I purchased a house with saltwater pool and elevated spa a couple years ago. While recently in the spa, I noticed small bubbles coming from a gunite crack at the bench which was previously patched by the old owners. Video at Login to view embedded media
Pictures of whole area: Login to view embedded media
The bubbles continued even after we turned off the pump. I haven’t seen it happen since, but also haven’t used the spa again.

Any idea what could cause this?

And what I can do to address it in the short or long term? Will resealing the crack work, or would it just mask a bigger problem?

Tying anything major to resurfacing in 5 or so years would be ideal if possible.

There are a couple other patched spots without apparent leaking/bubbling. The previous owner also had a leaking skimmer-gunite interface that lost a couple inches a day and is currently watertight with epoxy. How long they left it like that I’m not sure (they’d been unable to diagnose), but I can be sure significant water was getting into the raised concrete structure at some point.
There are occasionally bubbles at the return jets in case that matters...

Thanks for any help!

I have an in ground pool with a Hayward S-220T sand filter. Last summer I noticed sand coming in the pool from the return lines. The amount wasn’t huge and it was toward the end of the swimming season so I didn’t do anything at the time. When I opened the pool a few weeks ago I had emptied the sand, changed the entire stand pipe, previous one did have a smalll crack at the bottom of the base where the laterals connected. The new lateral insert I installed was the correct Hayward Part #. I followed the refill instructions, filled half full of water, covered the top of the stand pipe, put the lateral and pipe piece in and added the sand. When I kicked the system on I was still getting sand. I then bought a new multiport valve, hooked it all back up, still sand. I backwashed for a couple min to get the water clear in the glass, rinsed for a good minute, maybe two, same thing more sand. I’ve been running it just on recirculate for past 2 days thinking if the pool is sand free then I know it’s the filter, but I’m getting sand even with the just recirculating. Any suggestions? I would think if I had an issue with a leak in the return line the water under pressure would leak out and I wouldn’t get sand (return line runs pretty shallow under pavers sand) coming into a leaking line. I’m stumped. Thanks for any suggestions!

My timer(1998) only runs the SWG. I am no longer trusting it because of several glitches. In replacing it, I have heard the mechanical timers are still more reliable than the digital ones! And I see they have dropped in price, a lot! Amazon, from $150, now $70. Stay mech?
Or even better alternatives now?

32k gallon pool. SWG, NG heater, 9' spa.
All levels are testing good, but calcium is a little low according to the acceptable levels chart.
FC: 5
CC: 0, or less than 0.5
TA: 80
CYA: 75
Salt: 3800
PH 7.9, (added 38oz of °20 muriatic acid, now it's ~7.55 after 2 hrs)
Calcium: 200
Water temp range this time of year has been mid 70's to mid 80's. Water temp was 85 when I got those test results above earlier today.

I've read in other places that the calcium should be between 200 and 400, and that above 400 increases the likelihood of scaling on the heater for a gunite/plaster pool. The recommended levels are even lower for spas, 150-250. Reference: https://www.taylortechnologies.com/en/page/169/understanding-calcium-hardness

We aren't currently running the heater, and actually can't until we run a 1.5" gas pipe to it from over 150' away. There's a long story behind that and we have some work to get done before it gets cold again.

I'm confused by the higher recommendation of 350-550, how high should I want my calcium to be at? Should it be lower because of the spa?

Over the past few months, I've been testing on my own with the TF-Pro Salt and have purchased multiple test strips and 2 digital PH meters that have been calibrated. I'm learning that each test strip has it's own "best" areas it can test and that my pool store probably needs to calibrate their equipment. I'm comfortable running the drop tests, using the strips and digital ph meters, but feel like I don't understand how the calcium levels really fit in.

Thanks!

I'm trying to find out if this is pollen or yellow algae. We have it every year and assumed it was pollen but our pool is still cloudy so are now trying to verify. It always accumulates on the steps and bottom of the pool. Not sure if it's on the walls because its too cloudy to tell. We vacuum it up and or brush it often but it returns within a few hours. When we brush it clouds up the pool area. I'm currently SLAMing my pool. Here are some pics of it on the sun deck in the sun and pool ledge that is usually in shade.

We bought an above ground pool w/ vinyl liner. The pool holds approximately 6100 gallons and runs on a sand pump. It has a solar bag heater.
We want to make the pool saltwater. We haven't assembled the pool yet because we want it saltwater from the start. So, we need to know what we need to convert the pool. What size SWG, tubing, etc.

I see a lot on the forums about inaccurate readings at low temp . Tried doing a search before asking but couldn’t locate.
He in Texas rt now my water temps are 93 to 95 degrees. Does high temps like this effect any testing.?

Ignore my signature if it’s still here because I’m asking for my sister. She wants to switch from cartridge to sand filter for her 24’ round AG. Someone has offered one for free, but it needs to be big enough. Im also concerned she has too much pump, but I don’t have those stats. All I know is that it is dual speed. Can you see the pic of the free sand filter? Feedback? Thanks!

Does anyone know the final (stable) firmware for the IntelliFlo 011028 pump? I have 2.08 installed now.

The IC40 unit is about 6 years old and had (if I remember correctly) at least 60-80% usage last I checked. But somehow, the usage hours shows as 20% now. I did fiddle around with the buttons a few weeks ago and might have reset the unit, but not sure if the reset actually resets the usage hours?
I also did a muriatic acid clean last week in order to hopefully squeeze some more hours out of it, but I think it's at the end of its life.

Why does it show up as 20% on the usage hours now?
How can I know if the unit is not generating chlorine on the unit itself? The CELL light was off at the season opening (I'm in SoCal, so had a "soft" opening with SLAM), but is now GREEN after the MA cleaning.

I really appreciate all the information on your website, but I'm struggling to put it all together. I just want to know the correct technique for SLAMing my pool, but it seems like the information is spread over multiple web pages, a little bit here a little bit there. At this point I have about 10 TFP pages open and I'm still not totally clear on what to do. Do you have a page that just explains all the information in one place?

I'm especially struggling to know how much chlorine to add to my pool. Every time I click a link that is supposed to tell me this, it leads me to a page that doesn't help. I can't find the promised "The Chlorine/CYA Chart". I'm really at a loss.

Hi

I have tried to get a hold on the test kits recommended here at TFP, but I'm based in the EU and neither are available for purchase.
When asking a local pool store, I got the response that they are not allowed for private use in EU and can only be purchased for professional use....... (And yes, I could buy them from a US website, but besides the heavy tax on import, I also risk getting the package confiscated by customs and a fine)

I can only get the ones with tablets (or drops that works in the same way), a digital one (which they adviced me against) or the strips. None goes higher than 10 ppm.
I know this goes against the general advice here, but can I use either or am I better off using neither and having my water checked at the store?

so the pools clearer then it's ever been thanks to my effortless slam.. effortless is sarcastic ..

however!

now that it's so clear and my liners so
bleached i see all the stains from years past.. what's the best way to get these out without draining pool of course ?

i did rub chlorine puck
on one and stain came out so i believe they are organic

Hi folks. Inspecting our build I found the gunite sub buried 1 copper bonding wire. Is this fixable and if so how? We have 3 others that are showing and this one is no where to be found.

When I have the water tested at a pools store, what they say & what my equipment says seem to be close. 3200 - 3800 ppm.
When I test with the test kit, TF100, my results are 2400 - 2800 ppm.
Am I doing something wrong?

Folks,
You may have read my previous thread about dealing with nasty well water here. I thought I had licked the problem completely with cationic and anionic resin softening plus aerated catalytic carbon and H202 injection. And I had for a while. But slowly over the next few weeks we had a slight (to me, much stronger to my wife) sulfur odor. It was so low I barely could detect it so I kind of blew it off and hoped my wife would learn to live with it. Bad decision. Eventually we had guests and all the ladies could smell it. One hubby even detected it. So I started testing with my fancy ampule based super-sensitive sulfide test kit. It reliably tests .05 ppm and almost any level with a color change. It took some effort to make sure I captured good samples and immediately tested them. Sulfides clearly vaporize quickly from the water in just minutes. With some sampling practice it became clear I had a tiny bit of sulfide making it through the system and was typically .05 ppm or less. I believe this is due to the fact that treatment processes I am using are not complete removal. Maybe over 90% but not complete. So starting with inlet water of 1.2 ppm it was conceivable there will always be residual that is detectable by many, mostly female people.

One thing that puzzled me is the under sink RO units we have produced pristine smelling water all the time. I couldn't figure out how this is possible since it is well-documented that these membranes allow H2S to pass through almost completely which has the effect of concentrating H2S instead of removing it. How could mine be so sweet? Then I remembered these units have 2 activated carbon filters. Could they be removing the trace amounts? After numerous guest complaints I was pretty desperate. I searched for a whole house polishing filter that would do the trick. There are MANY choices ranging from pretty cheap to almost $100 not including the housing. At this point I needed a definite solution so I purchased a 20" (Big Blue knock-off) housing and the high $ refillable media cartridge that contained a combination of KDF-85, Brim, and catalytic carbon. Installation was simple and I included piping to allow me to easily flush the filter. This took longer than I thought to get the black dust out. Then I filled the first sample and cautiously gave it to the wife to test. She smiled and said "that's perfect!". I was elated. Decided not to report this for a few weeks just to be sure it works... It's been a month now and I think this is finally the solution. Information I obtained indicate this filter has capacity to remove 3 ppm for 50,000 gal. With just the wife and me most of the time at ~200 gal/day and less than .05 ppm it should last for years. I'll report back as we have more time on the filter.

I hope this is helpful for anybody else on here with the dreaded "wife doesn't like your water" problem!

Chris

Is this amount of air in the pump normal? I've checked the fittings, etc. and have no water leaks. Air getting in from somewhere ? The video was taken with the VSM pump at max 3450 rpms for a bit.

The amount of air seems to be consistent at all levels of RPMs.

Thanks
Rich

Long time lurker but this site has been invaluable to me. I have a 10300 AGP and this year convinced the wife to go salt water. Ordered a circupool rj-45 and should be here tomorrow. Based on advice I have some unions etc on order too. Even though stuff isn’t here yet trying to balance pool to be ready. I took an initial ready for salinity and it ready 950ppm. Even though the last 4 years I’ve used strictly liquid chlorine is this normal? I was suprised my salt didn’t read 0….

When I do a test for 25ml I get 25 drops saying I have 5ppm of chlorine and when i do a 10ml test I get 7 drops sayin I have 3.5 ppm of chlorine. Should these 2 test equally be the same . I did both test twice with same results

is there any secret to quickly priming my pump? any time I loose the vacuum seal on my lines for maintenance, my pump always has to push a lot of air around and it takes a few minutes to start moving water. have always felt this could really damage the pump due to dry conditions in the head and heat. is there a tip or technique one can use to minimize the primer time, or another way to keep the pump cool while the air is purged? or are the pumps designed to handle this condition periodically?

So in the process of nailing down my new schedule, I have run into an unknown..

Screen logic shows two circuits (outside of features), being POOL and SPA. When Pool mode is running, valve into the filter is 100% skimmer and vents (2), SPA is off and return valve is 80% SPA (spillways from spa) and 20% pool jets. When SPA mode is turned on, input valve is 100% SPA and returns are 100% spa.

What I can not seem to find in the app is HOW these circuits are actuated? Under valve config in SL config, there is no setup. So what is telling the valves to open/close when the circuits change?

I ask because I want to create a spillway circuit and I cant seem to tell the system how to tie the valves into a POOL config

I’m taking over our pool care after being dissatisfied with our local pool store. I’ve already learned so much from y’all. After reading through pool forums and watching videos, I’ve learned you can vacuum to filter. We were only told to use waste. This new info is great.

Next question, see the pic of the vacuum head they sold us. I’ve learned through videos that this for a concrete pool, but we have vinyl.
Should I get a different type of vacuum head since I have a vinyl liner?

Finally, can I use my robot for algae? I have a dolphin m200.

I am in the process on replacing my single speed pump with a new variable speed.

this one:

Everything was going fine installing new seals and have gotten the impeller on the new pump, but I've hit a snag..........

I am missing an impeller ring. I have no idea where it is or if it ever was installed, but i cannot find it.

Spoke with Hayward and the person could not identify my pump (which is weird).

I've attached my pumps label and I was hoping someone might be able to help me with a part number.

The part is going to me something like this:


It fits on the impeller and then teh diffuser fits on to that.

Thanks

I'm trying to help out my mother with her pool. She has a Jandy RS system that must be from the late 90's or early 2000's. The last couple of years the system has been a flakey and needed to be reset often. The pool company wants $2222 to install JANDY RS 8 P & S CONTROL BOARD (R0468501) to fix the problem. First this price seems excessive, second couldn't I do this myself and third if I'm going to bother to spend that much shouldn't I go with the better version that can give me WIFI and app control?

What I was thinking of doing is getting the iQ30-RS instead which I think has the same parts as R0468501 plus the Wifi antenna and replacing it myself.

From everything I've read this shouldn't be too complicated but I' wanted to do a sanity check to make sure I've thought of everything.

Hey friends. One day my pool will truly be troublefree but for now (and the past 3 years) it has not been lol I say that because I already drained the pool last year and hoping not to do it again. Not even sure if I can do a partial drain with how hot it is here in Vegas now.

My current issue is I don’t think my SWG is reading the salt correctly. I know my salt is a little on the high side due to my husband adding too much last summer. I took some manual tests. Do we think the SWG is reading right based on the pics of my tests? I used two different tests.

Also see diagnostic and system info below
Salt 5600
Temp 84
Cell voltage 24.6
Cell current 6.92
Desired output 52%
Instant read -5400
AL-0
R 1.59
T-9

T cell 940 aquarite 900 Hayward about 3 years old

My pump #1 is a Aqua-Flo Flo-Master XP2 and it's leaking a small amount when it's running between the shaft of the motor and pump area.​

Is this something I can fix myself? Ideas?

--Doug

I've had a fun time with opening my pool for the summer. Lots of algae to begin with. Shocked with Cal-hypo shock from Costco and it cleared up. Water was very cloudy after and I finally ordered a Taylor phosphate test kit. Reading was almost 3000 ppb with the normal range being 100-125ppb. Used PR-10000 from amazon which helped clear it up quickly. Pool was still a little cloudy. I checked the FC and TC. FC was around 1.5ppm while TC was about 6ppm. No algae in the pool but I shocked with 5 pouches of Chlorox xtrablue for my 30,000gallon pool. While working through this I installed a WaterGuru Sense 2, which is pretty cool btw. I noticed after shocking the water is completely clear now. The FC never went up even after shocking. I've gone through about 8-10 3" pucks of Trichlor and the FC stays at about .9 and my CYA levels are very low and not coming up. My ph is low 6.9-7 but my alkalinity is incredibly high 678! I tried aerating the water and the next day the water was 7.9ph. and the TA went down to 355. I added only about 4 cups of muriatic acid and the pool dropped all the way to 7.2ph. But the TA shot back up to 675. Kept aerating the water and the ph for the last 6 days has been a flat line 7.2-7.0. TA for those 6 days went from 675 >420>407>473>460 and today after adding 3 gallons of Natural Chemistry Instant Conditioner, because my CYA was very low, it went back up to 584. Aerating seems to have no effect on lowering the TA or raising the ph. My cya is now at 37 so hopefully the FC will start to even out. Meanwhile the pool water is crystal clear. Should I be worried about the very high TA and if yes what else can I do besides keeping going with the aerating. If not should I just add some soda ash to get the ph up and just let the TA ride?

Hey all- quick question.

I took apart filter to clean cartridges ( Jandy ) and drained the water.

Since I put the drain plug back in, it leaks, regardless of how tight I hand tighten it.

There doesn’t appear to be an O Ring on the plug ( pics attached ). Not sure if there ever was one.. any guidance here to stop leak would be greatly appreciated!

I just returned from a 10-day vacation. Prior to leaving, I wanted to make sure that all my chemical levels were balanced - and I had everything clean and balanced. I tested the day before I left, and my CYA level was at 75. When I returned, my pool was green (now I get to SLAM!), chlorine was at 0 (and that is clearly why), and CYA was significantly below 30 (probably basically 0 - the lowest my tester will go is 30 - and the water was still clear enough for me to very clearly see the black dot at the bottom - it just looks like clear water).

Is it normal to lose 60+ ppm of CYA over the span of 10 days? The pool was unused the entire time we were gone, and the cover for it was closed. I don't have a leak or any significant water loss - the water level was basically the same when I returned - since it was covered, I didn't even lose much to evaporation.

I'm just wondering what can cause such a drastic drop of CYA (I had a similar situation a month ago when I left for another trip).

Hi - has anyone installed an in-line sight glass? I have a new filter and there is no sight glass on the valve.
I'm looking at the Hayward options (like Hayward 2 in. Socket Pool In-Line Sight Glass SP1074S - The Home Depot) , but it's not clear to me if the ID of the sight glass is the OD of the pipe, or if some other kind of connector is needed?

Thanks!