Chemicals from my kit were old and order refills on line but have not received yet. While waiting I took sample to a local pool store. They said everything was fine except for FC and posphates. FC was 5.5 which I am not concerned about. The said phosphates were reading 300 and tried to sell me a bottle of Pho Free for about $50 which I declined. Is this a reading that I need to worry about?

Had our pool opened today and there's some chipping in the surfaces of the sun ledges and also on a corner that steps down to different levels of sun ledges.

Resurfacing the pool isn't in the cards this year, so curious what needs to be done here. Not sure if it loses water yet but the pool was pretty full from the winter precipitation so I don't get the impression it's leaking yet.

Any direction would help.

Getting started w/SWP and hope to gain knowledge about it.

I think I've been VERY lucky and have a Polaris 280 that is going on 18 years. Have done normal maintenance (tires, bearings, hose, etc) and it's still going but things are breaking more frequently.

1. New one is $600. Have they changed anything in the design that would be a plus (or minus) to buying a new one?
2. Is there another pressure cleaner that's better? (just replaced the booster pump so not looking to move to a robot... plus this setup has worked VERY well for me over the years. If it ain't broke....)
3. Keep fixing / rebuilding parts on the old reliable workhorse.

Thanks!

Hi all - wife and I are owners of a brand new 11,282 gallon fiberglass chlorine pool. We have a Hayward 120k heat pump but the rest of the equipment is standard stuff. I have been religious about taking a sample weekly to Leslie’s and adjusting with baking soda and dry acid. I just downloaded the Pool Math app but am struggling to understand how to load my recent test results. From what I have read so far - it seems I need to get a good test kit, likely the Taylor k-2006 kit. As a new owner (only been in the ground a few months) my biggest concerns are;

1) Consistently elevated levels of pH. Not terrible, but normally 7.9-8.1.
2) Calcium Hardness - Leslie’s tells me every trip that I do not need to be concerned about this since we have a fiberglass pool. I did a bit of my own research and found that extremely high hardness can be damaging to heat pumps. Ours is consistently low - usually around 135. Do I need to address this?
3) cya - having only owned the pool a few months I don’t have the experience yet to fully grasp how our trichlor tablets (from Doheneys) affect the cya. So far, it has been on a slow and steady rise from 0 to where it is at now, 44.
4) Chlorine is still a bit confusing to me. I am currently sitting at 1.19. I have seen some mention of liquid chlorine. Is there some reason I should be using that instead of the tablets in my auto chlorinator?

With all of this said the pool looks very gorgeous and clear. I have a Hayward QC robot which I use nearly every other day. I also have a Betta solar powered robotic skimmer that runs 24/7. I very much enjoy managing the chemicals and maintenance of my pool by myself. It is very calming for me to be outside manually scrubbing the safety ledge or sides of the pool. I have a very flexible schedule and want the pool to be in the best shape possible. I am willing to put in as much time as needed for daily tasks. I look forward to learning more from this site.

Take care!

Hello community.
What pool brushes do you recommend ?
I bought one at Amazon that is made of some soft metallic fibers.
It seems to leave pieces of itself when I brush rhe pool. Which then show up in my robotic cleaner as tiny (soft) needles.

Appreciate your input.

I’ve been a proud member of the liquid chlorine club the past two years, and haven’t been able to talk myself into a SWG.

A season’s worth of LC only costs me about $120 - and even this year we’re still at $4/gallon for 12.5%.

The cost of trichlor to accommodate the occasional vacation, though, looks pretty ugly this year.

While I still couldn’t bring myself to pay $800+ for one of the popular units, I came across a Solaxx Saltron Reliant CLG220A, which uses their 25K R5 cell, but comes in a kit designed for above ground pools, for only $550.

Taking a bit of a gamble as I couldn’t find many reviews on this unit - which is also in part why I’m posting this to document my experience.

To break even, I need it to last ~ 4 years. That covers my annual LC cost plus the cost of a bucket of tabs for vacations.

It has a 2 year warranty, and I purchased with a credit card that gives me an extra year — so year 4 will be the gambling year.

Strangely, the going price for this SWG appears to be $669, but it’s only $549 via Walmart.com “sold by Pool Supplies Superstore”. Pool Supplies Superstore is Doheny, and that’s who it shipped from, even though it’s $669 from Doheny directly. Go figure.

Water is still too cold to test it out, but I’ll be sure to provide feedback once it’s running and keep this thread updated with its longevity.

I unzipped my hot tub cover and there is serious deteriation of the inside foam. There are no cuts or holes on the inside. How does this happen? The hot tub was bought and set up 5/22/2022. Is this common to need to replace this soon? I have a dimension one latitude.

I have a Hayward HP31005T. It was professionally installed in July 2024 and we are using it for the first time this week.

The control panel doesn’t indicate any error and the pool water is heating.

Is it normal for the unit to have frost rings on the inside and ice on the coils after running for 4 hours on an 80 degree day? Starting water temp was 74

My heater went on by itself this morning. I turned all the breakers in the controller off, and then on, but it started up again. The controls and the app show it as off when this happens. Any ideas why?

Hi all, finally took the plunge and ordered my diy IG vinyl pool kit from Royal.

Location: Pittsburgh PA
Size: 18x36x26 L-shape
Wall height: 4' steel
Depth 4' to 8'

Personal background: Automation Engineer with four young kids. All boys. They will be my helpers on this project.

I will say my experience working with Royal was extremely pleasurable. My ordering process was probably unconventional, however the salesman was easy to work with through the entire process. To help trim some costs, he suggested I explore building my own full width steps and tanning ledge, which is the route I'm going. I was a bit shocked at how expensive the full width step kits were. As I'm doing the install on my own, I only initially ordered the bare minimum of what I needed to get started. I still don't have a lot of the major pieces figured out yet (pump,filter,heater,liner, etc), but I didn't want to delay getting the walls and coping forms ordered.

I picked up my permit from the township last week, they weren't too thrilled with my doing it on my own. I feel like the permit process will end up taking longer than the install itself.

I apologize, I will probably have a million questions that have already been asked, I'll try my best to search before asking.

Question #1: I have to approve the design/build drawing for the pool and I requested two cutouts on the panels for skimmers. Being that I have not ordered the skimmer boxes yet, am I going to run into issues where the hole they punched out isn't compatible with the skimmer box I order? Are skimmer box holes a standard size across the board? Or should I just tell them to not punch the holes for the skimmer just to be safe and handing cutting out once I determine which skimmers I'm buying?

Question #2: Being the pool I ordered is pretty bare bones, I don't think the locations for the skimmers is ideal for my end design. When they drafted this up, I dont think they knew that I was planning on making the bottom "L" portion of the pool a tanning ledge. Since I am doing that, it's probably not ideal to have the skimmer on the tanning ledge, right? If so, where would you recommend I have them relocate them to? It might all be a moot point, it looks like both skimmers are on 8' panels straight panels, which are interchangeable I'm guessing. Either way I need to get this figured out quick because I need to approve the print before it goes to fabrication.

Question #3: Similar to above, they proposed Q2 discharge returns on the drawing. I assuming I will want/need more. Should I just have them not drill for these and I can worry about that later? I plan on also adding two bubblers on the tanning ledge.

Question #4: I tried to do some research on this, but any good articles/videos on how to build your own steps and tanning ledge for a vinyl pool? I poked around and found a few different approaches that seemed to get the job done. Some used block and backfilled with gravel with a layer of concrete on the top, some built forms and did the entire thing with concrete. My FIL has experience with both block and concrete, he can give me a hand. I thought this video did a good job explaining how he does them. Login to view embedded media . Unfortunately not a ton of info on this topic. I wasn't about spending $4k for some sheet metal steps from Royal.


Appreciate the help!

-Kevin

Hi everyone

My l Leisure Pool ultimate 35 fiberglass with a built in spa. It is leaking and I’ve narrowed down it is at the spa after shutting pump off for 3 days , cover closed, spa plumbing isolated, and measured water level.

Result
1. Pool water no drop
2. Spa water dropped 6cm (2.3”)
3. Pump off, cover on, spa suction valve closed. Spa return valve closed

I highly suspect this has to do with what I did when I closed my pool this last winter:

1. I used duck plug w/o telflon and screwed in too tight. When I tried to unscrewed it to add teflon, I unscrewed the actual return wall fitting itself (see photo; the one with expansion black plug).
2. I was able to screw it back in with a channel lock but from what I’ve heard, you’re not suppose to be able to unscrew the wall fitting itself.
3. The spa was filled to the top at closing. The suspected return fitting is at the bottom. When I opened the pool this year, the water didn’t decline to the leak location which is puzzling.



What I’m doing next

1. I plug the suspected return with an expansion plug and marked the water level again to see if it lowers in 24 hours.


Meanwhile, any advice if this can be fixed without having to dig up the ground? Any advice for next step? I don’t want to accidentally do something to make it worse.

Hi all,

I am doing my due-diligence on my first pool build. My pool specs are below

• 12'x24' rectangle with an additional 6'x12' tanning ledge
• depth from 3.0' to 5.5'
• 2 bubblers/LED combos in tanning ledge area
• 4 deck jets
• 1 LED light in main pool

After doing my research, I am leaning towards the following equipment

• Pentair Intelliflo 1.5 HP
• Pentair Clean and Clear 420 Filter
• Pentair Intellichlor LT15
• Pentair Intellicenter LITE with Wifi
• Pentair Lights? (TBD)

The pool is located in south Louisiana, and no trees nearby. I am open to suggestions on different equipment or pool layout.

I would like to be able to control the lights and customize color from my phone. I see a lot of conflicting reports on pentair lights, so I am open to other brands.

I am also a data nerd, so I would like to be able to track water temp, salinity, etc through an app if possible, so looking for suggestions for things I can tie into the intellicenter.


Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m so confused how to get the metal stains and metal out of the water. I’ll make question simple.
I understand vitamin C lifts stains but what I’m not sure of does a product like Pro team metal magic only sequestered the metals and then I need something like Culator to get it completely gone? I guess I wanna make sure that I need all three products? I wanna make sure I’m not buying something I don’t need. I vitamin C test and stains lifted right off.

Hi all, I’ve been battling with pool stains look like rust around the edges, spoke to pinch a penny and they said they can try a rust treatment which I’m not to confident about , they have started adding 2 cups of muric acid once a week adding photos thanks

Hi! First-time post here. Looking for feedback from people more experienced than me.

We have an indoor pool that is very colorful and tropical flavored from previous owners. Interior walls are painted T1-11 on 2x4s with 6 mil vapor barrier with batt insulation and exterior Hardie board siding.
Ceiling is marine grade painted plywood.
We have some exhaust fans for ventilation, but plan to add two more in ceiling.

We are trying to aim for flagstone pool decking and a wood plank type look for the walls. See this AI image. And also trying to ball on a budget.

Keyword: budget. Hence no tongue and groove cedar planking (would be ~$12k)

With this in mind, I was thinking we have three options for wood planking.

1.) Either buy 75 sheets of plywood ($1.8k) and rip them into faux planks (SO MUCH TIME), or

2.) just buy cedar fence pickets ($2k) , or

3.) buy SPC vinyl flooring ($4k)

I'm thinking of doing the fence pickets and letting them dry out all summer to minimize bowing and cupping, then stain (marine grade) each side of them and nail to existing T1-11 interior walls and plywood ceiling. Will use a planer if needed, or quick sand the edges and front face.

Questions:
1.) Would you advise against this?
2.) If I go this route with the pickets, should I Tyvek wrap the interior T1-11 walls?
3.) Would you stain or epoxy the pickets?
4.) If this is a horrible idea, do you have any recommendations for a cost effective approach that gives the wood paneling look with mold and rot prevention a key priority?

I realize having a system that auto fills the pool as needed can keep you from noticing a leak, but I need to come up with something because I'm out of town most of the time and can't depend on someone else to sit there for 1-2 hrs/week adding water to my pool during the summer. What is the best way to accomplish this, is there a system I can buy or DIY something that will notice when water needs to be added then it opens a valve or something along those lines?

I recently had a project on our pool deck done that resulted in a ton dirt and sand getting in my pool. It’s been vacuumed/cleaned out but the guy that did the project (he does pool maintenance too) told me I should add phosphate remover because all the dirt in the pool would increase the phosphates and he’d take a sample to Leslie’s to get it tested

I’ve never tested for phosphates, everything I test for with my TF test kit is in range and my water looks fine. From my minimal research, it doesn’t seem like I need to worry about testing for or lowering phosphates.

Is there any reason I should test for or worry about them? We usually get so much rain I have to drain off my pool regularly and that’s always diluting things down.

Hi,

Is there a way to get rid of these calcium marks around the pool and spa? Also, I have these white spots at the bottom, I don't know if it's calcium as well or something else. Any advice how to get rid of them? I started taking care of my pool in the last two weeks, I'm not sure if this is the product of something my pool guy used to put in or if it's normal wear and tear.

Thanks!
Roger

Hi all! We are in the thick of picking out tile - very overwhelming for someone (me) who is indecisive and not great at visualizing. We have narrowed it down to 3, but I can't find ANY photos of ANY of them installed... I have searched all 3 of them multiple times on here, Google, Facebook groups, and nothing!

Anyone able to help? One is from QDI (Islands Santorini), and the other 2 are from Noble Tile. I also know the "gun metal blue" one from Noble is actually the Artistry in Mosaics brand, but still can't find photos. Would appreciate photos if you used any of these or have seen photos! Thanks!

Pool was built in 2008. For the most part everything works fine. last replace the handheld remote June 2023. Hit Spa party last night and nothing happened. Usually the pool will switch to spa, the lights will come on and the heater will kick on. If I hit spa spearately the spa will come one, same with the lights ( although the mail pool light flashing green or is off - a Hayward colorlogic), but the heater is not turning on. It's an Hayward H400FDN. The screen shows "ho" I can not find any reference in any of the Hayward trouble shooting guides as to what this might mean. I found one online reference that it indicated water temp was too high, but the sensor seems to be correct with a reading of 72 ( we have replaced that in the past). I have attached a screen shot. So I am looking for help on where to start with the heater as well as any thoughts as to why the spa party grouping may have quit working on the remote. - or if the heater not coming on could impact that. We have self dealt with an IO code a few years ago, but pretty much everything else has been problem free. I am assuming the flashing light means the pool light is mal-functioning and would need to be replaced, but don't really care about it at the moment. Any insight would be appreciated.

So I've had my Circupool generator for 5 years now. Few issues noted in the SWG forum. But this one goes in the plumbing section I think. My system was flooded back in February. My pool is in the floodplain and we got a 100-yr Event. Got everything cleaned out including cleaning threads with a toothbrush. Replaced the rubber O-rings but I'm still getting this in my video. I tried pipe tape and it didn't work. I ordered Magic Lube II for it but haven't put it on yet. Am I on the right track? BTW, it didn't do this when I shut it down.

My video on my Google Drive:

Hi! We purchased a used pool last fall. We tore it down ourselves and discovered the bottom rail was corroded. We figured, okay, we’ll look into replacement parts once we’re ready to install in the spring (now). The issue is I can’t seem to find replacement parts. I believe the pool brand is Outer Back (I have attached pictures). The previous owner indicated the pool is about 10-12 years old if that helps. Thanks in advance for your help

I have a MasterTemp 400 wired into my Intellicenter Board. Also, use the Intellicenter App to control the Pool: Lights/Pumps/Features and the Heater [mostly].

Here's what the App can control on the Heater:
1. I can turn on/off the heater
2. I see if the heater is running or not [flame icon]
3. I see the temperature setting [on the app]

Here's what it doesn't do:
1. I cannot send [via the app] a change of temp to the IntelliCenter board. When i change the temp on the App, it looks like the change takes place, but the change never reaches the Heater.

In order to change the temp on the heater, I need to either manually do it at the heater; or change it at the IntelliCenter Panel.

Any ideas as to why this is happening? Maybe a setting I have wrong? Or?? Thank you, Shannon

Hi all, getting things lined up for the summer. Would appreciate some thoughts on this idea. My opening date usually varies depending on life and travel. I was thinking maybe, leave cover on now, but pull plugs and run my equipment in circulate, and put in 12 percent chlorine until I'm ready to open. Thinking this would keep any green algae growth a bay and dead stuff should be at the bottom when I open the pool in a month or so.

Or am I just wasting my time. I'd say the time effort and cost is minimal and is stuff I have to eventually do anyway with the pump, etc.

Thanks

Bperry said:

It should last a lot longer than that if you follow the recommendation of getting one rated for at least twice the size of your pool.

Click to expand...

On this note, is there a path to using another branded cell with Hayward OmniPL system? In my case, largest Hayward TCELL is 40,000gal but I have a 32,000gal pool. Seems the largest out there is the Circupool RJ60... but I'd need their controller, correct? Or can it be successfully wired into Hayward automation?

No need for one now as pool and cell are new, but not opposed to moving to a cell roughly 2x pool size when opportunity/necessity permits.

Ok

After much reading I performed the ammonia test and I lost 85% or 8.5ppm in 30 min and have 1.5 CC. 28k gallon in ground vinyl liner. Am I best to drain completely and start over or do I dump a likely hefty amount of chlorine via multiple rounds? I should note, I live in the country and have my own well so water cost is not a concern. I would also note that most of last season my pool was clear but never could quite get that sparkling water.

With the high prices of liquid chlorine, it is either time for me to switch to a SWG pool or leave the pool closed and covered. For the last couple of years, we have used the pool only 9 or 10 times. By the time the pool gets warm enough to swim in, within 2 or 3 weeks the pool is too hot to swim in here in SE Oklahoma. SWG will not help with a pool that is too hot to swim in.

The pool company that closes my pool tells me to leave it covered. We live lake front so we have a problem with water moccasins getting in the pool. They are so much fun to fish out of the pool (vinyl liner is slippery)!

How many of you have switched to a SWG pool because of high chlorine costs? Pros and Cons?

Pros and cons of leaving it covered (vinyl liner)?

Thanks for any advice.

Buying a 24’ round hard side pool (fb marketplace find). I am new to all of this so talk like I’m a kindergartener .
Liner: The seller says was bought new last year. Will I be able to use it again or would I need a new one? Is there any certain way I should handle it when disassembling and hauling it?
Site preparation: I’m hiring someone to level the site. What are the next steps or “layers” to get it ready to reassemble the pool on top?
Thanks!