter 1 2 also lit but I don't know what that means--both are installed.

Running out of ideas. Bad circuit board?

Thanks

I just bought the 15 x 42 best way above ground pool and I’m thinking about getting a filter because I know the one that it comes with isn’t going to be the best quality. Any suggestions? Tia

Hi everyone,

On my 5th year of getting my pool up and running. Previous 4 years have gone off without any issues... However, this year is giving me a lot of trouble.

I started getting my pool ready about a week ago by getting all the leaves out, (didn't use a cover over the winter) and starting the SLAM process. Process was going fine, the pool water was like pond water in the beginning of course, and it eventually cleared to this:



It's gotten better since the "pond water" I first started with, but it's recently plateaued as shown in the picture above and it hasn't gotten any clearer in like the past four days. My most recent tests are:

4/19

FC - 11 PPM
CC - 4 PPM
CYA - 20
Backwashing multiple times per day and refilling water as level decreases.

4/20 (this morning)

FC - 10 PPM
CC - 4.5
CYA - 20
Backwashing multiple times per day and refilling water as level decreases.

Don't think it's ammonia problem as CYA is not at zero... But maybe it is? Who knows!

I will say that while cleaning out the pool from all the leaves, I did find several metallic items such as a metallic patio furniture, other pool deck items and I am curious if perhaps the salt interacting with the metal of these objects could have messed anything up? I didn't realize they had fallen in, so they've been in there several months...

Like I said in the previous four years, I would have had the pool crystal clear by now, but I am not sure what the issue is this year! Looking for any suggestions to help me get over the hump.

Thanks

Aaron

I am a new pool owner, as well as a new TF-Pro-Salt test kit owner. I've run through tests a couple of time, and don't have any questions yet on the topic of specific tests. I am trying to get a process down, using the items supplied in the kit, and one I can repeatedly use from beside the pool sitting at a table under an umbrella.

Right now I collect a water sample using a plastic bottle (one given away by Leslie's pool to take in for them to sample) and go to my table. I have a pad I sit down on the table in case I spill something, a couple paper towels, and the test kit. I start the tests, but then after a test I need to empty the test cylinder and rinse it. That means getting up and going about 30 feet to an outdoor spigot/hose, where I can rinse the cylinder in the yard, and presumably contaminate the cylinder slightly with spigot water for the next test. I shake it while returning to my spot, and if big drops dry with the paper towel. Then move on to the next test. It looks like some of you may get extra cylinders and magnetic stir bars to do all your tests in one sitting, and rinse them after all tests are complete. For those without the extra cylinders, what is your process? Is a couple more cylinders the only optimization?

I appreciate your ideas.

Hello! We are currently at the final stages of having our 16 X 32 gunnite pool installed. This is a salt water pool and not sure of the exact specs of the filtration or pump. It is Haywood so once I have all the info I will update the post. Hopefully the pool will be complete in the next two weeks so I am looking for advice in filling, opening and making sure I don't do something stupid to ruin or damage the plaster or filter system.

We opened our pool this pass weekend and have filter problems. While we are awaiting parts I am staring at thus green cess pool. Is it OK to add chlorine without the pump running?

Hello fellow pool owners! I have lived in Florida for the past 13 years and have owned a pool for 10 of those years. Even though I know some of the basics of pool maintenance, I have mostly used a pool service to maintain the pool. Partly because of my busy schedule and partly because I just didn't want to deal with it. Well... we recently purchased a new home and my wife stated she wanted to save the monthly expense and take care of the pool ourselves. Unfortunately, the previous homeowner did not take care of the pool very well and did some incorrect DIY work. We're working with a local pool maintenance company to get things straight but we ultimately want to maintain the pool ourselves. We converted our last pool to saltwater and loved it. Our current pool is saltwater but we need to update the SWG system and eventually update the pump and add a heat pump. I'm sure I'll be posting in the forums as we look to purchase the SWG so we can start enjoying the pool in the Florida summer heat!

Hi. My ph was creeping up last summer and this year when I opened it was 8. TA 80(pool store said 77). After adding ph minus to bring down to 7.7 I was shocked that TA went to 90. Fully expected it to go down. Tested twice. Could this be right?

Long time lurker, first time poster, be gentle

The chlorine in my pool keeps dropping down to 0 after installing two different brand new chlorinators. Tried everything, including pre-emptive phosphate starver treatement. Help...

Historically used vintage metal box Kchlor AC20 non-self cleaning chlorinator kept the chlorine well, then failed.

Two months ago I replaced it with Freeflo RP25 self cleaning chlorinator. Water chemistry tests were balanced and salt level ok as confirmed by tests in three different pool shops. The chlorinator produced a lot of bubles, but the chlorine kept dropping down to zero after I top it up with liquid chlorine. Returned chlorinator after 1 month.

A month ago pool shop installed AstralPool E25 self cleaning chlorinator. Water chemistry tests were balanced and salt level ok as confirmed by tests in three different pool shops. The chlorinator produces a lot of bubles, but the chlorine keeps dropping down to zero after I top it up with liquid chlorine.

Total Cl: 0.16
Free Cl: 0.09
Combined Cl: 0.07
Salt: 4878
Ph: 7.5
Alk (adj): 110
Cya: 61
Hardness: 345
Phosphates: 0
Total Cu: 0

35,000 litre, concrete pool, in-ground, plaster, blanket
Sand filter, more than 10 years old
Peristaltic HCL doser
Solar heating was on, now off with the same result
Non-variable pumps, more than 10 years old
AstralPool E25 self cleaning
Chlorinator at maximum setting
Robot pool cleanter
Running 8 hours a day (8 am to 12 pm, 1 pm to 5 pm)
Water clear, but goes murky if I stop manually adding liquid Cl every day

Not sure if it is relevant, but the first two chlorinators used to produce white powder (CaCO3?) ouf the jets, the third one does not.

https://www.poolbarn.com.au/wp-cont...905-H0712400_REVB-AstralPool-Eseries-2023.pdf

I am aware that testing water yourself using Taylor test kit is more precise and I am planning to buy it in the future, but at this time I am relying on pool shop tests. I have tested water in three different pool shops who are using different test equipment with results showing similar results of balanced water and acceptable salt levels.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.