Hello all. I have a 22k galloon pool with sand filter and vinyl liner. We’ve owned our house for 2 summers now so I’m still learning the ropes. We left for a week vacation last week and despite shocking the pool (2lbs of the granular Clorox trichlor stuff) and leaving pucks in the chlorinator we came home to a DARK green swampy pool. I was at a loss to why this happened and before pulling my hair out I stumbled onto this website and read about slamming. Saturday (6 days ago) I tested our water (with Crud strips but that’s all I have currently) and it had low/no free chlorine,low/ no combined chlorine and low/no stabilizer. Ph was 7.2, hardness was fine and alkalinity was low-ok. I poured in two gallons of liquid chlorine, brushed the sides and bottom of the pool. I’ve run my pool robot daily. Next morning I tested and chlorine was higher but still low, so that night I did the same thing with the 2 gallons. Since then chlorine has remained “high” (they list 10ppm) which is the correct number according to the pool
Math app (figuring my cya is 20 since I don’t have an exact #). I’ve backwashed daily and have passed the OCLT (at least as accurately as I can figure- test strips read high at night and high next am). BUT the pool remains kind of teal/not blue and is cloudy like you can’t see the bottom.

Apart from getting more accurate test kit (which I’ve ordered), what am I doing wrong here/should I be doing differently? It seems like after 6 days there would be more improvement with SLAM levels consistently through that? Sand in our filter was changed last summer because we had issues with cloudiness. We run our filter 24/7.

I move to a house with salt pool last year. My first experience with chlorine generators.

I ALWAYS had a thick white cloud while generating chlorine AND a prime issue (filter lid cracked putting air into the system).
I fixed the lid crack this year, now when my generator is running I no longer see the thick white cloud.

Is the water return transparent while generating chlorine?

I don't know if is generating chlorine or not because I no longer see the white cloud water (I know, it's stupid).

Cell cleaned and tested by 3rd party company.
Main board (Hayward Swim Plus) looks fine, with no LED warnings/issues.

This photo is not my pool, but the symptom is the same.
A post in reddit claims the that issue was caused by air into the chlorine generator.
Login to view embedded media I left a message there too.

Hello! The cement/adhesive between our coping is starting to chip and crack. Any advice on how to repair and what to buy?
Thanks!

Hello,

I own an old Hayward aquarite PRO SWG :


I have permanent NO CELL POWER issue + random System check NO CELL POWER 1.
Issue on both polarities.

I read most threads on this forum related to No cell current on aquarite SWG.
Most failure causes come from : bad relays, fuses, bad thermistor, failed rectifiers or weak solders.
So I checked these points on my board .
-16A and 1.6A glass fuses are OK, continuity checked on the board.
-Cell supply relays K9 & K10 are OK.
-DC supply relay K6 is not working properly : I unsoldered it and checked it OK : coil resistance = 153 Ohms similar to thew two other relays. This relay is defective, no consistant connection when Command ON.
So I removed this K6 relay, shorted DC power to the K9/K10. With that mod, the cell is powered correclty with good DC voltage : 24-30VDC on both polarities, but the logic board still generate No cell POWER ==> seems voltage / current monitoring is not working.
-Weak solders ==> I resoldered all pins without any improvement
-Black Thermistor 50D9 measured @58.2 Ohms seems OK
-Red Varistor measured @4.7 Ohm

It seems I have a control issue on this board, I can exclude : 16A & 1.6A fuses, K6, K9, K10, rectifiers, transformer, Weak solder.

My board pics :

One overheat area on the bottom of the board.
Checked the board with IR camera and identified temp over 80°C around two resistors in parallel (measured around 127kOhms) close to U5 : an H11L1 (Schmitt Trigger Output Optocoupler), this area matching with backside darkened area :

This short circuit connects H11L1 PIN 1 to PIN 2 (emitter circuit).
Bottom of resistors in parallel connected to the 250 VAC IN of the small 12V PSU. So this IC seems to detect is PSU is powered.

Does someone have the schematics for this logic board : G1-015073B-1T to see if I can go further in the troubleshoot ? Any other known weak component that could match with this failure ?
As the price of this board is ridiculously high, I would really like to repair it... In parallel, I'm searching for other defective boards.

That shows the mustard Algae FC levels need after a regular slam is completed based on CYA levels and how long those levels need to be maintained to wipe out the MA ?

I made my own chart and would like to add this info.

Thanks

I have an idea to fix the stripped gears in Solar Breeze Solar Skimmer since the product is discontinued and parts aren't available. However, I need non-stripped gears as a template. Are there any NX2 owners with non-functional units that they are willing to sell to me? If you are handy, shipping and handling will be less if you can disassemble the unit and send me just the gears. Specifically, I need the white gear that is attached to the motor and the black gear that it attaches to (see picture). Note that the white gear needs to be pried gently off its metal rod and the black one is attached via nut and screw.

I hate to trash the NX2 since the battery, motor, and solar panels work fine. It's the cheap Chinese gears that are the problem.

I will provide updates and pictures once I start the project.

I've read the guide (How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?) but have a few questions. I want to switch from chlorine to bromine and specifically, and would like to use the "two step" method (no floater).

1. Do I need to regularly add bromide? Pool store says yes, that the bromide bank/reserve will decrease over time. But from what I'm reading, you shouldn't need to and to only shock on a regular basis.
2. How do I know how much "bromide reserve" I have? I have a TF-100 which includes the comparator block and R-0600. My understanding is that this will only show the bromine levels. So when this gets low, I need shock the spa. But I don't believe anything tells me about the reserve. So if the pool store is correct, in that the reserve will deplete, then I'm not sure how to know how much I ever have.
3. A lot of stuff I've read says to not mix chlorine and bromide. However, in the guide, it specifically says that you can use chlorine. So once I add my bromide, I can shock with just normal liquid chlorine? I guess I'm confused why there is such differing opinions on this. From, "it's fine," to "no, you'll create a deadly gas."

Thanks

Test

Hello, I'm the owner of a seven year old Intex-Ultra Frame 16' x 32' Rectangle Metal Frame Above Ground Pool. I actually got it free from my brother who upgraded to an in-ground. It's performed well in it's third Summer with us. I'm just here looking for tips or advice on how to inexpensively maintain a pool in Minnesota that maybe gets used 4 months a year.

Hi!
We just had a 44x16 inground pool installed. It has the Pentair Intelliflo VSF 3 for the pump. The electrician hooked it up and when we switched in all of the breakers, nothing lights up on the pump. I’ve tried pressing the three buttons together to reset it but no luck.

I took an electric tester pen and put it near the pump when the breaker was on and the pen lit up meaning there’s some kind of power there. Turning the breaker off and repeating the process, the pen didn’t light up as we expected.

Question is, why isn’t the pump lighting up at all when power is on and the breaker isn’t tripped or anything? None of the buttons are showing any signs of life. I’m not sure what else I can test without calling Pentair and trying some troubleshooting.

It’s brand new along with all of the other equipment. I popped off the top (with electric off of course) and I can see the wires are correctly in L1 and L2N as well as ground according to the diagram in the side of the pump.

Is it potentially worth getting a voltage tester to see if it’s getting the proper voltage maybe? Assuming it should be 240.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

So I have been battling my chlorine levels all summer long and cannot seem to figure it out. I started thinking my SWG might not be working properly but I have no errors on it and had a company out on 6/2/2023 and they said they could not see anything wrong with it. SWG was put on in September 2022 so it is not even a year old.
We have only been pool owners for 3 summers now and I have done very good keeping it up until this summer. Looking for any help I might could get as to why I cannot get my chlorine levels up higher.
Pool is crystal clear.

Here is some information about the pool & spa.
Location - Fort Worth TX
11,400 gallons
SWG is a Jandy PLC1400 and is set to 80% for the last two months
Last test done at Leslie's Pool on 7/22
FC was 0.13
TC was 0.38
PH 7.6
TA 111
CH 209
CYA 47
Salt 3185

First I want to say thanks to the great folks that contribute to this site! Taking ownership of my pool has been a great decision and I couldn't have done it without all of you!

I've had to do a couple of absorbic acid treatments in the last year due to metal staining showing up on the bottom of the pool. The stains look like discoloration on the surface of the floor. With the absorbic acid treatment the pool clears up almost immediately. I also noticed that my Polaris 280's white parts were starting to have an orange rust color to them and with the absorbic acid treatment it comes out looking brilliant white again, right away. This leads me to believe that the issue is iron, but I could be wrong.

I fill my pool with well water. This has not really been a problem for most of the 7 years I've lived here, but something must have shifted in the aquifer in the last year. So my question is, what's the most cost-effective way to prevent having to do the AA treatment over and over again? Here are my ideas, let me know which makes sense or if anyone has any other suggestions:

1. Continue to fill with "hard" water and use sequestrant periodically to bond to the iron.
2. Top off with "soft" water, which is filtered and softened by our whole home filter and softening system. My concern with this is that I've heard that it could cause degradation of the gunite surface.
3. Buy one of those filter attachments to stick on the end of the hose and help filter the hard water when I top off.
4. Do nothing to the water and live with AA treatments every once in a while.

Outside of these occasional stains, my water is crystal clear and my chemistry seems to be within suggested ranges by this site.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I have a Jacuzzi Laser sand filter, Model 190L, it is about 25 years old. I have developed a pin hole leak in the body itself, and attempting to seal it with flex seal, until I can get a new one. The local pool store stated they get around $540 for a new Hayward S210, which they say is what i need for my above ground 33 x 15 pool. I just bought a new pump last year, so only would need the filter. I was trying to find just the Jacuzzi filter body (Part # 9408-3664, but no luck.
Few questions
Any other solution on patching up the old body? Any other product to seal.?
Anybody know if or where I could buy just the Jacuzzi body?
I have a base that now holds my 19inch Jacuzzi filter and pump, will the Hayward S210 (20 1/2 inches) fit on my old base? or do i have to get another?
With the dimensions I gave, is the Hayward S210 the best option?
Should I try online for filter, have found some for $100 less.? but do not know the companies?
Thank you
Barry

I have 300 TA, 7.4 pH fillwater. Beginning of season I bring down the TA to 50 otherwise it is a huge battle with pH. I understand that aeration increases the pH as CO2 is released from the water. If I didn’t have any fresh water coming into the pool due the splashes and evaporation etc at some point CO2 should be depleted or at least chemical balance should be established so that net CO2 release should be zero. Am I right on this one? Secondly why do I have CO2 in my fillwater? We use underground water. Is it common for water to be so rich in CO2?

Anyone who has purchased one tell me how long shipping takes? Website says they ship daily but it’s been a few weeks… Just curious ..and anxious Thx

Hi all,

We had a bad thunderstorm last night where we lost power for a second. Since then my pool equipment is not coming online.

Equipment:
Hayward Omnilogic
Hayward VSP pumps (1 for pool/spa and 1 for bubblers)
Blower
Lights

I am able to connect to the Omnilogic via the App, it is connected to the internet.
I am able to turn the lights on and off via the App
The pumps do not power on and the spa blower does not power on
The Omnilogic is able to control the actuators when switching between pool, spillover and/or spa. I can see them moving just not seeing the pumps turn on after

I have powered the whole system down and checked all the breakers but no change.

Pool service will be out by the end of the week to check the system but I'd like to troubleshoot things if possible so I'm not without moving water for a week.

What can I do myself in the meantime?

(Pump photo)

Hello,

My fill water has 7.4 pH, 300 TA and 650 CH. It is an overflow pool with a lot of aeration and SWG. pH creeps higher quite fast. Everytime I open the pool I smack the TA down with Muriatic Acid to lower the acid demand and maintenance rest of the season. However going from 300 to 50 is not an easy process as the pH goes down as well. You need to do it step by step, i.e. smack and aerate, and loop. It takes a long time. I have no experience with Borates. In my scenario is adding Borates a better option? It seems Borates are a more optional chemical. I would like to understand why (why we take the TA lowering approach first).

I tried looking online but a quick search mainly showed how to convert from incandescent/halogen to LED lighting.
Warranty period is up this month on our Pentair products and we have the IntelliBrite 5G Color LED's for the main pool (2) and spa (1); GloBrite Color LED's (3) on our baja/water feature wall.
Our IntelliBrites have been fine although at 3 years we just had one of the pool IntelliBrites replaced....but the GloBrites have been replaced multiple times over these past 3 years. Not looking forward to throwing money down a pit.

Is there a way to replace those GloBrite's with something else that is compatible with our Pentair lighting system? I dont care if it's not color changing or if it's even LED. Anything that is at least half way more reliable than the GloBrite's.

This is my first season with a pool and so far it's been surprisingly easy because of all the great information here! I've run into my first balancing issue that I I'm not sure how to handle. Pool was not vacuumed for about a week, just took care of that and it wasn't too bad. Water looks ever so slightly cloudy. I tested and free Chlorine is at 0, combined 1.5. Ph is 7.8, cya 50. I just added a pound of shock, turned off my swg. Is this enough to bring up my free Chlorine? I think I should add more but have a party this weekend and don't want it to be toooo chlorinated either. Thanks for any advice.

Pool looks clear right now but I see a bunch of greenish-yellow sediments on the floor. When brushed, it turns into dust and clouds the pool. The sediment is all over the pool and in no particular spot. It was way worst a few days until we SLAM and now pool is clear but still see these sediments. Is this mustard algae?

I had my pool replastered this winter and I screwed up the startup. Long story short, I added way too much calcium at pool start up and didn't realize the effects it would cause. After about 2 months I noticed the scale appearing but didn't fully realize what it was. It's now been another 2 months and I can't seem to figure out how to get it to go. The scale is on the pool plaster walls, NOT the tile, and is rough to the touch which is why I want it gone. Here's what I've tried, but looking for any advice.

1. Kept PH at 7.2 for about 5-6 weeks now, I've been scrubbing the walls with a steel pool brush 1x per week and my nylon brush 3x per week.
2. I tried putting in Scale-tec for about 3 weeks. It did seem to help a touch and parts of my shallow end are now scale free, but didn't do anything amazing and at a price of ~$50 per week, I stopped
3. Tried pumice stone on various spots, doesn't seem to help
4. Called about 5 different pool companies in the area to ask about acid washing, nobody seems to want to touch it. I got referred in a big circle (Comp A tells me to call company B, B tells to call C, C tells to call A)

My pool size is about 12K gallons. Would draining it and refilling help at all? My calcium is hardness is steady at about 250ppm each time I test

Appreciate any advice you can give!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share an update with you all. After a series of disappointments with my pool service company, I made the decision to part ways with them. The level of service I received did not align with the price I was paying, so I've taken the plunge and will be attempting to manage the pool maintenance myself.

In my latest efforts, I utilized my TF-Pro kit to test the pool water, yielding the following results:

- pH: 8.2
- Chlorine (CL): 0
- Chlorine Drop Test: 0
- Total Alkalinity (TA): 120
- Cyanuric Acid (CYA): 40

Upon inputting these readings into Pool Math, I encountered a bit of confusion regarding the next steps:

1. Free Chlorine: I'm uncertain whether the SLAM toggle should be turned on or off. Additionally, what would be the appropriate "Target Free Chlorine" value?
2. Total Alkalinity (TA): It seems my TA is on the higher side. Any advice on addressing this?
3. pH: Should I prioritize adjusting the pH now, or is it wiser to first address FC/TA and then tackle the pH?

Concerned about the absence of Free Chlorine, I decided to take action by adding 1 gallon of 10% Chlorinating Liquid I purchased from Walmart.

I hope that I haven't made any significant errors in this process. Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. With a bit of guidance, I'm confident I can successfully manage the pool upkeep on my own. Thank you all in advance for your assistance.

Few details:
14k gal pool
chlorine pool
cartridge filters
single speed pump

I want to understand if I can have higher FC levels in the presence of CYA than without CYA, and still have no negative impact on the human body (eyes/skin). I know how CYA impacts the desinfection effect but I find no information on how to calculate the ”max” FC level.

Hi All - 1 year old Pentair 400k gas heater. I am noticing every now and then our heater vibrates. Yesterday it was fine, today it vibrates. The vibration is low and you can hear it inside our house.

Changing pump speed doesn’t seem to make any difference. Any idea what might be the issue?

Here’s a video of the sound …

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I live in Phoenix AZ where it's been 110-118 degrees for over a month now (and ususally no cloud cover whatsoever). It's been tough to maintain chlorine balance in the pool unless I add significant chlorine every day. Pool is 11,000 gallons and gets almost no shade (btw not saltwater). My main question is -- what can I do to stretch maintenance to every other day?

-- CYA currently around 42 (from Leslie's); I clock it more around 50
-- pH, alkalinity, CC all stable
-- FAS-DPD is testing as follows, using yesterday and today as an example:
-- Monday 9:30a -- 2.5 / recommended chl is 5-9 / added 91oz to reach 9
10a - 9
12p - 6.5
2p - 4.5
4p - 4
8p - 2.5
Tuesday 9a - 2 (I forgot to test right at sunrise but I kind of assume it was probably around 2.5 at sunrise)

So unless the pool has organisms with invisibility cloaks, I'm pretty sure the water is clear. I could raise my CYA a little, but that doesn't always turn out right. Any suggestions or am I just going to have to add chl every day...? Thanks for any help!

Looking to see how much I will save per summer months and winter months. ABOUT
Based on the following.
We currently have about a 20k gal Screened in pool -deep end 6ft.
1.5 inch piping.
1.5 Hp single speed motor, working good now
RP 3450, VOLTS 230/115, AMPS. 8.5/17.0
Hayward DE Filter, clean as needed. (Large?)
Solar pool panels not used often. Only spring and fall for maybe 4 hrs a day.
Hayward pool cleaner. 1-2 x a week.
Our pool is usually very clean. We test it often in the summer.
Chlorine tablets currently, would like to go salt system in a year.
In the winter we run it about 5 hrs and it is clear
Summer run 8 hrs.
Thinking of purchasing a Pentair SuperFlo High proformance V Speed 350097, was told about it is about a 1.65 hp
Elect kwh is 16 cents, if I figured it correctly
(Total use is 1617 kwh Bil is $263.00 for just usage. Other month fees additional )
We have 240 volt and 120 available on site.
Plan to purchase a flow meter, when new pump installed.
From reading online looks like I need to schedule about (in summer)
2 hrs. 3,000 speed, cleaner or solar panels (or possibly salt chlorinator included?)
2-4 hrs 1500-1750. Salt chlorinator
18-20 hrs on low 500
All pools are different so I may need to adjust times and speed. Looking realistic at this.
Any idea on the Savings per year?
How long the motor will last approx?
Thanks- Retired so watching our budget.

Hello I'm getting ready to start an AA treatment. Can you help?

Corners

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My Pool man said this is not black algae, but discoloration that occurs in old pebble tech finishes. Another pool man urges that is it black algae and can ruin my finish. My pool man is treating it in case it is black algae but it doesn’t seem to be getting better! What the heck do I do please?