So, I have this leak between the Multiport flange, and the tank flange where they join, but ONLY when I'm in FILTER mode. On recirculate it doesn't leak there. And it when in FILTER mode, it only leaks on one side. That seamed side used to be under the MPV (multi port valve) section for FILTER. When I emptied the tank of water, and rotated it about 120°, it's still leaks in that same spot. I checked for debris, etc., but can find no obvious crack, divots or holes, but there has to be SOMETHING going on. I did suspect a crack, so I marine epoxied at that seam area. It seemed to help, but not much. I'm at the point where I'm thinking just spend the $600 and get a new tank. I'm at my wits end.

Anything else I'm missing to look for? I put a new diverter/gasket unit in it a month ago. Could it be the DIVERTER that's failing somehow?

Help!
Thanks!

Hi all - thanks in advance for everyone who has made this site such a wealth of information.

I have a new construction pool (specs in signature) that was finished late last fall and immediately winterized. It was opened early for our area (New Jersey) on March 31st, and has been crystal clear up until the last few days. While I thought my CYA had gotten up to 70, I'm now realizing I may have been too generous with considering the dot no longer visible. Using the at-a-glance advice, I suspect I'm actually at a 50. I'm not sure how to link my pool math results here (as I've seen others do) but here's my numbers:

FC 4.5
CC 0.0
PH 7.8
TA 70
CH 125
CYA 50

While I thought I've been at an ok FC level for the last few weeks as we've started to heat and swim in the pool, I suspect 4.5 doesn't quite cut it. I was at a 4.5 FC level yesterday afternoon, so this morning I added 64oz of 12.5% liquid chlorine. The above test results were taken just a few minutes ago, so the bump I thought I'd get appears to have been consumed but I'm surprised I'm not seeing any CCs if I have an algae problem.

I can still see the bottom of the pool and it doesn't appear to be getting any worse, but it's not like it used to be where it was stunningly crystal clear. As far as action items, I believe I may want to add some more stabilizer to get my CYA up, and add some muriatic acid to drop pH a bit. But what should I be doing as far a liquid chlorine. Should I be doing an over night chlorine loss test? Should I be running the pump over night? Currently my pump is set to run @ 2200rpm from 8am-8pm.

Obviously this is my first season with the pool, and it was feeling too easy but I thought I just did enough homework ahead of time! Guess I still have some learning to do! Any advice on what I should be doing is much appreciated! To be honest, I'm not sure what my situation is, which makes it more difficult to search how others have approached a solution. I've attached a photo of the pool to the extent that's helpful. I feel like it doesn't fully capture how cloudy it is but I suppose to only limited reference point is how it's looked the last two months.


Thank you!

So not only did the oddball installer guy not fit the pressure gauge to our new Triton TR60 filter (per my previous thread), but I don't think he backwashed it initially either (and a fair amount of debris was evidently in the pipes and went into the filter) and now (a week after the install) I've tried to do a backwash and have a bunch of problems.

Firstly the filter has drained of water quite a bit, not sure if that's normal? But more importantly now it's back on Filtration (following 8 mins backwash and 1 min rinse), it just isn't refilling with water; even after about 20 mins.

The pump basket is full of water with no air in there. The air bleed in the top of the filter, if I open it little, it seems like there's a lot of pressure/air wants to release.

Do i need to release that air/depressurise, or if I run it longer willnit eventually come good? The old filter didn't have a manual air bleed and although it would drop water level a bit during backwash, it came good (full of water) very quickly afterwards.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, or maybe whether the shady installer guy has done something shady that means it's not working as it should?

I've attached a photo of the general setup.

Since my IC40 started up it has consistently measured salinity ~500ppm under the Taylor drop test. It hasn’t been an issue until now as the pool builder dumped too much salt in at the start up. I also thought the variance would narrow as the water warmed up.

As it’s slowly come down with lots of rain and overflow, it finally bit me.

We went on vacation and I checked the pool chemicals before we left, then bumped up the cell to a bit higher percentage just in case. The cell read 2800 at the time vs 3400 for the Taylor and I didn’t think anything of it. By the time we got back from vacation the cell was reading low salt and the Fc in the pool had dropped to 1.0 with a cya of 70.

I managed to catch the very beginning of an algae issue and a SLAM took care of it (passed two OCLT). Added more salt and cell is happy again.

But it still reading 600ppm too low, and to keep it happy means having a salt level the family can definitely taste.

I tested the thermistor per the FAQ here and it returned an accurate temp reading, so I’m at a loss.

Is a 600ppm difference too much? And if so what could be going on with the cell if the thermistor is returning an accurate temperature?

If I need to make a warranty claim, can I call Pentair directly? My PB says everything must go through him but I’m leery of that because I don’t want to deal his “I told you so salt cells are nothing but trouble” diatribe again.

All thoughts appreciated !!!!

Brian

Hi there. I decided on Stone Scapes Mini in Aqua White. Now I'm wondering if I should add glass to it for some extra sparkle and shimmer. If so, do I just ask for glass (neutral)/does that exist? Or is the glass mixture addition the "Puerto Blend Mix" that everyone writes about? Should I do a combination of glass and abalone? Any explanations/suggestions/photos would be greatly appreciated!

Robot is 4 years old. I have cleaned impeller, tracks/brushes appear clear. I have tried unplugging, restarting upside down out of water with no luck. Any advice?

Hello All,

I've had a few posts, but this one will be specific to my new pool (just filled Saturday 6/10/23) losing FC. I've been using my Taylor test kit religiously over the past few days getting my PH, TA, and CH inline with NPC startup guidelines. Now on to the new issue I'm currently having. Yesterday was day three so I started adding chlorine to bring my FC up to 3PPM. Interested in others opinions on whether the reduction of FC could be lack of CYA, algae, or new pool? Water is crystal clear, better than the day we filled the pool

Timeline of levels:

6/13 7am
PH: 8 (added 2 cups of muriatic acid to bring down)
TA: 80
CH: 175
CYA: 5 (Not registering on Taylor so going off pool store reading obtained in the am)
FC: 0 (First attempt at adding chlorine, added 2/3 gallon per pool math app at 7am )

6/13 7pm
PH: 7.6
TA: 80
CH: Not Tested
CYA: Not Tested - Haven't added stabilizer yet
FC: 0 (Panicked and added a gallon of 10% bleach)

6/13 10pm
FC: 7

6/14 8am
PH: 8 (added 2 cups of MA to reduce)
TA: 80
CH: Not tested
FC: 6
CYA: Added 3 lbs via sock method to achieve 30-40

6/14 3pm
FC: 0 (Panicked again added another Gal of 10% since I'll be away from pool until saturday afternoon)

I just got done with a new pool renovation. Basically, all new equipment and plumbing. I went away once I got my chemicals set, and I probably increased my SWG too much. When I returned, I had to replace some water loss as well. However, I think I am in a better place albeit a little high pH (which I added some dry acid). I cannot tell if my Alkalinity is too high or if my CH is too low (based on different threads and pool math). To save words here, you can view my signature and profile for more of my pool information.


I have some questions about color changing. Are we looking for a color change at all (Green to pink), or a deep color change (Green to dark pink/red)? I have putting an extra drop to make sure the color change is complete (e.g., completely clear or completely red). I am loving the accuracy and consistency of my Taylor kit, but I am already running low on some reagents. I know I can cut some of the samples from 25ml to 10ml, but is it as simple of changing the multiplier (e.g., .2 to .5 for FC) and sometimes number of drops? As an example, should I still be using 2 full scoops of R-0870? Does it need to completely dissolve...even if I shake for a 30+ seconds, sometimes I can see tiny crystals settling at the bottom?

Any other advice on chemical testing would greatly be appreciated.

Hello, we had our pump stop working 2.5 weeks ago and have been going through the warranty process to have it replaced. To prevent algae I’ve been basically adding a gallon or more of chlorine to the water every other day and skimming/brushing it. That being said it’s been sitting with the pump off not being filtered or anything for this entire time. Finally getting the pump back on today Is a SLAM going to be necessary or can I wait and test my water and go from there? If there aren’t in CCs and my FC level isn’t to low could I possibly just filter for a few days and get water back in balance. We have never had to slam before thanks to TFP methods we’ve always had clear water and have had our pool almost two years.
Thanks

Hi guys,

Just wanted to see if you know of any other chemicals or factors affecting CYA testing. I've been trying to decrease my CYA and over the past couple of weeks I've been draining/refilling and exchanging water. Four or five days, I would drain a couple of inches and fill it back up and for two days, I'd ran water exchange, draining at low point and filling in the skimmer basket for about 10 hours each day. My CYA is stubbornly staying about 140. One day I am fairly certain it is 140, the next day after more water exchange it looks closer to 160. I understand that this slow diluting is not the quickest way to get CYA down but I expected some decrease, maybe by 20-30 ppm for CYA. I know I am getting some water exchanged because my hardness went from 1050 to 850, but CYA is not changing.
FC 16.0
PH 7.9
CYA 140
TA 110
CH 850
Water temp 90F

My pool water probably has some copper from using PoolRx - pool guy recommended it to clear up algae and I've used it for over a year before taking over the maintenance. I am only using liquid chlorine, no pucks or anything else. It could be simple that I did not drain enough and that there was a lot of mixing during water exchange, my DeltaT was near 5. I just want to make sure there is not something else that I am overlooking. I probably will not be able to do another water exchange for a while now because the tap water and pool water are about the same temperature and I am worried about pool finish to simply drain more during summer, so I might be stuck with CYA at 140 until the fall.

Thank you

HI. so i started my Circupool SWCG yesterday morning and had it set to run for 11h yesterday (my pump runs 12h). Before starting, i tested chlorine at 3.2ppm (Yesterday morning). I put the setting to 75%.
This morning, my chlorine level was at 5.2. Circupool instructions says to wait a couple of days before testing, but with such an increase in 24h, i may be at 10ppm in 2 days.

i dropped my out put to 35% this morning as I wanted to reduce the level to get closer to 3.
But was wondering if it is better to leave it at 75% for only 4h instead of doing 35% for 11h ? what is better for the longevity of the cell and the control of output ?
any input on how to start this up would be great.
Thanks.

I live in Lewisville, Texas (near Dallas) and wild rabbits are everywhere. As cute as they are, I recently had to replace an actuator because a rabbit chewed through the power cable. Cost me $500 to replace. So, I definitely want to try t prevent this from happening again in the future. I'm looking for ideas from you guys. I've thought about galvanized rabbit guard wire fence around the equipment but would like to save that as a last option. I was also thinking of wrapping the wires with something but not sure exactly what that would be. Those bunnies can be persistent and chewed through a lot if they want. Open for suggestions.

Best,
Rich

New here and to the pool world. Moved in last season just in time to have my provider open the pool for 2 weeks. This year I had it professionally opened but did not want to have the weekly cost of a pool service. I also wanted to learn the ropes myself. I have been doing hszmat chemistry for about 30 years and didn't think this would be overly complicated for me

I added a dolphin m400 to help with the light work and today received my test kit. I have been going off of aquacheck strips and the app so far and was not impressed.

Right now my pool seems pretty good aside from CYA being a little high. Looking forward to gaining some valuable knowledge here. Thanks!

What make, thickness etc?

I've scoured the web for this problem but no luck so I'm hoping to get some experts here.

I'm in Arizona and I have an inground 35,000 gallon pool and an in ground water level valve. When I bought house this was the type of valve:



That started to misbehave, and I mentioned it to my pool guy and he replaced it (without asking me, but I know he was simply trying to help) with one of these:



Now the problem is consistency. It seems to work, the pool fills to around the expected level then over the next day or two the level drops like 1/4 or even 1/2 inch before it triggers and starts to fill again. Then it fills OK but to a slightly different level to before and I just can't get consistency or precision.

I'm on a shared well and its important that the pool fill up small amounts, incrementally, during the day rather than 100 200 or 300 gallons ever few days. So I just want the Dang thing to maintain a steady level day after day - it used to behave fine with the original filler valve by the way, I seem to recall it always was at the same level, visually it never seemed to vary at all.

Look:



See the water level? that's approx 1/2 beneath the white lime scale line, you can see that dark 1/2 thick stripe. But yesterday morning it was exactly level with the base of that white strip and that's historically where the level has always been. It won't drop much lower, it will top up eventually, just not consistently, so I know its coming on infrequently and likely pulling several days worth of water on one hit every few days.

Is this normal? should a pool need to drop 1/2 and inch in water before the valve kicks in?? is this a known behavior perhaps with the updated filler valve type?

Thanks

Good afternoon. I just had pebble tec come out and do some treatment for som discoloration on my pool . They used acid . After they left I tested using my Apera 60 ph meter and got a reading of 6.4 . Also my taylor test was below 6.8. . My alkalinity is at 40 . I try to keep it between 60 and 70 . I have high alkalinity in my fill water . I also fight high ph . Never had ph this low . I just turned on my water features to aerorate pool . It it ok to leave it like this for 24 hour to see if the aeroration brings it up ? Really didn’t want to add baking soda

Hopefully I can help with any knowledge I have about above ground pools, and take away some new ideas and techniques

Hi guys thanks for the add.
I have a question in regards to replacing a wide mouth skimmer on a metal AG pool.
I had a new liner installed and the installer used my old skimmer he missed some holes on the gasket and it started to leak. I am going to replace the skimmer with a new one, 1 it’s old, 2 the screw holes are cracked and thinking it’s less of a headache.
The installer put duct tape on the hole edges in the wall of pool, I guess for sharp edges. Should I replaced the duct tape over the edge? I removed all the tape residue and silicone they added for a clean surface.
Also should I use silicone in addition to the gaskets. The new skimmer came with 2 gaskets not butterfly type.
Thanks all

I have two spots where the coping meets stone and ants have made homes there.

Daily I find spots of sand and debris there. What’s the best way to fill these gaps?

I planned on loading them up with clear outdoor silicone unless that’s not recommended. Thanks

Hello, I have an obsolete Raypak R265 heater for my pool (10k gal) and spa; house was built in 1994 and the heater is original (Raypak website states they stopped making my particular model in 1998). Plus it is on propane, whereas we have just added natural gas.

So I would like to get a new heater for NG. Ideally remote on-off capable; have a Lutron system in my house and mesh Wifi that I can extend to cover the pool equipment area, so that would be one option, but am open to alternatives.

My pool guy recommended a Jandi JXI, but I would like to do my homework before choosing. Any quality brand recommendations? Thank you all.

I have a pool guy coming in a couple of days to install my Circupool RJ45. I’ve never used him before so not sure how well he knows his SWCGs, thought I’d rather rely on you all

Cool, I managed to add a photo. Even if it is the wrong size, wrong orientation and in the wrong place, I’m pleased with myself for figuring it out at all!

The obvious place would seem to be coming out of the filter going toward the 3 way valve that appears to be there for no reason. But that section is about 13 inches and I need 15 3/4. So it would have to overshoot and turn back with a couple of elbows close together. Any problem with that? Is a vertical installation preferable?

Another possibility, because I’m also replacing the pump, is that the filter could perhaps be moved back to make room. It’s not attached to the pad. That might be more ideal but I’ll have to wait and see with the pool guy, he’s providing the pump.

Thoughts?

I'm chasing this same issue and starting down the path of 'throwing parts' at it.
The squirrel cage had rusted and fallen apart. I cleaned up the blower box and replaced the fan.

Vacuum from fan:
With the fan running, I put the sensor end of the vacuum tube in water and it pulls the water level about 1.25".

Vacuum to switch:
Reattached tubing and applied (very light) vacuum to the top of the tube (about as much as to pull water the same amount) and then pinch the hose to hold that vacuum, then the switch closes, the led lights, and the heater ignites and stays lit for the heating cycle. shorting across the switch (bypassing) also starts and maintains the heating cycle.

Replaced the switch with OEM (violet) part, same result. Also replaced the starter capacitor (because it was cheap), but this was probably unnecessary.

I suspect the vacuum from the tubing is not enough to close the switch. I am considering taking the fan box apart and sealing it up with high-temp caulking, but I would rather not glue it up if I don't have to.

Moved from here.

Hi everyone! I received my test kit today (Taylor Pro) and just finished testing my water for the first time with it. My readings are as follows:
Chlorine=.5
PH=8.2
FC=.05
CC= .05
Calcium=75
TA=300 (turned more pink than red at this point but didn't get any darker going up to 40 drops)
CYA=50

When I put the numbers in the Pool Math app it said to :

1) add 112 oz of chlorine ( I use liquid chlorine 10%)
2) add 56 oz of muriatic acid
3) add 1033 oz or 65 pounds of baking soda

I can understand doing number 1 & 2 but do I really need to add 65 pounds of baking soda? That seems like an awful lot to me. The only thing I have put in my pool since I set it up about three weeks ago was 4 pounds of stabilizer and maybe 10 gallons of chlorine total. I do have the 3" pucks in a floater that holds 3 at a time and I have only added 1 more since starting. This was a new pool just filled at the end of last month.

Hi Seasoned Pool People!

Last year I asked the group for filter recommendations and I switched from an ancient DE filter to a Hayward Swim Clear 325 sq ft cartridge filter. I’m very happy with the filter, it does a great job, without the mess. Now it’s time to upgrade the pump. I have a Hayward 1HP Superpump that was new when I bought my house 11 years ago (and it works fine every season) but I really want something much more energy efficient. The one pool tech person that I trusted told me several years ago that for a 6,000 gallon pool (it’s really a bit less) the 1 HP was probably more than I actually need, for future reference. I’m interested in a variable speed pump (although I’m not exactly sure how they work), I definitely would like a smaller electric bill. My utility company is offering a $500 rebate so I think now is the time to make the switch. I would appreciate thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Amy

My solar temp sensor is broken and it will be a while before it's fixed, since it's the buried wire in the yard that is bad, so I have programed my JVA to run off the extra aux switch so I can run the solar roof heater based on time of day. However, I noticed that the Jandy system does not automatically pause the pump when controlling the JVA from aux like it does when switch between spa and pool modes. Is there any way to fix this without complex program schedules to shut down pump, move valve, restart pump?

Hello all! Lurked here for some time and have enjoyed handling all of my pool maintenance myself over the past 2 years from the wealth of information here. Unfortunately, the winter storm blast we had in Arkansas in early February froze my pump up at some point in the night and tripped by breaker. By 7am when I was able to get out and check on it, my pump and filter were frozen solid. I put the heater on it and thawed it out that day, but realized it broke seals between my motor and the pump allowing moisture into the pump bearings and now makes an awful noise. It has functioned fine, but I now realize that it is losing pump pressure and I am ready to upgrade it anyway to a VS.
I have looked on previous posts here to try to decipher all of my current pump info and have sought recommendations from the Auto-Chat at INYOpools. They recommended a Hayward Super Pump VS Motor Upgrade Kit - 2.2 HP - MKIT3VS22 with an Intermatic Controller. ($775 total)
Current Pump Model: Hayward Super 700, MOD# SP2670010X15, SN 21122010000935006
It is a 1.5HP model 230/115. I cannot figure out which frame model it is. Any suggestions on which route to go would be most appreciated!

I’ve been struggling with a high PH 8.0 and high TA 125. Dumping MA every other day it seems to get the PH down but I just can’t get it past 7.6 which won’t let me get my TA down with aeration.

I would appreciate any thoughts you may have. My equipment info should be in my bio and my testing numbers in pool math.

Thank you!

For those that have installed a HotSpot energy heater, what was the cost to install from the HVAC guys? I was just quoted $2500. Seems a bit steep to me. That's just the HVAC side. Not plumbing or electrical. I don't think my system is unique or anything. The pool equipment and the AC unit is about 15ft apart so I would put the Hotspot right next to AC.

As I understand it, the minimum acceptable water flow for a Pentair Mastertemp 400 heater is 40 GPM. My understanding is that there is a flow switch (or pressure switch or something) in the heater that will not allow the heater to turn on if the flow is lower than 40 GPM.

My heater however will turn on and heat the water when the flow is only 21 GPM (21 GPM is the normal amount of flow that I get when in Pool mode with my pump set to 1,600 RPM).

Is something wrong with a sensor on my heater, since the heater will turn on even though the flow is only 21 GPM?

New to this group. We have a 24,000 in-ground vinyl pool with sand filter. Pretty sure we have mustard algae and we're following the slam/mustard slam directions from this site. After the first slam our FC hit 45 which is good per the chart. Checked at 2 hrs and down to FC of 6 so we added more 12.5% shock. Back up to 40. We left our auto cover open. Should we keep it closed during the day to lessen Chlorine loss from sun? We have been keeping our cover closed and we were worried this caused the algae growth. Our CYA is 55.