We're in the process of hooking up a heat pump to our 24 ft circular above round pool. Inspector came today to inspect our trenching and we passed. That's when he hit me with something. He asked who was doing the bonding on this pool. I had no intention of bonding this pool and apparently either did my electrician. In 26 years or running electricity and doing pools he has never bonded an above ground pool. The Aluminum deck is grounded to a lightning rod, the pool itself has a mechanical lug on the skimmer basket which ties into the pool pump and the rivets on the pool wall next to the skimmer, and the heat pump is all plastic at the bottom. I feel like I'm amply covered here but if there's still a major safety concern I'll get it done.

Nothing will happen if I never call from my final inspection other than the inability to sell the house with an outstanding dormant inspection.

Hello all! Well, I finally opened my pool yesterday. Haha, yes, a bit late but surprisingly all is well and it's not a swamp. I bought a solar blanket this year that lays on top of the pool, not on the water. Then you stake the sides of the blanket to the ground with ropes. I have never used this before but my bubble solar cover started losing the bubbles, so I had to toss it.

There are no drainage holes and from what I can tell, water does not pass through it. Do you think I should put some holes in it, so that rain passes through? I don't know what happens when water accumulates on this cover? Anyone have this type of cover?

Any help is appreciated.

Hi all,

I am a new member and curious about pools.

thank you

Can someone please help me. I am a new pool owner. I leveled my ground, I thought. Set the pool up. Put some water in it to see if it was level and it was not. My question is it seems in all the videos I have watched people raise or lower the legs.
But if oneside is off some, about 2-1/2 - 3" and I raise the legs on the low end, the bottom seam will not be on the ground it will go up the side. Would that be too much pressure after time on the seam being raised that much? Any help is appreciated

I'm scratching my head why one of my newly created circuits is not running.

Reviewing the attached picture, I have a pool circuit at a low RPM and a cleaning circuit at a high RPM that both run for 2 hours each in the early morning. I'm able to generate chlorine using my SWG for the full 4 hours. I created another pool circuit to run in the mid afternoon for some additional chlorine generation but more for skimming. This newly created afternoon pool circuit schedule will not run. I moved it from 2pm to Noon and still nothing.

Is there a limitation to the number of schedules that can be run on the same circuit using Pentair's SL Config and/or Screenlogic app? Or am I missing something unrelated?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Michael

Hi Everyone,

Recently, my intellitouch indoor control panel's display went blank after a thunderstorm. The buttons still function, and the LED's still light. It still keeps the same schedule as usual, but the screen is blank. It makes it very difficult to use the different functions or to change the schedule, etc.

When I googled, I saw in this thread:

I noticed that ogdento posted this
"I did recently have a possibly similar situation with a guy's intellitouch indoor panel... it would just turn on to a blank screen - I could see on my oscilloscope that it had a heartbeat (controller clock was running, there was data on some spi lines), so on a lark I reflashed the firmware and it started working."

Ogdento (or anybody!), can you please walk me through how I could possibly troubleshoot my indoor control panel, or even flash the firmware to get this working again? The replacement part is over $1000!

Thank you everyone.

Bought a house with a pool and the way it is wired up:

• Two pumps, regular pump and a jet pump. Each on it's own circuit. Neither are GFCI. Single pole. So I'm assuming 110v.
• Pool pump is an Pentair Superflo VSP.
• Downline from the pool pump, is a GFCI outlet. From there it runs to another outlet by the BBQ island, and the pool lights.
• Heater, SWCG is also on the pump circuit.

Thinking of having the wiring re-done by our electrician. He's not a pool experienced one however.

Is it advisable to move the switch to a GFCI breaker? If so I would need to replace the GFCI outlet with a regular one.
I know about efficiency for 115/230v for the pump. But I'm worried about effectiveness. 3450 rpm is 3450 rpm right? So the pump is still the same at 115v or 230v in moving water, just a bit less efficient at 230v? If so I won't bother asking him to move it to 230v? Because then the downline stuff would need to be moved off the circuit right?
Should the downline stuff (GFCI outlet, bbq island, pool lights) be removed from the pump circuit anyway?

My pool is 2 years old and has had a leak for about a year. I GC’d it all and have learned many lessons along the way. I recently had a leak detection company out for the 2nd time. They tested all the plumbing and it all checked out. I had all of the waterline tile replaced lastyear due to a crack in the bond beam all the way around. Water penetrated the grout line and created a mess. I live in West Texas so the high temps and freezing winters contribute to lots of movement in the ground and concrete. I have noticed that the spa will drain down to one of the return lines and stop. The leak detection company stated that these lines were good. The pool will leak down below the skimmer so I believe the skimmers to be good. I suspect that I may be losing the water under the granite bar top. The top sits about level with the pool skimmer throat so it normally has about 1.5” of water on it. The spa has lots of tile in it with only the joint pool wall and floor having plaster. When filled up, the pool will lose about 2” of water in 12 hours. I believe this is a combination between the tile and other leak. I need assistance in finding the main leak so that I can fix everything and move on. The tile has started falling again due to the fluctuation in water level. I have a ton of concrete deck so a noticeable ground leak is out of the question. Let me know your thoughts. I can post more pics and provide any additional information. Any help will be appreciated!

I have been searching everywhere for this exact answer. Can you tell me if this fix will work if this is my outlet?

Moved from here.

I’m not sure if this is a rant or not but just some marketing thought.

It’s not until I came to this site that I learned that “salt water pools” are just pools that use generators to convert salt to chlorine.

I even know people who own salt pools and think that their pool is salt water like a fish tank. My daughters friend has a in ground, salt pool. She said she can’t come into my pool because she’s allergic to chlorine. And I said, well your pool does have Chlorine in it because your salt system makes it.

I feel like if they changed the name more people would get it and maybe invest in one.

Maybe the people who make chlorine tabs purposely named it to keep their crazy market of buying tabs and hitting trouble to force people to buy more Crud they don’t need?

Hello all,
I have a circa 2006 Pentair Tagelus TA100D. I can see water coming out between the tank and the first plastic insert, so figuring the o-ring needs replacement. (See blow-out diagram)
It's leaking between part 3 and the tank... so I want to replace the o-ring part 4.

Question is.... Does the whole unit (part #3) just unscrew? Counterclockwise? I didn't want to force anything if I was doing it wrong.

When putting back together I was going to spread some pool o-ring lube and re-assemble.

Thanks for any help provided. Cheers!

old pool but taken care of over the years besides needing a paint job the last couple. Opened up fine this year with typical paint spots missing. Had a rough couple weeks with a circulation issue and let the pool go cloudy/green until part came in and I SLAM to get back to normal like I have 100x. Once clear, the pool now has terrible brown stains. See photos. These won’t brush or vacuum off and I’m finally posting because even this pumice stone eraser won’t help. What are these stains? The pool is what I’ve been told is a 35 plus year old pool with metal corrugated walls and I thought the rest of it was concrete, certainly feels like concrete. I question because I found an article online with exact same staining and stating this wasn’t staining and was the fiberglass wearing out.

Hi all,

do the Suraielec Digital Pool timers require a fireman switch or are they programmed to shut heater off before pump?

thanks

Moved from here.

Whats the best way to top off a pool in a house with a whole house water softener? City water. Does it matter? TY in advance.

System was working fine until it did not turn on at all one day. No lights light up on the main panel and it looks as if there was no power. I reset the breaker in my main home panel and verified power was back on the circuit but intellitouch won't turn on. High voltage breakers inside the intellitouch panel did not flip, nor did the 4 low voltage breakers pop. Anyone have any ideas what I can do to troubleshoot? I have a voltage meter and can probably replace components if needed.

Hello,

I’m having new trouble with a 2 year old new install. Pump is variable Jandy 1.65hp with 2” pipes I believe.

I used to be able to run the heater on pool or spa 3450rpm without issues. I’ve found the only way the heater will work is lower rpm like 2400.

History: Pool is 2 years old, one pool store told me to drain it for CY at 110(dam test strips lead me astray), and water hardness 900.

Leslie’s said let it ride, add nophos for high phosphates 900. I did, cleaned the filters, phosphates down to zero life was good.

A week later I had the tiles bead blasted which involved lowering the water level down 6” below the tile line. They had a big pump so I asked them after they vacuumed all the debris to drain it 75%. I finished the drain to empty over the next 2 days as the sealer set for 48 hours.

Refilled pool with the pvc fill(not auto) and another garden hose. Put brand new filters in. Leslie’s said phosphates were 1787 so I added 110 oz of no phos and ran it 48 hours straight and then cleaned the new filters.

Last sample was good, go easy on me I’m done with pool stores and I’m a believer in DIY, just awaiting my test kit and won’t be using anyone else but myself, pool math, and this forum.

Pools been looking great. I went to use the hot tub and discovered the heater never kicked on. I have automation so I disabled that from the equation. The last fault recorded said check gas valve. After clearing that (before I ever got it running today), never saw it again and only get check flow now.

Messing around with pump settings the heater kicked on at 2400 rpm. Anything high I get a check flow fault no matter if it’s set on spa, pool, or pool with waterfalls. For reference all these used to function without issue.

I heard the Versaflow valve opening and closing and can hear the water going in and out of the heater.

At 2400rpm set to pool/waterfall it comes out of the waterfall but about 70% less. Not trickling, not gushing, but enough to clear the raised wall versus running down the wall.

What are your thoughts? Attached are the pressures with the heater on or off with no change from the 3450 rpm. Essentially 8psi off, 12psi heater on.

I appreciate your time and any suggestions!
Pat

What to sanitize with before SWG is added for new pool?

We have noticed we get a tingle when in the water close to the light and then on the other end with the rail at the steps. An electrician is suppose to come out this weekend to check things. Our light hasn't worked correctly since it was installed so I'm thinking it has to be that. However, with this electrician telling me to remove the ground to see if the current is still there because it should be bonded, I'm not very trusting at this point. Is there something I can put in the water to test or keep an eye on any current that may be in the pool? Just for safety sake? I found something called Shock Alert but I dont know how well it works. Any suggestions?

My SPA drains when I turn on to SPA mode, I've done some troubleshooting but haven't gotten further (turning on SPA fill does work).

For the valve all the way to the left, it automatically moves right to left when I go to SPA mode.
The valve to the right, at the top, does not automatically move, I think it use to move when I would go SPA mode so I removed the actuator to manually adjust it from top to down (facing top in the pic).

Even with the above changes, the SPA continues to drain, I just noticed one more valve at the bottom, underneath the one at the top right of the picture, should I manually move that one also? It doesn't move either when I switch from pool to spa mode.

We just moved into a house over the weekend with an in-ground concrete pool (Dallas/Fort Worth Area). It's chlorine and about 17,000 gallons. I've read through the pool school threads over the past couple weeks, ordered a Taylor k2006 test kit and all of the basic chemicals.

The water to the pool is very clear, however before we moved the skimmers were full of 3" tablets as well as the inline filter. I tested the water last night and pH was low (7.1) and CYA was very high (over 110) and FC came in around 19. Total Chlorine was about 1ppm. I also ran a diluted test for CYA to confirm. I added some borax to bring up the pH last night and now I'm trying to figure out the game plan on what to do next with such a high CYA and FC level (but still clear water).

I took a sample to the local pool shop to confirm and their numbers were as follows (very close to mine, so that's good I guess):

TA:57
pH: 7.5
CH: 361
FC: 19.07
CYA: 127
Phosphates: 2493

The water is still clear, however I'm not sure where to go next. Do I need to drain the pool? Is it safe to swim with such high CYA and Chlorine and Phosphate levels? The pool is in full sun and it's well over 100 here every day with no rain for the foreseeable future. I've gotten rid of the tablets and have liquid chlorine. Pool Math states that my FC should be around 14 with these CYA levels. Is this correct? What is an ideal FC level with a CYA level this high? Ideally I can make it through the next couple months with the kids being able to swim before draining or maybe evaporation and adding fresh water would help. Any real downside to that or do I just need to bite the bullet and drain it this weekend.

Thanks for any advice. This forum has been a huge help!

And what do I do with it???
Pool builder left it and never sent electrician back to install it. I *think* it’s a water temp sensor for the salt chlorination but not sure. Tired of dealing with the PB so I’m wondering who I should call to install this and where. It was left outside so the label wore off

During pool build we are installing 6 Pentair Microbrites. The pool builder normally doesn't use pentair pools. Is it normal for the screws to show like this with no escutcheon plate for a vinyl pool? I called Pentair and they seem to agree but i dont think he was too sure himself.

Does anyone have experience with these, the look just seems unfinished.

I was trying to reconfigure my screen on my Hayward system. In the process my screen froze up on me. I couldn’t do anything more. So I powered the system down, and then back up. It looked like it was going to reboot, but then I got a blue line across the screen and underneath it read “theme error”. And I could do NOTHING more. Anyone else experienced this? If so, I could really use some help.

Read some differing opinions on this... 200 minimum, or it doesn't matter

I have an old pentair 125 heater that is well out of warranty

CH in above ground pool (vinyl) is 118. Also has SWG. Water in area is naturally quite hard and I've filled quite a bit this year due to repairs and waste vacuuming, so surprised its still lowish.

I'm thinking not bothering increasing CH b/c appears a project, plus read that its dubious whether actually needed for the heater



Thoughts? Thanks!

I am going to replaster my pool and while I’m at it it, I’m going to change out my tile and spillway. The company that is doing the plaster said they make a new spillway out of granite. Does anyone have a granite spillway? I have a friend with one and after 8 years, their vertical sides are disintegrating but the bottom where the water spills over is fine.

Its been years since I SLAMed. My SWG screwed me over the weekend and the water got dull. Slight cloudiness but no green yet. I had 1 FC at 60 CYA!! I lost 3FC during the OCLT. I started slamming today but either the heat messed up the LC home depot keeps outside or algae is eating my FC quickly. How long after adding can/should I test? I want to say 30 min but I forget. When I add LC, I distribute it evenly in front of each return jet.

Has anyone had issues with ear aches from salt water. I have never had issues with chlorine pools but I know going into the ocean hurts my ears.
Also with an above ground pool the sides are metal and how likely are they to rust with salt water?

thanks to any and everyone that responds

I get that there would be some difference between the test kit and the readout on the chlorinator display as to what the salt level is in my pool, but should it be as big of a difference as this?
My Taylor test kit consistently gives me a result of 2600 and the salt cell is saying 3400.
It has done this since brand new. Salt chlorinator is working great, keeping my FC right where it needs to be, running at 55% all summer long down here in Houston.
Is this normal?

Pool was off for 3+ weeks, then installed new IntelliFlo3 with rebuilt suction manifold, all valves are new. Primed up and started this morning, and 8 hours later still lots of bubbles visible in:

• suction check-valve: Login to view embedded media
• pump basket: Login to view embedded media
• coming out pool return. Login to view embedded media

Installer did not lube the O-rings in the new valves or the blue O-ring in the IntelliFlo3 lid, and says: "Turn the pump off, and stand there. Which way is the water flowing? Is it going back down the pipe or is it sucking up into the filter? If it doesn't drain, then there is no leak. A really dirty filter will make bubbles too, including bubbles flowing in through the check valve into the pump"

Should I ask for the O-rings to be lubed? Including the blue one? And is what he is telling me reasonable?

Long story short, around 5 weeks ago, I posted an issue about having algae every 2-3 weeks. Right now that is better and I haven't had an outbreak since my last SLAM. I have, however, found that on the step seals(the plastic seal right under my fiberglass steps, where they trim the liner around the steps) has these small flaps, mainly in the corners and there is bits of green algae hiding in there. I have been brushing it out, with a very small brush,once a week and I have no chlorine loss in the OCLT, so it is sort of at bay.

Question is, how can I trim that down and get a good clean cut? Exacto knife? Any particular style of razor blade?
This is on the top of the seal srtip, so the liner is sandwiched in between the steps and step seal.