I have tried to search for this, but have not been able to find a post on suggestions for the speeds and run times in the hot hot hot sunny south florida summers. I have Jandy VSP and no SWG, I am not sure how long is best and at what speeds with this killer sun and heat. I am currently running about 8hrs day at 2000 rpm with 3 hours in the middle of the day at 2300. Before this change it was all 8 hours at 2400 or so and my electric bill was through the roof! The water is starting to cloud some, so not sure if its enough speed/time? Thoughts from any locals? TYIA

Hi everyone. After reading about plaster jobs on here for over a month I figured I should share my photos and get some advice as well. I just had my pool re-plastered with the signature matrix pebble by wet edge. I have been in a few other pools with the same cooler I choose and everything and was super excited. Once we were out of plaster care and could get in I was the happiest mama ever. Then we got in, and felt all the over exposed areas and big and little divots. My daughter cut open both feet and both our bathing suits were ruined within the first hour!!! It's awful. Mostly on the edges of the steps, but I have found small divots where the pebbles are missing or have come out even on the walls. This is not right!! What can be done at this point? I have not released the final payments and am really just heartbroken.

Central Texas here, outside of Austin. Pool is 27,000 gallons and 9' deep at one end.

I've got a pool guy, he's a retired guy and keeps things touched up. He's been pretty good but realistically he isn't an industry guy or anything.

Apparently the chemicals are good, I don't know any numbers off hand, but he's coming tomorrow and I can get any info then.

A month ago the water's crystal clear, I've got a cartage filter, just replaced the cartridges. Have one of those robot deals that scrapes the bottom, and my wife's out there daily with her OCD cleaning anythign that may have gotten in there. So it's rather well taken care or.

Then it started getting cloudy, and then worse. The sides and steps look like there's a yellowish dust on them. If I rub it it comes right off. What the heck is happening here? I have to think it's an algae of some sort because it's getting worse over time.

Wife has tried adding clarifier and added this Pool RX thing a few days ago that looks like a gimmick.

So what's gonig on here, can y'all help me turn this around?

Here's a few pics, you can see it's real cloudy on the steps. I added a picture of the robot, that you can't see anymore. LOL

We have a small "spool" which we heat in the winter and use the 7 built-in jets for our backs. We really don't use the jets in the summer, nor the water feature as much as we thought we would. I've added a 2-minute schedule for each, the jets and water feature, during my cleaning schedule in order to get the standing water in those pipes out into the pool and through my filter. My thought here is that water will get very nasty sitting there untreated in Arizona heat.

Is my thought process sound? Is there a better way? Just wanted to bounce that off the forum to confirm my thinking.

Thank you!

Hi: I recently had my Heyward Salt Cell and system replaced with a ChlorSync system (CS30). The ChlorSync system Salt light is flashing and indicating that I need to add salt, but I had my water tested and my salt level is at 3200. In addition, the APP on my phone is indicating my pool temperature is 63 degrees when it is actually 85 degrees. Has anyone else experienced these issues and where they able to fix them?

I have cleaned the salt cell and unplugged it for several minutes, but that did not work.

Thanks for the assistance!

Bill

Hello everyone, newbie here with a pool situation with a maintenance service issue by a pool company.

I am new pool owner and have been reading a lot about water chemistry and pool maintenance. I have a 5,100 gallon pool and the pool tech added 5 lbs of shock on July 11 to our pool because the his test showed 0 ppm of free chlorine. Pool water color was clear, not green nor cloudy. He also put 3 chlorine tabs in the skimmer baskets and the pump shut off automatically about 1.5 hours after treating leaving chemicals without circulation, I noticed this and I turned the pump on immediately and removed the tabs and put them in the chlorinator. I contacted the company about this and they apologized about adding chemicals with no circulation.

Then I used the pool in the afternoon the following day on Wednesday 7/12 and experienced discomfort in the form of skin and eye irritation, I did not think much of it so I just showered and forgot about it. Then on Friday 7/14 my 6 month old nephew and my sister decided to use the pool, unfortunately they both experienced the same and needless to say I got very concerned especially because of the baby. So I decided to test the water on Saturday with a test kit I bought (Taylor K-2006) and the chlorine levels were off the charts. So, I decided to take a water sample and get it tested at Leslie's on Sunday 7/16. Evidently, the chlorine levels were too high, the test reflected 19 ppm but was told the print out report only goes as high as 15. They told me these levels were too high and that the discomfort we experienced was a result of high chlorine levels. They also told me the 5 lbs of chlorine added to our pool were too much for a pool our size. I can only imagine what the chlorine levels were the day chlorine was added and the days we got in the pool. Aside from the physical damage, high chlorine can also damage pool equipment. So I had to take care of this issue myself and had to buy a chlorine neutralizer ($17.99). I added 12.5 oz first and tested, levels were still too high at 10ppm, so I added an additional 6.5 oz and retested, levels came down to 4 ppm which is within normal recommended range and we were finally able to use the pool without discomfort. I feel it was unnecessary for us to experience that and for me to take action to correct the issue had it been managed properly.

I would love to learn what the pool community here thinks, what are your thoughts about this? Thank you!

Just slammed my pool, Its my understanding that a high FC will cause inaccurate testing for pH, what level of FC will allow me to get an accurate test for pH?

thanks, Brian

i have an older pool and the pool whips no not retract back into the wall of my inground swimming pool.
Please advise

My SWG was set @ 15% since my pool was opened end of May. I added stabilizer in June for CYA of 40, and it has not since fallen below 60. My low FCl/ TCl (1.5- 2.5) levels have required me to intermittently "super chlorinate" for periods of 6- 8 hrs, which up to now has succeeded in increasing my Cl to levels (5.0) per the CYA/ Cl level chart on they website. This was working fine until my last attempt when the FCl only increased to 2.5. Is it time to increase the SWG percentage? Is there a formula for this? My pump runs 9am- 830pm. Thank you!

I have a swg and my cya is at 60. Pool math says target fc is 7 which is what I keep it at but I get so itchy in the pool. I have been reading that fc only has to be at 7.5% of cya so wouldn't target be 4.5? I really want to keep fc lower to see if itchiness goes away.
Thanks for the imput!

Can someone here point me to a good write up on determining how long and what speeds I should run my pump each day? I have floor pop-ups for cleaning.

Okay, so we opened first week of July. The month of June we were sick with covid, my mom almost died. My pool was green. I took the water to a pool store to check it and they told me hardness plus would help adjust the water balance then shock with four bags of power powder plus. I asked about green to clean method, they said nope this would work. I called another store in my area, same chain, they said is your pool green I said yes, he said green to clean. So I called a manager explained my predicament, he gave me the treatment plan free. Four days of steps and nothing changed. Following week same thing nothing. Here I am three weeks in and I can see the bottom but it's cloudy, milky and if you look at the shade of the word forum to the left of this box, that's the color of the water. I went back to the store yesterday they checked nitrates, said it was high, so shock it. I shocked it again. I've put over the course of three weeks now12-15 bags of shock. I was told a couple times I had a chlorine lock, lots of total chlorine and free chlorine but the free chlorine wasn't being used. I don't know what to do, short of emptying my pool and I'm afraid I'll lose my liner. Sometimes emptying the liner it can shrink. Anyway I don't know what to do. We haven't been able to use the pool. This year in spring I did have a caterpillar called a canker caterpillar that ate every leaf on the bushes and tress in my yard. I kept finding them all over the side of the house, and my son said you did a terrible job on the bushes I said I haven't trimmed them. They ate every leaf and started on my trees. Could that be my trouble, I'm finding pumpkin seed like pods stuck to my pool and some type of (it looks tadpoleish like) fuzzy stuff debris that these pods are attached to in my pool. Almost like a nest. We've gotten loads of it out of the pool. I don't know what to do. It looks like the debris is gone but the color of the water is the same. Please help

I am running a Hayward pump, Hayward sand filter, have a central floor drain, a skimmer, and a single return on an above ground, vinyl, 24' round pool. The Hayward H150 heater didn't start this year so it's not running.
Last year I didn't close my pool properly and didn't cover it. Removed all plumbing, pump, multi-switch of sand filter, and covered the sand filter, but left the pool uncovered except for the solar blanket. (I'm an idiot, I know).
The week before Father's Day I decided to take my lashings and try to fix my egregious mistake and the swamp my pool had become.
I replaced my plumbing lines to take out a chlorination tab holding unit the previous owner used - now it goes straight from sand filter to heater to pool.
Next I uncovered the sand filter and ran fresh water in it using a garden hose to coax anything not removed by backwashing. I moved the hose up and down through the sand, as I'd seen on a YouTube video, and a tremendous amount of leaves, branches, and flotsam and jetsum came up and out. I wanted the filter as clean as possible.
I started by dumping 3 gallons of 12% pool shock from Menards, knowing I was starting at zero and the pool was disgusting. I put the pump on to run 24/7.
Within a day or so, the water turned blue but didn't clear. I got in the pool to do a full brushing and found the walls were covered in something that felt like sandpaper. Did some research and read it was most likely calcium scaling. I used a Scrub Daddy rough sponge to scrub the sides of the pool and stairs (which I had left in all winter too) and found I was able to get most of it off.
Fast forward to this week, 5 weeks later. After adding Muratic Acid my pH is now balanced, and the last parameter that wasn't.
As of this morning my readings are:
FC: 10
CC: 0.5
pH: 7.3
TA: 90
CH: 75
CYA: 25
Filter has been running 24/7 since the Thursday before Father's Day, and I still have cloudy water.
I originally thought it might be calcium dissolved back into the water, but the CH reading is lower than I've ever had, so I'm suspect of that.
I also thought the contaminates are dead but too small for the sand filter to mechanically filter effectively. Is there anything I can use to try to precipitate these things out? Is adding DE to the sand my only option? I don't think it's worth plumbing in a cartridge filter, as I've never had this issue before, but I'm kinda at a loss.

I notice every moring when I go to turn the pool pump on, the pump basket is less than half full, there is also intermitent air bubbles coming fron the return jets. I don't believe I'm losing any water.
I recently changed all the lines, jets, and skimmer which was then pressured tested.
The issue was also happening prior to the change.
I have a sand Hayward filter.....

any insight would be helpful.....

thank you

I have read the helpful posts on configuring UltraTemp and Intellicenter. I even went out, purchased, and installed a Solar Sensor just to get the two to talk. I now have heartbeat and am able to have Intellicenter (F/W 2.017) turn on my UltraTemp 140HC (S/W 473788.D.1) in Cooling Mode as a scheduled item. However, the target set point displayed by the Intellicenter in cooling mode is the Heat Set Point (lower than cooling set point)! This causes the UltraTemp to cool the pool well below desired temp and trigger a post cool down heat up. I have confirmed that the UltraTeamp is attempting to cool the pool down to the heat set point. Does Pentair really think this is normal? Why would someone want to cool a pool to the point that it is heating it. I have set the Temperature Differential to 3 which means Intellicenter forces a minimum of three degrees between Heat and Cool Set Point.

Heating seems to work as expected. I set the SPA and it turns on 1 degree below the set point and turns off 1 degree above the set point with the Intellicenter managing the temperature. It was 114 degrees degree today and I have no need to heat the pool, but I believe the results would be the same for Pool mode operation.

Am I missing something?

I have an enclosure that was built new with the house in 1987. It was rescreened in 04 after hurricane Ivan and was getting pretty rough.

The screws were rusting out, the white powder coating was so dead and porous that it would mildew almost as fast as it could be cleaned and the screen was well past it's time. A lot of the brackets (mostly receiver channel style) were becoming questionable because of rusted screws.

I debated on rescreening vs full restoration and finally decided to go all out. New screws, new brackets, paint and screen. I did every bit of of myself.

It's an uncommon design with a lot of challenges. First is the height, roughly 20' at the peak. The roof is also very steep. The high side wall combined with the steep roof made for a sketchy time on the ladder. The small amount of concrete deck made placement of large ladders particularly challenging. The steepness of the roof also made moving the tall ladders difficult because a ladder tall enough for one section is too tall to fit under the rest of the roof. You can't just slide a ladder over.

First step was to pull the screen. While a ladder was set up for that I gave each section a quick pressure wash (enough that I could work safely). I then removed and replaced every rusty screw and installed new "capri" clips I cut from aluminum angle stock. The trick is to do as much as possible in one spot before having to move a ladder.

With the screen removed and the metal work done I went back and gave the entire thing an inch by inch up close pressure washing to prepare it for fresh paint. I hit every inch from top to bottom with the highest pressure tip. I didn't include this step with the metalwork because I didn't want it to sit too long and get dirty before paint. Using a strong pressure washer on a high ladder can get interesting as it wants to push you around.

After a few days drying I hit it with a coat of white paint through a Graco handheld sprayer. Other than moving ladders again it was a pretty easy process. Very satisfying to see something start looking shiny and new.

Finally, after a few days of letting the paint dry, it was time to roll in the new screen. Roughly 3 100' rolls of screen over several days. A lot more moving ladders than the previous steps as you have to safely apply pressure over every inch of it to roll the spline in. You can't reach as far from the ladder as you can with painting and pressure washing.

Please forgive the condition of the water. The liner was in the process of failing and eventually drained itself. I'm waiting on a new one to be made now.

Pics below.

I am a new member from the Austin, TX area. I have used pool services for many years but have not been satisfied with the service for a while so I decided to take it over myself. For various reasons beyond my control my pool became a green swamp. I started by using powered shock and got pretty good results except for patches of slimy growth on the bottom and the steps. I discovered that I could treat them with chlorine tablets in socks laid directly on them. Then I had to leave town for a little over a week and came back to a pea soup green pool. The I discovered this site and the SLAM treatment. My pool water is now blue, but cloudy. I am letting it filter and back washing daily. I still have some of the patches on the bottom that I cannot remove with a brush or vacuum, and I think I have some black algae, but pool is much better. It has taken me over 2 months and hundreds of dollars to get to this point, but I am optimistic that I can win this battle.

Hello everyone,

I know its early for this topic but I wanted to get it out early. I decided to take the plunge and close my pool this year. I have watched every video and read most topics on closing your pool at TFP and thank you for all of that! It is very informative and I am positive I will get it done.
So I went out and purchased a Cyclone and it will arrive this week. I am looking for the adapters I will need so I can plan ahead for the fast approaching closing.
I have 2 Pentair pumps, heater, filter, skimmers, Leaf skimmer and Paramount PCC2000.
I am looking for any homemade attachments anyone has made or purchased. I am also wondering where I may be able to buy a used lid for my Pentair Pump that I could convert to a Blow Out Lid.
Pictures would be great.

Thanks for any help.

Andrew

I have an inground pool approx 13’ x 30’ x 4‘ average depth, then there are steps. The equipment appears older - the filter housing is a Sta-Rite Posi-Flo II, takes a canister filter. The housing leaks a fair amount where the upper and lower halves join. The clamp can’t be tightened any more. I’d like to upgrade the entire filter housing with something basic but effective and good quality, and I assume another canister filter style - unless I’m convinced otherwise. SW Florida, pool open all year.

My wife is having 5-7 friends over this weekend.

My pool is perfectly balanced right now. Should I add some chlorine the night before or wait till afterwards?

If I should add how much for a 20k pool?

I have been using Leslie Instant Conditioner and now my salt level is reading 3560 and producing little chlorine. I never added salt this pool year and the bottle describes this as a salt. Could this be my problem ? PH is high so I was using this to lower. Thanks

I just bought a fancy new Dolphin robot and I heard there was a rebate on it. I spoke with our favorite Dolphin person at our favorite Dolphin store and she told me to look online. I've found details of two current promotions on Dolphin robots:

• Dolphin Days of Summer (April 1 to July 31, 2023) (e.g. here)
• Elite Digital Rebate (March 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023) (details here)

But nowhere can I find the rebate code that needs to be entered when you register the robot.

Can anybody supply me with the correct code or point me in the right direction?

We have a SWG and have never had issues when going on vacation....the SWG does it's thing and we make sure the water is well balanced and add some extra MA since our pH tends to drift up fairly quickly.

About a week before leaving on vacation we realized our SWG stopped working and we couldn't get anyone out to do a warranty check on it till after our return. I started managing the pool with liquid chlorine and came to realize I was losing an average of 3ppm of FC daily due to the heat/dust storms/etc. So I did the math and figured at 3ppm loss per day x 7 days I would need at least 21ppm available to manage the "loss" and include another 10ppm to be on the upper side of my FC need (per CYA levels)...I'd want to leave the pool with an FC level of 31 (at minimum). And since you never know in the valley if a big haboob comes, I figured I'd add a couple of floaters to the pool with some pucks for added safety (2 floaters with 2 pucks each). My CYA is on the low side so I dont mind supplementing with pucks if needed.

The night before we left, I made sure to give the pool a good scrubbing/skimming and then the next morning added my MA and a while later the liquid chlorine. Using the pool math calculator, I dumped enough gallons of liquid chlorine to get my FC to 32ppm and added the floaters (tethered them in the deep end so they wouldn't inadvertently get stuck in a corner or the skimmer).

I'm happy to report that upon my return 7 days later, my pool was perfectly fine....although FC was on the low end (3ppm) and of course the pH was in the 8-8.2 range (which I expected). Both floaters still had some remaining puck pieces but not much.
Indeed there was a big dust storm while we were gone so I think more FC was eaten up in response to that, otherwise there would have been a higher residual FC I think.

Hopefully these details can help you think through things if you're wondering how to handle your pool while on vacation if nobody is available to manage it for you.

Our pool is near completion and last week our PB graded the yard and installed some drains. It rained two days later for about 30 minutes (downpour) and the result was a flooded yard and a pool full of mud (the overflow pipe was flooded and the mud came in thru it). The PM said that he was doing us "a favor" by installing drains and we should be working with a landscaper. Prior to the yard being graded (concrete deck was already installed) and the drain installation, it had rained hard and we had some pooling in only on area of the yard-NO FLOODING. It is very apparent that the grading and drain installation was done incorrectly. This PB did not add drainage costs to the proposal because he did not "foresee any issues." I do not believe that we are responsible for the cost of the drainage issue that apparently was caused by them and shouldn't the PB leave you with a rough graded yard that doesn't flood? Do you have any thoughts on this issue?

I just purchased Beta SE from Amazon (prime days) $375.00 and 2 years protection from Asurion inc.
Just wonder is anyone experience with this extended warranty ? compare to Betabot extended warranty?
Can I buy extended warranty from Betabot?

thanks

Hi all- New vinyl pool owner with a leak as of a few days ago. The leak occurs during day and at night with pump off. Have not been unable to locate any issues with the vinyl yet but I just saw water coming up from the ground where light junction box is (looked like water boiling/simmering on a stove top) is that a definite sign that the light inside the pool is the source of the leak or more complicated than that?

Thank you!

I have a couple of questions looking for help. I've had a pool most of my life and I have never had issues like I have now. I'll start with the beginning I've always took a sample to local pool store for opening the pool and followed their direction to a T. Last year they had my put stuff in I've never used before. Not sure on what it was. But water turned cloudy and never cleaned up. Opened pool this yr and same results water cloudy and wont clean up. I've now drained pool and filling back up. I've order the taylor test kit 2006c. I've looked multiple places and my pool is anywhere between. 17500 g to 20000 g. It's a round 27 ft 54 inch deep. Someone have a exact amount? Where is the best place to purchase chemicals? Any brands to avoid. I've read thru the abc's of pool chemicals and hopefully I can follow it to a T

I have a IC30 salt system by Pentair and the flow switch went out. I understand there are two switches

How long does it take for borates to reduce? I added 40 level to my pool a couple of months back, but am worried about my dogs. So I’m not going to add it again. My dogs rarely swim and don’t have access to the pool to drink from it. But they are only 14 pounds and I’m second guessing my decision to put the borates in now just in case.

I am going to attempt to contact my pool company and be as nice as I can, I feel a bit wronged here because I pay $600 to close my pool and it was filled with leaves and stuff and then they left all the drains open. The pool drains dump down a large hill so it's hard to hear or see it draining. When we went to take the cover off this weekend we were shocked to see the levels down the the drain line (parallel with my plumbing drain system). The liner shrunk and tore away from the jet covers and filter openings (also stairs). I new liner is $1900 and I think they want around $2500 for installation. Would I be out of line if I asked them to help me out on lowering the install fees?