Discovered this thread and read it in a single day last weekend, bought a 614IQ and fine filter immediately from Marina. I didn’t place an order over the phone as it’s on sale for 800 on their site and cheaper than anywhere else already, so figure they wouldn’t discount even further. Also it’s lower now than what they used to sell it for when advertising the regular price.

Here is my before vs after it’s very first run with the fine filter, and our weekly pool service came two days before this for reference.

This is replacing a 4-year-old Dolphin CC Supreme (read: fancy version) which is what we bought when buying a new home, and my first pool ownership experience. It has two thin filters and after our first season, realized it wasn’t an ideal setup for our heavy leaves and trees around. It worked for 4 years after living in the pool 24/7 but knew we needed a basket-type version as a replacement. It was fixed locally under warranty one time without issue. The cord after this long was disintegrating in my hands and pool which was gross, and dirt would re-enter the pool when removing it from the water. On top of filters and overall design not being great for leaves.

In researching our next Dolphin (design and price creep) and market, figured there ‘must be a better way’! Came across this thread and game over. Thankful to all the knowledge sharing here, and looks like this is a worthwhile bot without overkill for a sure-to-die-at-some-point technology.

Plan to stick with fine filter generally and swap out for the regular when there are leaves and heavy debris to collect. Weekly schedule great when away from home for weeks at a time.

michaelwoosley said:

We had to SLAM last year pretty hard. It got so bad, we decided to change out the sand (actually towards the end of the swim season). so it's only a few "swim weeks" old. What do you mean the DE will make a mess on backwash?

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If you are backwashing into a sewer line it won't. Otherwise it will just sit on the ground where the backwash water goes. Unlike sand, it will be a white residue that will build up and show over time. As it dries the lighter portions will blow around like a white dust.

Thanks! I hate the cya test (bad eyes). Always question if I can see the dot or not, haha. I ran it myself and it was about 100, but just wasnt sure. Kinda funny, I thought, hey, if i mix half city water and half pool water and double it, this will be a lot easier. I did that, and it came out with 50. So i basically ran step 8 without knowing it, haha. Glad to know I'm not insane. Ran to leslies yesterday as well, just as a confirmation, and they also showed 102. So I'm fairly confident that's where it is now. When i did step 8 before the drain, it still was over 100, so not sure exactly where i started, but it was pretty bad. I fully expect it to be at 85-90 by this time next month, and 80 by July based on prior experience. By end of the season, I'll likely have a sock in the skimmer. For those reasons, and the fact that we have water restrictions, I just went with it 100 as "it is what it is".

I think 7ppm fc with that level of cya was based on pool math, but I will double check it.

Just need to check chlorine levels each week?

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There's a little more to it than that. I would suggest you start by reading "ABC's of pool water chemistry" up in Pool School.

It'll give you a much better understanding about how to manage your chemistry (one week intervals will not be frequent enough)

paul1971 said:

Is it possible that the swcg is malfunctioning?

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Sounds like it is working. What cell model# do you have?

Dave, while you're waiting on the new transformer let's look at the onboard relays... since your 18vac breaker never popped I don't think we're going to find an issue with one of these but might as well check.

There are 4 relays soldered to the board, and the pins for them are located between the relay drivers and the 5-volt regulator...


This is the pinout diagram of the relay (Omron G5V-1 or equivalent):

Set your meter to ohms and test each coil (shown at pin 2 & 9 in the pinout diagram above). The pins corresponding to each coil are here on the board, and you should get around 3.7k ohms on each coil (if the relay wasn't soldered on the board with the drivers, you'd get 170-ish ohms):

The other option is to replace the valve or use a pipe reamer to clear out the existing socket.

Here's one option. If your valve is a 2"/2.5" diverter, use a 2.5" fitting on the outside of the socket and reduce it to 2". See the connection on the left below.

Morning again…something odd happening with FC. Today it shoot up to 16 after a day of having switched back on swcg at level 30. I am turning it down to level 10 and see if tomorrow better. Is it possible that the swcg is malfunctioning? I had similar trouble in keeping Fc low last year….thoughts? Thank you

Mdragger88 said:

The only way to lower cya is to replace water.
It is impractical to do the
SLAM Process with cya above 80/90ppm.
The SLAM Process done with liquid chlorine will clear your pool if followed as written but you must have the proper test kit to do so. (Tf100 salt or Taylor k2006c + salt)
Store testing and strips won’t do.
Your salt water chlorine generator cannot overcome algae. It is not designed to do so - it is designed to maintain normal daily fc losses in an algae free pool.
Until you get the proper kit in your hands simply add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day infront of a running return away from the pool wall (brush the area) Add nothing else.
Once your kit comes, do all the tests, post them here and we can guide you from there.
This will likely include a water exchange but you need to know where you truly stand first so the correct amount of water is exchanged.

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Thank you so much. This is the plan. The frustration is overwhelming bc I’ve never had this happen. Can anyone get in the pool in the meantime?

Jbmiller15 said:

I’ve never touched it but maybe the people who closed the pool did for some reason.

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They probably blew out the lines and closed the valve.

Jbmiller15 said:

In the meantime, is there any harm in running the pump/filter with only 2 working returns?

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No problem.

Welcome to TFP.

How do test for copper? What is the current copper level? Have you used any algaecides or mineral systems? Pool RX? Do you have a heater? Can you post a full set of test results please:

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

JamesW said:

I think that the red circled ball valve is closed.

You can try opening it to see what happens.

Maybe it is closed for a reason?

Maybe the lines leak?

Note: The Hayward Dial-A-Flo Valves are gate valves or diverter va

JamesW said:

Why?

If it is plugged, then you will get no flow.


Port 2 is probably step jets.

Open the ball valve and that should give you flow to the other two returns.

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I unplugged step jet and it works but still getting nothing out of the other 2 returns.

I believe I have tried all positions for the valve in question. I’ll try opening the valve you circled to see if that helps. I’ve never touched it but maybe the people who closed the pool did for some reason.

I have to head out soon so I can’t do it now.

In the meantime, is there any harm in running the pump/filter with only 2 working returns?

Thank you all for your quick replies and help.

I found some 1.5" unions online which will be delivered today. I was checking out my pump and there is almost no pipe to work with coming out of the T. What's the best course of action here?

What is May 30th, Alex ?

Hi. So yes I my plumbing is pretty janky. But I moved in 2 years ago, and the pool was built 30+ years ago.
So, I think I have two problems as I am thinking about what you guys are suggesting here and as I look at my setup in the picture.
Problem #1: when I turn on the actuator and turn the valve TO SOLAR, this then closes the valve TO POOL, correct?
if so, then my chlorinator is installed in the wrong spot. If my thinking is correct, then the chlorinator should be along the vertical portion of the pipe after the T going TO POOL. Because I am getting a "no flow" indicator from the chlorinator control box in that situation of TO SOLAR.
Does that sound right?
Problem #2 Then when we go around the corner: We got the red pipe and the orange pipe meet up at the 3-way diverter (my original question of what position to put this valve in). Why would these two runs of pipe need to be connected via a 3-way valve? Maybe this was before the original owner got a automatic diverter down at the pump? But it seems to me that I want to close off the valve toward the BLUE arrow.
Does that seem correct for this NOT SO PERFECT plumbing? I want to preserve a bi-directional flow and not let these two lines bleed into each other via the BLUE pipe?
My other concern is, how do I stop the water from flowing out of the pipes coming to and from my pool if I cut pipes to glue the chlorinator in the correct position? that pipe section is lower the the top level of my pool.

Well you just said something that made me realize I'm a bit of a moron hahaha.

I was under the impression the pump needs to run at a minimum rpm for the SGW to work, but what that actually means is that a particular pump needs to run at a minimum rpm, not that whatever the pump is it needs to run at X rpm?

So what the SWG needs is a minimum water gpm, regardless of the rpm needed in the pump to produce said gpm?

You should remove the tablets ASAP. They will destroy your SWG cell.

If your CC was 0, your OCLT FC loss was 0, and the water is SUPER clear, like no cloudy, like this-->How Clear is TFP Clear?

Then you don't need to SLAM.

However, to properly chlorinate you need to know your CYA. Any CYA test that results in a 90 or above, repeat the CYA test starting at #8 here and report result:

I'm assuming you've tried all positions of the valve in question?

Can you post a full set of test results?

SLAM Process

Correct installation of a sacrificial anode involves matching the surface areas. The areas of the cathode (your steel pool wall, or aluminum ladder, or aluminum cover rail) and the anode (your chunk of zinc), need to be equivalent. Otherwise, you will completely passivate the zinc metal with a zinc oxide/zinc hydroxide layer, and it no longer conducts current. The anode becomes "polarized" (which is just a fancy way to say it is non-conductive and charged like a capacitor), and it no longer protects anything. At that point, the only thing that keeps the anode going is by mechanically disturbing the surface and hoping that enough passivation flakes off so that it can conduct again and develop a cathodic current