Tips on how to deal with low alk ,high ph . while serviceing 1x aweek. Cant add bi carb and acid at same time ?? What do other companys do? Please help

So management has approved the purchase of a Salt Water Generator now that the VSP pump is in and working so nicely.

24k gallon pool, I typically use about 3PPM FC a day.
With the new VSP, I run the pump about 18 hours a day, mostly at low speed which is enough for the heater to kick in as required, and then some faster times during the day when I add LC and we're swimming (so we can clean and skim)

Given that, I'm leaning toward the RJ-45+, RJ-60, or the Universal 55 - mostly as they seem to be $500 cheaper than the alternatives.
Is there any advantage/disadvantage of going with the clear case vs the closed cell ?
Is there any reason NOT to go with the 60 - I assume I can just run it as a lower output, and extend my cell life accordingly - the extra $100 over the 45 seems like a no-brainer.

I have 110 or 220v available where I am planning on installing this too, should that be a consideration.

My local pool store over the last few years has dramatically increased the costs for liquid chlorine. For example it used to cost me $3 for 10 Liters, now it is $16. The price of calcium hypo has been stable or decreasing. I asked them about this and they said they are trying to discourage sales of liquid chlorine in favor of solid products due to the fact it is easier for the store to handle it. Are others finding the same thing?

So we’ve been chasing a leak all summer. The pool people said it’s probably time to get a new liner, because ours is 7 years old. I can’t believe something so expensive has such a short life span! They told me that environmental regulations changed what liners are made of now, so they will better degrade in landfills.
Is this true?
Is there a liner out there that will last a long time?
The person telling me this doesn’t make money off of me getting a new liner, so I don’t think he’s trying to sell me something.

With the heatwave, I've spent much more time in the pool over the last few weeks and have been taking a long hard look at the plaster. As far as I know, it's the original plaster to the pool, and just the plain white variety. I don't have any major cracks or anything, but there's a lot of etching (that's been there since I bought the house) and I do have calcium nodules pop up from time to time. The pool was built sometime around 1980-1982 so likely the plaster is approaching its end of life.

What is a "typical" scope of work for a replaster of an older pool? My waterline tile isn't offensive, but I wouldn't necessarily mind replacing it if it's something that would typically be replaced during a replaster (plus, I do have a few places where a tile has popped off and I can't find replacements). What about the coping? I have just regular old concrete raised bullnose coping and I'm fine with that, and it all seems to be intact. As for plumbing- because it's a renovation, will they need to update my drain to current codes? Or can the existing single drain remain?

I haven't called anyone for a quote- Just trying to gauge how deep this rabbit hole might become if I decide to go through with it.

Thanks!

I have seen a few other posts about how this is probably a fruitless endeavor. I have a 16'x32' 14,300 gallon saltwater Intex AGP and I am trying to heat it up 5-10F. I have a pool cover and that has been getting it up to the mid 80s with the high ambient air temp in the low to mid 70s, but I want to get the water temp into the 90s. I was thinking about building a secondary pump system that did not drive off of my main filter pump, run it through a few hundred feet of PEX tubing and use heat spreaders that are used for radiant floor heating, paint it all black and cover it with greenhouse plastic sheeting, and set it up along the south edge of the pool. I am thinking that this DIY setup will run me probably about $600 for plywood, pump, tubing, plates, etc. plus the electricity to run the pump when desired. I don't think I can run it to the roof and I am in the process of getting solar panels anyway which would mitigate the cost of electricity to run the pump. I saw a YouTube video of someone doing something similar with copper tubing in a single circuit and got the water temp to near boiling. I want multiple circuits of about 100' instead of one very long circuit because hot water only absorbs so much heat. I can't use copper due to saltwater. If I do 4 sheets of 4'x8' plywood that would be a total area of 128 sqft vs 512 sqft of pool surface area so only 1:4 instead of the recommended 1:2, but I am hoping for more heat transfer.

New here; last summer was not that hot where i live, so i was able to snag a summer waves 13 foot, 33 inch deep metal frame above ground pool. I neglected to consider what it would take to set up; i have an upper body injury. It is only 97 degrees today, next week triple digits. I have to hire someone, even though i can't afford it...my questions are:
Can anyone tell me approximately how long it should take? 15 ft, 33 inches deep.

2) are pavers under the feet necessary for such a small pool?
Thank u in advance.

I am new here and have questions about my pH and Alk. Pool came with house we just bought in Dec. It is 14000 gal plaster. Looks like it was not maintained well in past. Minimal staining on bottom, considerable paint loss on bottom, beige build up on sides that will not brush off even with metal bristles. Treated twice for yellow algae, hope I have it under control now. Currently using cal hypo, will switch to beach when I run out of my current stock. Removed floating tab duckies 2 months ago. Partial draining is not really an option so I am riding out the 90 CYA until fall when we plan to have pool resurfaced.My alk is consistently 110, pH is constantly 8. Keeping FC at 7 and above, I shoot for 11. CH 280. Water temp 88. I use pool math to calculate. I do my own testing but do confirm these numbers at the pool store. I live in Texas. My questions are as follows:
Is it normal to add 1 qt muratic acid everyday? pH comes down but by next day it is always back to 8
Is it normal to add 2 lbs shock every other day?
When using Pool Math calculator should I be using the true alk number of 110 or the cya corrected number of 80?
Why will my pH not stay down in the recommended range for any length of time?

Thanks for any help provided.

Hello all,

I recently resurfaced my pool with NPT Stonescapes mini pebble. My pool is about 11,000 gallons and a skinny 'free shape' looking, about 30' x 8'. I replaced my old Sand Filter with a new Pentair Clean & Clear 420 Plus Cartridge. In addition, I upgraded all my 14 pop-up heads with the new Venturi G2 and the G2 non-Venturi 'adjustable' for the steps (low pressure).

My current pump schedule is as follows:

4 hours (11am-3pm) on 3,000 RPM
8 hours (3:01pm - 11pm) on 1,600 RPM
Then from 11:01pm - 10:59am on 1,300 RPM.

Question: Is the schedule above good enough with the new Venturi pop-ups, or should I make a change, perhaps decrease the 3K RPM to something lower?

Thanks all.

Did some research and was not 100% sure whether an old pool heater (Rome Industries, AquaComfort S95) can cause rusty water (e.g., the heat exchanger is rotted) - I thought I "fixed" the issue by repairing rusty wall behind my liner last year but the rusty water is worse this year - posted by repair here last year.

Also, we do not use the heater at all (but we do run it once in awhile as maintenance), and whether the water runs through the heat exchanger regardless of the heater being on vs. off (just the heater core is not "hot", perhaps?)

Since we find ourselves dumping pounds of ascrobic acid almost on a daily basis, we are also wondering whether I can simply get rid of it. Is this a simply DIY to "reconnect" the piping?

Thanks!

Hi!

My aqua rite was producing chlorine as expected and was displaying 2800-3300 salt which is accurate to my salt test strips. Suddenly and overnight, my cell is no longer producing chlorine and my salt reading dropped from 2800-3300 to 300.

Is this consistent with a dead cell ? Serial number is 3E15062-202851 if this helps determine age.

Thanks

Pool had a relatively new Polaris booster installed When I purchased it. I’m switching to a robotic cleaner…
Can the booster be repourposed as a dedicated spa pump or maybe the bubbler instead?

Hi all!

I'm a bit new to the pool world....

I have an enormous crack/leak by the bulkhead/o-ring going into the sand filter however I don't know what model number my sand filter is but I've been able to see the product number for the bulk head which is "de360fb." I've attached pics of the situation.

Question 1 - any1 know what the model number of my filter is? (it's a hayword filter know that much)

Question 2 - how do I go about the fix? Just replace the o-ring?

thanks to everyone who helps in advance!

My pool has high alkalinity, but I don't want to buy a pump to aerate the water, so I want to install a return fountain (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PYRL67X). I started to remove the return fittings, and managed to get the lock and the eyeball itself out, but it seems I also need to remove the seat, which is stuck.

I bought a metal SP1419T Removal Tool (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B56LC3NG), but it seems like the eyeball seat itself was installed directly into the plaster. When I try to turn the tool in either direction, I heard a snap, and then plastic flecks float out of the seat.

Before I completely destroy the seat, I was hoping you guys could check if I should keep trying, or maybe wait until I need to replaster the pool and have those guys break these out and replace them. Let me know if I need better pictures...

Thanks in advance!

Hey Again -

We seem to be having our fair share of start-up problems so far.

The latest is that we cannot get our Intellibrite lights to sync. Here's the setup:

One Intellibrite Pool light

One Intellibrite Spa light

Both wired together through a single 12v transformer.

Connected to Easy Touch panel through a single AUX relay. Circuit is labeled as Intellibrite for Aux2, is labeled as 'Lights' and is set up in the Lights/Config menu as 'Lights' under #1.

Lights come on and off no problem but are different colors. The Sync feature on the Easy Touch toggles the relay a few times but the end result is usually a red spa light and a blue pool light. The pool light seems to be following the commands from the Easy Touch panel. If I choose Green, the pool light turns green but the spa light goes into party mode with multiple colors flashing.

Any ideas on how to get these things in sync? I wanted them to be switched separately but our PB pretty much ignored it and wired them together. I'll redo them some day but for now, I would just like them to be the same color.

Thanks in advance.

Videos of the pump failing to start

Ordered from Pool Supply Unlimited in February.

Installed end of April.

Turned it off today to switch the filter to backwash and it will not come back on normally now. Just continually starting up for a few second, then shutting down.

Submitted an RMA request to Pool Supply Unlimited.

I was out floating around yesterday for three hours or so. Water was clear and warm. When I got out of the pool, my skin was very dry. My young daughter complained of itchy skin. Neither of us has particularly sensitive skin.

I had my solar cover on for a few days, so I allowed my FC to creep up a bit high for my CYA level. I've never given higher FC levels a second thought as I like the extra insurance against algae. Nothing else in my chemistry stands out as a contributing factor. Could the higher ratios of FC to CYA cause dry skin?

FC 9.5
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 90
CH 300
CYA 70
Salt 3200
Temp 87
CSI -0.23

Hi all,

3 times now over the past month I have woken up to see the hot tub and heater running. one time I had used the spa the night before but it was 99% shut off as I grilled dinner later that night and would have noticed the spa on. The 2nd time teenage son use the spa the evening prior, said he turned it off, but I figured ok maybe not and didn't think further. Well this morning I woke it, pool was running and nobody use the spa last nite.

So first two times I said "probably wasn't something we did but maybe" but the 3rd time now I really think it has come on by itself.

If there any way programmatically to prevent this sort of thing? I just have 2 timers set in Intellicenter, one for the pool and one for the lights.

Hi All,

I’m preparing to add RS-485 Surge protection to my 2 IntelliPro VSF pumps, MasterTemp and IntelliChem data lines. I will use the SerialComm RS-485 Surge Protector as recommended here. My plan is to add a ground bus (top right in picture below) to handle all the additional ground wires (8, for the 4 surge suppressors), 12 awg (flexible, stranded) for ground wires and excess wire from my VSF communication cable to reconnect the surge suppressors back to the IntelliCenter control boards.

Is this plan the best way to go? I’m going to add many additional wires and the suppressors to a relatively small area. Is the ground bus approach and placement ok? Should I rather place the suppressors for the MasterTemp and IntelliChem in their units and not inside the IntelliCenter Control Power Center? Other considerations?

Thanks,

Tony

Need to replace current fixture ,got 22 years out of it.
Its a Hayward astrolight Sp-0580 series , 120Volt 500watt.
Want to install 12 volt LED (already have transformer, )
Can someone tell me what other brands of lights will fit in niche ?
35,000 gal liner pool. Thanks.

We currently have a Hayward Super Pump 2HP (SP2615X20). We think it's over 15+ years old and is making very loud noises which we believe are the bearings. We are looking to replace because of the age. We have added a SWG and a heat pump in the past few years and I think that may increase our need for the pump.

We did a TDH test with gauges and got a TDH of 83.

We were looking at a Hayward pump replacement: MaxFlo VS, SuperPump VS of Tristar VS. Our existing plumbing is 1.5" if that makes a difference. Any suggestions?

Hi, please look at this video and the photos. This is an unusual location for a leak isnt it? There is clearly a seam on both ports, but I am not sure how it could produce a leak. Is this a matter of needing o-rings, or tightening something? I do I need to get some marine epoxy and seal that seam up? any thoughts or experience with a plumbing leak at this location on a mastertemp heater? video of drip

I believe I have mustard algae, when I brush the sides or bottom , a cloud of yellowish dust is kicked up, it's been vacuumed but comes back, however the pool is pretty clear , I only noticed due to brushing and then checking if it was still there after vacuuming...
My question is , can we swim today before I go through SLAM + super shock next week to get rid of it?

I'm seriously considering purchasing a hot tub and considering acrylic tubs with speakers. Was told plastic is more durable than acrylic and tubs with speakers are pointless because you barely hear your music over the jets and pump. Is this true? Are tubs with BT speakers overrated? Please let me know what your experience has been.

So I was getting an FL 4, bad ignitor. Tested it and confirmed it had failed. Ordered a new one, installed it, turned it on... got FL 0.

Ran a backwash (it looked nasty in the filter glass), tried again... it fires, burns for a few seconds, then shuts off with no error code. Normally when it's firing, the little flame animation starts going, but in this case it doesn't.

Confirmed that the clock is set properly and the operation isn't stopped by schedule (it's 6:30pm; schedule is 8am to 8pm).

Any suggestions on what to check next? It was working fine before the ignitor went.

Does anyone own or have experience fixing Aquabot roller issues? Inherited this broken robot cleaner with our pool and house purchase. Was originally purchased in 2008, so I'm also wondering how long the thing will last and if it's worth trying to fix it.

Appears to be a broken WHEEL TUBE ASSY. - AS38253CGY. There are some sellers of parts, and I figure I can probably handle fixing it myself. If anyone has any insider knowledge, please share!

I’m new to this site. We’ve had our pool for two years and are basically doing ok. However, we are in the country and have a water well, not City water. The three things that are always needing attention are phosphate levels, chlorine stability, and alkalinity and Calcium hardness. Seems alkalinity and CA are somehow linked.

Anyway, I just ordered a Taylor test kit and will get it in Saturday. Hope I can learn from that kit and this site. Seems the pool store just wants my cash and isn’t too interested in helping me learn how to manage it.

Hey guys I have been dealing with a horrible thrips invasion since my neighbor brought in 4 truckloads of compost that they put on their lawn. They are everywhere not only killing my garden but in the pool too. I had hoped they would move on by now since it is so hot and dry but every time I clean the skimmer they are all over it. They bite like demons, worse than any fire ant bite.
Should I bring the FC level up to the SLAM level for 24 hours to see if I can get them to move on? Passed a OCLT the other night just to be sure and the pool is crystal clear.
Thanks

Hoping someone can help solve our issue with our solar system. We have Helicol solar panels (7), with a 3 way actuator. It's been working fine for about 6 years, but now on both heating and nocturnal cooling, the valve opens and the pump speed raises just fine. However, when the temp reaches the set point, the intellicenter app shows that the solar has stopped heating or cooling, but the pump speed stays up and the valve does not close. If we hard boot the intellicenter panel, the valve closes and stays closed and the pump speed comes back down.
We've checked the wires and they seem fine. It's seems as if the communication is good to open the valve and raise the pump, but not to close the valve and lower the pump speed. Could this be a bad actuator? It turns easily both ways manually. The shaft was replaced a few months ago.

Hello, I have a new pool and auto cover. My cover is binding up and stopping at the same spot in the track. Then my keypad won’t work. Is there a time out period to protect the system?