I have a spa alongside my salt pool and when I use my spa I'd like to disable chlorine generation from my SWG as it builds up too much while I'm in the spa. I think the best way of doing this is to tap into the fact that I always use my AUX pump when I'm in the spa. So I looked for a relay to feed the SWG that would be always closed but would open when I ran my aux pump.

Unfortunately I'm having a difficult time finding one. Does anyone have suggestions as to a relay that I could use for this (or just a better idea to solve my main issue).

Let me preface that I have been out of town and the Austin area had a bad storm the other night. At some point, the breaker turned off. Also, I use test strip (IKIK) and occasionally get the water tested at Leslie’s.

There is algea. It’s the worst I’ve had. I don’t have a sand filter. I’m going to attempt to shock the pool- I just don’t know if this will work with how high TDS is. What would cause this to be so high? last season, I used pucks. I quit after having to deal with high CYA. Now I use liquid chlorine.

I know I’ll have to do water out/in to get the TDS lower. Or should I call the pool company to empty it (brace it, etc). Advice please. Thanks

When my pool was installed in 1992 closing it the first season was part of the deal. Never having had any experience with pools I watched the technician and took notes so that going forward I could do it myself.

He blew out the lines from the pump, starting with plugging each skimmer and then the returns. A pump was used to get the remaining water out of the skimmers.

I have been doing it this way ever since. I just saw on here that many blow out the lines from the skimmer. That sounds a little easier but I have reservations changing from a method that has worked well for me all these years.

If I try the skimmer method are there any pitfalls to avoid?

Thank you for allowing me to join the forum. There is so much useful information on this site.
I have a (subject) light which leaked and the motor which drives the color wheel was completely destroyed. I am desperately trying to find a replacement motor. A google search has turned up nothing. Has anyone found a source for this motor ? It seems the only place that one would be available would be someones discard. I tried to use a DC motor only to find the original was either a stepper or an AC motor. At this point I am ready to give up and live with a white light. The voltage is 15VAC. Thanks in advance. Carle

After my first season of owning a pool, I am already tired of vacuuming. I'll be closing in a couple weeks. Do the robots usually go on sale this time of year? I haven't done any research yet to see which one I'd want. But if a good one goes on sale, thought maybe I should jump on it.

Our pool builder is closing our pool and installing a safety cover on Monday. I’m using the TF-Pro test kit and tested all my levels last night. I went ahead and added the recommended liquid chlorine to bring it up to SLAM level. Based on my other results I’ll probably add some muriatic acid and dry stabilizer. My water is a smidge high due to some heavy rains so I’m sure that messed with some numbers. Any suggestions or thoughts with my chemistry?

Hi all, my iAquaLink 2.0 antenna has disconnected (is completely loose and spinning free on the side of the box). I’d like to just replace it with a new one to try and get better connection over all. I’ve read that it’s easy…but for electronic dummies, does anyone have a step-by-step? Not sure how to remove the circuit board, etc.

Thank you!

Our pool pumps are typically 120 or 240V AC Motors - I'm wondering if anyone's familar with DC Motors to run pool pumps?

A contact to call or email so I can buy one would be amazing, or even a website - I already have the control electronics to manage the speed controll of a HVDC Motor - I need source of the motor itself, especially motors that are known to work in a pool/spa environment

Hello, I am finally getting a new vinyl pool liner and I'd like to know the current thinking abt whether or not I should add calcium to the new water I will be filling the pool with. I see conflicting old threads on this. thanks.

Hello. Glad I found this site and value all the info people are sharing.

This is the first pool I'm building but had a pool at a previous home for a couple years. I have talked with 4 builders in the Phoenix area here's the latest plan we are considering. I had installed a Pentair VS pump and salt cell at my old house and really liked it but 3 out the 4 builders I'm talking to are using Hayward. The pb who gave the bid below said that Hayward is more efficient and the Paramount infloor cleaning has lifetime warranty so I'm considering being open to switching. He also recommended just starting with chlorine and if I don't like it add the salt cell later. I was ok with this because then I could get whatever I want.

The dogs are probably going to be using the pool the most so wanted a large shelf and bench to stand on. I had wanted the first step to go all the way across the pool but the pb advised against it. We thought about having a gas heater and spa but at about $25K for the quotes we received I don't think we would use enough to get the value. Would getting an electric heat pump add many more swimming days in AZ?

Appreciate any suggestions on this build or recommendations in the Phx area.

Thanks!

Hello All. Just joined. My wife and I live at Buffalo Pound Lake, 20 minutes north of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. We recently bought a new pool heater to replace a 20 year old one! We have a RAYPAK 156A. Was hunting to find out how to winterize this unit. Manged to find and locate the Water Pressure switch but unsure how it is removed??? Put a wrench on body and unscrew? Dont want to damage it of course. found and removed drain plug just above. Instructions say to remove and dry the pressure switch.
Help would be appreciated.
Chris Perryman

I’ve been maintaining my pool for several years and I occasionally have to treat my pool for algae and recently started using cal hypo tablets because the cyanuric acid levels have become too high using tri-chlor tabs. As you know, the cal hypo tabs dissolve quickly and im not sure of this is the solution to avoiding the build up of cyanuric acid. I don’t understand how our former pool guy was able to come once a week and not have the issue of high levels of cyanuric acid. I’ve had to drain my pool because of high levels. Am I missing something or do I just need to stick with using cal hypo tans from now on to avoid the build up of cyanuric acid?
Any advice would ne much appreciated!

My IC-40 SWG is almost three years old. The unit has never told me to clean it. I have never removed it. It has no problem generating chlorine. I usually set it around 25%. The last two salt tests pretty much matched the Screenlogic salt level, although in the past the IC would read lower. Salt level is 3000. Reading here on TFP makes me think I should take it out and inspect it. I bought the pentair cleaning stand. Is there a simple way to disconnect power to the IC without taking off the interior panel to expose the circuit boards (assuming this is where the connector connects to the intellicenter)? The panel has the disconnect and the SWG breaker.

it’s about 15 months old. Yesterday it tripped the power supply while in the pool. I reset the power supply and it tripped again right away. Not really sure where to start my troubleshooting. Any thoughts?

Hi, I replaced my auto fill with an easier to adjust version. The old one was garbage.

I can’t seem to get a very tiny bit of bubbles/leak to stop in my auto fill float valve. A few tiny water bubbles form, where the part connects into the female PCV pipe. (Both part & pipe are plastic.) I can hear an ever so slight run of water if I listen real hard.

I used about 2 - 2.5 rounds of Teflon as well. And I did not want to tighten any further. I used my hand for most of the tightening.

Since this is a pool, is this even a concern? I imagine some water would be used daily anyhow from normal operation.

Let me know thoughts? I attached a photo of my new valve which is so much easier to adjust.

My Pentair Max-e-Therm 400 spa heater will not fire. I am getting a heater service light and an AGS error code. I replaced the upper limit switch according to the troubleshooting guide. I do not smell gas during the start up sequence. I tested the igniter and it checks good. Any suggestions?

Hello,
I decided to try my hand at closing my saltwater inground pool for the first time this year. I was looking at some of the parts in my shed and came across these ones in a bag. What are they used for? Does it have to do with the skimmer?

Thanks,

I know I'm probably missing something. But digging through the manual I can't seem to find an answer.

How do you trigger a higher pump speed when the heater needs to turn on to maintain temp? Right now, I have a "Heat Pool" OneTouch button that sets the pump to a certain speed, and enables Temp 1 setting. However, this seems to override my schedule and the pump speed never goes back down to my normal low speed setting.

What am I missing here? Thanks.

I'm hearing conflicting information from a couple of installers. If not I'll return it or sell it and replace it with a Jandy.

I'm getting ready to do a soft close and need to increase my CYA and decrease the PH before putting the mesh cover on since CYA is less than 30 and PH appears to be 7.8. I hate handling muriatic acid and don't want to wait a few days for CYA to dissolve so I was thinking about using Dichlor to accomplish this task since I have some on hand. I took a sample into a pool store and was told that my CYA is actually 28. If this is accurate, the pool math calculator indicates that 2 pounds of Dichlor will increase CYA by 6.7 and lower PH by .28 which will put my water in a good range for closing. Before I add the dichlor to the pool, I have a few questions:
1. Can dichlor be dissolved in a bucket of pool water and poured in front of a return like liquid chlorine without brushing afterwards? I've got an injury and I'm unable to brush the pool right now. Directions on the product say to broadcast it and brush afterwards but I wasn't sure why it says this.
2. How long do I need to run the pump after adding the Dichlor before I can add liquid chlorine to get it up to shock level? Once I get the pool vacuumed out and add the dichlor, I'd like to get the cover on ASAP so leaves don't blow in. I've heard that you shouldn't add two different types of chlor at the same time so I need to know how long I should wait after adding the Dichlor before adding the liquid chlorine.

Wondering if I should add phosphate remover to my pool. I had my water tested today and the phosphate level is 525. Everything else is in balance and my water is clear. My local pool shop told me not to worry about it, but me being me, is wondering if I need to get it lowered. What are your thoughts? What causes a high phosphate level? I didn’t have a problem last year.

I have some questions about three way PVC ball valves. You have a lever that controls which way the water is being diverted to branch "A" or "B".

I have a few of these made by Jandy and typically the way I use it is to set the return line to go to "A" the pool or to "B" which may be the spa, or in between the pump and the filter to continue on, or open the waste line to remove water from the pool/spa.



The questions:

(1) Are these valves designed such that the lever may be set to divert water to both branches at the same time? Let me explain, if I have a fish pond and I have a pump and a return line to the pond, and I use a three way ball valve, where "A" goes to say a rock boulder and a waterfall feature, and "B" goes to a fountain aerator. Sometimes I want to run "A" only, and sometimes I want to run "B" only, but there may be times I want to run both A and B, and would I be able to turn the lever half way between A and B, or even play with where the lever needs to be to regulate the flow to both may be 70/30, 60/40 and keep it in that position to run both features? Or these valves are not designed for such usages and when I turn the lever to a spot in between A and B, the hole in the ball may be completely blocked so that no flow may be occurring?

(2) These valves comes in different materials, some says CPVC, some says PVC, if my piping is in PVC, my understanding is the strongest connection is to use PVC to PVC to get true solvent welding, but if the valves are CPVC, then I need to use a special glue intended to join CPVC to PVC, and that is a weaker joint then solvent welding PVC to PVC, is this correct? For example, if you look at this Amazon link:


The title says "Hayward PSV3S2 CPVC 3-Way Diverter Valve" so it's clearly a CPVC valve right? Then further down in the details it says "Material Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)", seems they are using the two interchangeably?

Hi there,

Had a quick electrical question I was hoping someone could help me with. I have an easy touch 8 with integrated SCG transformer and board in it. I am trying to figure out how to connect the transformer for 120V (rather than 240v). Please see attached imagine. From the wiring diagram it looks like I would combine the yellow and black wire to one and then connect it to load side on the relay, and then combine the violet and white wires and connect to neutral bar? I just want to make sure I am interpreting the diagram correctly. Thanks!

Hey all, my Polaris 360 hoses keep springing random tears. I cut that section out and a new one shows up 5-6" away. It's the corrugated type hose. Can I switch to the PVC type on the 380 without adding a booster pump or is that a no-go?

Thanks!

I have a 3.5 year old 920 which is a rebadged Dolphin. It worked fine this morning, but I went down to restart it to get a second cycle and it won't turn on. No lights, no nothing. I tested the power chord and used a different outlet to no avail.

I believe it's the power supply and not the robot. I can get a replacement power supply for $400 and there's one on eBay right now with a single bid at $175. Given the age, I'm debating whether I should just buy a whole new robot. I'm struggling to find the right combo, so any advice is appreciated.

1. I like the fine filters on the 920. I've had construction debris and sometimes we can get some dust and the fine filter definitely cleans the pool better. The Evo 604/614i seem to struggle with finer debris.
2. I wouldn't mind a Wi-Fi app to start a second cycle without having to physically press the button, ideally I'd like to be able to remote drive the thing to get that pesky leaf, etc.
3. My 920 occasionally gets stuck on a main drain, super annoying. It also sometimes gets wedged between my swim up bar stools

What would you guys do?

Our heater is connected to both the pool and the spa - we can heat them individually or heat everything, however we've really only used it to heat the spa. Are there general guidelines for using a heater to warm the pool to extend our season into the fall?
Are there weather temperature guidelines? Do I need a pool cover to keep the heat from escaping? Right now the pool is 78 (air is 79) but I think my kids would like it closer to 95 when the outside air is cool. Any advice is appreciated.
We live just south of Charlotte, NC.

I have an inground SWG pool. I have at least 4 screws that have rusted away that hold the liner track in place, which is causing a section to droop. These screws are under the overhang of the concrete deck, so I am unsure of how to replace them. Any suggestions on how to repair this? What do these screws screw into? Could I change a section of this horizontal liner track to a vertical track? I'd like to avoid cutting into the concrete if possible.

If you think you are rather handy and can figure things out, I highly recommend, when you begin having trouble with your cleaner (probably side pressure cleaners may be best for this task), buy a nonworking model off Ebay for really cheap and use it for spare parts. This is probably an approach used by a lot of guys here who are DIY types, but don't talk about this.

I have the Polaris Quattro Sport which is 2.5 years old and its driveshaft went out recently. I was able to glue it back and it is working now, but I purchased a nonworking model from Ebay for $100 and was able to use a couple tires and it actually has a good driveshaft in it in case mine doesn't hold.

I've read dozens of threads here about rising PH and understand the reasoning. I've been following the TFP balancing recommendations for my fiberglass pool for over a year now. My typical readings are:
FC 5
CYA 70ish
TA 60-80
PH I shoot for 7.6-7.7
CA 350ish

And just like everyone else, I add muriatic acid to keep the PH under control as it shoots up by 0.6-0.8 in one week which tanks TA and then I'm adding baking soda (which I get by the big orange bags from Costco). While I understand the science, is there anything that I can do to slow down this cycle short of adding an acid feeder? I'm getting real tired of pre-mixing acid and dumping it in the pool 2-3 times per week...not to mention going out of town longer than a week. I feel like after 4 years of ownership, it's gotten worse over the 6 months, or maybe it's just in my head. Any suggestions?

Today was the day for closing and it went great with a 6HP shop vac. I hooked my blower up for fun after, and there really wasn't much left but some spray.

Anywho I wanted to do a write up for all the folks wondering if they could save a chunk of change and tackle their own closing.

First, I vacuumed. Everybody can already do that. Then, I drained below the returns. I used my main drain and waste line, but a submersible pump would have worked also.


I put the shop vac hose on the exhaust post so it would blow, and it was a perfect fit in the skimmer hole. As soon as I got it in there, water was coming out of the returns. It wasn't violent like it would be with a blower, but once the bulk of the water was out, it spit like a cyclone would.




Only the first return emptied being the 1st stop on the run. So I plugged that one and the remainder of the water blew out the other return.




That was too easy, so I filled the pipes with the hose and took apart the equipment pad in order to isolate the lines like some of you may have to do for a shop vac to work with complex systems. I used duct tape to seal the hose to the line. Just a few wraps is plenty.

The return looked like the above pic again. The skimmers blew pretty impressive for a weak blower.




Then I hooked up my (768 CFM at the nozzle) leaf blower to see what was left, and there wasn't anything left but drips. Again, a few wraps of duct tape made the seal.







The returns got plugged and the skimmers got gizzmos with Teflon tape on them and some cut up pool noodles.