Latest activity
Hello from Toronto
- By Brockstreet
- Introduce Yourself
- 14 Replies
It's not clear whether "upsize our home" means moving to another house with pool, or building one for your current home. If the latter, this new thread will be of interest:
If I could do it all again, I would…
Hello TFP community! Im grateful for everyone’s questions and contributions on this site, it has been highly educational. My wife and I are thinking about having a pool built and I wanted to ask the community about things (small and large) you would do differently if you had a chance to do it...www.troublefreepool.com
I should have been a bit clearer in my post. We are planning on buying a home with an existing pool. Hoping to have an inspection completed by a local pool company before committing.
Hello from Toronto
- By Brockstreet
- Introduce Yourself
- 14 Replies
Definitely, there were some “interesting” comments from people that were not in agreement with the recommendations (for eg. Test Kits vs test strips). I guess it just comes with the territory. Thank you for including the link for Pool basics. I have some weekend reading to do
.New (sorta) Pool Owner in NC
- By ajw22
- Introduce Yourself
- 3 Replies
Welcome to TFP.
www.troublefreepool.com
Pool Care Basics Archives
Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!
www.troublefreepool.com
DIY PH measurement and CO2 Injection System- Project Summary
- By setsailsoon
- Pool Automation
- 66 Replies
Folks,
I've spent a lot of time trouble-shooting my CO2 system and the pH probe. This was all done using an ESP32 chip and can easily be done on others like RPi. Here's some updated cost info:
I Learned a lot in the process that might be useful to pool owners especially as it relates to DIY pH systems. So I'm going to document it here. First let me discuss findings around pH measurement:
As far as the CO2 injection goes here are some of the learning's so far:
I hope this is helpful and please let me know if there's anything you need to know about this that I left out. Thanks to the experts here that have weighed in on this topic. Also thanks to ChatGPT and Claude ai environments to help we get the code written.
Chris
PS I'll get some photos later today and add them in then.
I've spent a lot of time trouble-shooting my CO2 system and the pH probe. This was all done using an ESP32 chip and can easily be done on others like RPi. Here's some updated cost info:
- Total cost for the electronics is about $50 including the probe.
- The CO2 setup was ~$45 plus the CO2 tank. You can get them for $100-400.
- A CO2 fill is about $45.
- There are a lot of pretty cheap probes and they all have a probe that easily fits into a standard 1/2" push to connect fitting. You will find a lot of online articles and videos that claim it fits in a 3/8" fitting. That's incorrect.
- You have to drill out the thin tube stop flange for this to work and best way to do this is in a vice. Drill carefully so you don't damage the o-ring. I have had the probe in pipe with max pressure in the range of 30 psi with no leaks or failures but I would use an additional way to secure it since it's only friction with a single o-ring that holds it in place. The best longer-term solution is a proper pH probe gland fitting. But they're not as readily available and definitely cost a lot.
- I found a lot of probes from less than $20 to $100+. They all look the same but they are not. There are little details of construction that matter like the kind of interface junction, quality of the glass bulb and thickness and probably other things I haven't discovered yet. I think it's a good idea to go with at least probes in the $30 range as they seem to all have a ceramic junction and have better ratings. Apera is a reliable brand I've used in the past for portable pH meters so I went with theirs.
- I don't know why but for some reason the reading jumps around a lot. Could be mine has bubbles in the water flow but it seems that even in a still beaker the reading wanders. I've overcome this by displaying a running average of at least the last 25 readings in my software.
- Calibration is much simpler than I thought it would be based on my previous experience with portable pH testers. You start out by shorting the center pin to the ground and adjust to mid-point voltage. So what in the world does this mean? The board or module the probe plugs into has a supply value that's usually ~5v but you have to check it. In my case that's only 4.83 v. I'll adjust that later and calibrate again but that's where I am now. There's a great video on YouTube that shows how to do this. After this crude adjustment I've found only a little offset is needed.
- You can also do a more thorough 2 point calibration using a pH buffer. I use 7.01 and 10 since that captures the readings I use. The software I created has ability to do 2 point calibration and then calculates software calibration slope and offset if you want to do it that way.
- Here's a printout of a screen that displays pH with my home made software:
As far as the CO2 injection goes here are some of the learning's so far:
- Further back in this thread there are some extremely useful posts from @JamesW regarding solubility, saturation, pH/TA/Borate levels that helped a lot for my initial settings. Net, net after a lot of experimentation and learning a few things the hard way I've settled in on targeting pH around 8.0 since this allows me to stay in a slightly negative CSI range to be kind to my swg cell.
- It's very clear I need to bubble in CO2 slowly so I don't lose it to atmosphere. Right now I'm using a 1/4" tube with about 25 psi above pipe pressure to make sure I have choke flow. Next step will be to make a diffuser that has a much smaller opening. They're hard to find at a decent price so I'm converting a readily available Stenner pump quill but sealing the end tight and drilling a couple 1/16" holes in it.
- I've set up my software to do this by controlling on-off pulses on a solenoid valve connected to a 20# CO2 cylinder. I control pulse time, time interval between pulses, number of pulses. The software allows me to schedule a pulse series or to manually start a series anytime at press of a button on the web page. Here's the complete display of the current software:
I hope this is helpful and please let me know if there's anything you need to know about this that I left out. Thanks to the experts here that have weighed in on this topic. Also thanks to ChatGPT and Claude ai environments to help we get the code written.
Chris
PS I'll get some photos later today and add them in then.
Skimmer Diverter Type needed for older pool
- By JamesW
- Just Getting Started
- 11 Replies
S75 MK2 and Supaskimmer:
Remove the main drain plug(s) from the main drain inlet(s) in the skimmer body .
Fit the vacuum plate to the skimmer box as before.
Plug the port in the vacuum plate with a standard 40mm (1 1/2") male threaded plug (not supplied).
SP5000: Slide to open the main drain flow adjuster .
Slide to close the vacuum plate flow adjuster .
Fit the vacuum plate to skimmer box as before.
Skimmer Diverter Type needed for older pool
- By JamesW
- Just Getting Started
- 11 Replies
The patented Hydro-Control Plate is a feature of all Baker Hydro Deluxe, Commercial and Hydro-Pak skimmer systems and is designed to easily regulate the ratio of flow between the main drain and surface skimming to provide a convenient connection point for a vacuum cleaner hose.
OFFICE - USA Waterco (USA) Inc
Augusta, Georgia, USA Tel: +1 706 793 7291
Baker Hydro Skimmer
<p>The Baker Hydro skimmer is a general purpose skimmer which can be used in concrete, fibreglass and above ground pool installations. The SP5000 is sized to minimise excavation and reduce concrete and steel requirements, whilst maintaining an optimum skimming action. A horizontal 50mm suction...
