Greetings,

I've read several posts on here regarding this subject. Tried everything suggested. Wanted to toss out an extra detail to my situation to see if it sparked anything new. I had the 1HP motor go out of my 5 yo Super Pump. Bearings I presume. Was not leaking a single bit. I bought a new 1HP Century motor and "go kit" to replace it. Watched a few dozen youtube videos to see the process. Took everything apart and found that the motor plate (extra detail mentioned above) was melted to the motor. Full on deformation. Had to use a hammer to knock it off. So I bought a replacement motor plate off that jungle website, 1 day delivery of course. It seemed as though it was the same as the old one. Put everything back together, new motor plate, old seal plate, old impeller, new seals all around. Fired it up and everything seemed fine. Came back out the following morning to a puddle under the pump. Flashlight and inspection mirror showed it leaking out the hole at the motor plate. I've disassembled and reassembled the whole mess now about 6 times. Also bought and replaced the shaft seal again. Still leaking. Any thoughts? Is it possible that the new motor plate and old seal plate aren't jiving enough to allow that ceramic seal to do it's job? I'm willing to buy a new "drive train" if that's what's needed but man, I'd like to avoid the cost if it's something else. Thanks.

1. On the first of each month, a contest "theme" will be announced (i.e. water clarity, family fun, decking, custom features, lighting, scenery, etc)
2. Members have 10 days to UPLOAD ONE image for consideration; Photo must be related to the thread titled theme for that month.
3. Per general TFP rules, nothing profane, political, or insulting.
4. The first 10 days is the submission period. Posts are limited to ONE image ONLY. No discussion posts yet. This will make viewing much easier for all.
5. Days 11 - 15 the thread will be locked and is for voting only. No more uploads. Viewers now have a final opportunity to vote (or modify their selection) for their favorite upload.
6. Members are encouraged to use an emotion icon ("Like" or "Love") to vote for their favorite upload; it will be tough, but select only one favorite.
7. On day 16, emotion Likes/Loves will be tallied for a winner. In the event of a tie, we will create a poll on the thread to make a final selection.
8. Once a winner is announced, the thread will be unlocked and comments/discussions are welcomed. Winner and nominees can tell us all about their pool/photo/event.
9. A member can only be selected as winner once per calendar year.
10. Winner will receive a $50 gift certificate from tstestkits.net! Oh, and maybe some bragging rights.

Let's see those toys. Have fun and good luck to those who apply!

I made the switch last weekend from liquid chlorine to SWG and am confused at the lack of results. I am still running tests, so this post may be premature, but hoping to get insight.

I oversized the SWG considerably, Circupool Universal 55 for a 16,500 gallon pool. SWG should generate 2.9lbs/day per the circupool website (this model is not yet in Pool Math app), which in Pool Math should raise my FC by 21 over a 24 hour period and I am not getting anywhere close to that. I performed an OCLT and lost 1PPM and my CC was .5...so not perfect, but technically passing. Last night I left the SWG on to do what I am calling an Overnight Chlorine Gain Test "OCGT" to take the sun out of the equation and my FC only rose 2.5ppm. If I account for the 1PPM loss the night before that is a total gain of 3.5PPM. Per the effects of adding calculator, I should have gained 8ppm over that time period.

Pool Chemistry
FC - 9.5 as of this morning after 2.5 overnight gain
CC - .5
PH - 7.6
TA - 70
CH - 375
CYA - 30 (I know this is low, but don't want to raise just yet if I need to SLAM)
SALT - 3400
Pump Run Time - 23 hours at 1500RPM and 1 hour at 2600 RPM
SWG % - I have been running 24 hours during these tests, mostly at 100%
Pool is crystal clear and has been, no cloudiness whatsoever

Notes/Questions:
1. I know I need to raise CYA, but have been hesitant in case I need to SLAM or do something else. I would think the Overnight gain test would eliminate the sun factor in the equation, but could be wrong.
2. Is SWG cholorine somehow just different than LC in that it dissipates more easily? I wouldn't think so, but if the SWG can generate at even 1/2 the levels advertised I should be seeing major gains should I not? What could consume that much Chlorine?
3. Is there something potentially wrong with my cell?
4. Am I just not understanding how SWG's work and had I run the cell at 30% last night I would have seen the same results?

Background
Bought a new house in late February with a pool. It's ~24k gallons (napkin math) bean shape in ground. One skimmer basket and a main drain, single speed pump, no way of controlling the flow between the main drain and skimmer that we can tell. My wife and I travel a lot in the summer so we kept the pool service the last owners had with the intentions of taking over maintenance this fall.

What happened
Last week we were out of town. Pool cleaner finds our skimmer basket is broken, leaves it on our patio, doesn't tell us or turn off our the pump. Leaves the basket weight in the skimmer well, this blocks the intake port and pump runs its schedule like this for at least a few days.

When we get home we find what the pool guy has done. The pump is overheating and powering off, the filter pressure is ~8 PSI and the norm was like 20-30 before. From everything I read online 20-30 is actually too high, but that's what the pool guy said was normal so I have no idea if that was even a good thing. It looks like the main drain is clogged. Water flow into the pool is really good despite all this.

What We've Tried
We replaced the skimmer basket ASAP and popped the cover off the main drain at the bottom of the pool and cleaned around it. We tried a bladder jet from the pump side while holding something over the skimmer intake & it forced the skimmer intake open. We tried a bladder jet by the skimmer intake while holding something over the pump side and it forced it open. We tried a bladder jet from the main drain and it popped the bladder jet out and got no where. I ran an auger into the main drain from the bottom of the pool. It got a long ways until it hit an elbow, but didn't seem to have any clogs. The direction of the main drain is directly towards both the skimmer basket and the pump pad. The length the auger went into the main drain seemed to be a few feet longer than the length to the skimmer basket, but not long enough to get to the pump pad. given how roughly we measured this, I think there is a possibility the closed port in the skimmer basket could be the main drain itself and I'm just completely off in thinking the main drain actually worked. Cleaned the filter twice just to be sure. Not sure what to do next, wondering if the pump is just on its way out.

Extras
Also not having a diverter or valves to control the flow is making this relatively difficult at times. If anyone has recommendations or experience in dealing with things like this without those useful things I'm all ears.

Any thoughts from this community would be greatly appreciated, I'm relatively new to this and being a new home owner and generally a fast learner, I'm trying to handle it the best I can before calling in the professionals. I'm beginning not to trust service people with some of the poor work I've found and having some contractors try to squeeze us for things we don't need, so unless it requires electrical work I'm uncomfortable with, I'm mostly willing to do it on my own. I've generally seen what goes into replacing the pump, and our current pump isn't even bonded, so I'm pretty sure I can replace it on my own and it'd end up safer than it is right now...

If you made it this far, I really appreciate your time. I've put in hours reading online, so if I missed some post that goes over things I should be doing I apologize in advance, I just couldn't find it.

I have always drained my filter and pump and stored in my shed for the "Massachusetts" winter. But, lugging the filter in is sometimes a pain, and risk breaking something. I just bought a new Haywood S210 sand filter.
Any suggestions on either keeping it out and covering or lugging it back in the shed?
Thanks
Barry

I just tested my water in preparation for closing and discovered that it is only around 100. The manufacturer of my older fiberglass pool recommends a minimum level of 200. Since the pool is going to be covered with a mesh cover for the next 7 months and the water level will be below the tiles all winter, do I need to add 18 pounds of calcium to the water to increase it to 200? Would I be putting my gelcoat at risk if I closed with calcium at 100 since we normally open up to some algae and lots of leaves in our pool? If I need to add calcium, I could use some advice on how to get it to dissolve in colder water and how much to add at one time, since I had difficulty getting it to dissolve in the past. I know from experience that calcium gets quite hot when added to water, so I'm not sure I feel comfortable with dissolving it in a bucket of water and pouring it into the pool.

They stopped offering retail drive up service in December 2022 and referred me to a place in Kingwood (long drive for me). Any other sources from North to West Houston?

If you have the IntelliCenter will that control the IntelliChem acid tank with pump or do you still need the IntelliChem Chemical Controller?

My 1.0HP century/A.O. Smith pool motor has recently started randomly tripping the circuit.

I have a 20amp circuit, but I also tried it on a separate 15amp circuit with a GFCI, regardless of which one it randomly trips the circuit, happened once yesterday, then ran fine all night. Today when my plug in timer turned on, motor tripped breaker immediately.

Through my testing, sometimes it happens as soon as the motor turns on, sometimes it runs for a bit, then shuts off, no blockages to be seen, just stops randomly.

I eliminated the timer from the equation and it still occurs. The motor is a little over a year old, purchased in march 2022:


Bad capacitor maybe? The motor draws 11amps.

Hello everyone,

We had a Generac whole-home generator installed today, at least the first phase of it. And, as it seems is always the case, the installation of one thing broke something else. Our Hayward H500FDN pool heater has stopped igniting.

The generator plumbers reconfigured the gas meter a bit to make a new run for the generator. Part of this reconfiguration was installing regulators on the gas lines running to the house and to the pool heater. My understanding is that this is because they will be asking the gas company to increase the overall pressure or flow of the gas meter to accommodate the generator, and they don't want to overdo it on the gas running into the house and to the pool heater.

In theory, it seems this should be fine, even now before the gas company has made this change. The regulators should allow the right amount of gas through now and also if the pressure increases keep the gas pressure at the right level.

But I can't help but think the installation of that regulator on the line to the Hayward has to be causing this issue. The generator company says nothing has changed as far as gas delivery and that it probably just the heater went bad. I find it hard to believe the heater went bad at exactly the same time they made this change.

Anyway, they are sending their plumber back out tomorrow afternoon. I am wondering if anyone has any advice on how I could guide this process. What should they be doing to make sure the gas delivery is right for the heater now and once the gas company increases flow? I would think they should know this but I don't think they are specialists in the pool heaters.

Any help is appreciated.

Hi, I am prepping my pool for closure and shocked yesterday. Shortly after, these black stains appeared. It’s been over 24 hours and they are still there. I recall this happened, not as badly, last time I had to use shock at opening but it went away within a day. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Our pool came with a mesh safety cover and one of those mesh mate floating and covers as well. Our pool guy said the mesh mate was a pain I'm sure because it was just an extra step but when we did use it I felt the pool did open clearer. We typically close end of September and open end of April, which I know is part of the problem as we are here in New York and tend to have Indian Summers in the fall and spring has been getting hotter earlier. Two years ago we upgraded to What we were told was the better of the loop lock covers (extreme) as it was supposed to block more sunlight. I believe that was BS, as we stopped using the mesh mate because we thought the cover would be better now and the last two years we have opened to a swamp. Now I'm trying to find a new mesh meat cover and can't seem to find one I'm wondering if I should not even bother and just deal with slamming the pool and taking a week to clear it. Anybody else here have a loop lock extreme and feel that they upgraded and it was a waste of money?

Hello,

So I ordered a test kit from the test kit ordering site, and I see the pending charge to my credit card I used, but I can't log in to check status of order, it says my email and password don't match, even though I know they do, but I still clicked forgot password, and im not receiving a password reset email. I also tried to go through setup new account, in case I never did that, and it said my email is already in use. Any body have this issue? Does it take a long time to get the forgot password emails? TIA!

Is there such thing?
We're thinking of "retiring" our pool. We don't want to get rid of it, but we also don't want to keep maintaining it as it costs money and because no one is using it any longer (sad).
How would we do such thing?

Hi, tldr; i screwed up.

We dug the shelf that supports the wall frame for my in-ground pool too deep at one end of the pool. Shallow end is correct, but tapers down by 4 1/2" at the deep end. I was thinking i'd build it back up to the correct elevation using crushed stone and a layer of concrete (there's some undercut below the wall i have to deal with). Question is, can i just level the low end, or should i dig down the correct end as well to get a consistent substrate all the way around the pool. Not sure if ground settlement under the wall is a risk - i.e., it's not like a normal foundation that has to bear high load.
thanks,
steph

So,im no expert but i feel our current pool has come to the end of its life lol ,well the frame has anyway..
I have a replacement frame waiting for the next season..
My question is, where it had rusted the most (is where the deck is,,and where the kids been getting in and out...) wouldn't getting somthing like a top cap, or maybe a over sized pool noodle to go around that top frame, help with the deterioration of the rust from the pool water?

Customer doing a full chip out and wants to update pool lighting. What are the pros and cons to microbrite and globrite. This is for a non automation setup. Thanks in advance,
Allan

I have a Pentair Easy Touch controller and a Pentair Mastertemp 250 gas heater. Everything had previously worked fine, however I went to turn the heater on recently and got nothing at the heater panel.

Tracing it back, it looks like the issue may be at the Easy Touch Controller, as there is no low voltage output at the terminals regardless of whether the controller is in heater mode or off. Everything else is working fine.

Is there a relay or fuse specifically for the heater, or could it be that the programming got screwed up somehow? All the relays appear to be on.

I've been trying to decide what robotic pool cleaner to get. I've never had one. I'm kind of over fighting with the booster pump thing and ready to move on from it.

I've narrowed it down to the Dolphin E20 or E30. My pool's measurements are about 32 or 33 feet in length and about 12 or 13 feet in width. So I'm right at the cut off point for the E20.

I've read so many good reviews about the E20 but there's not much out there about the E30. Maytronics has a good run down on the E30 but I'm looking for reliability. I do not plan to leave the robot in the pool when it's not running. I don't see the advantages of having Wi-Fi except when you're leaving it in the pool. I could be totally wrong but I can't find the purpose.

I would just like the cleaner to be reliable. I get a good bit of leaves in the fall. The E30 basket is larger but I cannot find how much larger. Also, there is a $500 price difference. I'm willing to pay a little extra if the product is worth it but I'm at a loss right now on what's extremely important for a robot. I see the E30 gets the waterline and the E20 does not. Is getting the waterline extremely important?

Some of these pools look TFP clear, some pools have water that looks murky and questionable.

My gauge lasts a year when the window is so damaged by the sun/uv/wind that it is hard to read the pressure. I know the are not very expensive, but wondering the pro's and con's about doing something like slipping a small portion of pvc to protect the front.

I wondered if that might trap too much heat. I could drill a number of holes to allow air to flow.

Thoughts?

I'm in SC. Greenville, specifically. And every year I face the same problem. Walmart is essentially the only place I can get bleach. Both home improvement stores- HD and Lowes have gone literally insane with their pricing the past 2 years. They now want 9$ for a single gallon of bleach. The problem is with Walmart's seasonal stocking. The instant Labor day hits, all of the bleach is whisked away and the Fall and Christmas stuff is put in its place. If I had any sense, I'd stock up with 20 or so gallons while they have it available, but alas I am not a smart man.

Out of necessity, I've been using algaecide from an outlet store since its the cheapest thing available locally. I have not tried local pool stores yet.

Hi all, I've read a few things on calcium scale, but as always wanted to have a conversation before taking action. When I bought my pool the chemistry was off, and we had a bunch of scale at the bottom of the pool (picture below). I have a pumice stone, but I've found that it barely makes a dent in most of these, and it would take me 10 years to actually scratch each one off. Aside from a full drain, is there anything that can be done?

Looking for some input on after market salt cells to replace my 10 year old Hayward T-15. Are there any that stand out as being as good or close to the Hayward brand? The Hayward T-15 is pricey compared to most aftermarket units, but then again is it a case of you get what you pay for. Need some help from the forum. I see where many units are plug and play which is a plus.

Thank you to TFP and everyone whose posts have helped me navigate this full pool season. What a wonderful season.

I was using a gfci 15 amp breaker for the system and it kept tripping. I changed it to non gfi and it started up just fine. Anyone know why that may be?

Hi all, We just had our Pebble Tec plaster done today. The crew arrived this morning at 6:30 am and was finished by noon. I noticed as the plaster was staring to dry that there was an area that didn't seem to want to dry. I noticed the spot at 1:30 and it is still there and it is 10:50pm. There was no sign of leak in the gunite before the plaster was installed. I'm truly baffled and hoping someone has an explanation. Of course I will be speaking to my PM on Monday about this. Thank you.

what is the recommended water temperature to close at (i forgot)

Howdy! I have an Easytouch panel without the app so the interface is challenging. I have a Pentair Mastertemp Heater hooked up to the control panel.

Right now, I have a daily schedule where the pool pump runs 10 hours over night without the pump.

I have a new situation where I need the pool to be 77 degrees by 9am on M-F. This is only 2 degrees warmer than current temp without any heat.

How should I adjust my schedules to get the heater to engage for just a few hours before 9am? I don’t want heater to run all night.

Is it possible to have one pool schedule with Heater On, and one pool schedule with Heater Off?

Thanks!