I haven't been paying attention to the pool with such a mild winter. MD had no snow at all this year. Checked water temp yesterday and I am already at 57! That is a good 2-3 weeks early. I'll pull the top this weekend and start cleaning up the water. I think I have 3 or so gallons of bleach from last year which will all go in.

The trees seem to know as the plums are all blooming early as well and usually I have plum flower pedals clogging up the skimmer baskets shortly after opening. I just hope they hold off falling until I get the top off and folded so I don't end up putting it away full of plum flowers.

Anyone else opening early due to warmer than usual weather?

We had our pool installed the week before Labor Day last year, MacGyvered our pool ladder to be able to get into the pool and 2 weeks after Labor Day we closed it. The only thing we did for the pool was to put the grass plugs that were removed for the bonding back for the final electrical inspection and thought that Spring 2023 is when we do the work to get it looking somewhat decent. Spring 2023 has arrived here in NJ so I took the coming week off to get some stuff (with a little hope of all the stuff) needed to get done. We are shooting for the official opening middle of May and hopefully the pool water will be warmer for Memorial Day weekend with a solar cover on it.

Today was kind of productive, we were able to set the base, rip out al the plugs we put back - the grass and trees reclaimed them FAST and put up 2 posts for fencing. We decided over the winter that since our yard is not level, the filter is above the bottom of the pool and the piping from the filter is at trip height (or dogs get into trouble height to be more exact ) we are going to fence that area in with vinyl lattice. Originally the weather was supposed to be rainy but looking at the forecast we should have quite a lot of good weather next week. What's left is doing 2 more holes, leveling an area where the pipes are for support (should be easy!), put down weed block fabric and then cart all the tons of rocks we took out from around the old pool back to the new pool. We made the circle around the pool larger than it was so that means buying even more rocks!

Welcome Spring 2023!

Hey guys, with bleach at $9 a bottle, I think I will make the switch to SWG this year.
I have a pool that is around 22K gallons and I am looking at this system.

CircuPool EDGE40 Salt Chlorine Generator​

CircuPool EDGE40 Salt Chlorine Generator-EDGE40, which I also found here for cheaper - https://www.amazon.com/Circupool-EDGE40-Salt-Chlorine-Generator/dp/B07Z8HQ333

I would like to get some thoughts on if this is the right one to go with and know if there are any installation walkthroughs, videos, checklists, etc to make sure I have everything. I just bought my TF test kit refill but I am sure I need a different one for salt. I also read on the forum to put the salt in 24 hours before, test, etc.

I know absolutely nothing about installing and maintaining SWG so I need to get learning and I am looking for any good resources.

One of the main things I need help with is where to put it. I will need to install it vertically. I can put it right after my filter, which I think is best because then it will work for the hot tub and everything. I can also put it after my heater but then it would miss the fountain.

The way my plumbing works is Pump -> Filter -> Heater -> fountain return -> hot tub return & pool return (main pipe splits into these last two)
You can see this in the attached pictures. The circle higher up on the image right by the filter is the area I am thinking about and if I put it there I may not need to mount it vertically. If I put it on the lower one I think I will have to mount it vertically.
The space of pipe up by the filter is 23 inches long and the space right before the spa/pool split is 12 inches.


Ok, thanks for any help. Let me know if more information is required.

Thanks

I have been repairing these Easytouch motherboards.

There is two failures which can occur that takes out the RS485 communication.
The first is failure of the RS485 chip, this I can repair.
The second is failure of the circuit in the processor, this is not repairable.

I found a simple test with a voltmeter which can determine if the processor circuits are good.

On the back side of the board, while the board is powered, near J20
with the positive lead on "RO" (See attached jpeg),
you should be able to read approximately 5V on "RE', "DE' and "DI" with the ground lead of the voltmeter.
Close to 5V is good, less than 1V is bad.

If your board passes this test then it is worth replacing the RS485 chip if you do not have communication.

Hope this is useful

After over 2 years since I first spoke to some of you on this forum, we started our dig today, click here for a link to today's progress photos and here's one of them:


This was our last render but keep in mind we have different materials/furniture and we slightly sized up the deck on the side and the spillover, but the shape is accurate: Login to view embedded media
The back wall will be: A 6” (single) row of Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2 for then a row of Mastertile MASISOSAR 6 with 3 evenly spaced decorative tiles MASISOSAR DECO then another 6 inches of the Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2


This is our 2d layout with where/how we want to place furniture:


Here's our plan and equipment list:

• 425sqft pool with a depth profile of 3.5' by the stairs, 5' in the middle, then 4' on the right
• 6.5x7 spa right raised 12" with a 5ft spillover, back wall center raised 18" with a 5ft waterfall, bubbler left sunshelf
• Signature Matrix Cadet Blue, Wet Edge's blend of the small and medium pebbles
• 3" for main drains, 2" for returns
• 1 skimmer, 3 returns - covered by a screen with no tree cover
• IntelliCenter IC40 with intellivalve actuators for the pool/spa/bubbler/waterfall
• 2x Pentair 3hp Intelliflo (one for pool/spa, one for bubbler and 5ft waterfall)
• Pentair MasterTemp 400k natural gas heater
• Clean and Clear Plus 420sqft four cartridge filter
• 1.5hp blower for a 6.5x7 spa with 6 jets
• 2x Microbrites at the bump outs facing away from the house, 1 in spa
• 10' half moon sunshelf 10-12" deep with bubbler and umbrella sleeve
• Umbrella sleeve on the middle bench, spa bench, sunshelf
• 1800sqft with Flagstone Panorama Demi in Cream/Beige/Charcoal with Cream coping
• Screen enclosure, 10ft walls, mansard, 18x14 as all our neighbors have had no bug issues with theirs
• Grey fittings inside, beige outside
• NDS Mini deck drain, larger drain with removable top for cleaning
• Banding tile on all benches, stairs, sunshelf, spa via the Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2
• Auto overflow valve

Things I'm doing before/during/after:

• Areca privacy palms with small plants all the way down the side and back of fence (we have a 4ft gap between the screen and the fence)
• Landscape lighting and irrigation throughout, with pot sprayers for potted plants in the corners inside the enclosure
• Rock speakers in the back right and left of the pool as well as in the front ceiling under the patio roof
• LED strip lights in a diffuser channel down each vertical enclosure support
• Bar with storage and mini fridges on the left, matching cabinet granite bar top with seating in the middle
• Sectional with fire table on the right side of the covered patio
• New circuit with GFCI outlets where the columns are for vacuum, above the TVs, and for two mini fridges at the bar
• 2x new fans on the patio that put out over 10,000cfm each hopefully keep it cool enough during hot summers
• Surge protector to main junction box
• Dolphin Sigma pool robot

Feel free to reach out with any last second suggestions or general thoughts about working through the process. I'll post progress photos as they come.

I’m in central Ohio and it has been unseasonably warm this month (and most of the winter, tbh), so I’m highly considering opening in a couple weeks as long as this weather keeps up — which according to the extended forecast, it’s supposed to. Even though I obviously won’t be able to swim yet, is anyone in the Midwest (or north) opening early to avoid the jolly green monster, or just because you feel like it? I’m bored and sick of looking at this cover lol. Go ahead and laugh, but I know I can’t be the only one. Or at least I hope not. I usually open the first week of April, so I open early regardless even if it’s still cold lol

Hi All! We live in central MD and our new pool construction started in mid November. Aiming for a mid March/early April finish. I ended up here because I am concerned about all the things that can go wrong with Wet Edge installation. We are in the process of choosing right now. We currently want to go with the Prism Matrix Indigo Blue. I've looked all over and haven't found many people with this color. Any thoughts?

Just replaced my old jandy stealth single speed pump with the jandy vsshp220dv2a. Did not buy the iq20 upgrade kit so my electronics are incompatible, but am trying to use the iqpump01 to run the pump. Can't get the iqpump01 or pump to turn on. All I did was connect the 3 electrical wires to the pump and the red/black/yellow/green rs485 connections. I restored power but can't get the iqpump01 to get power. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Thx.

I'm building a new pool and I would love if there was a matrix that would compare different dimensions such as resiliency to imperfection of plaster, color, durability, feel on body and touch and cost.

I'm considering mini pebble but I keep hearing too rough on touch, and there's not much information available on micro pebble or PolishedScapes. QuartzScapes supposed to be softer on touch, but it seems it could have color imperfection. Any suggestion on what I should move to if I want to get smoother surface than mini pebble, but I still want to get beautiful color? Seems too may alternatives without enough information around those. My PB doesn't know much about detail differences.

btw, I'm considering Aqua White for mini pebble, or Tahoe blue for QuartzScapes or Aqua Blue for Micro Pebble.

Does a TFP store exist anymore?

I've always wondered about getting TFP branded lanyards. Just a thought....

Good morning, currently under construction in Chicago. I wish I had found this site before signing a contract, but looking forward to getting advice from this point forward.

We decided on an inground fiberglasss pool due to maintenance concerns, climate, and finally budget. We got three bids. Chicago’s market is admittedly pricey.

Our home is in the city proper. Our lot is 24.75‘ x 169‘. Chicago ordinance requires a 10 foot setback for any pool over 4’ deep. Therefore we had to go with something 4’ We are two adults without kids so also don’t need a big pool. We just want a plunge pool to cool off in or warm up in and have a cocktail.

We had to put a hole in our garage for access due to space constraints.
There’s a big maple in the backyard but we trimmed it within an inch of it’s life! Permitting took 9 months - welcome to Chicago. ?

Forgive any non-compliance with usual etiquette regarding my build post. And go soft on this newbie.

Specifications:
Pool: Latham Milan 16’ x 10’, 4’ deep, Color Shale Gray G2, 3 LED lights, Pentair Clean/Clear with cartridge filter, Pentair VS 011055, Raypak 206-A, Pentair SWG IC 20, SaniKing 01-05-0940 chlorinator (back-up)
Patio/Coping: 3’x2’ Blue select thermal bluestone
Options: Automatic Pool Cover with custom concrete box, Automatic Water fill JandyK1100CKC, 8 spa jets with separate pump, mini deck jets x 4 and Pentair 011511 pump, winter pool cover, mesh

Attaching some pics of the general schematic, pics of our house and backyard, and start of the dig.
Hoping to use this thread to ask questions as issues arise, as I’m sure they will.

We are essentially almost done with the dig.

Looking forward to hearing any comments out of the gate! Also looking forward to all this site has to offer.

I brought a Pentair Warrior se from Marina pool and spa. It broke about 1.5 years later. The motor unit was replaced under warranty and now has died less than a year later. Pentair will not cover it now that is out of its 2 year warranty period. I did take the warrior apart and found the impellar motor must have taken on water and was rusted out. Before the Warrior we had a polaris 280 that never broke but required I brush the pool which I didn't have to do with the robot. Not sure if I should just go back to a polaris suction cleaner or try another pool robot. I liked the robot but spending almost $1000 every 2 years if it keeps breaking kind of ridiculous. I know people have had better success with their robot than I did. Ideally there is a product that I can fix myself. Are aquabots easier to fix. If so what model is similar to the warrior se. Thanks everyone for their help. This resource and people in it have been amazing.

Cliff

Hi, I currently have a very old 2HP pump, connected into my Easy Touch panel. The 2HP is dedicated to a fountain going into the pool. At the full 2HP, the water flow is very heavy and I'd like to be able to change how much water is getting pushed into the fountain. My thought was to get a new Intelliflo VSF pump, then use the ScreenLogic app on the phone to select the desired pump speed... some days would like 3k RPM, others perhaps 1k RPM. Is that possible to do in the ScreenLogic app from the phone? Or perhaps there is a roundabout way to program it, e.g., use 2 circuits and have a designated speed assigned to each?

Note that I do have 3 available circuits on my EasyTouch. I also thought about the SuperFlo pump, which had 3 speed settings, but not sure 1.5HP would be enough for when I want it running at full capacity (e.g., current 2HP pump).

Hi TPF pool members and experts.
We are working towards building a pool in the Houston, TX area and I found this helpful website a month or so ago attempting to self-educate myself to hopefully avoid us making costly mistakes due to our lack of pool knowledge.

We have decided to build a simple rectangle pool (36x18) with an attached flush corner spa (7x7), no fancy bells and whistles as costs in the Houston area have increased about 25% from when we first considered building back in June 2020….still kicking myself about delaying things but nonetheless here we are. We have in fact simplified our design to maintain a reasonable budget.

So where I need help is determining if we need to make any changes to the equipment list the PB provided:

General Specifications
Perimeter of Pool 108’
Pool Depth 3.5' to 5.6'
525 sq ft Hayward Cartlidge Filter
Hayward Inline Chlorinator
Hayward 500 Pool Cleaner
Hayward Eco Star Variable Speed Pump
Hayward Booster Pump
2 Skimmers
(2) 12V Hayward LED Pool Lights
(1) 12V Hayward Spa Light
(4) Main Drains
(6) Spa Jets
Pool Cleaner - Hayward
Heater - Hayward 400,000 BTU
Automation - Hayward Pro-logic
Aqua Pod

I have informed him that we would like to make the following changes so far:

1. Add SWGC which he was more than happy with changing.
2. I need to ask for more information on the pool cleaner as a robotic cleaner is suggested
3. Plan to shift the spa a little further out to free up space for a bench and more pool space.

Are there any other recommendations, changes we should make, questions we should ask, or things I should exclude here? This is our first pool build and I would appreciate any guidance.

Hi Georgia Newbie Here,

First time, soon to be pool owners here. We are in the contract signing phase but before we lock things in, I wanted to get some eyes on our pool on paper and make any changes to things we may or may not need to run our pool once all is said and done. Please tell us if something is missing or is overkill. So here are the specs so far:

Pool
Gallons: 24000

Shape
Roman/Grecian

Style
Modern/Traditional

Spa
Square Spillover
Dimension 7'
Area:
12" dam wall with 6 therapy jets

Rebar
4 bar bond beam with ½ inch steel; 3/8 inch rebar tied 12 inch on center each way throughout plus:
12 inch on center in transition slope by 20 feet length
12 inch on center in deep end coves
4 inch dobe blocks

Pipes
3 inch suction line;
3" inch suction line for all pump motors larger than 1.0 hp
2 inch return line
Heavy duty surface skimmer
Jandy Ball Valves
Spa Jets with adjustable eyeball fittings (spa only)
Hose bib at pad for draining pool
All circulation lines are under pressure test throughout construction

Shotcrete
6 sack pneumatically applied shotcrete
Floor shot first, rebound removed
All shotcrete is measured by a certified weighmaster

Electric
Breakers at pad included
110 volt GFI protected light circuit with outlet
220 volt pump circuit
Jandy Control System
Bonding as per N.E.C. Code
(3) Led Lighting

What's Making Things Tick
Jandy Stealth Series pump
High performance circulation pump 2 1/2 hp MULTI SPEED
Premier Salt Generator
Jandy C Series
460 sq.ft. Cartridge Filter
Heater: Jandy JXI 400,000 btu (spa)
Maintenance Kit includes;
Telescoping pole, Brush, Leaf Skimmer, Test Kit, Robotic Vacuum .
Anti-vortex main drain grate (DUAL)

The Pretty Stuff
Pebble Plaster
Travertine Coping
Baja Shelf with 3 bubblers
Paver Decking
Glass trim tile for safety

Side Note
Spa will have to be run on propane as our home is total electric.

Thank you for helping us out! We'll be sure to bring you along for the build process.

Got this one in a while ago but weather, health, and money kept it sitting. It was frozen and someone attempted a repair with flex seal (or something like it). While I would not expect it to work on a spa pressure side plumbing anyway, it's certainly not helping when it's on top of spray foam.
Shell is a roto-mold I think they call it, what I call a tupperware tub. It is heavily damaged, all signs say it was used as a dumpster for roofing waste. If acrylic/fiberglass it would be all but unfixable, at least by me, but since it's all one material, no clearcoat, and a semi-dull finish I feel good about sanding it.
Cabinet has also been poorly "repaired" and will have to be re-done. At least I have most of the pieces.
Balboa/WW, non-circ, with stereo (that needs replaced). DEEP tub.
Some pics.

I have been looking at this product for the better part of two years and I'm very happy to say we have finally got one installed! I am very happy with this product and am equally happy to supply one of the first reviews of it. I know one of my own biggest uncertainties was the dearth of reviews out there: Will my pool get too hot? Will it work at all? The heating and cooling needs are not matched. The summer is hot already, etc. With no reviews, we basically had to just take the plunge. I hope this sheds some light onto the product, how it works, and will help someone else with their pool heating decision.

The Hotspot FPH heat reclamation pool heater, website here, is a device that connects to your central AC unit and redirects the waste heat from your house back into your pool. So, instead of the giant fan on the outdoor AC unit spitting the waste heat from your house into the sky, the Hotspot FPH unit instead puts the heat into your pool water.

It does this by running the hot AC refrigerant coil through a small canister through which your pool filter connects and sends the water through. Essentially, it heats the flowing water like a tea kettle using the heat from the AC coil. I will update this post with pictures in the coming days.

Here is an album with some pictures of the install: Hotspot FPH build - Album on Imgur

The whole concept of this product really appealed to us. In fact, we went searching for this solution over two years ago before we knew the product even existed. I stumbled onto it quite accidentally when watching an episode of Ask This Old House which featured this product. The appeal is just how complimentary the two systems are -- in the summer, you want to cool your house AND heat your pool.

One more thing to note before jumping into the review is that I live in the northeast, where the summers are warm and the spring and fall are cool. I am not looking to extend our swimming season with a pool heater. I know several households with more conventional propane or heat pump pool heaters who don't extend their season either, since in the northeast, it is astronomically expensive to do so, even for an additional month on either end of the Summer.

Rather, we are looking to maintain a warm and consistent pool temperature during the swimming months from late June to early September. Our pool will naturally get to 80 degrees from ambient heat and sunlight alone, assuming there is a nice stretch of no rain. That's not bad, but it's not ideal either. We're looking to keep the pool at or above 84 degrees consistently, rain or shine, during the summer swimming months.

The Hotspot FPH pool heater will do just this. Unfortunately, we just got this installed at the tail end of this swimming season but I can report my results as of now. When installed two days ago, my pool temperature was 78 degrees. The water coming from the return after being heated was 2.5 degrees warmer than the regular pool water -- 80.5 degrees. Since the pump can filter all the water in the pool once every 8 hours, we can ideally heat the pool by 2.5 degrees every 8 hours. Obviously, this will depend on AC use as well.

As of now, my pool is at 80 degrees and rising. This is pleasantly surprising even to me, considering how cold the nights have been around here lately. I'm hoping we can get it above the 84 degree mark by the end of September, but I don't think we'll hit it this late into the season.

The concept of this heater is a bit different than conventional heaters. A conventional heater is absolutely massive, capable of heating a pool 10 degrees or more in a few hours. A typical heat pump pool heater can supply over 100,000BTUs/hr of heat to the pool. My 3 ton home AC when paired with the Hotspot unit can supply 36,000BTUs/hr of heat to the pool. However, where a conventional pool heater is only meant to be run a few hours at a time, intermittently, home ACs are designed to run more frequently and more consistently. This means that the Hotspot FPH heater will heat the pool more slowly and respond more slowly to shocks in pool temperature. But, since it is run frequently, it is ideally suited to maintaining a set pool temperature.

If, like us, this is what you're looking for in heating a pool, then this unit will be perfect for you as well.

To get into the nuts and bolts of the install, the unit consists of two parts: a blue canister that sits on the ground and has 4 connections, 1.5" water in, 1.5" water out, and two refrigerant lines, one hot (input) one cold (output). The other part is the controller unit that gets mounted to your house.

The water lines divert through the pool heater in the typical way: right after the filter and before returning to the pool. If you're really handy, you can probably do this yourself. I hired a plumber.

The refrigerant lines get split and connected to a 3-way valve, to either be cooled by the normal fan unit, or by your pool water. The system is fail-safe, in that if power is cut to the FPH controller unit, the AC system defaults to fan cooling. I had *many* questions about the operation, safety, and handling of edge conditions with regard to this rather complex setup that I won't go into here, but if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. The bottom line, however, is that the Hotspot engineers are pretty smart guys, and have thought about all these cases already and developed a nice, safe, reliable product that I'm confident is not going to break my pool or my AC system.

In fact, I have no doubt my AC system is going to operate more efficiently now that it is water cooled. It is wild to see my house AC on without the fan on. The outdoor unit is MUCH quieter! And the refrigerant lines leaving the water cooling canister are distinctly cooler than when they are fan cooled.

In fact, my HVAC guy had his equipment set up reading the pressure gauges of the refrigerant lines between air cooled and water cooled modes. When air cooled, the pressure was 300psi. When water cooled, the pressure was 100psi. The translation of this that I got from my HVAC guy was that the compressor was working much less hard when the refrigerant is water cooled than when it is fan cooled, meaning it uses less energy and will extend the life of the compressor. Obviously, the fan isn't going either which saves somewhere around 300-500 watts of power as well from what I can tell.

The controller unit takes in electrical connections, 120VAC home current to power itself, and takes in 240VAC lines for your pool pump, so that it can turn on and off your pool pump regardless of the pool pump's timer settings. I know more than I strictly need to now about how that all operates and if, like me, you have questions regarding this I will be happy to answer them.

The controller unit also takes in low voltage wires from the compressor to control fan usage and when operating in water vs air cooled modes. With the controller unit off, the system defaults to fan cooled mode. Fail safe by design.

The installation costs were high but not surprising, considering I live in the northeast.
The FPH unit cost $1800.
Plumbing cost $500, $250 labor, $250 materials. I had about 60' of additional PVC runs to make.
Electrical was $500, $300 labor, $200 materials.
HVAC was $1200, $800 labor, $400 materials.

Total cost was $4,000.

I was eager to share with you my experience with the install and operation of this pool heater, as there is a lot of interest out there, a lot of theories of whether it will work, whether it will heat the pool at all, or overheat it, etc, and virtually no reviews of an actual install out there. I hope this helps some of you who may be thinking about installing such a system for your own pool. I would not hesitate to do so again. Every time I see an AC unit spitting perfectly good warm air into the sky I think what a shame, it could be put to such good use.

Hi all, switched to liquid chlorine since my pool resurface. was using Trichlor pucks from Costco for years before I knew what it does/doesn't do. ($80 for 40Lb bucket. still have a bunch left) So far liquid chlorine is costing me just under $5 a gallon when buying 2 gallon box at Home Depot for $8.98 plus tax.
From what I am gathering on here I should be using 1/2 to a gallon a day. This is WAY more expensive than the pucks. yes, i understand that it builds up CYA, but it was a heck of a lot easier versus this everyday. At this rate, i need a whole pallet.

How does everyone else keep their numbers in check without going broke? thx

Should be getting plaster and fill in the next couple weeks. Any words of wisdom? I will be the pool guy!

We are planning on getting an inground 14' x 28' vinyl liner pool. I've laid out where we want our pool and equipment pad along with extra concrete and new sidewalks. We've had 3 different PB's come and look at our site, 2 gave us quotes the 3rd (who is a friend that owns a pool company) said he's tired of doing pools and it might be 3 years before he get's to it or less, he never even got back to me with a quote. So needless to say he's off my list.

PB's in my area are few and far in between. Out of the 2 that gave us quotes, one is local and the other is 1.5 hours away and has been in business doing pools for over 40 years.

The first quote is from the local PB (which I went to high school with. We are #10 on his list and depending on weather, etc. He can start our build in June 2022.

Pool Information: Inground Pool, 3.5ft to 6.5ft deep, (includes walls and base)
Excavation
28-30 mil liner of choice
One (1) Skimmer
Four (4) Pool Returns
Deep end-in wall ladder
Two (2) Hayward 320 Nitchless Lights
1.50 hp Hayward Pump (see below)
Hayward Sand Filter
Dolphin S200 Automatic Pool Cleaner
Hayward Aquaplus Salt System
Solid Safety Cover per personal drawing
Electrical wiring of pool equipment
Concrete (included in base standard base bid (deep end 4ft, sides 4ft, entry end 6ft) (see below)
Total Base Bid: $37,843.71

Add-ons and Upgrades:
Upgrade base pump to: 1.65 hp Hayward Max Flow VS500 Pump (+$487)
Add: Heater / Cooler – Rheem/Raypak 6450 Heat Pump (+$4,506.68)
Additional Concrete: 540sq.ft @ $6ft = ($3,240) (see attached drawing)
Total Add-ons & Upgrades: $8,233.68
Grand Total: ($37,843.71 + $8,233.68) = $46,077.39


This quote is from the out of town PB. They can get started on the build in Mid to Late Spring of 2022.

Pool Information: Inground Pool, 3.5ft to 6.5ft deep, (includes walls and base) (white aluminum coping and white stairs)
Excavation
28-30 mil liner of choice
Two (2) Skimmers
Five (5) Pool Returns
Two (2) Main Drains
Deep end wall ladder (not the in-wall type)
Concrete (included in base standard base bid (deep end 8ft, sides 4ft, entry end 8ft)
VSP Pentair Pump
Pentair Sand Filter
Pentair Intellichor
Total Base Bid: $44,289

Add-ons:
Automatic Pool Cleaner (+$799)
Solid Safety Cover per personal drawing (+$3,200)
Led Lights (+$795 Each)
Total Add-ons & Upgrades: $4,794

Additional concrete that I will hire out: $1,000

Pentair Heat / Cool (+$7,300)
Electrical wiring of pool equipment ( I would have to do myself, which I can)
Grand Total: = $50,083 (without electrical work and the Heater / Cooler)

I could knock off the $3,200 from bid #2 and buy my cover somewhere else and install the anchors myself.

So there is about a $4,000 difference between the two and I lose the Heat / cool option by going with PB #2.

My dilemma is this, yes I can afford to pay for #2 quote but in my mind I really want a heater / cooler for the pool so we can add a few more month to the season (I live in SE Missouri). I can do the wiring myself (rather not) for the electrical that PB #2 doesn't do. They can get to the build sooner than PB #1. My other issue is PB #1 has ghosted me and isn't answering my questions which makes me a little uneasy when it comes down to build time and communicating issues with me.

I've looked at pools done by both and both do great work.

So with all that said what thoughts do you all have on who to choose, etc?

I have posted questions in other parts of this forum asking for advice on my pool build and I promised I would post pics as soon as the build was under way. So here it is...

I am building an Aquasport 52 - 15x30x52 oval pool and burying it 28" in the ground. I will also build a deck around the pool. I have attached a mock up of the rendering (it is slightly different from the final design) and then the final design blueprint. I am also attaching 20 or so pics in order of sucession from the start to current day. I hope all enjoy and please feel free to make suggestions or comments. I will always welcome any advice, constructive criticism, suggestions, comments, observations...good or bad

Thanks all - I hope you enjoy.
Matt

Hello all–

My Wife and I are planning to hit the ground running by evaluating and quoting out with some PB’s in January and would appreciate any suggestions on what to come prepared with for the initial quotes.

Below is the current punch list and a very rough sketch on top of the survey plus google map snip.

Size: 18x36 (~12x6 sunshelf with 2 bubblers + Umbrella sleeve, 1 Skimmer + 3-4 returns?)
Depth: 3-6’
Interior Finish: -TBD- Light color pebbletech and/or possibly alternative finish
Deck: at least 6 feet around pool Pavers-TBD- Possibly shellock (Ideally the least slippery and largest format)
Overflow port/drain for the summer pop up storms that drop heavy rain
Equipment: 400K Hayward/Jandy Natural Gas Heater, SWG, DE Cartridge Hybrid?, 3 LED lights
Child Safety Fence with autoclose gate/latch (we have a toddler)
Screen Enclosure 20/20 mesh with extra wide door, add hose bib inside





Some additional background: Grew up with a ~8-9’ deep ~40k Gal. pool in northern ohio, so no stranger to some basic maintenance/old school DE filter cleanouts, skimming loads of helicopters, experienced my father go on converting from bacqua, ozoneators, to chlorine, adding Heater to extend season, etc etc. Needless to say I am excited about the Trouble Free Pool method A new build of a pool is a completely different ballgame and we are researching as best as possible for this large of an investment.

Beginning the project of converting my Hallmark pool from 80s to vinyl lined.

The main swimming pool pump intermittently "MOANS" (for about a month now) and I'm fairly certain it's the ceramic seal, correct? I watched a few "how to" videos like THIS ONE and it doesn't appear to be that difficult, but my question is what part number kit do I need?

The pump is a Pentair Whisperflo WFE-6 (see attached) which is around 18 years old so does anyone know which kit I need to rebuild it? Would THIS ONE work? (Pentair 356198)

Thanks
Ed

As seen in Zillow Gone Wild! Facebook page:

Why add just one dinky slide when you can have 3! Admittedly the orange slide is more of a dump shoot, but still 3 slides! Imagine all the fun of crashing into the opposite wall of the pool when you eject from the blue slide! The green slide is perfect for the little ones!

So Aiper has a new robot out. The SE. Battery powered. It’s on sale now for $179, which seems crazy cheap. So I bought one.

Looking to use it to clean the spa, and for quick cleanups of the pool when I dont feel like lugging the dolphin around.

Will post comments and a review back here.

Pool plastered about 1/20/2023. A couple of days ago, I noticed some superficial light surface cracks in the spa area of the pool. Now this morning, I noticed a much larger crack in the pool from the tile line to the bottom of the pool. This is a rough crack as well. Photos attached. I will wait to contact our person from the pool company as it’s Saturday, but just wanting people’s thoughts. Kind of freaking out.

Album Link with Diagram and short demo video:

Using a SONOFF 4CHPROR3, I have integrated the control of my Filter Pump, Booster Pump, and two Jandy JVA Actuators.
I have a Jandy Aqualink RS (older) which the pool guy wanted $$$$$$ to change out to a simple web interface with very few relays expandability.

Reusing the DPST relays, 24VAC Transformer, and Jandy JVAs. Most of the wiring is already complete -- just have to remove the Jandy Control Board and strip the leads. Too bad the relays aren't 24VAC or it would be even easier!

$28 SONOFF 4CHPROR3
$18 24VDC Power Supply
$9 SONOFF TH16
$3.50 SONOFF Temp Sensor-DS18B20

About an hour and a half to setup HW and another hour to setup the SW.

The 4th channel is for lights. I also added a SONOFF TH16 to automate the heater temperature and use the built in Google Assistant routines to 'Turn on the Hot Tub'.

Left side of the channel 'triangles' is the Normally Open (NO). Right side is Normally Closed (NC) while the center is common.


(Note, this image is out of date as it doesn't show the lighting circuit and the TH16 heater controller)

EDIT: Updated wiring diagram and description to include lighting and heater circuits.

Hi everyone. My wife and I purchased our first house with an inground pool (or any pool for that matter) two years ago and am still trying to figure out how it was all setup originally. Part of that is the Caretaker 99 in floor cleaning system. It's got floor jets all throughout the pool but when we turn the valve to the cleaning system they don't really pop up, but sort of just bubble.

They were working fine when we first bought the home but after a few months they stopped working properly. I have had a few companies come out and they're only advise is to abandon and go with a robot cleaner.
Would anyone be able to provide guidance on what I could check or test to try and diagnose the issue? The system we have is the 8 port (I know they have a 5 and 8 port).

There is a school of thought, especially among pool builders, that an auto-filler is a bad thing. I think the primary reason used is that they can fail, and if your pool also has any sort of overflow protection, that the auto-filler could then pump untold gallons of water to waste. And that you might only discover that when a monstrous water bill shows up weeks later.

All possible. I had my auto-fill valve get stuck open once, so I know that can happen. And this rainy season my pool was over-filling and it took me a while to figure out that the end of the pipe connected to my overflow port had gotten plugged up with mud and weeds. What to do?

Call in Super Dirk!



First step was cleaning the overflow pipe, then I extended it so that it was well away from dirt and plants. Painted, of course, to hide it in the plants that might someday recover. I situated it so that I can see it from my yard and even from one of my windows. This last week I took it a step further, and installed a cheap motorcycle rearview mirror so that my pool cam could get a good angle on the end of the pipe.

So now, with a quick glance at the mirror with my pool cam (from anywhere on the planet) I'll know:
- when my pool is full, and
- that the overflow is working, and
- if the auto-filler is running when it shouldn't be.



This is a screenshot from my cam. It's a little hard to make out, because I didn't coat the mirror correctly with my Rain-X, but the green is the pipe and you can just make out the water pouring from it. The stream shows up well on video. I'll figure out how to clean up the mirror and the view when it stops raining, but it didn't take much of this California storm to overflow my pool.

I got two of those mirrors for about 16 bucks off Amazon. I already have several around the house and yard, extending what my exterior cams can see: gate around a corner, a gate pad lock that is hidden behind a bush, the other gate's lock that is on the other side of the fence from the cam, a convex view of my front door from a cam that faces the street, etc. It's a cheap way to extend your video surveillance system without adding more cameras. Plus, I can check what's left of my hair doo while gardening!

The pipe dumps into a drainage pit, which obscured a direct shot of it from my backyard cam:



Check out my little lime tree greenhouse (a story for another day)!

It's raining pretty good right now. Even my fountain is overflowing! But it's great for my garden, which is still recovering from last year's brutal summer.