The people who put in my pool reused old metal conduit which is now rotting and letting water pour into the house. Nice.

Anyhow that’s easy enough to fix by replacing the short metal section with PVC, but it does require me to remove the #6 bonding wire while I do it.

When I did this I found it was bonded to the ground in a sub panel. The subpanel is #6 50A with a #10 ground.

I thought the #6 has to go all the way back to the main panel? Am I missing something? Thanks!

Cannot seem to get the connection between outside antenna and inside one to connect and show temp, turn on spa and waterfall, or even show outside temp. I have reset all antennas and made sure all cords are connected properly. the rv and tv on the inside panel do seem to be blinking green rapidly though. any troubleshooting tips?

- - - EDIT - - - Pool filter pressure is fine. It’s reading 27 PSI on high. I’m an idiot.


This is the first year I have had my pool, so I didn't have much frame of reference to work with. All I really gathered is that it should never be above 50 PSI, and it never has been. Plumbing is all 2" PVC. At full speed (3450 RPM), my filter is indicating around 45 PSI, but I rarely if ever run it at full speed.

I cleaned the filter fairly soon after the pool came online to clean any debris out left over from construction. There was a fair amount of small sand/gravel that worked it's way into the system. When the PB and myself cleaned up the pool to open it, we used a leaf filter while vacuuming to make sure no big pieces of debris got into the pump/filter system. I have cleaned the filter a couple times this season, and while there has been the expected normal debris (pine needles/organics/etc), I never noticed a reduction of PSI after cleaning. It's been pretty steady the whole season.

When the system is off, the indicated pressure drops to zero. When there is a change in pump RPM, there is an associated change in pressure, so as far as I can tell the gauge itself appears to be working correctly.

The pool setup is fairly basic. One skimmer, one intake on the side of the pool. Two return lines leading to two eyeballs. No spa, or any water features. I had read on another thread that someone had a similar issue, and the pool heater was plumed backwards. That's not the case with mine. I was thinking of removing the eyeballs on the return to see if there is any debris blocking them. The both seem to be allowing an equal amount of water back into the pool.

The PB is coming back mid October to close the pool, but what can I do now to troubleshoot and see if there is actually an issue that needs to be addressed? Or am I just imagining issues that don't exist.

What's cheaper? Refilling I think costs an extra $200 in water costs. What do winterization chemicals typically cost?

switched to salt system.
Algae present (very green) as it took a while to replumb everything (a few weeks).
Quintuple shocked.
Then next day also used algae killer.

Then let circupool RJTech-60 plus run on hyper chlorination in 15000 gallon pool.

Now, I wonder if the cloudiness from algae breakdown itself will break down over time with high chlorine levels or if it has to be filtered out through the pool filter completely.
( I am in no hurry to use the pool )


Thoughts?

Put 30 oz in a sock, the sock tore open after 2 minutes.all the stablizer went directly into the skimmer. Now what do I do?

Is it ok if I give away my code to someone else? I'm in Canada, and as such ordering a test kit from the site isn't feasible, so I will never use it. I have no idea who to give it to, but maybe someone can tack it on to one of the monthly contests or something?

Hi!

I have an old Pentair challenger "Self-priming" pump that we just replaced the motor on.
The pool guy installed the motor and primed the pump last week.
Today I opened the pump filter basket to clean it and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get it primed again.

Here's what happens: I pour a bucket of water into the basket, and most of the water flows back out down he suction side to the skimmer and spa but some stays in the basket.
Then I cover it and start the pump.
The pump just sucks the little water left and then spins loudly for about 30 seconds before I shut it off to prevent damage.

Here's what I have tried:

• Replace and lube the basket O Ring.
• Clean skimmer basket
• Try setting suction side to 100% spa or 100% pool.
• Close the basketr fast while there it still more water in it
• Make the basket cover loose or tight

None of these have had any effect.

I understand that I probably have a Suction side air leak, but I don't know how to diagnose it. All the pipe connections seem solid and the cover is the same as before at least to me.
Is there something else possible with the basket cover?

Is there a way to upload a video here?

Start:

Filling Basket:

Water level after filling:


Cover and new O ring:


Cover on:

My CYA levels now probably average 160. I live in NC and had planned on closing my pool at the end of October. To drain my pool, I’d need a submersible pump and drain into the street drain. I’d need to run the pump for about 4 hours to get to the level I need. Refilling with a garden hose would take about the same amount of time, 4 hours. Here are my questions.
1) Should I drain/refill now before I close or wait to see how much cya levels drop over the winter and then drain/refill before I reopen in the spring?
2) I thought of cutting my drain time in half by using 2 pumps. This is probably a dumb question, but if I used two garden hoses to refill would I also cut the refill time in half? Or am I limited because they both fill from the same water line that comes in from the street?

This is likely a dumb question....but I am assuming I would turn the pump off once it gets close to the bottom of the skimmer level right? My system is a flooded unit (equipment is below the pool)

Hi,

I was trying to get a little more pressure in the jets of my SPA, but the pump shuts down after a few seconds if I set the rpm much above 3000. It should go to 3450. I thought maybe the pressure got high due to obstructed flow in SPA mode, but it shuts down at these rpm's even in POOL mode. If I monitor power and current it doesn't seem to come anywhere near the pumps max ratings. It is controlled by a Screenlogic system, not controls on the pump in case that matters.

Any ideas on why it may be shutting down?

Paul

Question: I wanted to know what is the best way to distribute the granular chlorine in the pool? I have been putting in a dispenser and let it float around but sometimes it doesn't all come out. Then I started spreading it around and looks like it cakes up on the bottom and sits there. I was wondering i heard that dumpling it thru the skimmer and letting it go thru the filter and out the out part? It's that a good way do that? Not sure if putting it thru the filter like that is good for the filter

Hello.
Since successfully fighting off some black algae my FC levels are still high at 10 but I'm bringing them down by reducing the % on SWG.
I had a test done at the pool place yesterday and the salt reading was 4167.
It's been a little high, over 4000, for a long time. Since I accidentally put in too much salt last winter.
A couple months ago I got a flashing green Salt light which just meant the water level was too low. Added some water and it was fine.

But this morning, the Salt LED is solid red, while the other lights are all solid green.
The diagnostic display says salt is only 2715.
How is that possible?
My FC is still up at 10.
I'm reluctant to add salt to this confusion.
?

Marcia

The time has come. The kid are gone & the pool is more work then play. We would like to utilize our gas heater for a hot tub. It heats an 18 round no problem so a hot tub doesn't seem like much of a stretch.
This forum seems like a good place to start.
Any suggestions?

Hi have a customer with a Pentair 400 heater about 7 years old has a weird issue . Start pump heater begins cycle comes on temp comes up 1-2 degrees then shuts down and has service system light on .. Cleaned the filter has good flow has no error codes just service system , Pressure switch?

Well this year was a pretty good pool season, thanks to TFP! If I didn't screw up my salt it would have been a great season !!

We typically close the pool the weekend after Labor Day as the trees usually start dumping their leaves in 3 to 4 weeks. We wish we could have left the pool open maybe 1 more week, I got into the pool and it was 84F but we are going away in 2 weeks and I'm the only one who closes our pool properly! I couldn't count on my sons to actually care about pool closing while we were away, so today's the day. NJ is supposed to be rained on the next few days so I had to crunch it into this morning and while I'm out there - the sun comes out and it's actually a beautiful day to go into the pool!

I am a little concerned about the water temp and algae but the pool had 12.5 PPM FC as I was putting on the cover. Usually the water is a little chilly this time of year but there's nothing I can do except be prepared in the spring.

For us pool season such a short season.

I replaced my pool pump and I replumbed the last couple of feet of underground suction-side plumbing before the pump, since the new pump didn't fit between the house and the existing plumbing. I dont think it's the underground plumbing, as I filled the hole with water so all new fittings were submerged and the problem remained.

It primes okay at 3100 RPM, but there are lots of small bubbles that swirl around even after priming (and continue after cutting power, so it's likely not cavitation in the basket). The higher flow seems to keep them from collecting in the lid, but they do collect on the basket itself.

The problem is that I can't keep the lid free of air at 1850 RPM (and below) after it runs for a few hours -- and not just a little bit of air, but an inch or 2 in depth of air.

It's got a vacuum line, main drain, and skimmer line. I've played with the valves for each but they seem to all cause the slow-growing bubble problem.

I've cleaned and lubed up the o-ring on the pump inlet union, the pump lid o-ring, and both pump drain plugs.

I've run water over all obvious places of air ingress (valves, elbows, reducers, unions, plugs, lid, etc) and the bubbles don't subside.

I've also tried the incense smoke trick, the shaving cream trick, the soap bubbles trick, and the turn-it-off-and-watch-for-small-leaks-of-water-at-various-locations trick. But none of these have given me direct evidence of the problem(s).

I'm thinking its the pump lid letting air in, as there is some undulation on the edge of the lid... but I can't seem to make it go away. Here's a video of what I'm talking about (running at 1850 RPM): Login to view embedded media (the rattling sound is coming from the DE filter's multi-port valve, not the pump)

What else could I try? Any ideas?

Hi all, my inground spa no longer heats when I turn it on. I was reading that clogged filters can cause this problem. Would an inground spa have it's own filter separate from the pool filter? If so, do you know where I would find this spa filter?

I'm not familiar with my pool / spa plumbing so any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks!

Long story short, I can’t stand looking at my pool. It’s a constant reminder of shoddy work done by both the pool installer and the deck constructor.

The pool installer used regular tile grout, and it’s all starting to crack and fall out. We stopped running the tanning ledge spillovers because we noticed we were losing significant amount of water where the grout was missing.

We also have 3 chips near the steps that will cost -$1k to fix.

We’ve received quotes for $3k to regrout or about $6k to retile.

The rear retaining wall recently developed a large crack, from the top stone caps to the bottom, and looks like the right side is starting to move.

Using travertine pavers for the deck was a huge mistake. They’ve moved around quite a bit during this drought. We have to add more polymeric ground about every 6 months.

I know these repair costs are minimal compared to removing and replacing the pool, but I think I’m done with it.

Considering I already have the equipment, plumbing ran and a hole in the ground, should I go DIY?

I assume I could sell the shell and recoup some (small amount) $.

Here’s the equipment I have:
Pentair versaflow
Pentair IntelliCenter
Pentair ultra temp 140
Pentair IC40 SWCG

In one pic you'll see this issue I have with part of the concrete sinking, and the coping around the skimmer lid is also sinking. This has been pretty drastic over the last 2 months.
I'm thinking it's due to water getting under it, but curious on thoughts? I've reached out to a couple hardscape companies.

Trying to see what is easily fixable/simple, vs expensive/risky to repair of the issues I'm having. Our new pool quote came in at 170K with removing a lot of the things we want, but pretty concerned about this sinking.
You'll notice in this pic (ignore the algae issue, it's resolved) the sealant is completely folded over, so I'm thinking replacing/repairing the coping is the answer?

If it is, is this something I can reasonably DIY? It seems fairly simple to replace with pavers, just time-consuming.

My pool is sinking about 6 inches down into the ground, making the two skimmers u level and ultimately cause a tear in the liner. I don’t want to come at the contractor about this yet. Maybe this is accurate pricing. I just don’t understand why it’s so different. Almost 10k difference within 2 years. Why is the liner double the price? If this seems accurate to anyone please let me know.

I didn't know where to post this. I have about 4 old bottles of muriatic acid. How do I dispose of them?

Hi!
We recently got our pool replastered with Diamond Brite (Oyster Quartz). After an acid-hot start, we balanced the pool water and added chlorine.
The water was acidic for about a week as the pool guy ghosted us & we had to find a new person.
The pool guy added a lot of chlorine with pucks, about 8ppm.

Within a few days of the chlorine being added, I noticed a new ugly black stain forming under the old original Anthony light fixture, see attached.
The contractor had not replaced the working light and just plastered around it.
Any ideas on what it could be and what treatment options are?

We also have some black staining on the grout of the new tiles in one small area - any advice?

On another note, we had a bunch of brown stains before we added chlorine from berries and leaves falling into the pool and sitting in one place while the pump was off. Most of those have disappeared since added chlorine but some stayed and are fading slowly. Will those fade more over time or is there a manual spot treatment I should consider?

Current Chemistry:
FC 7, CC 1.5, 8.4 PH, 100 TA, 150 CH, 5 CYA

Hello TFP-

Here is a picture of a crack in my plaster spa that is connected to my pool, the crack in this stucco is wet always and right by the skimmer basket. The pool is also newly replastered and still leaks so I hypothesize that the leak is coming from the skimmer somehow. Also, the skimmer never fills with water - it just drain’s immediately with a large sucking sound. It seems like that’s a bad sign right? How bad is my problem potentially? How do I ensure this gets fixed properly? Thank you!

I read that the connection where the extra green ground connects to the lug inside the niche is supposed to be covered with epoxy or something. If that ground connection isn't completely covered and gets wet, could it cause gfci to trip?
Thanks

Moved from here.

I am new to having a pool this year, so I am still learning. We are having a new liner installed in our 10,000 gallon AG pool next week. I spoke with the water hauler that will deliver the fill water, and he said he is using local city water and the PH and TA seems to be pretty good in the water right now. Due to the length of our driveway he can't use a tanker truck to deliver the water and has to use a flatbed with a max delivery of 7000 gallons. He said with the 7000 that should take it to below the skimmer and then we can just winterize the pool. He didn't want to charge me more to bring 10,000 between 2 trips, just for me to drain the water below the skimmer and return for winterizing.
My question is what do I need to do to get the water levels correct for winterizing. In reading other posts on the forum, I am under the impression I will need to make sure the PH & TA are at good levels, add stabilizer, and chlorine. But I am not sure how to go about doing that if my water is not a skimmer level to mix the chemicals in. Do I need to just have the pool filled completely or is there a way to avoid paying extra money to fill the poll completely, just to drain it to skimmer level few weeks. Any advice and help is greatly appreciated.

Hi,
Ive been battling algae every summer. I have been pretty vigilant this summer in keeping all of my levels good. But, for some reason I still keep getting algae. I nip it in the bud but, it keeps coming back. I see some green on the walls but I also constantly get this brownish sediment in the bottom of the pool after running the pump. I vacumm it up and it comes back. if I don’t run my pump I will not get it. If I don’t shock it, it starts to turn green. Its been doing this for years. This spring was the first time in years that my pool looked like a swamp when I opened it. I didn’t do anything different last fall that I had done every fall with the closing chemicals. The pool was clear and balanced when I closed it. So, I’m looking for advice on what I should do to try to ensure that I don’t have a swamp next Spring. I just joined this group this year and have been trying to follow the program. Here are my most current test results. FC -8, PH-7.9, TA-73, CH-260, CYA-39.

Instead of replacing the incandescent bulbs in my Pentair Spa lights, I'm looking for some battery powered lights that have a single suction cup that will stick to the Pentair light glass lens. The lens is small and only 4" across and is pretty convex in shape.
I found some lights on Amazon that actually work pretty well, but they have 4 smaller suction cups that can't match the curvature of the glass lens. For whatever reason, they don't stay stuck to the liner either. Good for less than a day and they fall off.
So, my odd request is for a suction cup light that can stick to a very convex surface.

Here's what I have now. The lens is too curved for the glue on piece to work, plus not committed to gluing anyway.

9th season. Thankful to discover TFP early on! This season after the opening chems: 40lb salt, 3lb CYA and less than 1 gal muriatic acid. That's it! Crystal clear all season! Just renewed my Gold membership as an appreciation for the knowledge I gained here. Closing on Friday, see you next season!

Someone at work has just installed a pool that's using Magnesium Chloride instead of NaCl.
He was asking about pool care and I was wondering if there are any differences between the level of all the other chemicals compared to the NaCl SWG.
For example, FC/CYA, TA, CH.. can I just suggest the normal TFP recommendations?