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TDS water tester - are these ok?

H
Are these $10 TDS meters ok? I want to measure TDS of my tap water, wondering if these are ok or if I need to find some more expensive test kits?

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DIY-PoolAutomation-Pizero-FrankenAuto

Bill1974
Looks nice. If you used PLA for your printed parts you might have issues once the summer heat sets in. The printed parts could soften/deform and/or fall apart. Also many filaments don't have a flame rating and might not be self extinguishing. Also dielectric strength is not listed or what you might think it is.

There are only a handful of FDM filaments that have a UL Blue Card. Prusa has a PETG that is listed. Polymaker has some PC filaments that have a UL Blue Card, but I can't figure out if it's all the PolyMax PC or not.
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Cordless Robot Vacuum for sloped floors BUT not for climbing walls

K
Jimrahbe said:
22,

Why do you care if it climbs the walls??

Maybe I just don't understand the issue??

Thanks,

Jim R.
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It's not so much that I care if it climbs the walls... my walls just don't need the cleaning. Rather it spend the time cleaning the pool floor. I feel like I've found robots that will only work on flat floors OR robots that work on sloped floors but also have to climb the walls too.

I was just curious if there was such a vacuum that can handle sloped floors but doesn't climb walls.
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Considering SWG

setsailsoon
SJPoe said:
I've often thought with these flow switches that it would make sense to wire two in series - then if either one failed 'closed', the other would be open and stop the flow.
You still have the issue of determining if one of the switches ever failed...seems like a little 'adapter' box with a couple of state LEDs would be a simple enough solution...
I think I just found myself a new project...
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Yep, that's the plan and the failure statistics numbers suggest it's a very robust solution. I still prefer an alternate since if there's something peculiar about the system that causes one to fail it could still lead to failure of both such as a very fine dust that interferes with the mechanism. But even then, the failure of both switches especially if they're in spaced apart is very, very unlikely to happen at the same time.

Chris
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When to remove water (from rain fall)

Newdude
Adjusting the skimmer / drain valves are not needed if you're not draining below normal operating height. You're only draining excess water and the skimmers will pull fine for that. (But again, pay attention)

If you want to play with it anyway or another time, its currently 50/50

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All drain is this way with the end of the handle pointed down in the pic. You'll notice the 'top' of the valve handle says 'close' or such.

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Using all skimmer is the other way with 'close' pointing to the drain leg / the end of the handle pointing up in the pic. Usually for regular operation we want about 90% coming from the skimmers. Roughly 10 or 11 o'clock in the pic
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Newdude
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Newdude
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Plumbing advice

F
We are in the final stages of our pool build and I’m trying to figure out the best way to plumb this in a way that provides good circulation, sanitation and heat AND doesn’t drain out when the pump is off.

For a quick backstory, we were originally told the side kiddie pool would be a spillover, but it didn’t arrive with the main pool because they had issues with the fiberglass mold. So I roughed in plumbing with just a return line to the kiddie pool as the seller suggested it would just have returns. Turns out, the seller told me wrong (I wasn’t a happy camper), and there are suctions and returns in the kiddie pool. I had to dig up several tons of gravel to run a new suction line to the kiddie pool. Anyway, I got it all tied into the plumbing, but I’m trying to figure out the best option to tie the plumbing together and operate efficiently.

I currently have it plumbed with a 3-way valve at the pump for suction and a 3-way valve for the returns to choose all main pool, all kiddie pool or a mix. It would take some playing with to adjust the valves so the kiddie pool doesn’t overflow or run dry. Also, if I leave the valves open when the pump is off, it gravity drains into the main pool. A backflow preventer on the return would stop it from draining from the kiddie pool return jets into the main pool, but would a backflow preventer on the suction line stop it from gravity flowing out of the kiddie pool suction into the main pool? i.e., would the pressure from the gravity flow be enough to allow water to still flow?

The best option would be to add a new pump, filter and SWCG, but that’s not in the budget.

What would be great is if there’s some type of actuator that could be controlled either by a timer or by wifi/app to switch the 3-ways valves to run the kiddie pool for a bit then switch to the main pool so that the kiddie pool can get filtered, chlorinated and heated without a separate system.

Attached is a picture of the current stage (don’t judge the looks as it’s still a work in progress and a stone surround will cover the kiddie pool).

Any advice is much appreciated!
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Replace stone veneer on hot tub spilling into pool.

B
The stone veneer on my round hot tub is falling apart after we redid it ten years ago. It wasn't done right obviously.
So the pool guy I"m using suggests Rstone natural thin stone veneers. At the stone place, we chose Country Fieldstone mosaic. It's not what I would have chosen from website pictures but we liked it.

Now I'm reading that in general, fieldstone is not good in contact with water. It's apparently too porous.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can confirm this? I'm worried about leaching also. I have a swg system. Part of the stone is underwater and spillovers flow over the stonework. I haven't gotten back to my pool guy yet.

Any general stone advice? Rstone website
Thanks
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When to remove water (from rain fall)

P
Newdude said:
Think of the handle as the base of a T, and the top seals off that way.

Going to filter as is

View attachment 643131

Going to waste

View attachment 643132



If you'e babysitting it then there is no need.

But if theres any chance you're going to somehow forget, which may even be done getting sidetracked on your phone while waitinon out back, then yes.
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Okay thank you for the explanation. I’m just noticed you did that diagram on a picture I sent of my pad in the other thread. Thanks. That will be useful when I do this when the rain lets up.
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Took cover off to an almost empty pool.

J
I guess my other question would be. Its a 27K gallon, and I probably need to replace the liner anyway.

1) How hard is it to DIY, on a liner. I see Doheny's has them, and they are reasonable, but was wondering what skill level is involved.
2) what is a fair price to have someone replace? Does anyone know of reputable installers that could do this in Maryland? Im up near Frederick.

Thanks
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Question on pump.

B
PoolStored said:
Your first post said 18x30.
I have a 20x40 with same dimensions. Took me a year to figure out it was actually 29,000.

Go measure the actual depth of the water in the shallow end. The volume of water across the entire top of the pool at that depth has the biggest influence on the volume. If it is 4 feet you are correct. If it is 3 feet, then you are closer to 27,000.
Report shallow depth from tape measure.
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@PoolStored You’re right. It’s 35” in the shallow as measured by a tape measure. Using that and 18x40 I get 29,400 gallons.

@ajw22 thanks for listing out that criteria and table above. Also, how do I know what resting psi rate is, as it varies by speed? On my old single speed pump, I knew when I needed to backwash when it was over 25% normal psi. With this variable speed, do I need to know baseline psi for each speed? For example, I have it running at 2300 rpm and psi is like 6.
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Using well water to fill new pool

Newdude
berger said:
So, you are saying use it?
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It's not hurting besides likely slowing the flow.
berger said:
don't know what carts/de is?
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2 of the 3 filter styles. Your hose filter does a little better than a sand filter, but not as good as a cartridge filter or DE filter. It's not removing anything that you'd hope to.
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TFP-Pro Kit

P
PoolStored said:
Follow this schedule:
www.troublefreepool.com

Basic Pool Care Schedule

This basic pool care schedule can guide you in creating your own pool care routine. Regular pool maintenance will keep your water sparkling!
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

As for test results:
Use pool math...Link-->PoolMath
And read these articles...Link-->Pool Care Basics

You Got This Good Luck Today GIF by MOODMAN
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Thank you very much.
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First Season Woes

S
ajw22 said:
That is not normal.

Your whole spa plumbing setup is not normal.

How do you maintain chlorination and keep the spa sanitary when in use?
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"First season woes" figuring this system out is a nightmare, still waiting on PB at this point. Spent too much for this :/


When i was opening after they initially shocked, i just let the spillway feature work (pulls from pool to overflow spa) so it shared chems. As needed i'll turn that back on and let it cycle
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Solar Cover Questions

D
I have a kidney shaped pool in the Northeast US and spend a ton of money with my electric heater in the spring and fall. I am looking to buy a solar cover and had a few questions for those users who currently use them.
  1. Where did you buy your solar cover from? I see price ranges from 70 to 250.
  2. What features do I want to look for in a solar cover?
  3. How does skimming work when the cover is on, I usually run my pool 24x7 at a slow speed. Would I turn it off when I put the cover on?
  4. I see people are for an against using the reel to pull the cover off, any tips or suggestions?
  5. Anything I didn't ask that I should have?
Thanks!
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Considering SWG

SJPoe
I've often thought with these flow switches that it would make sense to wire two in series - then if either one failed 'closed', the other would be open and stop the flow.
You still have the issue of determining if one of the switches ever failed...seems like a little 'adapter' box with a couple of state LEDs would be a simple enough solution...
I think I just found myself a new project...
Click to expand...
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