Hello everyone. I've had pool for last 6 years when I moved into my home but had the pool guy take care of it. Since I work from home, I have decided to take care of the pool myself. Hoping to learn from all the experts here.

Hi Everyone,

I am new to owning a pool and we just bought a house that has a 18,000 gal in ground pool that is chlorine right now. I am thinking to replace the pool pump with a variable speed pump because the pump has a slight leak but a new o-ring kit I have read about might fix it. I need to figure out the filter situation as well because it is showing 26 psi which seems very high. It is a Hayward something most of the labels have faded so I don't know the exact model number. I have a Pentair 400HD heater on the pool as well and there is a Polaris pump that is disconnected but they have a Dolphin Premier instead. The pool has a water feature and spa that both dump into the pool. There is one light in the pool that seems to be halogen in an enclosure.

I assume I am going to need a new filter or maybe cartridges, I will see what is inside when I open it up. But right now I am wondering about converting to salt water?

I have been researching and learning for weeks all about the chemistry of the pool before we closed on the house and got this Taylor full test kit. Everything seems to be in the range but there is a decent amount of staining on the pool and could be because the previous owners didn't run the robot enough? I am still learning on that part but if I were to convert this to salt water what else do I need to keep in mind?

I looked the heater can work with salt water, the pump I have now shouldn't care and if I get a new pump then even better.

Here are my questions:

With a new variable speed pump it runs all the time, but then changes speeds. What impact will that have on water feature?
Is there a way to run the water feature and/or spa off a different smaller pump or automate the valves to send the power to that when the pump is on low?
What is the most cost effective way to run the pump without running up the power bill and losing the savings of having the variable speed pump if you have to do 2 pumps?
Also where would you suck the water from for this second pump?

I’m just running the numbers using the Pool Math app for my SLAM that I’m going to start today. My pool is 30,500 litres.

Using the “Effects of Adding” page, it tells me with my pool size adding 3660 ml of 10.3% chlorine will raise my levels by 15 ppm.

If I go to my pool and click on then Free Chlorine tab, SLAMing my pool from 5 ppm to 20 ppm is telling me I need 4438 ml.

I know this isn’t a massive difference, but it’s still over 20%, and I want to try to be accurate.

Probably a stupid question.

I'm buying the equipment for our new build pool. Everything is 2" right through until I get to the skimmers.

I'm looking at using two Hayward auto-skims but those and all the others I find take 1.5" lines.

Are there any skimmers to be bought that take a 2" line or does it not make a difference?

if i reprogram the pump from the default settings, will it retain the new program if the power is cut off?

I have a old Sta-Rite sunbrite ltc pool light. It needs to be replaced but no one seems to know what light I can replace it with. If anyone knows what light I can replace it with, I would appreciate it. Thanks for your help.

Hello TFP, I'm new here but really excited to take over our pool maintenance. We have been testing our water in the lab and leaving each time with $200-$300 work of chemicals. It seems I can do this on my own with the right tools. I have ordered the Taylor K-1766 to test the salt. I'm still researching a test kit for the other elements. I still have 5 bags of mineral renewal to go through. Once that's gone, I would like to manage the pool chemistry on my own. What's everything (chemicals) I should always have in stock in the shed for bi-weekly water testing? When I open my pool, is bioguard beginnings a necessity or can I just buy norton salt? Thank you!

I have only one full Summer under my belt and I expected I could follow the same pattern and levels of SWC generation this Summer. So far, that is not true and I am suspecting a problem.
In early May, the pool was a bit cloudy and the Chlorine level was down to 1.2ppm. I cranked the unit up to 100% but not much changed. I shocked the pool on 5/16/23 with 2.5 gallons of liquid Chlorine (Pinch-a-Penny). That cleared up the cloudiness. I also had the company come out and test the IC60. It tested fine with only "500 hours on it". I had the tech remove the unit so I could inspect the plates. They were clean.
The levels slowly dropped again so I shocked the pool again on 6/21/23. I have been running the generator at 80% for 7 hours a day since late Spring. In order to keep the levels up, I am having to add liquid Chlorine every few days.
If the unit tests out OK, could the power center/logic unit have a problem? I have an Intellitouch I9+3 with the power unit built in.
Needless to say I have opened a support call with Pentair and the Installing dealer.
Current chemistry:
FC:2.1
pH:7.5
TA:60
CH:260
CYA:75
Salt:3100
Borates:50

I just added 5# of baking soda to raise the TA.

Intermatic P1353ME clock reset required on power loss. What component on board retains the clock?

We have recently noticed that our Circulpool RJ 45+ has been acting up. Currently it is showing 133° temperature and no salt when we are measuring 4100 ppm and the temperatures are just normal Florida weather. Last weekend I attempted to clean the salt cell and got very little bubbles and it was quite clean. This weekend I checked chlorine levels and it was not producing chlorine and indicating low salt and to service the generator. Clearly there’s an issue but hoping to try to start solving it before I call Techsupport on Monday. Does anyone have any suggestions? thank you in advance.

I am so happy I switched to a Maytronics over 6–7 years ago. Love the things. My first may S200gave me 4 yr.

4/21 I purchased an active 20. And then months later, I purchased a new controller.

Figured I’d get at least another four out of it. Fingers crossed we do.

Anyhow, what’s currently happening is that for a few weeks now it’s been making a weird, clicking noise. Tried to diagnose its behavior last night. It just was staying in the shallow end, cleaning, the same spots over and over. I unplugged it, untangle the cord, clean the filters and basket, put it back in the deep end, and let it get to work. It started acting normal, but then I noticed it was cleaning the sidewall and then went up and on the bottom/underside of my solar pool cover. It went literally from one side of the pool across to the other attached to the pool cover. I’m not saying getting tangled in the cover, but traveling across the cover. It was actually amazing. I’ve never seen it climb and cross the bottom of my pool cover. Usually it just goes up the wall, hits the surface, and goes back down.

I gave Marina Pool & Spa a call. Spoke with Margaret, and then her tech. They told me about swapping the tracks and the front wheels. Prior to doing that, that’s when I noticed that one of the tracks was off so hence that’s possibly what was making the noise.

Performed their recommendations, threw it back in, and noticed new behaviors. It’s literally cleaning a 2 foot section at the deep end going back and forth to the left and right for now 20 minutes. It really has not done the bottom at all. It’s just gone across a few times, and found it happy place in the deep end wall at the surface.

What in the wide world is going on with this active 20? This mystery behavior reminiscent of my old Polaris when it would just spin circles in the deep end and I’d just started throwing parts at it and trying to figure out what it was.

Here in sunny, hot and humid Florida my pool temp was 94 degrees yesterday. I like a warm pool but not that warm. Not sure if there's anything I can do to lower the temp before we have guests next weekend who really want to swim. I do have solar but the display on my Pentair Solar Touch is wonky and I can't read it enough to change it to the cooling mode. I tried buying one of those cheapo fountains from Amazon a couple years ago but it didn't fit my returns. The returns are the eyeball type with a ring that holds the eyeball in. If I remove that there is a piece of threaded pipe that comes out of the side of the pool. All the fountains I've looked at screw in with threaded male attachments. Would running the pump at night make any difference? Humidity is running at about 75% and the dew point is 76-80 if that makes any difference. Pool isn’t screened and gets full sun all day. We've had no rain for the past week to cool down the pool either. Sure hoping we get some this week.

Electrician replaced sub panel. Feed comes in from the rear. 2 hots and ground run out lower left to timer box. Hot, neutral and ground go out bottom for a 115V outlet. Issues:

1. 30 Amp dual pole breaker on left doesn't have a connecting bar. I've never seen one like this. I googled and some said it doesn't matter, the tripping occurs internally?

2. Grounds and neutrals are combined on ground bar. Wouldn't I have partial load going back to main panel on my ground wire? The bus bar is connected to my enclosure, so my enclosure is connected to Neutral. Thinking I should just take the 2 neutrals off the ground bar and use wire nut?

Hello, I’m new on this site and pool management. I’ve had my pool for 3 months now and I feel like I keep spending money to keep it good. I’ve spent probably about $1000 in chemicals. Everytime I go to the store to get my water tested, I have to buy something to fix something even though my water has stayed crystal clear the whole time. So I need some professional help so I’m not spending too much on chemicals. Thank you! Lykebu

I have an in ground white fiberglass pool 23,000 gallon 16'X36' depth 3'-8' since 97 when we bought house. Pool was put in 80-81 believe it was called an Ester Williams. Had it re-gel coat 2015, lasted till 2022. Last year had Ecofinish put on looked great, had some areas that company will take care of (off season). This year noticed dark brown blotches mainly on vertical part of stairs but small ones else wheres. Checked it out and used vitamin C did the trick. Got some ascorbic acid at pool store. Added it to pool as instructed used Mikes Magic blue after acid, and pool fluff filter. After a day or two running pump, back washed pool looked great spots gone. After 4-5 days noticed a brownish ring around pool. Checked an area with ascorbic acid and presto ring disappears. I am on well water so not a great mystery where coming from but never had this bad an issue. How do you keep all metal out of pool once stains removed?
Thanks for any thoughts on the matter.

Hi all,

I have a PureChlor SWG, with a timer on the panel. I have currently set it to run for app 8 hours (the pump runs for 10 hours a day at 10m3 per hour, the pool is 38m3 or 10k gal). There is 3500 ppm salt in the pool.

I cannot find any instruction on how long time the SWG should run for. The setting is at 6 out of 8 on the SWG. I "feel" that there is enough FC (i.e. I can barely smell it on my skin), and my titration test shows app. 3-4 ppm.

Another question: can you test the amount of stabilizer by analyzing the free chlorine right after the SWG shuts off (e.g. at 6 pm) and then again just before it turns on (e.g. 11 am) the next day. If the reading shows the same, and the SWG hasn't been on in those 16 hours, this must mean that there is enough stabilizer. Am I right?
Thanks!

Hi all!
I’ve been testing my pool myself using the Taylor k2006. Happy to be doing this as my results aren’t all over the place like they were with the pool store results. That being said my FC is at 11.5. I’ve got my SWG set at 53% which is clearly too high but is there a way to determine what I should set it at? My CYA is 75. This is the second year with the pool and I don’t think I even thought about changing the setting on the SWG until I started testing own water. Any advice is much appreciated

Hello from Pennsylvania. I am very happy to have found this forum. I've had a pool for the last three summers and I ultimately want to be able to do all of the work myself, but I have left it up to pool companies so far. I have found it so frustrating that everyone tells me something different with my pool equipment! I'm looking forward to getting some real answers to my questions here! And I'm also exited to learn how to navigate my pool system. So glad to be here.

Hi there - I posted an intro message the other day, but we are resurfacing the pool in a home we just purchased in Arizona. Unfortunately we are living in MN and don't have options to look at in person. Choosing things online is a challenge. We are going to use Blue Surf Pebblesheen. The max pool depth I believe is 5 feet, maybe 5.5. Has anyone used either of these waterline tiles with Blue Surf? Or do you have another waterline tile suggestion (2x2, not glass)? I don't want it to look purple.

Hoping that pdf shows up. New to this forum, AND to pools! THANK YOU!

The pool cover sub-contractor knocked out a section of coping while installing the rails at the stair entrance. Any thoughts on what should be done to repair it? Will the repair hold? It is in an obvious spot we will see every time we go in and out of the pool. See attached photos. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi,
Our pool was supposed to be 3.5-6 ft and the majority of the middle being 4-4.5 We went in the pool after the gunite has hardened and noticed the majority of the middle is closer to 5 feet deep instead. We are having a pebble finish and we’re wondering if there is a way to correct this depth with the pebble/plaster? Any advice is appreciated.

My pool has a white metal coping that I need to clean the dumb squirrel tracks off of.
Magic Eraser does a pretty good job but is also removing the paint too. Bleach (diluted) doesn't work great.
What else can I use? I think the staining is from the walnuts that squirrel is eating and gets on its paws. Then it leans over the edge to drink from the pool.
Darn rodents!

I’m having a problem with filtration that I can’t figure out. I hooked up my Lil’ Shark vac yesterday and started to vacuum the bottom of the pool. It had good suction and was doing what it was supposed to do. I checked back a couple hours later and noticed that it wasn’t moving and had very low suction on filter, but very strong on recirculate. I could hear some thing that sounded like a stone circulating in the pump, so I turned it off. Earlier, when I was walking in the pool, I did find a couple chlorine granules that were several millimeters in size. I figured one of them somehow made it into the pump so I took everything apart today but found nothing of substantial size. I made sure the impeller was clean. I hooked everything back up and I still have the same problem but no longer hearing the rattling sound. I did find an acrylic fingernail in the pump so that may have been the noise culprit. Even after the clean out, I have great suction on recirculate, but barely enough to keep the basket in place on filter. I have backwashed approximately 60 seconds and rinsed approximately 30 seconds three times. PSI is running 11-13 both prior and after backwash.

The only things I didn’t check was I didn’t disconnect the return line which has an AquaSmart pack attached to it or actually open the sand filter. Filter was working great before I vacuumed and for the first couple hours. I’m new pool owner and learned last night I did the rookie mistake of attaching the vac line directly to the skimmer instead of using the vac attachment that came with the skimmer. I can’t believe I did that, wasn’t thinking! With the pump off, I rotated the filter handle several times clockwise in case something happened to be stuck. I’m thinking next step is to open the sand filter? It was a used pool so the filter head is used but I put brand new laterals in before filling with glass media. Again, it had great suction for several hours till a couple hours after I hooked up the vacuum. Recirculating suction is strong.

Any suggestions or explanation as to why I have almost no suction? Pump is primed and water flowing through it. Water is just a tiny bit cloudy but I have a fair amount of sediment on the bottom. Robot vac is coming today or tomorrow. Taylor k2006 test kit is supposed to come today. Test strips show both free and total chlorine about 2, ph and alk. both in ideal range. CYA shows low but I’ve read test strip reading is typically way off. Water is pretty clear but you can see some sediment that has settled in the middle and some low spots. Sorry so long, wanted to be thorough. Thanks for reading and for any help you might be able to offer!

Sand pump not stopping the dirt from going back into the pool when vacuuming. Can’t get the dirt out it just goes right back in the pool. Is it just because it won’t catch fine dirt. I heard that maybe if I put a chemical in it, it helps to clump it together I backwash it and everything it’s still doesn’t. Please let me know.

Hello. I can't seem to get my PoolMath log to automatically attach itself to my forum profile.

I'm logging in to PoolMath using the same username I'm posting from here. In the app options, I've selected "Link from TroubleFreePool.com user profile."

Is there another setting I need to adjust? I do only have a single log in there.

I noticed a tiny bit of algae on one pool wall the other day and knew I was going out of town this weekend, so I ignored it. Bad idea. This morning, it's still not tons, but it's on all 4 walls and a tiny bit on the bottom, so I shocked this morning and have the pump set to run all weekend while I'm away.

I have someone who can add chlorine, but not test the chemicals this weekend. Am I better off:
1) Having her add one gallon of chlorine tonight (Friday) and tomorrow morning (Saturday) and then I'll check when I'm back on Sunday afternoon, OR
2) Setting my salt cell to 100% and hopefully keeping the levels high enough to resume the SLAM Sunday afternoon without too much more algae?

If I go with option 1, my only concern is that the levels would get overly high.

Hi - We've had our pool a year, and I have been using the robotic cleaner. Our pool company gave me the manual vacuum but did not show me how to use it. Do I first put in time out mode? Or No? Do I turn the main skimmer thing off? If I put my vacuum hose into one of the three holes that are seen in the picture, where does the debris go? There are no leaves; it's just maybe dust or sand that I'm wanting to get up and mainly from the hot tub since it has never been vacuumed? Could someone please provide a step-by-step guide. I have a Pentair system.

Thanks,
LaDonna

I'm currently testing my Free Chlorine for the first time using the TF-100 test kit. I added the R-0870 powder which turned the water pink. I then started adding drops of R-0871 to the water. It first turned clear at 35 drops, I figured out the FC, but by the time I was done calculating the water turned pink again. So I started adding more drops of R-0871. Cleared at 43 drops, but then my baby started crying, by the time I got back it was pink again. I'm now at 60 drops! I don't know what's going on. Should I just start over?

Found a leak on my pb4sq booster pump



do you think the pool pump body replacement (R0723100) is good enough or should I also do the o-pring replacement repair seal kit as well?

I have this white residue building up on the rock wall grout, on our 1 year old pool. I was assuming it's calcium deposits, but I can't remove with anything so far. It's present on both retaining wall and non-retaining wall side of pool, so I don't think it's anything seeping through.

8:1 muriatic acid/water does nothing, no bubbling. Brushing with stainless brush does nothing. This stuff is hard!

My CSI is -0.18

Any suggestion appreciated!