Looking to get an idea of how much Muriatic acid to add to the Pool to adjust PH. The muriatic acid I Have is 24%. (and I have a Vinyl liner)

using my TP pro test kit

FC 17
CC 0
Total Alkalinity 110
PH on the comparator block it is over 8 on my Digital PH reader purchased with my test kit is 9
CYA is 80

I know PH can be off when FC is high, so I am wondering what if anything to add to get my PH OK.

I plan to let my FC naturally float down to about 11-12 and hold it there until I can get my CYA lower.

Thanks

Jeff

Hey everyone!

I am a homeowner with a pool system that appears to be coming up on the end of life. I have owned the home for 7 years and already had two pumps replaced and feel like everything is continuing to break. Now, I have the heater out and the filter pump is not working. My pool service company quoted me $5k to get it “working” again with a new VSD pump - and to get everything upgraded was like $14k. It just seems like a money pit and am thinking about just getting a new system - but dont agree with the pricing references from my pool service.

The pool is about 30,000 gallons in size. My wife wants to get a salt system (previous one never worked) and I just want something low maintenance.

I have attached a picture of my current setup and would appreciate some guidance on how you experts would replace all this gear. Ideally I would like to keep the spend around 6-8k including: new filter pump (waterfall pump is ok), new filter, new salt system, new heater (gas), and I guess some new pipes and other misc.

Appreciate guidance / suggestions on system upgrade.

Thanks

Dagan

Hi all,

Just getting started with an impulse purchase, Intex 18' x 9 above around pool. I have read everywhere about how vital is it make sure the ground is level and I want to begin that process. I have seen the diagram that shows the overall outer edge footprint, but I'm very frustrated by not being able to find precise measurements for where the feet go, i.e. exactly where I need to bury my paver stones (I intend to leave up year round so I would like use pavers rather than wood). I'm further frustrated by reading some advice to simply setup the frame and map out in that fashion, which completely does not work since the corners don't lock in place, the legs swing freely unless attached to the liner, which I don't want to take out until ready for install, and at any rate, I understand that everything will shift around once it starts filling up.

So my first question is that -- where to put the pavers, or can I not determine that until I have everything staged? I'd like not to do that as I have some foam insulation I want to put under the liner and presumably on top of the ground level sunk pavers. Any guidance on the overall process?

Next question I have is whether these unilock pavers I have are up to snuff. They are 2.75" and much more dense/heavy duty than the average stepping stone paver, and I think they would be ok, but i'd like to know if anyone else has previously used them without issue.

And then finally, I had the idea that I could abut this up to my deck and cut into the railing to make a gate. But based on my very imprecise staging, I see some problem areas. Can anyone advise how much clearance I should have in these spots or if any clearance is needed at all?

Thank you very much!!!

So I have a ~24k-28k gallon pool with 2 return lines and then the main drain suction and skimmer suction line. It's an old Anthony pool from the 60's, and I've since upgraded to an intelliflo pump with pentair 420 ccp cartrdige filters. I have issues with CYA overtime due to pool maintenance using tablets exclusively year-round in sunny san diego. I do leave my pump on at 1000-1500 rpm 24/7. No suction side vacuums, I use a dolphin Nautilus cc plus. Just killed an algae infestation due to high cya/low chrlorine levels, and did a partial refill to get cya levels down to 60.

I'm trying to choose between a Circupool SWG as the cost of doing partial refills is adding up, as well as i'd like to lower my maint needs. Which is a better fit for my needs? The Edge40, Core 35/55, or the older gen rj45? Any other recommendations?

Also anything else I need to know about? I noticed swg prices are up 30-40% from a year or two ago.. do you guys forsee the prices going up further? There is a sale at discount salt pool via an upgrade as well ending on the 8th.. will that come back as it seems to be yearly?

Thanks!

Hey there! I had an Intex Easyset about 10 years ago and once it rained and got nasty, I threw it away. I have now been the proud owner of a Bestway 24 x 12 oval pool for 3 months now. I have managed to keep it clean and clear so far but am always on Reddit or Youtube looking for advice and instructions lol ... this site kept being mentioned so I thought I would join. Thanks for being here!

I had a little green algae present, SLAM Sat and Sun. Just dead particles and let filter do the rest?

mknauss said:

Wow. 10 years.

Time for a new cell.

Click to expand...

How long should the cell last? We installed ours in May 2022, and today it is blinking green. Checked my calcium hardness and it's at 80. PH is high at 8.0 and alkalinity is also high at 110. CYA is at 40. Salt is at 3000, but I figure I need to get the other stuff balanced and the cell fixed before I worry about that. I added shock since there's currently no chlorine in the pool, and then will add sodium bisulfate to lower the PH.

Of course this happens today, the day my husband left for a two week overseas work trip and I really don't know how to take the cell off to clean it, as he usually handles everything with the equipment. Any potential suggestions, other than I'm going to need to get a crash course in taking the cell off and cleaning it?

Greetings. Wondering whether a UV-reflecting pool cover would decrease rate of UV-induced FC loss? Any experience appreciated. Regards,

Hello all. I have been a member for a while but recently moved and I am back to learning how to maintain my salt water pool.
Thanks for all the help you've given me along the way.

Hello, all!

We have an 18x36 in-ground pool that is surrounded by trees on 3 sides. For the last three years, we have used a tarp-like cover that is held in place with water bladders. The problem is that the water level is ~1ft below the concrete deck after pumping out below the skimmer. That "valley" traps leaves and other debris over the winter. I've tried to be diligent about blowing them out, but it is a lost cause due to the elevation change.

We do not need a safety cover, and the cheap tarp cover is perfectly fine. However, I'd like to pull it tight so that cleaning it off during the winter months would be much easier. I have seen a lot of discussion about safety cover anchors, and I'm not sure those will do exactly what I want. In my head, a cylinder that sits flush with the concrete that has a ring in the head until you flip up one half of that "ring" for an anchor would be great. I could still use the water bladders to help keep smaller debris from blowing under the edges into the pool.

I'm spitballing here. This forum is full of knowledgeable folks who have a wealth of collective experience. Surely, I'm not the first knucklehead to think of such a thing. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

We are in the final stages of having our new pool installed. It is a shotcrete/stonescape saltwater pool. I would love to hear pointers on starting the pool up.

Purchased and almost completed the install of my CircuPool RJ45+. After 7 years of following the TFP bleach approach I decided to bite the bullet and go SWG, as I'll be travelling more and bleach/chlorine is not as cheap. The last step was for me to test my water to determine how much salt I would need to add. Since I don't have a salinity test yet (it's on it's way) I went to the Pool store for them to test that. Here are the results:

My Test / Pool Store
FC: 2.5 / 1.7 - already bumped it up to 4.0
PH: 7.6 / 7.7
TA: 50 / 43 - My TA has always settled back to 50. I can't keep it higher, and stopped trying since my water PH is pretty stable.
CH: 650 / 488 - I'm convinced my bad plaster job is the culprit. I've always suspected it was leaching calcium and my only partial pool drain in those 7 years was to correct the high CH.
CYA: 25 / 34
Phos: -- / 3584 - should I be concerned? No algae ever.
Salt: -- / 3078

Two questions:
1) My salt is almost at the recommended 3500 ppm, without me adding any salt!? Is the salt a byproduct of daily liquid bleach/chlorine regiment over the years?
2) Will any of the numbers above impact the technical performance or longevity of the salt cell? I've really had no issues with algae, nor ever had to SLAM the pool. Clear and beautiful water always. So i'm generally comfortable with my numbers as they stand, but if I have to change something to protect my SWG investment, then I will.

Thanks.

Had to replace the top cap to my tr100 sand filter due to a leaky pressure release valve. I ended up changing out about 50% of the sand in the process. After getting her all buttoned back up I'm having a problem with pressure. When I shut the return valve I get pressure, as soon as I open the return valve back up pressure drops and I get air bubbles. What can I do to troubleshoot this further?

I must say I am a bit embarrassed but some times you gotta rip off the bandaid. Been around a while but have always relied on a "pool guy" to handle water maintenance. We got sideways a while back and I just let him go. Tried to find someone else but the ones that showed up seems suspect so I decided to do it myself. Of course, best laid plans.. Here I am now battling other issues - pump and sweep and kind of let pool go just feeding it tabs. My pump issues brought to light my water problems a week or so ago when I added more tabs to a perfectly clear pool only to wake up the next morning to a green pool. That along with some calcification (super hard water here), I figured I better get going so I ordered a TF-PRO kit and was pleasantly surprised its not as big of a whip as I expected. So here I am hat in hand and it looks like my pool is in such a state it needs to be drained. Not an optimal time to do it, but nonetheless if I have to I will. Just not sure how much
1st test results are as follows
FC - 3.0
pH - 6.8 ;(
TA - 60
CH - 625
CYA - 100

After talking to a friend and reading some I realized TABs are not the way to go at least over the long run right?

Appreciate the advice and help I have gotten from this site.

HI there,

Any idea if it can be opened & repaired, like change the fuse or something?

Looking to for some feedback from the community on my troubleshooting and repair options. Hayward SP3215X20 pump with a century SP3215Z1M motor on it. We are not the original owners of the house but purchased it in May of 2020 and at the time the motor was running very loud and was replaced as part of us purchasing the house. From the permit submittals online it appears that the pool was installed in June of 2018.

Issue
Came home last night and noticed the pool was not running. Tried to turn the pump on and nothing happened. Checked the breaker box in our garage and saw the 220v GFCI breaker was tripped. Tried to flip it back on but would only go to the trip position in the middle. Went outside turned the pump off at the control panel and then was able to reset the breaker. Attempted to turn the pump back on and it made a humming sound for a few seconds and then tripped the breaker again. I then turned the full system off and planned to troubleshoot it further this morning.

Troubleshooting
Took the pump filter basket out and was able to turn the impeller by hand. The pump, spa heater, and SWCG are all wired together after the timer so I first unwired the heater and tried to turn the system back on and it hummed for a few seconds and then tripped. Next I unwired the SWCG and same situation when I turned the system on and it tripped. Finally I unwired the pump which left nothing on the circuit and for good measure turned the system on and it did not trip.

Solution
At this point it seems that the motor is bad and needs to be replaced. This will be the 3rd motor on this system in 5 years and that is a concern for me. So should I replace the entire pump and motor with the thinking being that there is slight alignment or imbalance with the pump? The other option is that the motor and pump system are on the South side of our house and get a considerable amount of sun between 11am and 4pm. Is it possible that in the sun on hot days, 105 here yesterday, that it is getting enough heat to draw more amps and burn up the motor?

Thanks in advance for any advice or additional troubleshooting guidance.

So my experiment this year with tank and Stenner pump has been positive thus far until the last couple of days. I came home from a trip out of town to find that the injection line had leaked and sprayed liq chlorine all over my equipment. It looks like the line had developed a pin hole. I cut out the bad section and put it back together and all was good…. For only 24 hours. The next day there was a tiny pin hole and chlorine leaking out again. This time I replaced the entire line from the pump to the injection point.

Is this line highly susceptible to UV/ Heat? It has been super hot here with days into the 110F. What are my solutions? Unfortunately my pump and equipment are in the the full Sun during the afternoon. I was thinking about getting some darker colored tubing of a larger diameter to act as a shield.

The water temperature reading on my Jandy Aquapure power pack is reading about 3 degrees warmer than the Jandy heater and my Walmart thermometer in the skimmer (which are both the same).

Is there a way to calibrate the thermometer on one of these things?

Thank you

Hello, this is our first year as an above ground pool owner. We live in London and went on holiday for 9 days. Came back and the pool was green. We left it at the right levels, with a chlorine dispenser. Cover partially on. It rained a lot. Now I’ve tried to rebalance the chorine, put algaeside in, brushed it off the edges, ran the filter. But no change. Any ideas of how we can fix this before the next heat wave? Thanks.

We have cicada killer wasps that keep emerging near our above ground pool each summer. This summer we discovered what seem like little canyons or channels in the sand below the liner that we can feel as we walk around in the pool. My husband thinks the wasps have been burrowing under our pool. Anyone ever heard of this happening?

We had an above ground pool installed two summers ago. So this is my third season maintaining a pool. I’m getting fed up with spending $100s on pool chemicals. I struggle to keep my pool clear and algae free. Every year the first heat wave we have or if our family goes on vacation. I come home to a green pool. The pool was installed with a Pool Frog system which I don’t feel makes my life any easier. Just looking to find better, more efficient ways to maintain my pool.

Our pool has been developing a shady grey blotchy staining on our pebblecrete. Pebblecrete is a blend of cement, white in our case, and a mix of small pebbles. It’s mostly on the floor but there is a little on the walls but nowhere near as much. I’ve tried vitamin C, and rubbing with trichlor pucks with no luck.

The surface was acid washed a day after application and before filling which I think is normal here for pebblecrete.

I was reading through the Zero alkalinity treatment post from @onBalance which suggests that this staining may be due to poor application and while a zero alkalinity treatment provide some improvement the stains will return. Is there a feasible solution?

The white cement used was a Chinese import so I have no idea of possible impurities. Being mostly on the bottom is it UV dependant.

Do any of the stain removers work on this type of stain? Are there any I should avoid and what is the fait of these acids?
Citric acid.
Sulfumic acid.
Oxalic acid.
polybasic organic acids.
Ethlanediolic acid.

Had new hot tub installed one month ago and had a local, established electrical outfit install breaker and run wire to tub. It works fine without issues, but I had no idea that GFCI is now required. Electrician did not add GFCI or disconnect. Contacted company and no one has gotten back to us. How serious and common is this and what is the actual risk as it seems the code was changed recently? Not sure how important it is to pursue this. I imagine there are thousands of tubs installed from years ago that have not been updated. Thanks!

Got my new liner recently installed in a 15x30 above ground and currently filling up the pool and it's about halfway full so I was curious when is the right time to add the skimmer and return and cut the openings out of the liner? I know as the pool fills it stretches the liner more and more into place so I didn't want to cut too early and cause anymore liner fitment issues. Should I do it when water is just below the return and skimmer openings or sooner?
Thanks.

Thread updated: 8/2/2023
_____________

Okay, I've been cruising this site for the last 6 months trying to learn as much as possible. I've come across several build threads and individuals that have been SUPER helpful! So in the spirit of this forum I will do my best to keep this thread updated as I progress through my build process. I was hoping to have this started in Jan, but we ran into a rather large hiccup right out of the gate. The location of our overhead powerlines prohibited us from doing a pool anywhere near where we had anticipated. So we did some research, hired a few subs and now we no longer have overhead powerlines. We re-routed new buried lines (away from the pool area) and upgraded our service panel to accommodate the extra pool equipment. It took a few months, but here we are... ready to get started!

I want a modern looking play pool that enhances the yard and creates a relaxing environment for the wife and I... but will ultimately be used for entertaining our 2 littles ones. (Currently 1 and 6 years old). Here's what I've got so far:

Pool Size: 19' x 30'
Depth: 3.6' - 5' - 4'
Area: 538 sqft
Perimeter: 98'
Volume: 14,680 gal
Baja: 7' x 14' , 14" depth
Feature: 4' sheer descent
Spa Size: 7' x 7'
Spa Depth: 3.6'
Spa Volume: 663 gal
Raised: 18"
Spillway: 4'
Jets: 8

Pool Equipment:
Pump: Hayward Tristar 950 VSP 2.7hp (x2, one for the sheer descent)
Filter: Hayward Cartridge 525
Heater: Hayward H Series 400k BTU
Salt System: Tcell940 (Included with automation)
Spa Blower: 2 HP Silencer Blower
Automation: Hayward Omni PL
Lights: Hayward ColorLogic 320 LEDs (5)

Skimmer: A&A Venturi (2 plumed on separate lines w/ separate valves)
Water Leveler: 10" AquaStar
Drain: A&A Dual AVSC pebble top
Spa Drain: A&A Single AVSC pebble top
Leaf Trap: A&A LeafVac
In-Floor Cleaning Valve: A&A Wave
In-Floor Heads: A&A Venturi

Pre Filter: WaterCo Multi-Cyclone Pre-Filter (x2, one for the sheer descent)

----------------
EQ Pad:
- 10' x 3'
- Automation panel
- A/C receptacle
- hose bib
- Running both soft and hard water to the autofill so I have the option.
----------------
Decking: Artistic Pavers DesertLock Cool White. Also Turf Hub Natural Blend Pro artificial turf for southern half.
Coping: Artistic Pavers DesertLock Cool White bullnose
Tile: Azure Black "Nightfall" Series
Finish: Stonescapes Mini Tropics Blue with Touch of Glass or PebbleTec Slate Blue with Shimmering Sea

Additional:
- 2 Alumawood Graphite Lattice Pergolas
- BBQ grill island (DIY frame)
- Raised planter (w/ 4 ft sheer descent)
- Concrete booth w/ fire table

I think that's it for now. I'll keep editing and updating as I go. The first draft of plans and concepts are attached. Feel free to hit me with ideas, suggestions, ridicule or mockery... I'm open and willing to hear it!

Hi guys,
I know the travertine in cold climates has been discussed at length and there are various opinions and travertine continues to be a popular product throughout my area (LI).
That being said, is there an expectation that sandblasted travertine should be even worse? The idea being the sandblasted product exposes the holes and porous nature even further?
Thanks

This afternoon I added a bag of salt after backwashing to bring the salt back up. It was a single bag of salt, from Sure Soft at Lowes. I inspected it before I put it in and it was normal white salt with no oily residue like several have reported. I dumped it in the pool and ran the robot immediately like I usually do. I left to run some errands and came back to a skid mark on my plaster. Thoughts on what I can do (besides untangle the robot cord)?

I just wanted to confirm I don't have any options for cleaning or inspecting the sand on my filter without cutting all of the pipes and adding unions right? Kind of annoying. It works fine, but it'd be nice to have a better idea of what's going on in there.

Hi all. The first 4 seasons of having a pool I experienced high CYA loss of about 10ppm per Month. I read a bunch of posts on it but never a solution.

Well this year I decided to increase my chlorine target. I had always targeted 5 ppm for my SWG because I wanted as little chlorine as necessary for the toddlers, which then resulted in having to slam maybe once or twice mid season because chlorine dropped too much at one point before I caught it.

This season I wanted to be on the safe side and set my FC target at 8 ppm.

To my surprise this summer I am positively surprised :

- my SWG is now running at 50 % vs 65 % last summer

- my CYA is now in August still at 70-80 (I bumped it up to 80 in May)

- I didn't shock or Slam once

So could increasing the FC target really solve the issue of CYA loss? Or is this just a happy coincidence?

(secretly hoping chemgeek will chime in )

Hi,

New pool owner and trying to understand how the salt generator makes chlorine. It's been really hot and I am using the TF100 kit along with pool math to make the right adjustments.

Yesterday my FC was around 1 and my CYA was around 20, this was last night testing around 2am. This morning I added 4lbs of CYA even thought recommendation was around 6lbs just to make sure I don't overdue it (tshirt method). I haven't measure again because it hasn't been 24 hours.

I used the recommendation last night to run my SWG at 20 percent to bring my FC up tp 3. I checked using the daily method and my test didn't register any chlorine. Right now Pool math is telling me to run at 40 percent at 12 hour run tome but I bumped it up to 80 to see how things look in the morning.

The sensor is registering salt, earlier it was 3950 later in the day it was 3900. The SWCG does sit out in the sun and it is less than a month old.