First-time pool builder, building a 20x50 vinyl liner pool from a royal pools kit. I had the hole dug before the snow came. Built the steps on Thanksgiving. Tried building a section of wall that was then blown over with the first snowstorm.

Spring is finally here, I'm taking a break from work and getting started! I got the walls up Saturday and now am slowly squaring, leveling and plumbing the walls. Hopefully I get that done this week, main drains set so I can pour the concrete collar to lock it in. The goal is a pool party for Memorial Day. Wish me luck.

Also, quick poll: I am planning on documenting each step as I go. Better to have a whole bunch of small posts or 1 master post on it?

I've decided on the following equipment/automation.

I like to have a spare pump around. The price of this pump has tripled in recent years, but I decided to get a new one anyway when my current pump started to leak, so I could repair it at my own pace and keep it as a backup.
Unfortunately, this did not work as planned. The new pump is horrendously noisy and will make my neighbors hate me. Like the old one, it runs on 220V.
Any thoughts on what could be wrong with it? I'd hate to take it out again for a return.

I’ve read the “Spa & Hot Tub Maintenance A Basic Guide” guide, but still have a few questions…

I have a single person 150g indoor hot tub (w/ ionizer). I will be the only bather. The goal is to use the bare minimum amount of chlorine, since I'd like to use it for daily therapy.

Given the unique situation, the guy at my local spa store said that once I get the ph balanced, all I need to do is add a small amount of chlorine after each use, then let the filtration cycle/ionizer do its thing. 24 hours later the chlorine will be low, but safe to soak in one more time (after which I will add another X amount of chlorine). I also plan on draining/refilling once every few weeks (since it’s such a small tub).

Is this going to work? And the 3 follow up questions…

1.) Am I using muriatic acid to lower the PH? I heard it’s not safe to use in spas? And what am I using to raise PH?
2.) Can I use the same liquid chlorine I use in my pool (diluted maybe?) or do I have to use bleach?
3.) Do I need to use dichlor (trichlor)? I’m pretty sure I read somewhere NOT to use dichlor (trichlor?) or it would void the warranty? Does the CYA even matter for my indoor situation? This is the stuff I use in my pool, is it safe to use in my new hot tub ? (https://www.amazon.com/Rx-Clear-Stabilized-Bactericide-Disinfectant/dp/B00OM8E7LE/)

Thanks

Hello, I have precast concrete coping… no one has been in the backyard for 48 hours….is this normal? Pool was filled in June…. Just seems odd to me and PB is saying it’s normal?

Is there any reason that after adding muriatic acid to the pool, filter pressure may increase?

I’ve noticed this happen every once in a while. My pump runs on low 24/7 (and high for a few hours as well), and I have a spa spillover. Once the flow over the spa starts reducing to a trickle, it’s usually time to backwash. But often this seems to happen right after adding a few cups of acid.

It’s not a problem… I’m just curious what could maybe be happening to cause it.

Bought a house with a SWG pool and such a newbie!

My strainer cover lid is cracking, and almost apart. I am trying to find the replacement and what I found so far is out of stock. Is there any compatible covers out there, or any hacks I can do to replace the lid? I don't really need to open it often as my pool is usually covered and I don't normally get stuff in the basket.

Thank you for any suggestions - I am out of options here.

Made my rounds to water some hanging plants. Keep the watering can under the sink by the pool. Walked out the gate (where I'm standing to take pic) to get to the other side of the house to water plants. Thought nothing of it. When I was done watering, I came back to this. Given the water pattern, I'm guessing a dog ran into the pool in the shallow end (small water pattern), got itself free from the cover (rumpled cover), used the steps, shook off the water and trotted away. I always keep my gates closed when I'm not around, left them open when I went to water the plants.

Stuff can happen QUICK. Stay safe out there and keep 'em gates closed!

(NOTICE: Yes, I know that gates can have springs. Mine do but are not turned "on" at the moment as the gates are new and we are waiting for pins & stops. Spring loading will damage the gates at this point.)

Hi everyone,

We got into this new house in October 2021 and immediately got the pool closed by professionals for the winter. The pool is having a brand new vinyl liner. However, while closing, I couldn't close it in a clear condition as I didn't have the pool accessories at that time. There were some leaves in the pool floor. Now I opened the pool myself and trying to get the crystal clear water back.
When I opened the pool the water is blackish green and looked like strong algae contamination. It is a 40x18 feet pool with roughly 35,000 gallons. I added 12 lb of DryTec calhypo and ran the pump and filter for 48 hours at a stretch. The shallow side cleared up to cloudy blue but the deep side never cleared up. Then I adjusted my ph to 7.2, alkalinity to 110 and applied 12 lb pooltime 6 in 1 dichlor. This time it didn't change anything at all. Then again I adjusted the ph and alkalinity and added 20 lb of DryTec calhypo. So that's even greater than 4x shock. The free chlorine level is close to 30 ppm. I am now running the pump/filter for 48 hours. I also vacuumed the entire pool, brushed it several times in the process. It did clear up somewhat but the water is teal green. I don't know what am I doing wrong.
I presume that the pool being big will require more pumping/filtering. I did backwash the filter from time to time.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated

Yesterday.... while getting my water tested for Iron (and trying to find some MA that was actually out of stock)

My local pool store dude reported to me yesterday that my high phosphate level of 179 will tend to reduce and even kill my FC in the pool. I told him it was my understanding that the ONLY issue with phosphates is that its Algae Food...and if there are NO Algae in the water...then who cares?? I explained how I SLAM my pool each season when I open it...and using my a) SWG and b) Nautilus CC Plus...I have pretty much a "Trouble Free Pool" all year with the exception of the most mundane maintenance.... To which he said..."no, Phosphates will reduce or kill the level of FC thus causing algae to bloom or it will make your SWG work too hard"...What??? Say What??? I just smiled and said: "Thanks, have a good day".

For a number of reasons we decided to pave over the planter bed on the back side of our pool. They finished the concrete last week and we've noticed they didn't install an expansion joint where the new concrete meets the coping stones. It was totally off my radar and I didn't ask them specifically to do it, and now we find ourselves wondering what's the best course of action to make this right? It seems like the worst case scenario is ripping it all out and re-pouring the concrete with proper prep, but I wanted to check TFP and see if anybody with experience on the issue might see something less drastic as a possible fix? This seems like a situation where both parties involved, contractor and client didn't know what they didn't know and now it's time to make some changes before damage is done to coping, tile, bond beam.

• Kidney shaped pool with natural stone coping
• approx 35 feet of contact between new deck and coping
• "Precast Coping" pool edge with bond beam ledge visible before pouring

Having read a number of threads here and from other reasonable sounding websites, it's looking like our only option other than ripping it all out and restarting is: removing the coping, sawing / drilling out any interfering concrete, and reinstalling coping with the correct joint.

Any other thoughts?

Feeling like an idiot. I have a Jandy Lite 2 pool heater. Never used, new old stock from a small town plumbing shop that closed. Just working on getting it installed. I'm not sure how I did it, but in removing the cover to the high voltage module, I managed to break the transformer off of the power control board (the small one mounted to the board itself, not the larger transformer that is separate).

I can fix it, if I can get my hands on an appropriate transformer. I really don't want to drop the $600+ it would cost me for a new board if I don't have to. I am wondering if anyone happens to have an a used board, or even a dead one that I might be able to purchase to scavenge parts from.

The specific board is model #R0366800. I believe prior to Zodiac manufacturing them, there was a different model number as well. Link with pictures: https://torontopoolsupplies.ca/jand...MI94K9tN-3-QIVAVNyCh0FAwoGEAQYASABEgLUaPD_BwE

If you happen to have what I need, please let me know, and see if we can come to an agreement.

Thanks!

Ok so here's my issue, the account has an oooooold fiberglass panel inground pool probably 14x30 with a short 3.5' shallow end and a huge transition to a 12' deep end. The main drain is busted and customer doesn't want to mess with that "ATM" but that's causing circulation issues. When I was brought on to this pool I was told it can't be drained or the walls will collapse in. They desperately need it drained and probably a good acid was or power washing. How can I support the walls long enough to drain clean and refill it?

My (just cleaned) IC-40 cell is reading ~2000 ppm even though my LaMotte (same as Taylor K-1766) test kit is showing ~3200ppm. After reading through the sensor hack threads, I thought clipping the white and green wires should (temporarily) confirm that the thermister in the flow switch had failed. After stripping back the insulation I discovered that there's only 3 wires in the flow switch cable. I clipped only the white (sensor) wire and now the screen logic is showing 0 ppm of salt and the cell "low salt" light is red.

What's the wiring hack for a new temp sensor if I've only got 3 wire, ie: no green wire?

Have been having a hard time getting LC in the Austin area? Is there a shortage? Called several Home Depots and Leslies...none of them have any in stock...anyone else have any luck?

Hi,
We are filling up our AGP and it looks like it's caving in. It's our first time and we are panicking. I used thick pavers but I didn't bury them all the way. Is this normal?
Should I drain all the water?

Hi all, I tested my pool this morning:
ph: 8
FC: 5
CC: 0
CYA: 30
CH: 825ppm
ALK: 50
Temp: 21C

Here we have had a very dry season, basically no rain in the last 2 months with 45% humidity, maybe even less at times. Pool has slowly become more cloudy and slightly turquoise in shade. Did a OLCT last night which was 0. Usually I lose about 1.5-2 ppm per day depending on sun, but these days it's about 2.5 but sun is constant... seems okay. Filter runs 4 hours during the day and 1 hour at night when I add chemicals (cal hypo, only thing we have here).

So weird thing is that when my ALK was low like 30, I would never need to add any acid for weeks, maybe even 2 months, it would hover at 7.4. But in the last 2 months of intense sun the ph jumps up, I just added acid last week to 7.5 and it jumped to 8 in a week.

Mind you, our pool paint is microbubbling near the tile line and I think there maybe some algae hiding there, but since I don't have any OLCT do I need to do a SLAM or just run my pump longer since it's really dry and we live by dirt road so there is a lot of dust - (our patio and tiles are covered in dust each day)....

Hi all-

I just pulled the trigger on a new AGP from the pool factory. I'm afraid maybe I should cancel the order. I can't find anyone who will install for me and I don't feel like I can handle doing the install myself. As 1 person there's no way I can do it. Anyone talk me off the ledge? I'm in RI.

Thanks,

Pool was built last year and concrete patio with cantilever coping poured in August. I sealed it with penetrating sealer towards the end of Sept to allow proper curing of the concrete. I opened a couple of weeks ago and noticed these cracks in part of the coping yesterday. I know concrete will crack no matter what but wanted to know if there’s anything to do with these areas before it gets worse. Or is it easier to deal with after it cracks further?

Hi , I have an Aquabright/ecofinish renovated pool. All in all not a bad experience but still an issue. The Color is white but some areas look dirty, as if those were somehow gripping dirt. Not sure why. Is this a known issue. It does not go away by brushing it off. Would need to dive and use something else I guess. Any hint or advice welcome. Thx

Hi Everyone,

I recently joined TFP and have enjoyed getting educated on all things pool related.

We are in the process of building a new pool and our contract includes approx 800sqft of stamped concrete and refinishing of our existing covered patio (approx 140 sqft) with stamped concrete - we are paying an additional $2200 for the existing covered patio. We are having the back patio extended and they intend to start work on the patio columns this week. Our pool builder has suggested that we go with a poured concrete with a stamped overlay that's about 3/4 of an inch to an inch thick- his reason is because this would make the installation of the covered patio columns easier and would not cause damage to the stamped concrete.

I do not want to go with a different option from what we have agreed to in the contract just to make the life of the PB easier - especially since I have concerns on how durable the overlay will be (he did not specify the name of the overlay product but did say it would not retain as much heat/will be cooler to walk on in the TX heat than stamped concrete). I have tried to find information on overlays online, but it appears they are mostly products marketed to refinishing of pre-existing pool decks which may be damaged, old etc. I also noticed the overlay appears to be less costly than just going with the stamped concrete. The pool builder has not offered any discount for this proposed change. Also worthy of note, we are 6 weeks into our pool build and this conversation about stamped concrete vs overlay is only just coming up. I would assume if it was such a better option, that would have been offered at the time of contract or earlier in the build. My fear is that the PB is motivated to offer this option for convenience and price savings.

My question is when given a choice of stamped concrete or concrete overlay on a new patio build, which is the better and more durable option? Also which is more prone to chips/damages and easier to repair?

Any assistance will be appreciated

Hello, I have a 17 year old FG pool that is about due to get a makeover. The fiberglass is faded, looks old and I suspect has a small leak somewhere. I would like to entertain the thought of getting it recoated or glazed or whatever the term is, as well as replace the very faded tile around the top edge. I have looked far and wide and no local pool company does this or even knows anyone. The internet is only moderately helpful but nothing to date. Are ther any members that have had an old FG pool resurfaced etc?? I would love to hear the good the bad and the ugly about it. Also, if anyone that services the Charleston SC area, I would like to talk with you. TYIA.

Vr
Ed

I took my filter apart this morning to clean it and ever since I can't seem to get the manual relief valve on the top to seal all the way. I've taken the top back off and checked it from the inside and nothing appears to be wrong that I can tell. I've also played with it from the top side with no luck. Is there a trick to these that I'm not getting or can they just "go bad"? It wasn't leaking this morning before I took it apart so I'm not sure

We got our pool 1 year ago. The autofill is a traditional float mechanism. We have noticed water dumped from the overflow which goes out to our sidewalk. It appears to be 5-18 gallons, and the frequency has increased to just about every day. This happens overnight from what we can tell or the early hours of the morning. It never happens during the day.

During the day when I open the lid I see it is constantly running at a slow but steady flow. I thought this might be due to evaporation, but back to the overflow issue- the water level sits at 1-2 inches below the overflow opening. I have even lowered the float which worked for a bit but eventually we noticed the drainage on the street again.

I now think that it might not be normal to constantly run, because I have adjusted the float to be fully submerged in the water and it still runs, no matter how low I put it. Of course, gently pulling it up by hand stops the water flow. Pics below. One shows that I basically dunked the float and it still runs.

Any ideas? I can replace it for cheap but I want to be sure it really is a faulty float valve, especially because it's not even 1 year old. For now I've shut off the water supply and am just keeping an eye on the water level. Thanks.

On 6-30 spotted a few "black" spots at the bottom of our salt pool. After $200 worth of chlorine and an overnight with only .5 loss of FC and I threw in another gallon after that for good measure, I thought I completed a successful SLAM on 7-5. I felt the FC levels were going down so quickly but figured my CYA was already low and FC can't maintain that high just with a salt generator so I hoped it was just going down pretty quickly to lower levels. Afterall, I knew I didn't have a lot of CYA in the pool but I always get a bit confused when I ultimately go into a pool store and they tell me I have enough, I know I have to maintain higher chlorine if CYA is higher, and this page on TFP Chlorine / CYA Chart I was within range. I realize in other places TFP says I should have between 60 and 90.

my CYA 25 (my test)/ 40 (leslie's test)

So, my FC:
7-5 24.5
7-6 14
7-7 11
7-8 7.5
7-9 10
7-10- 7
7-11-7
7-12- 4
7-13 -4
7-14- 3
7-15- 2.5
7-16- 2.5
7-17- 1.5- turned cell to 100%- oops-did I get algae here?
7-18- 3
7-20-3
7-22- 3- left on a 2.5 day trip- kept salt generator at 100% but should've added some shock/chlorine or raised CYA a long x ago-should've checked how long pool is running...? should've brushed pool better due to leaves being on bottom due to monsoon and should've been on top of my DE filter cleaning but waiting for appt next Monday for pool company to look at piston valve and break down DE filter (first time we r paying someone which also is delaying the backwash...)
seems to me this is when algae started forming again since FC got under 2?
7-25-back from trip-3pm= .5-uh oh. added 1/2 gal chlorine and 8 oz of r-0013 into the pool (yes u read right-multitasking with kids and thought it was my bottle of pool h20)
7-25 10pm= 1.5
7-26 8:15 am=1.add bag of shock.
7-26 11am fc= 4.5- spotted 3 spots of black algae at the bottom and daughter is under water brushing with a metal brush..

new bottle of r-0013 should arrive tomorrow. I have 1.5 gallons of chlorine on hand. I leave again this weekend so I'm trying to figure out when to SLAM again. I don't really want to raise CYA now if I have to SLAM cuz it'll be more chlorine but I know I need it to keep the chlorine in the pool. I've struggled with this concept since I've had the pool so if someone can explain if I should raise CYA and how much before SLAM or after and does it seem I never really got rid of the black algae before or did I get it again and when that'd be great! Also, I'm sure it was a bunch of different things that contributed but I never thought that leaves in a pool would matter THAT much, or a full DE filter. They do matter THAT much, don't they? I know I didn't mention the weather and sunny days but I think my pool was staying afloat during those days and the full DE filter/leaves in pool was what made the salt system not be able to keep up but with my levels, what do u think?

PS. the pool company that's coming out to clean DE filter and look at piston valve for backwash will want to add algaeside for algae. I've never tried it due to risks of copper staining... but somexs when I go through this I wonder if I should give it a try. Does anyone here EVER use algaeside or do I just stick to a good ol plain SLAM at all times? At less than $65 for algaeside it's tempting.

Thanks!

Aqualink only turns on heat button via service mode. When in auto or spa mode or via app, won’t turn on heater? Is this a an automation setting problem?

Hello!

Due to his forum, my pool is clear for the first time. I can see the bottom. However, after turning the pump off for 24 hours (I set the timer wrong and it didn’t kick back on), I came out this morning to find this powder all around the edges. The pool was hazy before the filter was off for this long.

Is this white powder calcium build up? I did add a bunch of cal hypo about two weeks ago.

We just had a new Pentair ScreenLogic system added to our existing pool system We can use ScreenLogic to connect remotely to the system but when trying to connect on the local network the app never gets past the ”Searching for system controller” message. Our pool guy and I have called Pentair support multiple times, but unfortunately the advice tends to verge on the absurd, with guidance like “The ScreenLogic Interface won’t work if you have 5GHz configured on your modem”.

Since ScreenLogic remote login works well, I’m pretty sure that the interface is wired correctly and can communicate over the modem. However my guess is that the IP subnet mask has been incorrectly configured on the interface. Our network is set up as 192.168.1.x with a 255.255.255.0 mask which might confuse the ScreenLogic which MIGHT be expecting a 255.255.0.0 mask.

So I have been trying to configure the interface but not having any luck. I installed the SLconfig application on my iPad (the same one that successfully connects remotely to the ScreenLogic app), but can’t get it to connect to anything, either locally or remotely. So I have a few questions:

1. Has anyone had this problem where you can connect remotely but not locally to ScreenLogic?
2. Is the password for the SLConfig application the same as the password for Remote login to the user app?
3. If it is, any ideas why I can’t connect to the controller using the SLConfig app?
4. If the passwords are different, any suggestions on how to reset the confpig password?

All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Eric

Need a chemical geek. When you mix MA with water, does it stay totally mixed, or does the acid float to top? I use a 4:1 mix in a 15 gallon drum to feed with Stenner. After 4 or 5 weeks, the daily injection seems to be getting stronger. Is that possible? Or has my need for MA decreased?

Hi guys, I have an Aquacal SQ225 that's going on its 2nd season. It is currently controlled by a Jandy Z4. I just noticed a couple weeks ago that the display is not displaying any text but the backlight is on. I remember last season when checking it, it used to display "controller remotely." Anyone have any experience with this or the display broken? Thanks all.