Hi all. New member signing in and doing the routine "introduce yourself" thing.

I'm Dave, and we've recently bought a house that contains a swimming pool. Hence my interest in your place here. I live in Western Australia (near the capital Perth) - but I'm sure pool water, algae, salt and chlorine work here pretty much the same as they do elsewhere in the world

Somewhere over 40 years ago, in my teens (yeah - I'm old), I looked after my parents pool, but things then were not as well understood as they are now. Since then I've had no other experience with pools until about 12 months ago when we shifted here - and my ... education commenced!

I inherited a older pool here. Our best guess is maybe 15 to 20 years old and it's had several owners each putting their touches on things (for the pool, it's equipment as well as elsewhere around the house). We've put in a salt water chlorine generator, replaced the aging single speed pump with a variable speed unit and I am coming to terms with the basics of keeping the water looking decent ( ~ish *grin*). Mostly, I've managed to keep the pool swim able thro last summer - perhaps with the aid of some luck - but there is clearly still much to learn.

A bit of a look around this site was certainly educational. I downloaded the Pool Math app, only to find it was suggesting I need a login to this place ... so I thought I'd complete that deal and say hello. So - hello all !

I was searching on this website if there are any problems with an automatic vinyl cover and having high FC. This is our first year with our pool and auto cover, reading several articles online, I found there "could" be some damage to the vinyl cover with high FC. Although I couldn't actually find what "HIGH FC" meant, I believe high FC might be over 10 or near Slam FC. For those with an auto cover for several years, I wondered if you noticed anything in your vinyl. Thanks,

We suspected a leak from having to add water more often, but now I'm fairly certain of it. The June->July bill went from 10 CCF last year to 20 CCF this year. Our often suspected spot is the skimmer, so I turned off the pump and dropped some egg-coloring solution into it (these are the tablets that get dissolved in water/vinegar to paint Easter eggs), but I saw it go nowhere except to just spread out. I will try with a dropped later and drop the paint closer to the corners of the skimmer intake.

What sort of other troubleshooting can I do? Only other thing I can mention is regarding pump priming. Pump is on a timer and shuts off and turns on multiple times a day. I have not come across the pump this year and found it not primed. The pump always seems to be flooded.

Found this site about three months ago and WOW! Lot's of very good information here. I live in SouthEast Texas and just wanted to thanks you guys for putting all this info together for people

Hello,
We had a pool built this year & it's been running for about 3 months now. I've had a few questions, issues & found this group helpful multiple times (just searching the internet) therefore I figured it was time to join.
- Culler

I just had a new Doughboy pool installed. The liner is folded at the top of the return. The fold is about 3 inches long and extends out about 1 inch from the wall. The installer refuses to fix it because he claims he would have to replace the liner. He also claims it won’t cause any problems. My question is when the pool is winterized will damage occur to the liner from ice?

I trying to change the valve check assembly on my Hayward de ec65 filter so I’m told I have to slide out the elbow inside the filter In order to remove the check valve from the inside but the elbow is stuck from the de over the years it won’t budge at all

I am getting a Low Salt Level warnings on my Hayward T-15 SWG. It is producing chlorine. Salt test with Taylor kit and pool store at 3400. My Hayward Goldline Aqua Pod shows a 2500 reading. What can I test to see if it is the flow switch or the SWG? Thank you in advance for your help and thoughts.

I've read some of the older inactive threads that seemed to be similar issue. Tried those suggestions to no avail.
I have a Jandy (Zodiac) Aquapure ei SWG and I'm getting the No flow error, which causes it to not generate chlorine.
I have plenty of flow at the return jets.
I have replaced the Flow sensor - It didn't come with a small PCB, as I've seen others mention...
The Flow sensor did not fix the issue.
I have also cleaned my salt cell with the muratic acid mixture.
I have tried the hard reset via the hidden button to no avail.
My chlorine level is in the high 4000's and it's in the upper 80-90 degree temp.

I'm now adding chlorine manually to control my algae issue.
I'm finding it very hard to get any pool repair company to return my calls, even the company that installed this SWG.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Installed this last month (my first pump replacement as a pool owner. Worked fine for what i guess was 1-2 weeks. For those unfamiliar, you need to stop the motor with the 'stop' button to program or adjust the pump schedule. This i was able to do early on. Now the stop button does nothing. I press it, i hold it. Nothing. Anyone experience this?

I did find this on the web (from a different suppliers website).


Wanted to ask around before i reach out to my supplier.

Thanks

I need a new liner, but that's a project for next year.

I'm trying to find a serious leak. 33,000 gal 40x20 in-ground pool, vinyl liner. The leak is 70-100 gallons per hour, 2 inches per day, with the pump on or off, and the pump valves open or closed. The pool will drain itself below the vacuum suction and returns, and to the middle of the lights at a fairly constant rate over several days. It may have kept going down, but I stopped that test because I didn't want to leave less than a foot of water in the shallow end. I've been dye-testing every fixture and potential leak spot I can find. Already removed the main drain cover and both light inserts. No luck with dye anywhere yet. it's an old pool - no recirc line from the main drain to a skimmer or pump.

What I did find is a split in the liner on the slope between the shallow and deep end. A foot long and up to a quarter-inch wide. Found it because my vacuum brush really pulled hard when I touched it. I was ecstatic as I thought I had found the leak and could just tape it up until next year. However.... try as I might from less than an inch away, dye will not flow into it.

A question for anyone who has seen a tear in a liner on the pool floor... Does the weight of the water on the surrounding vinyl create a seal so that water does not flow through the tear? Thanks in advance.

I replaced the circuit board to fix my problem with temp reading, but now the heater will not ignite. The igniter has a ohm reading of 130. It cycles thru 3 or 4 times then the error message. The ignition module has no flashing led and was replaced 4 years ago. Last time I had this problem the module was replaced.

Getting close to signing a contract anyone have experience with these? Realistically what’s the drop in water temp. Being in AZ I really don’t want 93 degree pool water in the summer, 82-85 would be nice when it’s 115 outside. Any issues with these things? Just trying to decide is the builder is sellin make oil, lol

Is it even possible? If so, in what screen? It looks like the only way might be to connect to the pump's wifi and use the Pentair Home app.

So we are embarking on our second pool build. Prior pool was 11k gallons, with spa, 2.5” returns, 3” suction, Jandy 2.7hp VS pump.

We are only doing a pool this time, but will have 2 24” sheer decent water features on the back wall.
the pool will be 17,500 gallons, 2” return, 2.5” suction.

the pump they are quoting is the Hayward Tristar 900vs, 1.85HP, flow rate of 113GPM, assume this is max.

my calculations tell me with the size of my pool 36gpm of flow will circulate the entire pool in 8 hours. What kind of load will the water features add?

The larger 2.7 HP pump is $500 more, is this needed with no spa?

thx

As a matter of interest, is it possible to access the IntelliCenter using the Modbus protocol? And if so, does anyone have a Modbus map for the IntelliCenter?

Two Taylor 2006C samples taken 8hrs apart showed increase in FC and pH.

The night before it rained/stormed all night. I cleared debris and baskets and tested the water.
The FC 0.8 and pH 7.0 were low.
I was about to add both Pool bleach (2 gal) and increase the pH, however, I waited and did more pool cleaning, including 2.5hr Dolphin floor cleaning.

I retested the water and to my surprise the FC increase from 0.8 to 1.4 and the pH also increased from 7.0 to 7.6
Is this a meaningful increase, not quite 1 log difference?

I have mostly needed to add just Pool Bleach to keep the pool clear, and have found variation in pH go away over time or due to rain, as well as most of the other test values, with the exception of CYA which keeps bordering near 80.
Had I adjusted the pH in the morning, I probably would have surpassed the upper limit...when I retested it later in the day.

QUESTION: Is this normal behavior to see changes in retested levels, and likely why I read to add only 50% of the suggested correction amount and re-test?

7AM: Cleared debris, emptied the return baskets
8AM: FC 0.8, pH 7.0, TA 80, CH 360, CYA 60

1PM: Ran the Dolphin 2.5hrs to clear the floor, backwash/rinse
4PM: FC 1.4, pH 7.6, TA 80, CH 350, CYA 60

Thanks, Carlos

I can’t believe the hard sell on the ozone UV vs Salt. I am told the water is so hard in AZ and the salt will make the tile covered in calcium. It will eat up my travertine deck. They said if I do salt there is no warranty on the travertine, although, I am not really sure what there is to go wrong with travertine?

I just can’t figure why they push it so hard?

I had a salt cell in my last pool, had to replace the cell about every 2 years at about $800 a pop.

decisions

Leaking to waste, ran it for a couple hours yesterday, water dropped about 7 inches.
Quoted as $475 for a replacement valve.
I would rather attempt to repair, but not having any luck finding disassembly instruction. This valve does not have screws attaching the top to the body, there is a plastic pin, removed that, attempted to persuade it in counter clock wise direction, and clockwise, no movement at all.
Anybody have insite into removing the top?
Thanks

Hello,

I have a pool that needs to have re-grouting between flagstone pieces, as well as new mastic. Can someone please help me understand what type of grout to buy (it's a beige/brown flagstone) and mastic. I see there is mastic that looks rubbery, as well as sand/textured.

I have no idea what product to use or how to apply it, but know I can't keep sinking $'s in to the repairs on this inground pool so have to take it on myself.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! Your advice/suggestings/links are so appreciated.

Hi I had a cloudy pool and tried everything I swear! Here it was a type of algae, This is how I finally got rid of it!
1. Shocked it with Clorox extra Blue shock which was recommended for that type of algae, I was using hth. I had to shock it twice, after the sun went down of course.
2. Used a new cartridge filter everyday for 4 days because rinsing off and reusing a filter was just keeping the algae in the water system.
3. Rinsing my skimmer every 2 hours for the best flow.
4. Actually had to disinfect and scrub my pool cover both sides with clorox spay so I didn't reinfect my water.
It cleared up in 4 days after doing all this, after having a cloudy pool for 2 weeks and trying everything!

Moved from here.

I know most people on here don't like the 3" puck chlorinators because of CYA buildup, and I understand that. But I've got 3 under 3, travel frequently for work, and it rains enough in Houston that generally the dilution will keep CYA below 100.

ANYWAYS, I just retrofitted my Hayward Tristar with a Century VS motor and did some testing on power consumption/flow rates at various RPMs. I noticed that my chlorinator will not have any inlet flow when the total pump flow rate is lower than 55GPM (I have a Blue-White flowmeter installed). I'd preferably like to run most of the day in the 30 GPM range for the energy consumption savings, but obviously I need to get chlorine in my pool too! Is there a way I can get water to run through it at a lower total pump flow rate? Move it from top feed to bottom feed? (I think this will help, but will then only over the tablet at the bottom)? Switch to offline chlorinator?

Not looking for a lecture on why this is perfect example of why I should switch to liquid chlorine. Ain't happening anytime soon. TIA

Purchased a Dolphin Premier and it's going back. It refuses to climb the walls on my pool. I have a new pool with pebble tec. There is no algae and I brush regularly. It only climbs the wall every 10 or so passes. The other times it goes 2 feet up and stops. I've messed with the floats and that doesn't make a difference. I finally called support today and they suggested I return it.

What should I try next? I am looking at the dolphin nautilas pro.

I would like something that will climb the walls and hopefully do waterline cleaning.

I screwed up and added too much salt to my pool. Got some algae in the pool and tested the chlorine level and it was at 4. My AquaRite said my salt level was at 1900 so I added a bag of salt. My bad for not using my salt test kit to confirm the level but I was tired and getting ready for bed. Well now it's reading over 5000 and I realized the difference in readings is because my salt cell is dead. 5 years old so I'll be replacing it.
Will the high salt level damage the new cell when I install it tomorrow? Should I drain some of the water and refill to dilute? I already feel like a total idiot for not confirming the salt level before adding more salt so please be kind lol.

Here we go! I understand silver isn’t oxidizer and the kill time historically has been reported as being way too slow. However, America Society for Microbiology says otherwise (link below) and hospitals are having beds, linens and serving trays infused with copper and/or silver to combat things bleach aren’t killing and infection rates are out of control. I am going to start with silver because of all of the complaints about Copper based pool products in TFP posts but I also have Copper Sulfate on hand to add.

“copper hospital beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) harbored an average of 95 percent fewer bacteria than conventional hospital beds” Copper Hospital Beds Kill Bacteria, Save Lives

If there are any open minded people that want to weigh in and help me with my experiment, I welcome your constructive advice. I have shock on hand and will start to SLAM if it is heading that direction.

I know of people who have done this for several years and they were even surprised it didn’t get slimy or turn green.

It’s not going to turn me blue, that’s only happened 15 times ever. The people that have turned blue used silver that was black. Silver is sticky and the longer it’s brewed the particles stick together and make it darker. I am using 10 ppm so it’s perfectly clear and particles are small. According to people who currently use this method, the particles stick to biologicals and lotions to be trapped in the filter.

2,000 Gallon Jacuzzi J-16 PowerPro with Clearray UV-C with ozone.

Starting Plan
5 ppm Bors (Boric Acid)
TA will be adjusted to 70-80
CYA normal TFP level
2 Gallons of Colloidal silver

Weekly Maintenance
1 Gallon of Colloidal Silver
adjusting PH as needed (borax & MA)

Possible additions of Copper Sulphate, DE or charcoal filter.

Someone recently tried to make yogurt from a recipe she added CS to and the yogurt wouldn’t grow... so it worked fast enough to keep it from growing. It’s not the perfect test but it’s enough for me to try.

I was most inspired to try this after recently hearing of someone’s first hand story as missionary in India and using a colloidal silver maker on Ganges River water and brewed to 10 ppm... and people are drinking it and not getting sick. Maybe it was the electric current running through the silver rods in the water or maybe it was just the silver?

Since my pool is getting so hot, I searched threads for awhile and didn't see much of anything talking about attaching to Intex without a trip to home depot to rig together a connection.

I found one on Amazon that fits both standard threads and also includes an adapter for Intex fittings. The product description was a little vague since it didn't use the name Intex. However, it worked perfectly and took less than 5 min to install.

It, plus another mod, has dropped the pool temp from 92 to 84. It took running the pump 24x7 for 3 days to get there. Each day the morning and afternoon Temps dropped a couple degrees.

BYW, the actual Temps here are 100 and feels like is 110.

Hi Everyone

Does anyone have any suggestions a tool I can use to get this rock out of my skimmer?The other thing you see is a screw driver I tried to use to pry it out but that didn’t work now I am just using it to hopefully hold the rock in place.
Thanks

IC40 lights are not on. I tested the power center on the AC side. All the way to the PCB I have power. The green LED is not lit. This is the second time the board will have gone bad and they are not giving the boards away, if you know what I mean. Can I just power the IC40 with and converter. It's 400 watts @ 24 VDC. The output to the IC40 is 200 watts, 24 to 39 VDC. Also what is the D- and D+ wires used for? I know they are data wires, but what data. Thanks!

Does the site, or should the site, have a list of known issues with various products? I can understand mechanical products (motors) not having a "defect list" per-se, but now with automation, and software, and apps, there are plenty of defects to list, report and track.
And this might be the beginning of using the influence of the community to effect change at the corporate level, with the intent of generating better-quality pool products.

I'm a clutz and dropped my Aquabug next to the pool. The leading wheel broke off. The axle broke off but the wheel is fine. Anyone have a replacement source for the little white axle thingie other than the super expensive wheel replacement kits? I have wheels that work fine just broke one of the axles.

Thanks for any help!
Diane