Hi Everyone,
I’m new here and thankful I found this website. I live in Arizona. I moved here about 2 years ago. I bought a house with a pool, but have only ever used a pool service. I know nothing about the upkeep of the pool.
About a month ago something smelled like dead fish by the skimmer area. Upon further investigation I found a huge foam looking type growth and got a tool to scrape it off. It was disgusting. See picture #1. I notified the pool company and they had no idea.
Fast forward a few weeks and this evening I notice the growth form white stuff is returning. See picture #2.
I’m wondering if there is crack in the cement and something is oozing out. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

This gunite pool has two returns (circled in red) and one skimmer on the far side. Pump is a one-speed and return strength is very strong. The eyeball on the back return near the steps is pointed down 45 degrees and straight ahead towards the far wall. The eyeball on the left sidewall return is pointed down 45 degrees and pointed as much as possible towards the skimmer (but really towards the right front corner). But as you can see in the picture, debris accumulates along the left side of the pool, particularly in left back corner. (If I open up main drain, leaves will accumulate there too.) What is the right way to position the returns to ensure best possible circulation and skimmer pickup? Thanks!

New pool completed 3 weeks ago.

I noticed a weird thing going one with my smaller pump used for the sheer descents.

Unlike my main pump which holds water to top even when pump is off, this smaller pump starts to slowly drain down and I see air bubbles coming out from one side of the pipe. It's like 1 bubble every 10 seconds or so and the water drains down past that pipe and to the bottom, maybe 4 inches of water remains in pump when it's all said and done . I believe it's the suction side of pump where the bubbles are coming from.

Pump is higher than the pool but not sure that matters as my larger main pump doesnt drain down and it sits higher than pool as well.
I asked the chemical start up guy 2 days ago at the final pool school orientation and he said as long as it primes up, your good. Me, I am thinking it's some sort of leak as I've had some bad (VERY) bad luck with this pool build/builder.

Any ideas folks? Pic below, I have a video but it seems too large to post. Thank you.

We are first time pool builders and I found this forum way too late!

I was going to post some of our experiences and decisions to get feedback and hopefully help avoid some of the same mistakes we made.

I am planning to post some of the stages differently due to the time it takes to make a post.

Thanks in advance for any tips and interactions!

Hello,

We have been working with several pool builders over the last few months and they have all provided quotes and design ideas. See more info on that in this thread: Need Help Selecting a Pool Builder - Atlanta, GA

We also recently had a new property survey completed. I have included a portion of this survey below with a rough estimate of the pool location (blue rectangle). Until the survey was done, none of the builders had expressed any real concerns about building a pool in our backyard. We would be building next to a stormwater detention pond and a creek is at the back of our property but neither of these seemed to scare any of these builders away. In this new survey, it's showing the majority of our backyard in a Flood Zone X (shaded) which is defined as: "Flood Zone X (shaded) indicates an area where the annual flood risk is between 1% and 0.2%. This is considered a moderate risk."

Today two of the pool builders contacted us to say they would not be able to build a pool after all due to the flood zone. I called one of the other builders and after his company reviewed the survey claimed it would be "no problem" to proceed with the build. We also sent an email to the county for their permitting requirements. We are in the metro Atlanta area and more confused than ever given the mixed answers from builders. Does anyone have any experience with this?

My heater shuts off every once in a while (recently daily) with a Service Heater light. I turn the heater off and back on and it then appears fine.
When I checked the back of the circuit board, none of the indicator lights were on, except for a red LED on the bottom right next to R15. There is no code associated with that light, so I'm assuming that it just comes on when the Service Heater indicator comes on the panel.
I don't want to just start replacing things but I don't know what else to do.

My dad bought a house around 3 years ago with this Hayward system. The extra panel in the house was working fine until recently and now gives Communication Err 3 Call 888-921-7665.

When I search for Err 3, I can't find anything online, and even the Operation Manual I found online shows only a Err 1 and Err 2.

I cut off the power to reboot the entire system, but it just pops up that error right away.

I don't know if the extra panel is wireless or wired. I am thinking wired. Any ideas before I call that number? Calling that number sounds expensive.

Hello all,
I have a 23yr old 20' x 40' oval plaster that is due for a renovation. With 2 in college I'm trying to kick this can down the road for a couple of years. The pool has held up well over the years and I am not the original owner. After a few seasons of a few loose and some tiles coming off I found the expansion joint had failed. I replaced it and caulked it nicely. I have 2 sections that have loose tiles and apparent minor bondbeam horizontal cracks above the waterline. Right now I have a section about 8' with the tile off and started removing loose material. It looks like the beam cracked length wise and the upper half moved outward towards the deck. A clear void is visible between the coping and the beam and several red brick coping is hollow underneath. My plan for a temporary repair is to pack the void as best as possible with hydraulic cement then use the same cement to even the upper section of beam with the lower section then reset the tiles. The question is how much of the the old brown coat do I remove and how much effort to repair the crack? Do I need to grind down to the shotcrete even anything loose was grinded off and since we have no leaks do I need to cut a V and epoxy the crack? Will post pics tomorrow. Any advice appreciated, thanks.

I have a pool and spa that are on separate systems. Both are salt systems with ph/orp control. After numerous years of frustration with the orp systems (and finding this site with clear explanations of why the frustrations occur) I'm ready to make a change. The spa is controlled by a Pro Logic controller, T-cell and Sense-Dispense setup. The pool has an Aquarite, HCC2000 and T-cell. Both the single speed pool pump and the variable speed spa pump are controlled through the Pro Logic controller. Here's my plan.....Eliminate the Sense-Dispense and HCC2000 units. Upgrade the Pro Logic with the OmniPL retrofit kit (HLXPROUPG), Integrate the pool's Aquarite with the OmniPL by installing the Aquarite communication board for Omni controls (daughter board HLAQRPCB). Does this make sense? Will it work to control both SWG systems through the OmniPL?

New 16x32 Intex saltwater system pool has only been up and running a short time. 9 bags of salt were added initially per instruction manual. I just got my TF-Pro saltwater kit and before I even opened it, my chlorinator has the low salt level code flashing. How do I test salt level with this kit. I did not order the salt test strips as I thought I wouldn’t need them with this kit. I’ve used some of the test strips that came with pool, but they don’t include salt level. Newbie here- never had a pool.

I found someone giving up there old fence for 50 bucks as they wanted something more aesthetic. The brand is from Baby Barrier, which isn't a DIY brand, but the concepts all seem the same. The metal rods are 1inch, and I was able to find some Sleeves with caps on ebay for that size. It seems like the newer sizes are 1/2"- 5/8", but I felt this price couldn't be beat. Do these fences hold up for long times? Any cons in this approach?

Here is my basic maintenance schedule for my VSP:

18 hours at 1400 RPM
4 hours at 2350 RPM
2 hours off

I check the sand filter pressure at 2750 RPM (service mode). This ranges from 12 - 20 PSI, backwash around 18 (around once a month normally).

I deep-cleaned the sand filter a year or two ago. The sand was replaced in 2015. All water test levels are dialed in (FC 7, CYA 50, TA 70, pH 7.5).

This has worked fairly well for the last year or so, however there has been a persistent slight cloudiness. I essentially use a turbidity test: I go to one end of the pool with googles and visually inspect the features underwater at the other end. I can see the stairs and skimmer fine, but they are slightly fuzzy. I've had it clearer in the past with a single speed pump. Looking down into the pool from the deck, it looks like a very clear, clean pool.

I've tried incorporating some DE in the sand filter. I use 1/4" cup after backwashing. However, the results are perplexing. All will be fine for a week or two, or maybe just a few days. Then, during the 1400 RPM schedule, the flow at the returns is suddenly reduced. The weir door starts to lift. Then things get weird. I put the pump into service mode to check the pressure. It will be normal, around 12 PSI. I stop and restart the pump at 1400 RPM, and the issue is magically fixed. The flow at the returns will be normal again for a while. This ONLY happens with DE, and it happens EVERY TIME. It's like the DE takes a set in the filter that has to get reset by the start/stop. I'm sort of at a loss here. The DE has helped with the cloudiness a bit. As I see it, there are a few options:

1) Increase the lowest 1400 RPM to 1800 RPM. This increases the energy usage (230 W) but gets the flow back to normal and lowers the weir door again
2) Just backwash and add fresh DE when this happens. This solves it as well, at the cost of water usage and convenience and increased metals over time (this is an issue I've had).
3) Reduce the DE amount even more. I've reduced and reduced by trial and error and am down to the 1/4 cup. Can I realistically go lower and have this still be effective and worthwhile?

Thoughts?

This is not a question, it is to provide a heads-up to others who have older Pentair skimmer boxes in their pools and wish to replace a broken weir with an original equipment Pentair weir. I have been using universal weirs that work fairly well but often come loose due to the heavy sloshing of water in the pool when the grandkids are playing. I decided to use a replacement Pentair weir.

Whereas universal weirs have spring-loaded posts that grip the walls of the skimmer box, my original weir is secured with a single stainless screw. The Pentair weir has a permanently fitted and pre-drilled hinge piece attached to the floating blade of the weir. The hinge piece fits into a slot on the floor of the skimmer box intake. In my pool, the slot part consists of a rear wall and two tabs. The hinge part of the weir slips into this slot and is secured by the screw. (I have seen descriptions of other configurations of Pentair weir installations slightly different from mine.)

It is very difficult for one person to slip the hinge piece into the slot, hold the weir to keep it from floating out, locate the screw hole right on the skimmer floor, insert the screw, and tighten it. Either a small Phillips head Z screwdriver or a regular Phillips screwdriver with a long shaft is required to tighten the screw. It could possibly be a two-man/woman job with one person in the pool holding the weir in place while the other person inserts the screw and tightens it. It's not a great design.

Once installed it works better than the preceding universal friction-fitted weirs and it won't be floating out. However, be prepared for a frustrating installation. Replacing this on a regular basis is not a fun idea.

I ran into a problem last year with my FC staying high. It wouldn't come down for weeks even after removing chlorine and staying in the sun. Now last year I wasn't doing the full TFP method.
This year I've been following the method (for which I'm eternally grateful!) And it's been a stellar summer. I'm not closing yet but preparing and I've noticed this week that my FC isn't moving and I don't want to run into the same problem. It was 5.5 yesterday. I had to lower pH a bit last night and did not add chlorine. Today FC is 6 - tested twice with FAS-DPD. It's getting cooler and we're no longer swimming. The rest of my test results are below. Any ideas?

FC - 6
pH - 7.6
TA - 50
CYA - 35

10000 gal vinyl, liquid chlorine

I have a fiberglass pool with a Pentair Intellabrite 5G spa light. After a year or so of owning the pool I started to see some rust colored junk on the face plate of the light. I removed the light from niche to clean and unleashed a giant plume of algae. After lots of scrubbing on the pool deck with a brush on the light and using Bar Keepers Friend on the faceplate, I was able to clean everything up and reinstall the light.

I repeated the same process at the start of this season, and I left the light out of the niche during my initial SLAM to start the season. Unfortunately, rather than waiting 1-2 years to clean the light again, within a couple of months I had to repeat the process. Again, there was lots of orange-brown rust colored junk on the outside. When I opened the niche it was completely full of black algae. After cleaning that time, within a few weeks the orange-brown growth has reemerged on the face plate. During all this time I've kept the FC at the high end of the TFP guidance using a SWG.

Questions:

Is such frequent cleaning typical? I'm sure what is happening is that I'm just not getting rid of all the algae. Exponential growth to a noticeable amount takes much less time if there some significant algae to start with.

The Pentair light has lots of nooks and crannies on the backside that I can't get completely clean without disassembling the lens/gasket. Should I just disassemble every time and replace the gasket? What about setting the light in a bucket of bleach water on the pool deck for a couple of hours? I'm reluctant to do this for fear of damaging the light, but maybe others have experience.

Any advice or wisdom is welcome - thank you!

Matt

Typical spa elevated above pool with spillway into pool. Everything is fine until the blower for the spa is turned on. Then one side of the spa has water leaking, running down the stacked stones. Doesn't leak a drop when the blower is off.

I've never messed with the spa or blower plumbing so no idea what's happening. Also a little confused, though very grateful, that it's not leaking when the blower is off.

Do I need to pull the spa apart to access hoses? Eek

Thx

I ended up with a couple extra temperature sensors from my build that I do not need. They haven't been opened and are in their original bags.

They're both interchangable as either water, air, or solar temp sensors, the only difference is the length of the wire attached to them. I believe both the 7784 and 7785 have 15ft cables attached to them. they come with the sensor with cable attached, an o-ring, screw for surface mounting, and a hose clamp for mounting on a pipe for water temp.

$50 each shipped anywhere in the US. Will take Paypal, Venmo, etc.

Hello!

New to pool ownership and forum, appreciative of guidance!

Have a 15K, chlorine, in ground with vinyl liner pool that turns green/brown after topping off with our well water.

We have a katalox iron filter in our basement which the well water passes through prior to the outdoor spicket and our water tests at the pool store all register 0 iron.

We have gone through SLAM method and flocculant treatment but still unable to clear the water and stains on liner.

Current test results are:
FC - 15.28 (high from the SLAM)
TC - 16.79 (high from the SLAM)
Combine Chlorine - 1.5
pH - 7.5
Alkalinity - 124
Calcium - 165
Total iron - 0
Copper - 0.1

Attached are photos from after the flocculant and today after vacuum and top off

Thank you for any guidance!

I’d like to add some light to my pool and figured out that I have a vacuum line to the pool that I no longer use and never will. (Have robot). It’s in a near perfect location to add some light to the pool and the plumbing is already disconnected from the suction line. I’ve seen nicheless lights that can thread right into the existing fitting. With my pool’s layout, running the light’s wire through the PVC will be simple. My question is whether the TFP community has a recommendation on which nicheless LED light manufacturer seems to have figured out longevity. I had 2 nicheless lights in a pool at a house I owned in FL about 6 years ago and would go through a new set every year because the blue LEDs would fail. They were under warranty, but it was annoying. Fast forward, my immediate neighbor builds a pool a couple years ago and within a year, most of his nicheless LED lights fail the same way. Blue dies. Different brand. As I am about to add one to the pool at my current home, I am hoping to find an option that will last more than a year or two without having to be pulled out and replaced. I appreciate any suggestions the community can offer!

Chad

I know it has been stated many times on here that salt pools don't have any affect on pool components but I haven't seen this one so I wanted to double check. My pool has the 500 watt light fixtures in it which are metal. With these being submerged all the time will I encounter any problems switching to SWG?

I typically only use a solar cover after Labor Day and until I close the pool (about 4 weeks on average). It mostly helps keep the gas bill down.
I don't deal with significant leaf drop, but I do have a neighbor whose maple leaves inevitably get blown onto the cover and start to breakdown. I typically only use the pool about once or twice a week during this timeframe, so it's not like the cover is getting regularly pulled and getting the leaves removed.
What is the best way to avoid algae development on top of the cover so that I am not dealing with an algae bloom right before closing the pool?
I did order a garden hose sprayer and was planning on filling the reservoir with liquid chlorine and then just spraying over the top of the cover - but that could get messy.
Any other ideas?
Thanks

I have an Aqualink RS (installed 2010) running a Jandy VSP (installed 2023) and JXi Heater (installed 2022). Everything has been working great this season until this morning... I noticed the pool did not cool down overnight. I checked and the heater was going (not fun on a Texas summer day). The indoor OneTouch did not show that the heater was enabled (it was disabled and there are no programs with the heater). The outdoor Aqualink panel LED light for the heater was not lit. Yet, there is power to unit and it is heating. I double checked that the heater is set to Remote T-Stat (it was). I manually turned off the heater so it's not heating anymore. I will say that the top of the Aqualink RS panel is warm to the touch. Any thoughts?

My current plans are to have the Kool deck applied to the concrete decking. It has to be done before the concrete sets up and the cost is an additional $3.50 per square foot. I went to a pool where it was done and it looked great the way they textured the concrete and there was a color additive, don't know whether it's part of the Kool deck or if it was in the concrete itself. The concrete contractor said it was 'T5'. In Georgia where we have red clay, it is beneficial in hiding stains. Also the builder claims it will lower the deck temp by 20 degrees in the summer. Anyone here have it, what are your thoughts?

Below is the one I saw with the T5 Kool deck. Ours would be very similiar.

I have 25 acre field behind my house. I can’t get the winter cover to not catch the wind in the winter. Has anyone used the hurricane pocket cover before? It has a center drain and don’t really want the water draining in my pool. I’ve drained the pool in the past but think I’ll leave it this year and plug the return and skimmer.

So we are about 2 months in to owning a brand new pool, just converted to salt not long ago. Pump stopped working the other nigh, and prior to that we had received a couple of the email alerts saying that the communications cable was not communicating between the pump and the Intellicenter. We checked all connections, and they were secure and good. Power connections to the pump are good. We had an electrician out today before the PB comes back out tomorrow, just to check and verify that we had good power all the way to the pump, which we do.

My wife had called Pentair on Friday (this all happened Friday), and the guy on the phone immediately said it sounds like a bad drive, which he said has been an issue, and he started the warranty process right then without even verifying what it was. At that point we had not even checked the power. He assigned a ticket and another pool company, and we talked to them and they were confused as well. Our PB called and said they were looking into all this today, and talking with their Pentair rep, and they seem to think it's something else, but have not said what. I guess my question at this point is, has anyone here experienced this? None of the lights for power come on at the pump itself, but the electrician verified the power to it today. I'm really surprised that the pump went out that quick. The PB is sending a guy out in the morning to replace something, but they have not said what.

Just picked up an Elantra Limited Hybrid for my boy as his first car and I wanted so share that I'm really impressed with this car. The car is loaded with safety features including semiautonomous driving (we tested on highway and it works really well), drives very nice and gets off the charts gas mileage. We have been getting 55mpg routinely in the first couple of weeks. The warranty is phenomenal at 5/60k- 100k for powertrain and tranny. No CVT transmission but a DCT which will last longer too. We took on road to Penn State and drove very nice and quieter than I thought it would be and two teenagers fit comfortably in the back.

So if you are considering one of these I would highly recommend them in terms of a value prop for what is considered a compact sedan. Only thing missing in my opinion is a HUD and wireless carplay vs wired but for an economy car segment they had to keep costs down at some point so likely why no HUD.

I've had my pool and separate spa setup with ORP/Ph controlled SWCGs for the past 10 years and finally have had it with the hassles the ORP sensors bring to the system. After a lot of reading here I've disconnected the HCC2000 (pool) and Sense & Dispense (spa) systems and am getting things on track without them. Concerning the T-cell outputs I am wondering how the % settings actually work. It seems the cell is either on or off and the % setting refers to how long the cell runs per hour of pump time. ls this correct? If so how does this work? For example, if the t-cell is set at 10% does it run for 6 minutes out of every hour the pump is on? Do the t-cells keep track of the time? Thank you in advance for your help! This site has been a great help. This morning the pool is at 92*f, FC 6.0, TC 6.0, pH 7.7, TA 80, CH 350, CYA 80, NaCl 3000. Just need to get the t-cell (T-15) dialed in to maintain FC at 6-11. I have a single speed pump running 24/7 (electricity is very cheap here!)

My question is this. When closing for the winter, I remove drain plugs in my Triton sand filter and Pentair Pool pump. When the water drains from those two devices, does that also empty all water in the other piping that is in the picture?

We went on vacation lost power came back to a green swampy pool. Its an above ground 6500 gallons took out all the green nasty old sand substituted it with zeolite. Pool is finally blue but very milky cloudy. I’ve tested the water I’ve done all the chemicals still very cloudy. Is it the zeolite?

Has anyone had experience installing pavers over an auto box cover? We are not getting a lot of guidance from our pool builder. What bridges between the stone brackets?