I have the Pentair Intellicenter, and noticed this year when opening the pool the Pentair Laminar Deck Jets were turning on even though I didn't have that feature activated. When looking at the IntelliValve the programming looks to have switched on me. How do I adjust it so the when the Laminar feature is "off" in the Intellicenter that the valve is set to run the pool jets? I've been reading a bit, and not finding the answer. I tried changing the set modes on the IntelliValve, but that didn't seem to work. Temporarily I've been just putting it in service and manually moving it, lol.

I moved into my house last August and purchased the TF Pro testing kit. When I moved in all my levels were good, so the only thing I had to add the rest of the season was liquid chlorine once weekly. I did purchase refills for my TF Pro and also added in the extra dropper bottles that come with the TF Pro Salt kit, but I didn't buy the TF Pro Salt kit since I already had the other one.

We just opened the pool and are getting a SWG and variable speed pump installed tomorrow. My question is, how do I go about treating the water to open it? The pool people said to get my Ph in the right spot and then shock. He also said the SWG won't actually produce chlorine for a while until the water temperature gets above 50 degrees. I'm in southern Pennsylvania, so April and May don't get too warm. Do I need to SLAM with shock from the store? Just a boatload of liquid chlorine? Once I finish the SLAM will I need to continue with liquid chlorine until the water warms up? I've never opened a pool before, and I don't know if doing this conversion at the beginning of the season makes a difference or not. I'm going to scoop, skim, and brush today just to clean up the visible debris before anything is running.

Any step by step help to get my pool back up and running crystal clear would be awesome. I have read these forums last year and they did help a lot. I appreciate any help that is given.

Inground Pool Dimensions: 16ft x 32ft
Vinyl liner
20k gallons
Pentair IC-40 SWG
Pentair SuperFlo Variable speed pump

Our newly constructed pool was filled a little over a week ago. I had a salt reading of 5.8 a couple nights ago. Brushed 3 more bags in and now I see on the SWG is says good, but I plan to test again tomorrow to try to get it to near 3600 if it is not there yet. Here is a list of our equipment:
Cartridge Filter: pent air clean and clear 420
pump: pentair superflo vst
SWG: Pentair ic40
pool heater: Aquacal sq145 super quiet

My question. Here is my test strip from tonight’s reading. Thoughts?

My initial thoughts were:
pH a little high?
Chlorine looks good to me.
Alkalidity looks A little high?
Stabilizer looks good to me

Hello again,
We just opened our pool in CO for the 4th season and the chemicals seem to be at their worst. The company that opened our pool on Monday said the Ph was really high (not sure if/how they tested it) and put 64 oz of 20' muriatic acid in. They also put in 2 lbs of 54% cal-hypo shock. I was busy and didn't run my own tests that day (two days ago). I ran my test today and holy cow, things are a mess. I'm mostly concerned with the CC level as I tested twice and got 5.5 and 6.0. That would suggest that my break-even chlorination level is 55! That's >9 lbs of shock and that just feels like a bad idea.

My main question is- do I just drain the pool and start over? Below are my full readings as of today. For now, I'm trying to bring down the Ph and then will work on the CC based on the advice I get here. Thx for any advice!

FC- 0.5
CC- 5.5-6.0
Ph- it was purple. It took 7 drops of R015 to get to about 7.4. That suggests 70 oz of acid but I put in 50 to start and will recheck tomorrow morning. I also turned the pump up to 2,300 RPM.
TA- 130 (for some reason my TA always goes up over short periods of time. It was 80 when I closed the pool in October. Hopefully addressing the Ph situation will get me back down around 100 and I'll go from there)
CH- 370
CYA- zero. I plan to address this after the Ph and chlorine concerns. This was 60 when I closed the pool.
Salt- 3,000. I plan to address this after the Ph and chlorine concerns. This was 3,200 when I closed the pool.
Temp- 68
CSI- pool math can't calculate it given the Ph level

I was so close to finishing my SLAM. Today my PSI on sand filter was at 14 and it’s usually 10-11, so I decided to backwash. Everything went fine with that but then when I started it up again as I normally do, the PSI shot up to 30 and there was very little suction at the skimmer and weak flow out of returns.

I have only a push pull valve with my sand filter. I did notice that when pulling it up after backwashing, it came up really easy - usually there is some resistance. I’ve turned it off and on several times and same thing keeps happening.

Please help! I’m so afraid I’ll lose all the progress I’ve made in my SLAM.

I have three Pentair Microbrite LED lights connected to the Pentair light controller that has since been replaced by a newer model. Pool was installed in 2020.

In 2022 , I noticed on of the lights would flash, become discolored, and then go dim. The other two lights were operating just fine. If I flipped the circuit off and on it would correct itself for a bit then issues would start again, sometimes days later.

Fast forward to now, after having the problem for a while I tested my lights and none of them will turn on. The controller has a green light that turns on so the controller is on but the lights won’t turn on at all.

Could the issue have been the controller the entire time? When I purchased the controller I read some pretty poor reviews of it.

Seems unlikely all my lights would stop working at the same time although a single light was having issues. Could the controller cause a single light to have issues or more likely the lights are bad.

Guessing I can test the output at the control to see if power is making it to lights?

After looking the install diagrams it appears the controller can’t be to blame for individual lights not working. Looks like I need to look into the transformer.

Could the transformer have caused individual lights to malfunction? Now that none of them turn on I’m thinking the transformer is to blame.

After reading all the reviews I should have never let the builder use Pentair lights at all.

If I have to go replace this entire system, anyone have recommendations of lights that can use the Pentair microbrite niche’s?

thoughts?

Good morning all,

SOUTHERN NJ HERE. So I made the mistake of asking on a facebook group and that was more useless than anything, few good points made but other than that is was the people bashing what I want to do . Have been trying to get quotes for about a month for a May installation and due to their communication and info they provide I really liked Niagra Pools & Spas in Turnersville NJ. The 3 others I contacted either never contacted me back or once they did it was like phone tag to get ahold of them, not something I want to deal with during installation! Pricing from Niagra Pool quote are below, this is semi-in ground approximately 30":

$17,595 -Pool Package: 18' x 33' x 56" Sharkline* Oasis EAW (Extruded Aluminum Wall) pool, Liner, 1.5hp 120v variable speed pump and filter, skimmer, 1 return port, cover, and maintenance/cleaning kit
$1,100 - Salt chlorinator system w/salt
$350 - Wedding cake steps
$200 - Wall foam
$2,900 - Pool Installation
$22,145 total cost for pool

Site Work Quote:
$5,000 - Excavation and haul away of soil in addition to about 5 yards of fill that's in a pile at our property
$3,200 - Backfill of pool using excavated soil: will need to be moved by hand due to space

If your anything like me you probably pooped a bit with the number for site work lol, I will say the guy that came out to do a site visit told me moving dirt is expensive, not bashing them at all, labor aint cheap!! Highly considering doing the site work myself, pool guy told me that isn't an issue with any of their warranties and they will come out to check when it's done for right depth/level. Sunbelt was under $3,000 for a week rental of a 6 ton mini excavator, 7 yard Dump, and ground protection pads. Don't think it will take a week but quote that for worst case. Before anyone says it, I know this is around 70 yards of dirt, I know it's not easy, and as far as operating I dug the foundation for my garage (blue building in the pic) and my patio by myself for the most part, I'm no expert but I can operate, I own a transit and a laser level; just getting all that out there because that's what everyone wanted to comment on with the FB post .

With all that being said I had a few questions for additions and backfill

Backfill:
-Sandy soil in my area, good to just use what comes out of the hole for backfill?
-Recommend any barrier between ground and exterior of pool wall?
-Was also thinking pavers OR rubber mulch/river rock/pebbles 24" around pool

Install/Pool Add-ons:
-Liner pad OR Perlite on top of sand base
-Foam coving
-Additional return jet on far wall
-Hard pipe everything (would be extra for pool Co. to do
-Larger pump? is a 1.5hp good enough for 20k gallons?

Anything else that you would recommend is appreciated. We aren't rich but we aren't broke either lol. We are kind of doing the bare minimum for it this year with a small exterior entry step with plans of doing landscaping, lighting, larger entry deck/step, and some other add-ons NEXT season or winter since we are already doing some fencing this year during the install.

Thank you for the help! Site pics are attached, sorry they are crappy I was outside last night marking. And the yard will be spotless prior to starting! Have to move the wood pile and purge some out to the curb! Also, setbacks are correct and marked on the pics along with the pool shape. Out township requires 6' from p[roperty lines and we have a 20' utility easement on the far side.

Hi. My ph was creeping up last summer and this year when I opened it was 8. TA 80(pool store said 77). After adding ph minus to bring down to 7.7 I was shocked that TA went to 90. Fully expected it to go down. Tested twice. Could this be right?

I'm in the middle of relocating my pool pump, filter and SWG that have been out in the yard about 10 feet off the corner of the house, approximately 10-12 feet in order to be up against the end of the house, so that I can add a pool heater to the mix, and have the natural gas more readily available, as well as have everything out of sight.

The entire pool was plumbed with 1.5" PVC, so that is what I've kept at the pump and filter over the years, even as I went through different filters and pumps. There are two supply lines - one from a skimmer and one from a main drain - that come in to a 3 way valve, then that goes to the pump. The Variflow multiport valve on the side of the Hayward DE filter has 1.5" threaded fittings, currently with 1.5" PVC glued into male threaded adapters. There is a SINGLE 1.5" return back to the pool, to supply two return jets - one at the deep end and one at the shallow end. From my digging, it appears that the 1.5" return line splits under the concrete pool deck somewhere, likely at the deep end return, then runs around the end and side of the pool to the shallow end return.

The new pool heater - a Hayward 250k BTU unit -has fittings for 2" or 2.5" pipe, depending on whether you use the outside or inside of the fittings. But I am plumbed to 1.5".

I realize I could buy replacement union/fittings for my pump, about $80, and switch the pump over to 2" pipe. I could replace the 3 way, and have the two incoming 1.5" lines go out in a single 2" from the 3 way to the pump. BUT there are still a 1.5" retriction at the DE filter's multiport valve. And even if I use 1.5" male thread to 2" PVC adapters, and were to replace the slip nuts on my SWG cell housing, eventually that return line will be a restriction, even if I bury the 2" to 1.5" transition 10-15 feet away.

So my question is - is there any point in trying to change any of the plumbing to 2" while I am moving things and putting the heater in? Or should I just put a 1.5" to 2" PVC adapter before and after the heater?

A second question I just thought of - how hot is the water coming out of a pool heater? I know PVC is only rate to 140F, but surely pool heater output is much lower, as I sure don't think you want folks getting scalded at the return jets?

Thanks!

In Phoenix and our water is very hard which means high CH. I’ve been lazy all winter about keeping logs but CH is nearing 1000 ppm. Phoenix CCR has fill water hardness anywhere from 150-350. Pool was just built, and filled, November 2023 so about a year and a half with the same water.

How high do you let CH go and keep CSI managed vs succumbing to the water exchange? I’d hate to have to do a water exchange every year but the calcium is out of control.

Hello. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Nick, and a couple years ago I bought a home with a 24’ above ground pool. I’ve learned as I’ve went.

Last year I (regrettably) left some water in the skimmer and it froze and cracked.

I ordered a new skimmer from Amazon, and it’s not tall enough and the holes don’t match. It seems the hole size is similar, but my old one seems to have a large bezel.

My concern isn’t necessarily this, it’s that there are screws behind the bezel thru the aluminum behind the liner holding the skimmer on.

Any one have any idea how to remove those without damaging the liner? Also anyone have a direct replacement?

Hi all
I can’t get my Polaris 280 to clean this side of the pool.

I swear I have tried every direction of the thrust. The Polaris refuses to go to the circled part of shallow end. Every time It is headed there It turns right. I have tried 9 o clock on the thrust. Nothing. Any other ideas?

Thanks all!
Louis

Long time listener, first time caller. Searched but have found no detailed answer yet. Hope someone can help. Pentair Racer (360228) stopped moving (5 years old, salt pool) Good pressure in the line, filters clean, no debris appears to be blocking line or wheels or gears. Took the top off of the cleaner and ran the pump. Prodigious quantity of water shoots out of the spot where the drive shaft passes out of the turbine housing. Normal water flow at tail and all other ports. Drive shaft does turn, although intermittently Took the turbine housing off. All looks cool in there. I see minor wear on drive shaft but not major. I guess I can try replacing the drive shaft/bearings but that's just kind of a guess at this point or just do the whole rebuild kit and see if that solves. Anyone else have/solve this problem? Many thanks!

Hi all,


I am wondering if anyone can help me, this corner joint came out completely after filling and I can’t get it to go back in. I’ve had the pool for 3 years now and never had an issue. It dosent seem to be affecting the structure of the pool at all. Can I leave it off??

Hello,
My pool company is coming to open my pool tomorrow for the first time since I built it last year. They recommended I add enough water so that they can start the filter when they arrive. When I opened up the cover the water is green…Is it time to panic, or can I do something immediately tomorrow to start getting the algae out? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Mike

Hoping maybe someone can give me some inside on this pool. I have been using the bbb method in all my pools over the last 10 years or so maybe longer. But I just can’t get this pool to clean up. I started with a swamp because I didn’t cover it like i should have. I have plastic steps that a prone to algae problems. I thought maybe that was causing my problems so I removed them. I ran out of powder to check my fc so now I’m blind the local pool store does not sell the Taylor refills. It is clear I can see the bottom but I have a green tint to my water. Wondered if it looks like metal to you guys? I hoping the local store can test for metal tomorrow when they open.

Does anyone have any tips for how to calculate the volume of an irregular-shaped pool?

I've included a satellite image of it here. Here are rough measurements:

• 30' length from end-to-end (longest point)
• 10-13.5' across at the narrowest and widest points
• Shallow party pool - only about 3-5' deep
  • 3' deep on either end
  • Gradually slopes to 5' in the center

The previous pool guy estimated the volume between 15-17k gallons, but Pentair's calculator for an oblong pool (closest option) only estimates it at about 9400 gallons. All the curves and gradual slope from 3' to 5' and back to 3' are making this a particularly challenging math problem for me.

I keep hearing that if you can afford, go big and use at lower power. So, since this is a new investment, that's what I'm aiming for. Pool is roughly 20K gallons, so either are enough overkill.
I have a new pentair intelliflo 3 pump with relay, currently just on intermatic timer 24/7, using pump for schedule. No other fancy automation. I will probably wire the SWCG it up to the pump relay.

Core55 seems good, it takes up less room in the plumbing and doesn't need wall space, which I like. My equipment pad is pretty cramped. The dowside used to be the Core went in I guess 25% increments with only 4 settings, now they have 6 settings, so you can do 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, 90%. I mean, I don't really need 5% increments or tighter, I don't see much advantage to that. The Core series seems much less common than the RJ. But I like it's all-in-one design, at least in theory. It only needs about 7" of space, but needs some above/below clearance.

RJ60, I see the RJ45 is hugely popular, I imagine there is not any downside to going the 60 other than slight price increase. The RJ45 needs 16" and another 4+ for the relay. I saw with the RJ that if you run at low GPM, you should invert it (so it flows --\_____/-- instead of --/`````\-- ). I also see there is a vertical space saving option, not sure how that would be affected by the extra low GPM though. With the RJ, you have a separate control panel, you have wiring from source to control panel, and from control panel to flow switch, and from control panel to cell. But you also have some cool information available, such as water temp, cell voltage, current, salinity.

Price - the same, or within a close enough range.
So, which would you go with? How useful are those pieces of info? Useful enough to outweigh the longer installation run?
Do you think there's any difference with regards to pump flow / efficiency? Any other pros or cons to weigh in on? Appreciate it!

I just opened my pool and started heating it up.
I was curious about how much heat energy I was getting on a clear sunny day. I asked Chat GPT to calculate the btu’s required to heat the water from 12C(54F) to 18C(64F) at 50gpm. It came up with 270,000 btu per hour. I’ve got ten 4x12 panels.

I asked Jandy about this, and they weren't interested in helping.

What is the correct positioning and orientation of the breather tube?

Should the end with the angled cut be on the top or bottom?

Should the angled cut face the pool (outlet) or the pump (inlet)?

How high relative to the top of the plates should the top of the tube be positioned?

What are the effects of that tube being a little too high or a little too low?

Do I need to install a valve to prevent water flowing back to the pool whenever I open the pump basket, or is a valve not necessary?
The instructions for the pump say to never run the pump without water:

Here is a thumbnail picture of my pump inlet with a ruler:


Whenever I try to clean my pump basket, the pump drains back toward the pool skimmer, or at least straight down to a pool level (if assuming the horizontal pipe running to the pool is all below pool level). I can't prime the pump with a bucket of water, because the water just immediately drains out, so when priming it sucks air for some time before it gets any water. I did finally install a Hayward manual 3-way diverter valve between the pump and the filter, so at least I can block the filter from draining. The pump was installed at an unknown time by the previous house owner (we bought the house in Sept 2021), so the pump has been run this way for years. Hope it is not damaged.

A few facts (not sure if any of these are important besides the length of inlet pipe before the pump):
-pump inlet is higher than the pool surface by 12-14 inches.
-there is 2" pipe entering the pump, but you can see 1.5" copper pipe going underground to the pool skimmer.
-horizontal distance from pump to skimmer is 26 ft.

If it is best to install a valve at the pump inlet, then do I have enough straight inlet pipe to do this?
If okay to install a valve, are there any suggestions on the type?

Thanks!

I realize this sounds stupid, but theres logic behind my question. Do i really need to have a bigger heater for a bigger pool. The heated water flow is restricted by the return jet regardless of the size of the pool. The heat pump heater can only heat the water to a design temperature as it flows and that flow is restricted by the pump pressure and the return jet. Any comments?

So I was looking through the B.P.t.B.L.C post the other day after someone had asked about a specific state, and I realized with 74 pages going back 9+ years, most of the detail in there was probably only of historic value, and it was really hard to find relevant information. So, being an engineer, I figured there might be a better way, and came up with the following based on that thread plus some basic digging around.

My thought is people can reply to the thread with updates, and I will update the table with the latest information and replace the image so that it's easy to find and reference.
Open to suggestions, comments, additional data, etc.

I have a Purex DE ( Pentair now ) Pool filter that needs replacement.
In your experience, should I go with another DE filter or should I change it to Cartridge filter and should I go with Pentair or Jany?

Hey All! New to the forums but have been lurking for a few months due to a new to me pool.

Opened it 2 weeks ago and it has been a bit of a nightmare but finally felt like I was getting somewhere when brown spots started appearing everywhere. Think it is Iron but looking to get some help.

Current reading in pictures with high FC due to slam process.


Pool Backstory-
Bought house with a fiberglass pool a few months back. Opened the pool to a swamp that we quickly cleaned, but after testing the pool showed mostly 0s across the board with Taylor liquid kits. Was confused but after multiple times testing found out there was almost no salt, FC, or CYA. Brought all 3 up to level over the last weeks and the water cleared up but now the bottom of the pool is speckled with brown spots. Not sure of what to do as they will not come off with scrubbing and only get worse every day.

Hi, I'm hoping someone could identify this pool light. I tried searching for it, but none seem to look like this. I would assume it was put in around 2012. I'd like to replace it with a multi-color light that will run off of my Pentair Intelliflo 3 pump (011075). Do you have any recommendations for something that's reliable and easy to service? Someone recommended a spa electric to me, but I'm unsure which one i should get. That said, if there's something better I would love to know---I really like wifi control and bells/whistles, if that helps! Any links would be greatly appreciated!!!

​

Hi all,

We are looking to convert from liquid chlorine to SWG this year shortly after opening - this is all new to us but we've heard good things in terms of maintenance and ease of use, in addition to it being not as harsh on hair/skin as liquid chlorine. Though cost is likely the same in the long run, we're excited to not be lugging gallons of chlorine back & forth all the time. Looking for recommendations as to what type of SWG system may be the best for pool...

Pool is 25,000 gallons, so we've been targeting systems rated for around 50k gallons (2x). Our system (below) is pretty old - the pool was originally put in in the 80s, no filter automation (just runs on a timer), and pretty sure our pump is just a single speed. Filter is brand new as of last season and is a cartridge filter, but because some parts of the system are still very old and may need to be replaced in time - we would likely opt to replace with SuperFlo VSP / Easy Touch Automation, so we would prefer an SWG system that will be compatible with that in the future + work for us for now. Ignore the old caretaker system and heater you see pictured, both have been disconnected.

Our pool company who has usually been pretty good has recommended the Solaxx Resilience E Series 60 + (18) 40 lb bags of salt to start. Does anyone have any experience with this one and can confirm if it's a good option? From reading through various threads here we were considering the Circu Pool RJ-45 or RJ-60, possibly the Hayward AquaRite T-15 - but it seems like that's only rated for 40,000 which may be cutting it a little low for the size of our pool, and it didn't have as high of reviews on this site: Compare and Review Saltwater Chlorine Generator Prices and Features | DSP. Some of the Auto Pilot/Pool Pilot options also seemed to have good reviews, but not sure if they are compatible with our system. Have also seen a few mentions of the Pentair Intellchlor IC40 on here, but don't see it anywhere on that list - is that one we should stay away from? And just to be sure, once we put the system in, it'll just be replacement of the cell every ~3-5 years?

We'll likely have our pool company do the installation just to save ourselves some time.

Appreciate any input or recommendations!!

Disolve chlorine stabilizer. I tried boiling water, worm water, pool water, even acid, nothing disolves stabilizer (cyanuric acid) granules. Then i realized that the stabilizer attaches to chlorine in the pool so i added a little chlorine to a small amount of stabilizer and it disolved quickly.

I have a Pentair IC60 that generates chlorine when initially turned on, and then a couple minutes later flashes "inspect cell". I've had it for about 3 seasons. It was doing the same thing toward the end of the season last year, but the water was pretty cold and I dismissed the issue due to cold water. It seems somewhat insane that it will produce chlorine when initially turned on, but then go to "inspect cell" after a couple minutes and stop generating chlorine.

Any way to fix this problem, or does this mean I need a new SWG?

Hi TFP!

FYI, our pool build was completed in 2017.

I’ve been avoiding a number of repairs that seem/are above what I believe I’m capable of. I wanted to reach out and see if anyone could give me some tips so I’m not taken advantage of by the repair people who will be coming out next week. I’m going to post our other pool issues in separate posts.

SALT WATER GENERATOR (Pentair IC40 replaced under warranty about 5 years ago)

A few months ago I realized that our cell was not working. I clean the cell every few months. I checked it and and it was spanking clean. Then I realized that the “fuse?” in the upper right corner of was tripped (see attached photo). I reset it, started everything up and I heard a clicking sound from that area, then a pop, and it tripped.

The SWG breaker in the panel was fine but I still tripped that and reset it. The same thing happened with the “fuse” tripping.

I searched our TFP site, but the areas I would need to test/replace would be uncomfortable for me to service, so since then I just managed the pool as a chlorine pool.

A couple days ago I reconnected the salt cell resent the “fuse” and gave it a try once again. Same thing happened, however this time the ‘fuse” did not trip to the off position instead it seems frozen in the On position.

I contacted our local certified Pentair pool repair guys. We’ve have used them multiple times over the years for warranty work and their repair guy has been great. That is until when he came out 6 months ago to diagnose a light issue. Well, he gave me a bunch of Crud about what was wrong … So I have little trust in him now, AND he is the only guy the company sends out. I requested that the owner get involved, we’ll see if he shows up.

I see that the cost of a new IC40 has gone way up (over $1,400 and probably a few hundred more with their markup). My concern is that they will start with replacing the cell before looking at other things that may be the actual issue.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
York