Hi! New pool owner and I’ve been working on the pool for 3 weeks with Leslie’s testing. Back and forth. I did not know it took this much maintenance.

I have I guess like most people a drain and a skimmer with Jandy never lube valves that I can open and close to turn the skimmer/drain on and off. I noticed today some bubbles in the filter basket and my laminars were spitting so I"m guessing I have a little bit of a suction leak.

What I noticed is that if I have the skimmer on by itself, I'm noticing some bubbles getting into the filter basket, but if I turn on the drain, then the bubbles appear to go away. This would lead me to possibly believe that I have a leak in the drain never lube valve and need to change the orings? Theory being when nothing is coming through it, it can suck air through, but when the water is going through it, it eliminates most of it?

Is this sound theory??

My signature has most of the important stuff, but today I bought:

• Pentair 520554 SWG IC20
• Pentair 520556 IntelliChlor Controller
• Pentair 520670 IntelliChlor Acid Cleaning Kit

and from reading, I also bought a

• Pentair 350122 Comm Cable for my Pentair Intelliflow VS Pump to talk to the controller. Couldn't confirm it came with that cable.

Besides about 5 to 7 bags of salt, what else would I be missing hardware wise? I bought a Taylor Salt Chlorine kit too obviously.
I'm feeling somewhat confident to install. Read through the install directions several times. But might pick up new tester to confirm wiring.

My Pool
pool.jpg

I started a SLAM on July 30th. CYA was ~70 putting my SLAM level at 28. The night of Thurs, Aug 10 to Fri, Aug 11, I thought I was going to be done in a day - only had 1.5PPM of chlorine loss (it had steadily been decreasing every night). That day, for the first time in a week or more, I threw my vacuum in to clear up some debris and got a few pool floats out. The next night, I lost 4.5 PPM, definitely a step back. Saturday and Sunday had a heavy bathing load - lots of kids, lots of floats. I added chlorine regularly and definitely saw a big uptick in chlorine usage - where as I had been using 4 gallons of 10% a day, Sunday I used 6 gallons and Monday (yesterday) 7 gallons. Overnight last night I still lost about 4PPM.

This morning, I decided to re-test my CYA to see where it was at and it came out < 20 (I could clearly see the dot even with the container full). I ran the test twice to confirm. Same result both times. I am using the same TFTestKit.net test today as I was a week ago.

In the middle of my SLAM, I had a SWG installed. My salt level was ~2800 when first tested, I added a single 40lb bag of salt on Saturday, pushing me between 3000 and 3200. I turned on the SWG only on Sunday during the day when I was burning through Chlorine, it has been off otherwise.

My question - where do I go from here?

Do I add CYA to get back to 30-40, let me chlorine levels drift down below 10 to get accurate readings on PH / TA / etc. and get in line, then finish my SLAM and push CYA to 70-80 for SWG when done?

Also - what could have been the source of the new algae? In hindsight, should probably have left the sweeper in the pool throughout the SLAM to make sure it was cleaned, but I wiped it down good when my FC dropped after adding it and saw no visible signs of algae. The likely source seems like our pool floats - do I toss them and start over?

As always, thank you all for your advice! This is an invaluable community.

Hi all,

I just installed my intellicenter i8PS and everything is working well but I cannot get the Wi-Fi bridge to connect. The transmitting light won’t come on.

I’ve attached photos of my connections. Am i doing something wrong?

It is connected to my eero on the inside.

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share that we got a solar pool cover this season and it has made a HUGE difference in the water temperature. Last summer, we were consistently at 74 degrees (F) and this summer, using the cover, the water is generally 92-95 degrees (F). My wife wouldn't even swim in the pool last year, it was too cold for her. This year, she's swimming almost every day. Anyway, I looked on here before we purchased the cover and I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea, and I'm so glad we decided to do it.

I"ll share the link of the cover that we purchased, but I'm not affiliated, just sharing information.

Happy Swimming Everyone!

I'll be looking at filling up our new 18x33 hard sided AGP in the spring and wanted to get a ballpark idea of what amount of supplies I'll need to get everything going and chemistry stabilized. I understand it is probably impossible to give a precise estimate because of so many variables, but I'd like to have most of what I need before I start putting water in the pool. It will probably take 4-5 days to fill (13-14kgal) based on the flow rate from my hose bib (will be using city water) and not wanting to fill overnight.

So I put the solar cover on and neglected the pool for about a week. Upon uncovering I discovered algae. Looked like mud smudge marks all over bottom. When I vacuumed it up there was some green spots underneath the muddy stuff. I had this problem before last year. Both time my water stayed clear. Crystal clear honestly. How come my water never turns green ?

I have a 2" check valve that's starting to leak back to the pool overnight. The valve is about 20 years old, I'll post a couple of photos. The Brand name looks to be Flow Control out of California.
Anyone familiar with this brand? Can a replacement be found?
Can it be rebuilt??
Or is it better to replace the unit and replumb a new one in, if so what brand is recommended?

I have an above ground pool, and do not have a deck. I have a couple of confer products, one of which was purchased several years ago, so I pretty much have to go with what I got. I have a 6000x ladder which will be used in the pool. Then I got a Step 1x that I want to use on the outside of pool as an entry (for a couple of wobbly, elderly people. Me and hubby). Now I need an engineer to come up with a hack to connect them, over the pool rail, without drilling into the rail. I thought I had a smart guy at Confer telling me they had a kit for that. But he must have misunderstood me, because I ended up with a set of "pickets". I hope someone out there gets me, and can help me out. Thank you!

Another thread got me thinking - which is always problematic. What nice-looking and tangle-free solutions have you all found for the messiness of all the cords at your equipment pad?

I took out the filter to clean, put a different one in, and it won't stop leaking at the oring. The oring was deformed so I just bought a new one and its still leaking. Does anyone have any ideas?

I'd love some help from the experts on my new RJ60+ install...

Wiring: Below is a photo of my electrical setup at the pad. My SuperFlo VS pump is wired to a 120v plug (on the left) and stays on 24/7, mostly at low speed. My Stenner chlorine pump (going away) and my pool lights are plugged into an outdoor wifi receptacle and controlled via phone app scheduling. I have read that I can also wire the new RJ60 for a 120v plug-in. My question is whether it is prudent to somehow slave the RJ60 power to the pump so in case the pump somehow loses power then the RJ60 will also turn off? Is that easy to do when I'm not using an external pump controller/timer?


Below is a photo of my plumbing. I'm thinking of modifying the return line to resemble the orange line I've drawn in. This gives me 16"-18" on each leg before and after the 90 degree bend so I can install the flow switch on the first leg and the swg cell on the second. Unfortunately there's not enough room on the existing configuration to install the switch and cell side by side where I currently have the Stenner port. Thoughts on this approach?


Lastly, the manual for the RJ60 indicates an ideal salt level for operation of 3500ppm and to keep salinity between 3000-4000ppm. I've read in other posts that I should target 200-400 above the manufacturer recommendation to allow for some salt loss. That math indicates an initial target of 3700-3900ppm? This sounds a little high so I'm double checking.

Thanks in advance!
Neil

We built a new pool less than 3 years ago and we are having a lot of problems with the surface of the pool that we believe is Diamondbrite. My pool is getting dark spots and we are not sure if the installation was correct. Can some one help us?

We have an auto-filler and used it when we first filled the pool. It overflowed a couple of times, so we turned it off. We've been manually filling the pool since then.

I've been considering changing it out with a float switch that controls a an automatic water valve controller that turns the water source for the filler on/off based on the float switch.

Of course that adds other complications, but I can put some safety checks in (i.e. water valve on for more than X minutes, turn it off).

Before I go down this path though, I'm wondering how reliable are the normal, mechanical autofill/toilet valves and what is the likelihood I either have a bad valve or a bad setup by the PB? If they are generally reliable, I will skip the float switch method and instead add a sensor that tells me when water is coming out of the overflow pipe instead.

Thanks.

I have a Hayward SP1070B skimmer. Everywhere I look I see the float valve for it is SP1070-FV. But the float valve diameter is too small. It just sits on the bottom and doesn't leave enough room for bottom drain suction.

I see a channel for an O ring in the bottom of the skimmer that's a larger diameter than the float valve and would leave enough room for bottom drain suction. I think I'm either missing an adapter piece or I have the wrong float valve. But I have no idea what this adapter piece would be called and can't find anything, nor can I find a float valve that is a large enough diameter. I keep getting directed to the float valve that is too small diameter.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I bought my TF 100 Salt test kit and got it last week. I started to use it this week and everything was cool until I got to the CYA test, and discovered the
"CYA Clear View Tube" was missing. There is nothing in the kit which seems to remotely resemble anything like what's specificed in the instructions. I've got two cylinders only, one marked the 'Chlorine Only' and the other clear graduated tube for the other tests. I've contacted support at [email protected], but so far, no response. Can anyone here help me out or point me in the right direction.

This feels like such a basic question, but help me out. Our pool builder installs Frogs on all of their pools. I understand everyone in here is against them. How do you regulate chlorine if you don't have something like a Frog? Do you just dump small amounts of liquid chlorine into the pool on a regular basis? Do you install some other system into your plumbing that releases small amounts of chlorine at a time? I've seen things that float around the pool, releasing chlorine. What would my long term solution be if I were to get rid of the Frog next year?

Hi there, I have a hole in the pool wall around 6 inches below the water level. It is not an equalizer line and not connected to my skimmer line in anyway which appears to have one connection at the bottom going directly to the pump. See the enclosed pictures this hole has what looks to a valve deep say just over 1 foot down a 1.5 inch pipe. I have no idea if its connected to any plumbing. When blowing air down it nothing comes out anywhere else than the hole being blown into. My pool has no overflow pipe yet it does not overfill when it rains so believe its that. I can block it up but when I do the pool still drains lower than it should with no signs of leaks anywhere else.

Can you please give me an idea of what it is and how it will be plumbed? How one would go about isolating or fixing it if it is causing the pool to over drain? Pool 10 years old built 2013.

Cheers,

New here!

I operate my SWG at night from 9pm-8am since power rates are a lot more expensive to run during the day. When testing my free chlorine, should I be testing it before my SWG starts, lets say 8pm. Or should I test it at 8:30 am after my SWG stops (sun is not hitting pool at this time)? I'm unsure if your free chlorine target number should be at the highest reading post SWG operation in the shade, or at the lowest reading, after the pool gets hit with all the daytime UV rays. Thanks!

Is there an article somewhere on the proper way to change out filter sand?

My spa was draining back into my pool so I replaced the flappers and during my post repair check I found the check valve housing leaking from a tiny split around the screws.
Is there any old school pool guy trick to remove and replace the housing without having to totally reconstruct the manifold or even better any leave it in place repair options?

We had a Christmas in July (in August) party today!

The idea originally came when, back in early April as we were taking the cover off the pool, my kid randomly started singing Wham's Last Christmas.

Things have been really difficult in our family this summer so we didn't plan as much as we'd have liked and didn't do all the ideas, but it was still fun!

I was able to cut some cedar trees so we had Christmas trees, I drug the Christmas decorations out of the attic, baked the traditional red velvet cake with green frosting along with key lime pie (was strange and fun listening to baseball on the radio while doing Christmas baking!) made a Jamaican rum punch and pina colada at the request of my kid- (adults had to add their own rum).

Asked guests to bring either summer-fied Christmas treats or Christmas-fied summer treats, and my mom wrapped up a bunch of pool toys to put under the tree so the kids could open the presents to play with in the pool.

It was a great time!

My favorite Christmas movie is Christmas Vacation, which inspired my wife and I's swim outfit choices for today.

We took down most of the decorations after the party, but I did decide to leave the lights along the fence up.

I guess this is somewhat theoretical. But now that I have a new, larger capacity SWG Cell headed my way I wonder... For the purposes of the question, I'm making numbers up.

Lets say that I could run the pump for 6 hours with the SWG set at 100% to maintain my chlorine needs. (That's about what the old one was set at for the past month or so as it got really hot, with some extra pump running here and there for extra cleaning.)

Or I could run the pump for 12 hours with the SWG set at 50%

Or I could run it at 24 hours with it set at 25%

At the end of the day, do any of those combinations have a better or worse effect on the new cell's life? Or does that all wash out the same? (Because it is either on or off, right? The percentage it is set to is simply the amount of time the cell is flipped "on" by the controller, right? It isn't powering up and down--e.g. running at 25% of the full voltage for the full time, right?)

Part of the reason I'm wondering is simple curiosity and part of it is because I only have a single speed pump, so if I can run it fewer hours to get the job done, that saves me some electricity.

Put another way, is there any benefit to running the pump longer with the SWG set to a lower percentage than there is running the pump for less time with the SWG set to full blast while it is on?

Has anyone used the Pooli app? I used it at the end of last summer and so far this summer. Does anyone know how accurate the suggestions are regarding the suggestions Pooli gives to balance your pool water?

Hello I am new to your forum, however, I am a concern daughter-in-law. It’s a complicated story however, my father in law passed away a few years ago and I have recently come to stay with my mother in law for a few months and I am concerned that her pool has not been up and running for a few years now and they have drained cleaned and refilled it several times but they are unable to get the system up and running it just hum’s I do believe it is a 15k in-ground salt water system AquaStar Pool &Spa Control with the Goldline
Áqua Rite Salt Chlorine Generator and a
PENTAIR. SUPERFLO®HIGH PERFORMANCE PUMP the last they tried the pump would run but then it stopped and I’m told it just hum’s.

I have been reading a few of your threads and thank you because I know have a submersible pump in the deep end with the hose running around to the shallow end generating the water with a hose with a sprinkler that rotates in the middle also. So thank you for those temporary fixes. Now I have price the system and it’s going to be expensive so I have a couple of regular well water pumps is there away to use one of them instead of replacing it with the high power pump if that is even the problem. Now she will not be using a spa so we Don have to worry about that. So thank you and any other suggestions are greatly appreciated we are just 3 women so we are familiar but we are definitely not pool pro’s he taught us some things but just not everything unfortunately.

Hello everyone!

We just bought an 18'x33' oval AGP and we are planning to set it up in April next year. I am ready to start looking into what I will need to get this thing up and running once everything is set up next year, and I would like to have a good understanding of how chemistry control works before I mess something up! The pool salesman originally sold me on Frog Leap mineral system, but luckily I started reading up on this forum before I signed the on the dotted line and was able to get it removed from the order. I plan on using bleach/liquid chlorine to maintain everything.

I have done a bit of reading through pool school and I think I have a decent understanding of the basics (we'll see). Can anyone direct me to a good thread for initial fill steps for the pool, in terms of chemistry control?

Thanks!

Hey all, Skip Hatchel introduced me to this forum and I'm thankful he did! We built an 18000 gallon salt pool about 2 years ago and I have been having a heck of a time getting the 'balance' correct: pH, stabilizer, hardness, salt ppm, etc. Looking forward to people smarter than me giving me some pointers and knowledge about maintaining this pool in Arizona!

Hi TFP,

In a unique situation in that I have no history of this pool except for the pictures I've got and knowing its a pebble tec. I have no idea when chlorine stopped being added but the pool is almost solid green. I spent yesterday calling lots of pool service companies, everyone is quoting to drain and pressure wash ($800), some even wanted to do an acid wash ($2k). Whats the recommendation for a pool in this situation and for someone with 0 experience?

The SLAM method looks promising, I'm estimating its probably been sitting for 9+ months, would slam handle this? Another consideration is that I'm trying to get the pool up to speed asap for as much of summer we've got left. If going this route and before any testing, should I prep by draining at least some of the water? Basically would want to do as much as I can while I wait for the test kit to come in. When I say 0 experience I'm not even sure if this is salt or not. If ignoring cost, is drain and wash the fastest option?

Would appreciate any and all advice/recommendations and can upload more pics if needed. TIA

EDIT: I'm also assuming all hardware is functioning properly

I keep running across great content already discussed in a forum and I have more questions. It seems more efficient to just reactivate the threat by posting. But, I see this message at the bottom of the thread And it's throwing me off. I want to be a good member. What's the proper protocol?