We've used a winter cover in the past, but got tired of having to replace almost yearly because the wind would get underneath, would tear etc. Because of tears, wed end up with light hitting the water and often open to green. So we tried the coverless route, which worked quite well for the most part, until last year. We want to try to winter cover/leaf net again, but unless we find a way to properly secure it having a deck walkway all the way around in addition to a third of it having a full deck, I'm not sure what will change. We could probably shove the cover down between some of the pool/deck walkway and get underneath to secure it, but for the larger deck, there's really no way we can access the pool underneath it, (at least not easily) to secure it there. So wanted to get ideas from others who have a similar set up with their AGP if possible. Also, what do you find is the best size to buy? Our pool itself is 30' dia. Do we get 33? 34? Any other suggestions is greatly appreciated! We will also be adding a leaf cover as well if that factors in...

Hello everyone!

I am installing an 18’x33’x52” in ground steel walled oval pool with a 9’ radius. I have never put in a pool before but I was left with no choice when my pool dealer failed to produce an installer. I have been doing well so far until I tried to put the aluminum cp2 radius coping pieces in. The coping, when placed on the top of the walls, does not sit flat like the straight pieces do. I was told by the manufacturer that a few screws would flatten it out. So I tried that with no luck. Most of the 8’ section of coping still remains off of the steel wall. I have tried to install these pieces in different areas of the pool, secured the middle first, secured the ends first, with help and without. I have a few extra radius wall sections that were omitted to make room for the pre fab steps. I even tried to install the coping on them thinking it was something I did to the installed walls but it was the same result. I’m all out of ideas and I hope someone on here can help me through this or point me in the right direction.

Thank you,
Ryan

Hello. My builders have just completed a 25m pool in the Caribbean and i am disappointed with the Hydrazzo pool finish which is very patchy and looks awful. Has anyone had a similar experience with this pool finish? My builder is happy to re-finish it for me again but I am keen to understand any tricks wich will ensure it does not end up as patchy as it was the ist time.

I have a older Omnilogic system and this forum has helped me a great deal, thank you.

I resurrected this string since I am also worried about clearance issues with intellivalve actuators. I have all the pool equipment removed at the moment to pour a new concrete equipment pad, so if I need to redo the plumbing, now would be the time.

Here is a current view of my valve spacing. I drew in the orientation of the valve actuators which I think is correct. Can anyone confirm?

Hey all,

Been lurking around the forums for quite a while, it was super helpful when I decided to install my heat pump myself and plumb everything with PVC last season. Since my pool was installed in 2020, I've been using Enjoy Once-a-Week based on a neighbors recommendation. It was actually super easy to maintain and everything was going great until this summer. During the high heat and drought in July and August here in MA the pool got cloudy and eventually I realized that I had a mustard algae problem. Long story short and after many bags of shock, I'm still dealing with residual algae, I've read up a ton about pool chemistry (also some good threads on why Enjoy isn't so great), I bought a TF-100 test kit, and finally just bought a CircuPool CORE-55 SWG yesterday from Discount Salt Pool with the $10 upgrade promo.

Now the part you've all been waiting for, my first test results using the new TF-100!
FC - 27 eek
CC - 0
TC - 27
TA - ?? lost count of drops, never turned red....
CYA - 95
PH - 7.2

Obviously my water is an issue which I already suspected so I'm currently doing a partial to almost complete drain/refill. I considered just covering it as is and dealing with it in the Spring, but I also have a slow leak in my liner so while the water's low I plan on searching for holes to patch.

Now finally to my question that I'm hoping to get some input on. After it's refilled in a few days, should I take the time now to balance it, add salt, get my SWG up and running, then winterize/close it? Or should I just cover it and do all of that in the Spring?

Hi,
The tile of our pool was redone in June 2022. A few weeks after, black marks appeared underneath the caulk ( see pictures). I think it is black mold but I am not 100% sure. The owner of the company who has done the job made several promises to come before the closing but did not show up. He looks reluctant.
Is there a professional who can tell me why this black substance is there and what was not correctly done by the pool company?

Does anyone know what warranty Pentair will offer for equipment bought by the consumer via polytecpools.com and installed by a 'licensed' installer?

522041 Pentair IntelliCenter Load Center with Intellichlor transformer was just delivered to me and I am also looking to buy an Intelliflo3 from them.

TIA

Todd

Good morning,
Here in upstate NY closing pool 13,500 gallon above ground salt water pool, within next 2 days. 2nd year closing new pool. Tested FC 6, CYA 60, PH 7.5. According to SLAM chart my closing FC will need to be 24. I’m adding plain liquid bleach, should I add a gallon at a time with pump running. How long does it need to circulate? Added to 24 ppm FC last year and opened to pristine pool with 6 ppm FC.
Temp of water 70 right now.

I have a P6E6VS4H-209L pump with a IC40 SWG. We had heavy rain late last week that ended up getting into the keypad and drive. I took both apart and dried them out, then reinstalled. The pump went back on but the screen and keypad dont work. I started looking around and saw that there is a keypad relocation kit as well as intelliconnect. Does anyone know if I could this kit, pentair 356905z combined with intelliconnect and not need to replace my keypad?

I have a 350k Jandy Hi-E2 R heater... The other day it wouldn't heat. After turning on , it would go into an ignition lockout mode after about 1 minute or so. The igniter went bad and had to be replaced so it's working again... but I have 2 follow up questions.'

1. I'm told by two different guys that have managed my equipment that it's common for those igniters to just randomly fail. The heater is only 2 years old, but I guess it can happen? Any thoughts on this? (the igniter was getting voltage, it just wouldn't turn bright orange in that tiny see-through window)

2. I was also told that limestone gravel neutralizer (small stones at the bottom of the heater) are required in the condensate tray to prevent corrosion and this should be replaced every year or so? I'm not sure I understand what this does. I bought some replacement limestone to mix in regardless. Just not sure what this actually does. The guy that installed the replacement igniter said it needs to get replaced otherwise if the limestone gets to fine/small (or sandlike) it can suck up into the heater and cause problems, or something like that...

3. It's getting colder out now, days are 50-65 degrees. I want to keep my pool open but I don't want to heat my pool to 70-80 degrees either. I read that pool heaters are supposed to be set a a minimum of 68-70 degrees, but I don't understand WHY. Why couldn't I just set my pool heater to 62 degrees or so, so it's easier on the gas bill?

Thanks for any input.

Doing a deep clean of the DE filter and found this in the pipes, and was also all over the skimmer basket. Decently easy to scrub off with medium pressure. In the middle of my SLAM and close to the OCLT, but have been stuck at 1.5ppm to 2.5ppm loose every night still. DE filter was the last thing to clean and it looked bad. But saw this in the pipes and don’t know what it is.

I am getting a small amount of pebbles (maybe 2 teaspoons) in my robots filter basket when I rinse it out. I keep my chemistry pretty well balanced (see pool logs) and my CSI is kept kept slightly negative to keep my SWG from scaling. There are rough spots in the deep end of the pool, but they have been that way since the pool was filled and don't seem to be getting worse. Is getting the small amount of pebbles normal when using a robot or is there something I need to be doing with the water to better balancet it?

I noticed my CH was low last week (200). I added about 12lbs of Calcium Hardness increaser and it's sitting around 275 now. My wife was wondering why I needed to increase the water hardness, since everyone in our area complains about how hard the water is out of the tap. So I checked the tap water for CH and it's about 175 (no water softener at the house). It must be other minerals in the water that make it hard. Is there any concern about total hardness or other minerals getting high in the water? We tend to have a chalk or film on our tile above the waterline most of the time. The pool was first filled on 7/8. Below is the last test log.

FC: 5
pH: 7.6
TA: 90
CH: 275
CYA: 50
Temp: 82
CSI: -0.08

26,000 gal. liner pool in Georgia. 20+ years old. Autopilot SWG & Polaris 280 with a cartridge filter.
Really never had any trouble until this summer...
He had heavy rains ~ 2 months ago and the next day pool was green...not terrible but it took me 30 days of sweeping and cleaning the filter to get it back to normal...
Since then it has been perfect.
Yesterday the water was a little low so I added an inch or so of fresh tap water + a big glug of muriatic acid. Today the pools once again greenish...
What gives?
THX

Hi all,
The walls of my 3-year-old fiberglass pool have a texture under the waterline compared to the smooth texture above the waterline. It's not like sandpaper grit or chalkiness but there's a definite texture that doesn't belong there and wasn't there for the first couple years. There is no change after vigorous brushing and scrubbing so not sure if it's a residue/scale that has built up or if it's some kind of erosion or pitting of the gel coat. I have been brushing ~weekly.

Here is my chemistry:
visual: clear water
FC: 7.5 (currently a little high as I've recently been battling some persistent haziness; on the way down to my target of 5)
CC: 0.5
pH: 7.6
Alk: 100
CYA: 70
CH: 250
Temp: 82F
Sat index: +0.1

I needed to SLAM twice this year to control cloudy water. For that I used cal-hypo but otherwise I use my SWG as my chlorine source. It's not clear to me whether the cloudy water issue is somehow connected to the wall texture issue, as I'm currently thinking the cloudy water was due at least in part to an aging and dirty filter since the cloudiness went away without SLAMing once I replaced the CC200 filter.

I've read though some of the other threads here relating to fiberglass pool shell problems but haven't found anything that sounds specifically like my problem. I don't see any visible sign of what I feel and I can't scrape off any residue. That said, I gather the most likely explanation is some kind of scale, but how do I test for scale below the water line? Are there any other tests I can do to investigate the cause?

Thanks

Guys

A client of mine called me to visit his pool and asked me to teach him the pool water chemistry.
He had muriatic acid in a 20 liters container and since he was not aware of pool maintanace he completely poured 20 liters acid in the water.

It was a few days before i visited his pool and when i was there the PH of the water was back to normal range.

Something i am curious about is from pool water chemistry i know that low PH (actually PH below 4 ) will cause corrosion to metal parts which is actually rust.
I didn't see any damage to pool pump because it was working and the other metal part was the heat exchanger which I don't know what happened to it because i could not see inside

My question is:

How quickly does a low PH (PH below 4 and here we definitely had a PH below 4) damage metal parts in the water circulation system?

Does this lowering PH need to happen multiple times until this can cause a damage to metal parts?

Thanks

I've been reading all the posts and is seems like there are various ways to blow your pool lines. I think I'm targeting blowing lines from the pump housing back towards the main drain and skimmer. And then blowing through the pump (direction of water flow) and equipment to get the returns. I have attached pictures below.

Setup:
18K Saltwater Gunite
Pentair VS pump
Multiport valve
DE Filter
Heater
SWG.

Location: NH, much ice and snow
1 Skimmer, 4 returns. Cyclone blower

Procedure:
1. Backwash filter
2. Lower pool water 18 inches below returns. Will use main drain for this
3. Pull drain plug on pump, filter and (heater?)
4. Close main drain leg and blow out skimmer from pump. Water should come out of skimmer
5. Close skimmer, open main drain. Blow out main drain and airlock
6. Set multiport to Recirc
7. Blow out return lines from pump
8. Insert Return Plugs
9. Insert pool skimmer plug.
10. place drain plugs, filter pressure gauge in pump housing

Questions:
1. Is it OK to blow air through the heater and SWG?
2. I need to find someway to connect the blower to the pipes in the pump housing. I have some old vaccumm hose to make a short hose from, but I need a hose end to fit into the pipes. Im thinking some type of conical hose adapter to create a snig fit.
3. Antifreeze? I'm not sure if the closing company in the past used this.
4. Which exact chemicals/kits to use for closing. I think I will tackle that after getting the mechanical closing done.

Hello all,

Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer.

My Pentair Ultratemp heatpump (heat and chill) has stopped working. Unit cycles thru water temp testing, initiates heat/cool cycle but compressor never engages, no heating/cooling.

My issue is as follow - this is a replacement unit that is just 2 years old. The original unit failed within the first season and was replaced by Pentair October/November 2020.

Back in 2020 Pentair assigned the diagnosis/repair/replace to a local commercial HVAC company. That company was purchased by another commecial HVAC service company that no longer services residential equipment. Pentair does not have a certified maintenance provider in my geographic area, and is struggling to identify an alternative service provider.

I’ve now lost several weeks of season as we are not able to heat the pool to our desired temp.

Needless to say this is extremely disappointing and concerning regarding the lack of reliability of this product. I’m ready to request a replacement unit.

Would value guidance / input on how best to proceed.

Thanks Craig

Hi all, my pH is extremely low...very, very yellow in the test tube and my alkalinity is extremely high as it changes from blue to yellow instead of green to red. I saw in another forum to add 20 Mule Team Borax as this would raise the oH with a minimal rise in alkalinity but I don't think that's really going to help me. Yes, I have been using tri-chloride tablets but since my pool is very small (2,000 gallons) I only put in half a tablet and then still have to brush off algae about 2 times a week. Are the tablets really contributing that much to drive the pH down? I was using liquid chlorine but seems like I had to add that about 3 times a week or more...is that normal? Anyway, I was also seeing some plaster scaling develop a couple of months ago and that seemed to diminish when I added more Muriatic acid. Additionally, my calcium hardness is very high also, somewhere around 500-600. Other than draining the pool at least half-way, does anyone have any suggestions in order to try and level out these readings?

I was quite surprised today. I have used the same water for 5 seasons now. I knew my water had a salt taste to it, so i decided to get a Taylor test kit and check it. 6000 ppm !

Am I missing something here? The app seems to only support pools, all of the suggested values are higher than what is recommended for spas. Is there any way to change this?

Hi I’m replacing my pool decking and coping and was wondering if the aluminum liner track should be connected to the bonding grid? If so, it’s about 20 separate pieces technically so should each piece have a bonding lug attached to it? I should add it’s concrete walls as well so maybe the bond just needs to be connected to the wall in 4 places and the track isn’t necessary? Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

New pool owner deciding on what type of safety cover to buy. We got some information from our pool builder about GLI safety covers. They offer mesh, solid or solid with a mesh screen in the middle. Leaning more towards solid to reduce my chances of algae in the spring. Does a solid safety cover eliminate evaporation during the winter? Would I ever need to add water to the pool in the winter? My pool is fiberglass and I can’t let the water level get too low. Any help relating to safety cover types and what I need to do during the winter months (if anything) would be appreciated.

My hot tub is only heating when the jet are on full blast not when its just circulating what could cause this

Current readings Fc 1.8. Ph 8.0 Alk 70. Ch400. Cya 40
Every other day I have to add about 1 cup of acid to bring ph down to 7.6. And 2 quarts of chlorine to bring up to desired fc . Is it normal to have to add this frequently?
Thank you for your support

I am starting to have lighting issues and need to replace lights. I started with 4ea GloBrites. One initially went bad and I replaced with an adapter and a Microbrite. Total cost was about $650.

Now, 2 more have gone and I received a quote of over $1700. I have purchased these from my PB at his cost and I do the work, but now this seems crazy.

I have seen on here that others have used Florida Sunseekers possibly. Other option is to buy Microbrites off the internet where I see them for $450.

Thoughts or recommendations?

I tore down a 18’ X 48” AGP with a 18”-24” depressed center. I want to replace it with a 54” pool without a depressed center, so I must fill in the depression. I can’t seem to find any info on this. All of the instructional material just says never fill below an AGP. In the construction world this is done all of the time. I’m thinking screenings, tamped with a vibrating plate or a “Jumping Jack”, one of those powered tampers. Any advice?

My pool builder just called and said the Saftron ladder I have in the deep in would not work with any kind of hinges (I have an auto cover). Has anyone with an auto cover found a solution to use a saftron ladder and and add any kind of hinges?

I know my ph is high but don't know what to enter into the pool math app as far a number and I van never read the yellow as they all look the same to my old eyes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.