Replacement-How do I know which pump to get?

Would that still be a potential problem even if the motor is no longer humming at all and nothing happens.

CH Test Accurate During SLAM?

I'm just finishing up my SLAM, and the chlorine levels are still high. I know you're supposed to wait till after the slam to adjust various levels, such as the PH. But I just tested the calcium hardness anyway since I'm going away tomorrow, and got a level of 190. I'm being told by Poolmath to add 87 lbs of calcium chloride to reach the 450 target. Reading posts here, I see that the 450 target may be higher than desired.

So first, what is a good target for a gunite pool with a SWG?

Second, is that test result accurate, given the high chlorine levels (25)? I would have waited to test it, but those staying at my house will not be able to test later. And I don't want to leave it low for that long if it's more beneficial to have it higher.

Finally, if the test is accurate, is it OK to leave at 190 for a couple of weeks?

Thanks--

2 gal of chlorine a week?

Consider a Salt Water Chlorine Generator. That is $1500 (CircuPool RJ60+) up front for 5 years of free chlorine compared to liquid chlorine purchases that will run you about $6500 over the same 5 years. There is nothing wrong with a cartridge filter if it's large enough for your pool. You will need to clean the cartridges 2 or 3 times during the SLAM that you need to do right now, but then if you keep the pool clean and keep your FC at the top of the range for whatever CYA level you have you can probably not clean them for an entire year. If you can get soft water to your pool then you can use that for makeup water that won't run your CH sky high.
man. salt water chlorine thingy sounds like a no brainer if it really is that cost effective. that model you just recommended, pretend im your best friend, should i shop and research and compare or will i be super happy with that model and shouldn't over think it?. i suppose i need to get a variable speed pump too then huh.

2 gal of chlorine a week?

The TF100 is great. It was a misunderstanding above.

You need a couple rodeos under your belt and it will be second nature quickly. I could probably get the whole suite done in 5 mins if I had to.

6 gallons at Walmart is $37 out the door for me. Yours will be close but slightly different sales tax.

There is no two ways about adding enough chlorine. There is one way. Add enough, or have algae. You need what you need no matter the method you follow.

If you use cal-hypo it jacks your calcium. If you use trichlor it jacks your CYA. Both become difficult to manage quickly with long and dry seasons by you.

It is up to you if you want to roll with an 128 ounces of prevention, or 25 lbs of cure.
i like the straight talk. and wow. freakin leslies is like double the price! i think i got 2 gal for 20$ and im going through them like crazy. do i need to spend 200$ a month in chlorine is that just the reality? if so, why wouldn't i just hire a pool guy to do it for 125 a month and i don't have to scrub

White Flakes from Pentair IC-60

Around 12+ months ago my IC-60 SWG has been creating white flakes and it feels like it’s getting worse over time. The initial 24 months there were no issues and then it somehow started and not sure why it started.

Is this common and is there any way to minimize or eliminate it ? The pool is stating fill up with the flakes and they’re hard to remove them from the pool.

I clean the SWG every 3-4 months.

IntelliCenter 3.002 - Heater not working

I have the same problem. Here is what Pentair said:
"On the old firmware when you select either GAS HEATER or MasterTemp the system would activate both ways to try and turn these heaters on.

Now on 3.002 you must choose the exact correct way that the heater is connected to the IntelliCenter for it to activate correctly. So if you have MASTERTEMP selected on this new higher firmware and the heater starts - you are wired RS 485.

If you have GAS HEATER selected as the heat source, and the heater starts, you are wired through the Fireman switch on the heater back to the gas heater port on the IntelliCenter.

You have to find out which of the two ways this heater is installed/wired to the IntelliCenter, and be sure the heat source is set to that style of connection for it to work.

My guess is your unit is probably connected from fireman switch to gas heater relay, and you need to change the heat source to GAS HEATER and it will work correctly. "

But - I cannot find out where one can change between "MASTERTEMP" and GAS HEATER". If anyone knows please let me know.

I also noticed that I still have no system temperature history on 3.002.
I’m RS 485 wired and spoke to Pentair as well. They think in my case it’s some “bad code” load.

They want me to backup and then totally erase everything and then reload the config after a reload 3.002 from scratch.

I didn’t have a chance to do that yet.

Shoulder replacement surgery completed

It’s a process that requires patience. I had both knees operated on the same day at a Dutch military hospital in 1986. Focus, determination, and not going for it is the recipe for success.
Yes I am following dr’s orders and also busting out my PT at home and at the hospital. I am totally of the mind that I am the most important part of getting back to my best shape, range of motion and strength. Following my surgeon’s directive.
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1.5 Years after Dig Day, Our Builder Quit!

Frankly, I just heard some good news:
- You're only in 50% (not counting those materials you paid for). And you have a hole filled with gunite, right? We've heard plenty of stories here that were far, far worse, including less construction and up to 100% paid.
- If I read correctly what you've written so far, you're at the gunite stage, which means a lot of the construction is still to come. Once you find a better contractor, I'm confident you'll end up with a better end result, since it won't be this incompetent contractor doing any more work. Many times, a disgruntled contractor has the right to finish the job, and that can turn into a real nightmare, because he's going to cut corners to recoup his profit, or just out of spite. Now, you'll be free to hire a better guy, and get a better pool, because this guy is out of your hair for good, without you having to use legal tactics to get rid of him. He's done you a favor, at least in that regard.
- His contract is a joke. That will work against him. In CA, a construction contract has to contain many components, or it is virtually null and void. And it is on the contractor to furnish a proper contract, because he is the expert (there's a legal term for this, which I forget). So a thin contract will contain a lot less provisions, or none, that would protect the contractor, and that's good. If the contract doesn't contain specific language for termination, then there are no implied termination provisions, which means any decent judge will have to side with you if any termination terms are in dispute. All good, assuming TX treats contracts like CA does.
- It sounds like he may still be in business, either with the pool company or the other company, or both. This is FANTASTIC if true. That means he has assets, and a reason to protect them. Which is just more leverage for you. You'll be negotiating from a position of strength, instead of trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
- His language about supplying a spreadsheet of the financials is also good news, because that would mean my assumption that he was bankrupt and/or broke and/or going out of business might not be the case. Which means he's got something to lose, and assets that can be seized if he owes you money (which he probably does). It sounds like he's trying to back out of the contract with a minimal loss to him, but a decent lawyer (yours) will make mince meat out of that. He's breeched the contract (which provides no terms for termination), and that too places you in a position of strength during negotiations (or with the judge).

Based on all this, a best case scenario might be that he could be liable for the entire 50% you've paid. That may not be likely, but breeching a contract is a serious matter that has way more repercussions than the contractor getting to state what is paid and owed and then trotting along on his merry way. What he did is highly illegal (at least in CA), and that, too, could be a good thing in terms of leverage. Now a more likely scenario, and what would be fair, is for a third party to determine the value of the work done to date, and for the judge (or the two attorneys) to then do the math to make you whole. In other words, you pay for the industry standard value of the work done to date, minus some sort of penalty for his breech and leaving you in the lurch, and then the judge rules he must pay you the balance (the difference between what he collected and what he did). He should also pay for an expert to assess the work completed to ascertain its worthiness (perhaps some core sample analysis of the shell to confirm it was done property, and a plumbing test, etc), all of which he would pay for. Along with all your attorney fees too.

I'm making a lot of assumptions, but as I said, I heard a lot of potential for, well, maybe not an ideal outcome, but certainly one not as bad as I was picturing. I truly hope that is the case.

Put your energy into finding a good attorney, and a great contractor, and then let them do their jobs. Then let it go and let it resolve itself while you refocus on what is ultimately way more important: you, your family and your peace of mind. Best of luck.

I've been doing some research and I'm feeling hopeful given the circumstances. I've already got another contractor scheduled to come this weekend to bid on completing the build. He's been in the gunite business for a long time prior to starting his own pool company, so I'm hoping he can give me a reasonable assessment of the quality of the work done so far, which is really only gunite.

I also plan to bring in some more quality builders to get bids and get a sense for who if anyone will take on completing our project.

Hopefully it helps that I documented many of the conversations I had with the owner over the last 1.5 years in this thread and that gives me credibility, because in the last meeting with the owner 2 weeks ago, he flat out lied about previous conversations we had, like when he wanted to walk away as the dig went south. In December 2023, I was very clear with him that if he walked away there would be consequences. And if he decided to gunite, it would mean this pool was his to complete 100%. He gave me that commitment and I clearly documented that here on Page 10/11. I'd also been taking notes throughout and did my best to put things in email.

Of course, being here now... I'm thinking I could have done better at documenting, but I think I have enough to put the law squarely on my side.

The good news is that I have a good amount of money saved that I can dump into this project to complete it if things reasonably fall into place. The bad news is that I was hoping to not touch that money given our current economic climate and the situation at our current workplace. We've been laying off people in droves, and no one is ever truly safe. We currently have about 140k employees and will likely reduce to 90k in the next year or so. That's a ton of risk and my savings made me feel safe for a year or so if one of us was to get laid off.

Hopefully it all works out.
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1.5 Years after Dig Day, Our Builder Quit!

Frankly, I just heard some good news:
- You're only in 50% (not counting those materials you paid for). And you have a hole filled with gunite, right? We've heard plenty of stories here that were far, far worse, including less construction and up to 100% paid.
- If I read correctly what you've written so far, you're at the gunite stage, which means a lot of the construction is still to come. Once you find a better contractor, I'm confident you'll end up with a better end result, since it won't be this incompetent contractor doing any more work. Many times, a disgruntled contractor has the right to finish the job, and that can turn into a real nightmare, because he's going to cut corners to recoup his profit, or just out of spite. Now, you'll be free to hire a better guy, and get a better pool, because this guy is out of your hair for good, without you having to use legal tactics to get rid of him. He's done you a favor, at least in that regard.
- His contract is a joke. That will work against him. In CA, a construction contract has to contain many components, or it is virtually null and void. And it is on the contractor to furnish a proper contract, because he is the expert (there's a legal term for this, which I forget). So a thin contract will contain a lot less provisions, or none, that would protect the contractor, and that's good. If the contract doesn't contain specific language for termination, then there are no implied termination provisions, which means any decent judge will have to side with you if any termination terms are in dispute. All good, assuming TX treats contracts like CA does.
- It sounds like he may still be in business, either with the pool company or the other company, or both. This is FANTASTIC if true. That means he has assets, and a reason to protect them. Which is just more leverage for you. You'll be negotiating from a position of strength, instead of trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
- His language about supplying a spreadsheet of the financials is also good news, because that would mean my assumption that he was bankrupt and/or broke and/or going out of business might not be the case. Which means he's got something to lose, and assets that can be seized if he owes you money (which he probably does). It sounds like he's trying to back out of the contract with a minimal loss to him, but a decent lawyer (yours) will make mince meat out of that. He's breeched the contract (which provides no terms for termination), and that too places you in a position of strength during negotiations (or with the judge).

Based on all this, a best case scenario might be that he could be liable for the entire 50% you've paid. That may not be likely, but breeching a contract is a serious matter that has way more repercussions than the contractor getting to state what is paid and owed and then trotting along on his merry way. What he did is highly illegal (at least in CA), and that, too, could be a good thing in terms of leverage. Now a more likely scenario, and what would be fair, is for a third party to determine the value of the work done to date, and for the judge (or the two attorneys) to then do the math to make you whole. In other words, you pay for the industry standard value of the work done to date, minus some sort of penalty for his breech and leaving you in the lurch, and then the judge rules he must pay you the balance (the difference between what he collected and what he did). He should also pay for an expert to assess the work completed to ascertain its worthiness (perhaps some core sample analysis of the shell to confirm it was done property, and a plumbing test, etc), all of which he would pay for. Along with all your attorney fees too.

I'm making a lot of assumptions, but as I said, I heard a lot of potential for, well, maybe not an ideal outcome, but certainly one not as bad as I was picturing. I truly hope that is the case.

Put your energy into finding a good attorney, and a great contractor, and then let them do their jobs. Then let it go and let it resolve itself while you refocus on what is ultimately way more important: you, your family and your peace of mind. Best of luck.

Active 20 no longer working

I have an active 20 thats just over 3 years old, its will turn on normally and start its forward and backward movement with the light blinking then just starts going in reverse forever. the impeller motor never turns on during this process, but the motor is not the issue. when the driver motor and LED is unplugged from the motherboard the impeller motor turns on for a few seconds before turning off. I am assuming a motherboard issue since each individual thing will turn on but it going into reverse forever instead of turning off like a normal failsafe has me hesitant.

Never thought I'd have a pool...

... But here I am. Found a perfect house in a perfect neighborhood in Santa Rosa CA but it had a pool. I thought, pool no way, but here I am. Apparently this pool was a meeting place for the neighborhood.

Everyone says I need a pool guy, but I just can't see myself paying someone $60 a week for half hour or so of work and a bunch of chemicals.

The Reddit pools group suggested this site. I look forward to learning a lot here and doing this myself. (PS, I'm 69 years old but do things myself whenever I can.)

Backwash procedure for pool with 2 filters

Before replacing any plumbing I would try to reconcile the disconnect between the flow meter and pump pressure/suction measurements. They each indicate different flow rates.

Either one or both may be incorrect but if both are correct then there is something wrong with the pump because it does not match the published head curve.

I would separate the wet end from the motor and get a part number off the impeller to verify it is the correct one.

Questions about free chlorine

If you did as I outlined in post #21 and got a result on the tube of 90, your actual CYA is at least 180.

You can do another diluted test with 2 parts tap water, 1 part pool water and the result is 3 times what you read on the tube.

Best to do the test in the conditions outlined earlier.
Yes i followed the instructions. I appreciate all of your help! I'll re-test tomorrow and them work on draining and refilling over a period to see if I can lower the CYA.

1.5 Years after Dig Day, Our Builder Quit!

I make all the financial and important decisions for our family and I feel like this is my fault. I did not want a pool to begin with, but I relented to make my wife happy thinking this would be great for our little girls too, but I obviously rushed this decision which is highly unlike me. I feel like I let them down.
This could and has happened to others. Even with the best of intentions and preparation there are times where crummy things just unexpectedly happen. At this time, focus on what you can do to resolve this situation and move forward. The could have should haves never lead to anything great. I’m sorry you’re going through this.

Questions about free chlorine

Your PoolMath logs are now showing.

If CYA is 90 or above, do the diluted test as outlined in the article attached.
If you mixed 1/2 poolwater with 1/2 tap water for the diluted test, you would double the CYA result from that test.
Okay so I did the diluted test and cya was 90 possibly 100 (was hard to tell since it wasn't super bright outside. Will test again tomorrow). So does that mean my cya is 180?

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