Is this normal? When I set it to backwash, I see water outside of the pool flowing into the pool. The water is dirty.

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Hi all, the readings on my filter gauge are turning on/off while the pump is running. The gauge readings are below 10 when the pump starts, then the gauge stops showing any readings. The control panel says lo flow and 0% chlorine production. What does this mean?

I asked for help with opening last year but I ended up using a pool company so I apologize if I'm asking the same question. I don't think I can screw up anything too badly with opening vs. closing but want to be sure I'm doing it right.

I had a pool company close my pool and they put plugs on the two returns and a gizmo in the skimmer. They blew the water out of the pipes before plugging. They also removed drain plugs from my cartridge filter and pump (and I think heater). I removed the pressure gauge and cartridge filters and stored inside.

My question is in what order do I remove the winter plugs? Do I remove the two return plugs first and then the gizmo or visa versa? Does it matter? Once they are removed, I have a good idea of how to put the other items back in the original spots.

Thanks!

Hello everyone! I'm a new member who lives in Alamogordo, NM. I just did my first pool test using the TFTestkit. The initial readings indicate I may need to completely drain and refill my pool. But I wanted to come here first and utilize your advice before the added expense of a refill.

I hope I am providing the needed info. I have a 12,000 gallon concrete non-salt pool. with a sand filter. Here are the readings:

• 6.5 FC, 1 CC, 7.5 TC
• 100+ CYA
• 8.2 Ph
• 280 TA
• 575 calcium hardness

Lowering CYA apparently requires some level of draining/diluting. The way I understand it, I might need to drain the pool for two reasons:

1. To lower/reset the CYA
2. It is generally recommended to refill a pool occasionally (3-5 years?), and the pool has not been refilled in at least the 7 years since I've owned it.

Thanks for your help,
Matt

I have a pool with an attached spa/hot tub and the system runs on the Pentair EasyTouch panel and I can control everything from the ScreenLogic app on my phone as well. This has been working great but when we have guests (either personal or from our AirBnB) they have to text me to turn things on such as the water heater, lights, air blower, etc. This is annoying for both myself and the guest so I'm looking for a way to give control for some things pool side.

I have been considering the Pentair iS4 remote as it seems like I can program in 4 things for guests to control and that's it. This would be the simpliest and easiest way to go about this. But since my pool is already built I don't have a spot where the remote would go directly into the pool wall or coping.

My thought is that I could build something close to the pool and then install the remote there. Our pool decking ends only a few feet from the spa so I could easily run conduit to that area for the remote and then build a pillar or something in that area and install the remote there. So it would be close and easily reachable by any guests and wouldn't require an expensive modification to the actual pool wall/coping.

Just curious if the community has any thoughts on this or if a different remote/controller would be a better solution? I know there are wireless controllers but they seem to have a lot more functionality built in and I would also be worried about guests loosing them or dropping them into the water. At the end of the day, I just want guests to be able to turn on/off a limited number of functions (lights, water heater, and the air blower) easily from the pool area without me having to get involved.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Hi guys. Getting a new liner this season. This kink has been in the wall by the skimmer for a few years. No issues with leaking or anything. Do you think this can be banged out with a mallet? Having someone come out to look at it this week for the liner replacement and wanted a few opinions.

What do I do? The instructions said it was not meant to drain. We installed per instructions but now there’s a LOT of water on top. It’s pool water mixed with precipitation. I’m skimming leaves out but no way I’ll be able to pump the water off. It will just drain the pool water. Do I just get as much leaves and debris off it and let the top water fall in when I remove it? I know I’ll have to work a bit harder to get it clear. I don’t know what we did wrong…

Wife and I just bought a house with a pool in Chandler Arizona, I intend to maintain the pool myself and have learned quite a bit from various sources. I figure at least 20% of it is correct! Weather is getting warm here so let the show begin.

This is a 15 year old unit. I'm getting 12.7v to the light but it dosent come on. This is after a lightning strike that took out several pieces of electronics at my home.

The circuit boards are secured to the circular copper plate. There is no way to get them off.

What are my options?
Can I stick any aftermarket LED board in there?
Do I need an exact replacement?

Hi,

I have a hayward H400FD. Once again spiders have clogged the orifices. I do not want to spent another $150 just to have someone clean them out, but I cannot figure out how to get to the orifices.
See attached picture.

I removed the 4 screws directly on the horizontal bar of the gas manifold, but it does not swing out as I expected it would.

The vertical connection is threaded, but I don't want to pull too hard because I am afraid I might break it.

How do I remove the gas manifold?

Thanks!
Juggernaut

I am doing a liner replacement on my pool. The builder built the bottom with concrete. It’s in great shape but I believe the previous liner had premature failure due to the roughness of the concrete surface. Are there any thoughts on how I can resolve this and give my new liner a better surface to rest on?

Can anyone tell me what this dark coloring is at the bottom and side wall of our spa?
SWG
Gunite pool w Florida Stucco Gemcoat
Color: Bone
14x42 size plus spa 8x10
Have had the same weekly maintence company since the pool was installed. They cannot definitely tell me what it is just that I should acid wash the entire pool and spa.
Have never owned a pool before….see photos
TIA

So I know GFCI are required for pool pumps, but we get frequent power off, and back on events. At least a few a month. The issue is, most times when power comes back on, my pump does not, because the gfci breaker trips. It happens with other breaker throughout the house too. I am more concerned with my pump not being on, when I am away. I am thinking of putting in a non gfci breaker. Yes, its breaking code, but I feel like a gfci breaker is a bit over the top, and obviously an issue where I live due to the frequent power outages. Thoughts? No, I wont sue you for advice....LOL

We've had a Polaris Quattro P40 for a few years now. All of a sudden the unit will no longer come out of the deep end and just turns in circles (turns to the right). It doesn't tip over, just turns. If we put the unit in the shallow end it goes straight back to the deep end with a few seconds. Nothing has changed - same pump, hose, etc. I double checked the wheel RPM and it's right at 32 RPM per minute and the hose is in good shape (no leaks, kinks, etc.).

Would appreciate any suggestions on next troubleshooting steps.

like the title says,
The pool was built in 2007 and I have made some upgrades since then, most notably a 2.7hp VS Jandy VSFloPro, and I converted my Aqualink RS (the one with the PDA) to an iAqualink 2.0 which is control thru the iaqualink app. The VS Pump is controlled by the controller and does not required the manual keypad that some pumps come with.

I would love to have a similar setup with a SWG that integrate with my current controller, I have seen somewhere in the setting an options for an aquapure setup sometime ago. my pool is about 15K Gallons, located in Central Florida. if possible I would like a SWG that could run with very minimum salt in the water . Not sure if this makes any difference but the pool is screened with an enclosure and is not heavily used.

What salt cell do you guys recommend? trying to avoid having to have a separate controller and would love for the install to be DIY friendly. Thank You

After testing my pool yesterday, the PH is looking like a 7.0. Its been hovering on the lower end (7.2ish) the last few weeks, but I'm always second guessing and maybe being a bit optimistic matching the colors up on the Taylor test kit, so it may have actually been closer to 7.0 all along.

Is it worth dumping in the recommended 3.5lbs of Borax, or should i give it a bit to see if it will naturally rise? I've got one jet that points towards the surface, and I run at 1400 RPM 24hrs a day. I don't have any bubblers or a waterfall to turn on to try more with the aeration method. There is some rain in the forecast, which I read helps aeration, and we just starting using it for the season this weekend so I can toss in a few cannonballs to encourage splashing.

I know 7.0 is considered borderline ok, but I just don't want to run into a situation where it starts to drop below that. All of my other measurements are below in case they're needed.

PH 7.0
FC 8ppm
TA 70ppm
CYA 60ppm (added dry stabilizer last week and rose from 40ppm, was trying for 70)
CH120ppm
Salt 3200ppm
Temp 80F

Thanks in advance!

My pool is leaking! I isolated the leak to one of the Microbrite LEDs, as it connects to the fitting. Here's a video:


My pool builder is ducking me so I'm just going to fix this myself.

I assume I need to buy the installation tool (I don't think I have it), unscrew the light, use plumber's tape around the threads and reinstall? Not sure if there is an O-ring back there but I can check that as well. I want to avoid draining the pool.

Any thoughts or advice before I get wet?

Retirement has come and the kid is off to college. Time for us to enjoy life!

A move (from NC) is in our near future and we’re considering when we want to go. Choice #1 is an area close to (1 mile?) or on the Gulf coast (maybe between Gulf Shores, AL and Panama City Beach, FL).

Priority is a neighborhood of “good people” who enjoy socializing - whether it’s in the backyard, culdesac, or neighborhood clubhouse.

Being around Pensacola, surely there are pockets of military retirees like us?

Price point under $400k’ish (depending on annual HOA or club dues).

Any suggestions of an area, city, town, neighborhood, to check out (or ones to avoid) appreciated!

My Intermatic P1353ME resets the clock on power loss (all other settings are retained). I talked to Intermatic and they said the battery was not replaceable.

I have not exposed they system board yet, but I cannot imagine that a suitable solder in replacement battery would not work.

Has anyone tried this?

Ps. Long time lurker...

Is a French drain needed under a Gravel base? Or under a base of crush and run? And is anyone creating a substantial perimeter i.e... 6x6 lumber to hold in the Gravel or crush and run base? Thank you

Hi all,

I live out in Medellin Colombia and have had a jacuzzi for a year. The jacuzzi is made out of fiberglass.

The manufacturer (who also does the maintenance) has always suggested I use chlorine tabs and a liquid PH raiser when needed.

I’ve noticed that the fiberglass shell has taken a beating and looks scuffed on certain locations.

I went to a local pool supply store and they said I shouldn’t be using the chlorine tabs. Instead, I should be using chlorine shock daily because it will evaporate and not damage the fiberglass shell.

I’m a bit lost at this point and hoping for some guidance.

Thanks in advance

Hi all,

My wife and I purchased a 1200L hot tub and spent the first few months going in with water samples to attempt to get the levels right. Out of frustration, we've since purchased a Taylor K1005 test kit and it is my hope that combined with the PoolMath app, we can get a handle on things and free ourselves of running into town to get things dialled in. The test strips we were using are just too vague for us, at least at this point in time.

With the Taylor Kit (first use this weekend), I got the following readings:

=====
Chlorine (used the 'half diluted' method):
Free: 2 ppm
Total: 3 ppm
Combined 1ppm (x2) = 2 ppm

PH: 7.6-7.7 ppm

Alkalinity: 3 drops of reagent x 10 = 30 ppm

Hardness: 20 drops of reagent x 10 = 200 ppm.
======

According to the app, we were to add 84g if Alka-rise, which we've done. I typically put 4 tabs of chlorine in the floater and open it up to about 1/8" exposed. I think all is looking good and just wanted some clarification on the 'Free Chlorine' tab in the app.

If I enter 2ppm in the first field 'Current Free Chlorine', is the CYA field necessary? Also, and this is my main question, what does one enter in the 'Target' Free Chlorine' field and how does 'SLAM' affect things? What should be entered in the input field beside the 'Slam' option (and should that be checked)?

Our weekly basic schedule for chemicals has been:

• Test and adjust pH / alkalinity as needed (we add the chemicals dry to the surface of the water with main jets off, circulation pumps on and cover off), wait 20 minutes.
• Add 1 oz 'Prevent' (anti fungicide), wait 20 minutes, cover off
• Add 1 oz spa-shock (sprinkle over the surface of the water) and wait 20 minutes, cover off
• Add 6 oz Aqua Finesse (not sure if this is necessary. The dealer recommended it but it's pricey).

Thanks in advance.
-Mike

I have a pool spa combo, that had two cracks in it, I had the pool refinished with Pebble sheen and I had the cracks repaired carbon fiber stitches, v-cut, epoxy, and hydraulic cement. Now 5 months later I see a crack forming again where one of the old cracks were very unfortunate and I'm very disappointed, I put a lot of money into this and apparently I need to take a new approach. Any advice on what I should do now?

Is there a calculator that can be used to figure out how much salt will be generated by the SWG per day

Just uncovered the pool. It's going to be 88F here today and pool is at 62F.
Noticed a good growth of green algae starting.

Pool guys are coming to get it started next week but I was curious if it made sense to throw a gallon or two of bleach in now while i brush the algae etc to prevent further growth?

FC is currently 0
and I'd assume I have zero CYA at this time

Hello, I am totally new to pool ownership and am eager to learn. We have a 28k gal. SWG pool and I’d like to get off to the correct start. We are working with a local pool company and have purchased all the required chemicals. Have one “pool school” under my belt but still realize I have a lot to learn. Pool was just opened and It looks really clear/clean. Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated. Cheers, Wolf

My intellicenter came with a high powered wireless link (Pentair IntelliCenter High Powered Wireless Kit) that I don't need. I hardwired my intellicenter.

I have a friend who has an older EasyTouch with load center. Could the HPWL be used to connect his system to the internet and hence the Pentair app? In the manual for the HPWL, there is mention of the screenlogic interface adapter. Is that needed to get his system pentair app access? Or is the only way for his system to work with the pentair app is to upgrade to intellicenter?

Hello all! I am trouble shooting an issue with my Hayward sand filter. Pool was installed in the fall. Opening from winter went smooth. Typical PSI is 10. All of a sudden filter pressure will drop from 10 to around 7. No clogs in skimmer, good suction from both side ( I close one side with the Jandy Valve and have no issues vacuuming from either side) good flow from the returns. SWG has no air bubbles. Pump basket has a few tiny air bubbles but is filled to the top. I have backwashed with the valve open and with each side turned off. No main drain. When I backwash pressure returns to 10 but slowly drops to 6-7. There are no visible leaks or bubbles anywhere. Water is clean and filtered. I did notice a small amount of sand under the pump basket today when I cleaned it out. I have also checked to make sure the impeller is not clogged. Any other ideas on what could be causing the low pressure??

Howdy all, I finally came around to replastering my pool in ground 10k gallon with quartzite.

I’ve been following TFP tips on startup brushing twice daily and chasing that TA/Ph numbers. I’m also slowly raising my calcium hardness using the sock method. I’m having a little trouble with the CYA as I’ve read some conflicting info here.

What’s the best way to raise my CYA? It’s been about a week and it’s still 0. I have a tab chlorinator that I use when I’m on vacation but I typically of course use liquid chlorine. I turned on my chlorinator to get a little cya out of the tabs but I think that’s likely to take weeks if not longer. I read here that you can use dichloro-s to get cya but isn’t that pool shock which I also read here not to use for 30 days? Thanks for any tips.

Hi, new pool owner. Was checking our skimmer to see if it has a flap thing because leaves come out of the skimmer when the pump turns off. No flap but saw this view looking from pool in towards the skimmer. I read somewhere that water should be halfway up the pool wall skimmer opening, but looking at how short the inner opening is, wouldn't that restrict the flow?

Also I'm assuming that gap above the horizontal top plastic part of skimmer should be sealed?

I've found "interesting" DIY work done on this house, so looking for a sanity check on if this skimmer was installed properly. The numbers "8650-17" are printed on bottom of skimmer. Many thanks.