Control Panel

Unfortunately I have been a pool.owner for over 40 years, but time crept up on me now have Pool Company. My pool now is a Anthony/ Sylvan in ground 23 year old granite pool. Unfortunately my pool people don't know much about a Compool #Cp3400. They suggested replace panel. Likel a good homeowner went right to Ebay. To my surprise found one at about $350.00 and brought it. My luck they had two different ones, a cp3400 and a cp3600. You guess it, ordered the cp3600 by mistake. Big question is are they still interchangeable . Only difference I notice it has two more control bottoms. Can I still used my cp3600.
Thanks Roy

Vitamin C - What Type and How to Use?

Moved from HERE

Works like magic! I have brown stains on steps every year when we open the pool. I dump vitamin c tablets on the steps, let them sit for a little, rub them over the surface with my hands or sock or sponge and wowza! Sparkling white steps! Doing this for 22 years!
May I ask what type of tablets you are using? I am looking at getting some from Walmart but there must be 20 different kinds.
thanks

10" Pool Light 6 inches from pool bottom

Does anyone see a problem with having a pool light 6" from the bottom of the pool?

I've been trying for months to convince my new neighbor not to shell out $40K to make his pool more shallow. Along with others, I failed to convince him of the risks. And it’s his pool, he wants more safety. He intends to have a contractor add 1.5 feet of cement in the deep end to change it from 6 feet deep to 4.5 feet. The added cement will of course taper as it approaches the already-shallower end.

The other day I noticed another problem with his plan. The existing 10" light niche is on a wall in that deep end, and it's already installed lower than usual because of a 2 foot deep shelf/step built into that entire end. If he proceeds, the result of adding 1.5 feet of cement will leave that 10" light niche about 6 inches from the newly raised bottom of the pool. I've not yet thought of any real problem with that, although it may look odd and of course "uncentered" - and perhaps light distribution may be more uneven than usual. The pool is a 14x25 rectangle, about 11,000 gallons, and the light is on one of the shorter 14 foot walls, with the 10" niche rim starting about 2 feet from the bottom at this time. The light niche is a rather standard 10", he'll be replacing the 12V luminaire which is shot.

Thoughts welcome and appreciated. I think he should perhaps have the contractor relocate a new niche to a more typical depth (min per code of course) and to do so move it to one of the longer pool walls. Or just modernize the lighting. Better to abandon the entire project but it seems several of us neighbors cannot talk him out of it.

Thanks in advance.

Pentair GloBrite to Jandy LED Nicheless Light Conversion Questions

Good Day,
I've been a long-time user of these forums primarily for help with chemistry questions for my 16x40 fiberglass inground pool (Imagine Pools, "Illusion" model) and greatly appreciate all the help I've received. I recently tried to replace a burned-out Pentair GloBrite LED bulb (P/N: 602055) with a Jandy LED Nicheless bulb (P/N: JLU4C12W100P) as I've read from several sites that it's a compatible replacement (and is hopefully much more reliable). However, I've run into a problem with securing the new bulb in the niche. The Pentair bulb has a "camlock" mechanism (in light gray in the picture) at the back for the bulb and a white face-seal gasket. The Jandy has "normal" threads at the front of the bulb and the niche has no way to "engage" these threads. While I can get the Janey bulb to sit flush in the Niche, I can't see a way to secure it. So, I have some questions:

* Is there an adapter kit available and, if so, could someone let me know the appropriate part number?
* Is it "okay" to just pull the bulb flush, essentially securing it with the wire at the junction box back by the controller (this seems like a bad idea to me)?
* Should I install the white gasket from the Pentair bulb onto to Jandy bulb (although I don't know how to get it tight against the back of the Niche)?
* Is it okay to just let water leak into the PVC conduit run (this also seems like a bad idea)?
* Is it possible (or recommended) to replace the niche in the pool (also seems problematic)?
* Did I just learn a $400 lesson on not doing enough research before buying the Jandy bulb? :)

I'm open to other ideas and suggestions as well. Thank you for any help anyone can provide and thank you again for being such a great resource for pool owners!

--
Bryan
SE Wisconsin Pool Owner

pentair and jandy pool light pic.jpg

Water no longer green but still cloudy

We had our pool professionally opened 4 days ago and while the water is no longer green, it’s still very cloudy. We just bought this house so this is all new to us. Can anyone look at our test results and help with what we need to do to get the water clear?

For reference, it’s a saltwater pool (with a SWG) and about 25,000 gallons. We used a Taylor K-2006 test kit.

FC - 0.8 ppm
CC - 0
pH - 7.2
TA - 60
CH - 110
CYA - 0

New Intelliph Install…

Hi all,

I just finished the installation of a brand new Intelliph and I’m looking for a sanity check…

My rotor rotates CLOCKWISE and based on the instructions, the INLET is the right tube and the OUTLET is the left tube. Wouldn’t this setup be pulling water from the OUTLET side and feeding into the tank?

When I do a manual dispense, I see bubbles coming from the intake tube and entering the tank.

There is also an UP arrow on the right inlet and a DOWN arrow on the left inlet.

Can anyone confirm which way the rotor SHOULD be rotating?

And, is there a way to invert its rotation?

I’ve included pics, and here’s a link to a video:


Thank you!

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Suggestions to repair and maintain my pool's coping & deck

PFA the pics of my salt water pool's wearing out pool coping and deck. I'm in central Texas. I guess, extreme summer heat and winter freeze combined with salt water (?) causing these structures to wear out, turn black, endure cracks. Looking for suggestions to repair the cracks and chips first and how to maintain them better going forward. Please enlighten!

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Low Flow or Don't Trust Water Guru?

We just got a Water Guru*.

Water Guru is in our skimmer and Water Gura has been giving me Low Flow Warnings.
Pump is Heyward TriStar 900

Here is my Observaed Data:

250W At 1850 RPM, Filter 0 PSI, Water Guru Flow 14GPM

460W At 2300 RPM, Filter 2 PSI, Water Guru 17GPM

855W At 2875 RPM, Filter 8 PSI, Water Guru 19GPM

Does Water Guru suck at measuring flow or do I have a potential plumbing issue? Pool and equipment are all new as of last year.


*I understand they are not super accurate for measuring pool chemistry but we are away for up to a week at a time in the early and late season so I just wanted something that will give me a good sense if my FC is drifting way too high or way too low while I am away.

Should we fill now or wait?

We closed our 18’ above ground pool for winter but it failed and the pool had so much nasty stuff in it we decided to drain and start over. We have now cleaned it and it is ready to fill. However, we are going to be gone on vacation for 7 weeks. I had originally thought we would fill and just leave the pump rink g 24/7 while we are gone, but I don’t have anyone to come check the chemicals and I am concerned it will get an algae bloom once the chemicals get out of balance. I thought about adding the winterizer and putting the winter cover back on and not turning on the pump. But we will want to use the pool soon after we return…. I read on this forum that is is t good to leave the pool empty. So I would appreciate your ideas on the best course of action at this point.

We are in Seattle so the weather over the next 8 weeks is a Crud shoot- we could get a heat wave or it could be cold and rainy the whole time.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Cloudy pool on day 9 of SLAM

Renovated our pool and had to fill for the pool guys to finish their work, had some issues with equipment which I’ve now fixed, but pool was sitting for almost two weeks. It wasn’t super green, just slightly green and cloudy. On day 9 of SLAM, it’s definitely better but still cloudy. I’ve passed two days in a row of the overnight chlorine test and not showing any combined chlorine, do I need to keep the FC at 20 until it runs clear? CYA at 45. I do have a sand filter and have been backwashing frequently, I know it takes longer just trying to figure out if I need to keep the high FC level. Thanks!

parts and installation of no-brand pump

Got this no-brand pump I need to test out. Mainly I have two questions:

1. What parts do I need to install this? I think I need the below. Pipe image below so you can see what fits snugly into the adapter (but only into the inner half of it; see attached video in zip file).

2. How exactly does the provided (came with pump) black adapter seal against the integral receiving pipe of the basket chamber? Does it just create a watertight seal due to the smooth plastic surfaces being compressed against each other? Video attached in zip file.

instructions.jpg


Pipe that fits:
pipethatfits.png

Overview:


overview.jpg

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Pool N00b

Hi, recently bought a house with an in ground pool and wanted to get some reliable information. Came here from a Reddit sub thread! Very early days, haven't taken the cover off yet but can already see issues of water getting in through poor drainage and doesn't look like the heater or pump were ever connected so think we've got a bit of a project on our hands. Will not be rushing into anything.

Plumbing Changes For Pump Replacement

Hey there everyone,

I've been lurking for about a year and have learned so much from this community on maintaining the 15k gallon in ground pool we inherited when we moved. After maintaining with liquid chlorine the last year, I decided to put a SWG in for this season. Since I was already on the upgrade train and Duke increased their incentive for energy star pumps, I bought one and am looking to replace the 17-year-old Pentair pump they had in there. Looking at the manual for the new pump, it's telling me I should have 12.5 inches of straight pipe before the inlet (2.5" OD). How critical is this? The new pump has a coupler so I will need to modify the current pump inlet anyway but, it's currently a lot closer to that 3-way valve than the manufacturer recommends.

After we got the place I had to fix several suction side leaks including cracked 3-way valve housings and I basically replumbed the same way the builder had it but, added the 90 degree sweeps with new valves (please feel free to laugh at my horrible PVC cement job!).

I'm looking for some opinions on if I should just add the coupler to the short inlet pipe and be done with it? The new pump has the same inlet/outlet configuration so I would just have to add the coupler that came with the pump.

Alternatively, I am thinking about re-plumbing to extend the straight inlet section to 12.5" and move the 3-way valves back in line with the 3 supply lines from the main/skimmers. At the same time, I would replace the pump outlet plumbing to add sweeps, move the hose fitting, possibly get rid of the 2-way valve that goes to the vacuum port (seems redundant?), replace the canister that's leaking, and replace the coupling that goes to the spider valve.

See my pictures, hopefully they give a better picture of what's in my head. (The circuit on the left with the black jandy pump is separate for a waterfall. I have no idea why it was done that way but, that's what the owners did when they built the place. I have a bunch of other problems from the winter with this that I'll save for a separate post hah). Unfortunately, I think I would have to throw out those two new jandy valves I just replaced if I moved everything but, also seems like a good opportunity to streamline the plumbing?

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Hottub water cloudy after PH.

Hi all,

My water was crystal clear this morning but noticed the PH was a bit low. I guess I added more than necessary because it went very purple on my Taylor test kit (I assume over 8). The water got very cloudy.

I used a PH decreased and got it down to normal levels, but the water is still very cloudy.

Alkaline 60
Calcium 220
Chlorine 3

Should I just run the jets for a day? Or do I need to drain and refill?

New Owner of an Above Ground Pool

Hello from warm Arizona! My family has purchased and built a 14 foot round, 48 inch deep pool. We purchased the HTH Pool Care Kit for Opening/Closing Pool, we used the test strips and HTH app to try to figure out how to get us to the appropraite levels for our 1st swim. We had it to where all but the FC (low) and TA (high) levels were good, we followed the HTH app recommendations of adding 1lb of Shock for the FC level and adding 13lbs of pH Down for the TA levels. After waiting about 20 hours, using another HTH Test Strip, FC is high, pH is low, TA is low, TH is normal and CYA is low. From everything I have read and after calling a local pool store, we are going to purchase a different Pool Test Kit so we can use actual water samples but I'll be honest - I barely passed chemistry/science. Any advice, support, prayers would be appreciated.

Pentair IC15/Salt Start Up Questions

Getting ready for the 30 day mark after our plaster install last month. I will be adding salt the first week of May to our new pool I just built

Couple questions below regarding the first step of adding salt and maintenance to Pentair IC-15….

-The IC-15 should be set on a timer to correspond with the pump timer. Essentially, the IC-15 should only be powered on and “running” when the pump is running? Correct? I have a separate timer for the IC-15 that is on the same schedule as the built in pump timer

-How frequently should I be dissembling this thing and cleaning it out for maintenance? Is that a fairly easy task?

-Is there any specific math or calculation to know how much exact salt I should be adding to my 3,000 gallon pool? Are you essentially adding more every season/multiple times a season? Or is a once and done per year

-Will the PH level become sporadic again after adding salt? My plaster is 3 weeks cured right now and it seems that the PH level is just starting to become level and even day to day with minimal acid need

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IC-40 Dead???

So I went out to check my levels and darn near zero reading on chlorine. Though maybe my reagent was bad so I took a sample to the pool store and same result. I cleaned my SWG a couple weeks ago and it looked fine. Salt level is 3300 and one of my returns spits out little bubbles when the SWG is "on" (tested this theory by turning it off and the bubbles stop). Don't the bubbles mean it's working? Any other way to test it? Thanks!!

New pool owner, new to testing

Just received my TF-Pro kit and maybe I'm holding it wrong. First test I tried was the free chlorine test. Instructions say to fill 10ml of pool water and one scoop of R-0870 power. The water turns very dark pink and takes around 90-100 drops of R-0871 to turn clear. We're new pool owners, just moved in last fall and used the company the previous owners had used for closing/opening. They opened on Thursday (24th) and put in opening chemicals (I have since learned that might not have been great). Pool store test (I also know not great, hence the kit, but was there to get a new vacuum hose) came back with 6.0ppm of free chlorine. What am I doing wrong, and thanks in advance!

what do i have?

hello,
we bought a house (texas) with a pool and moving in soon. this will be our first pool so many things to read on. pool was built 2 years ago, vinyl, salt maybe, 20k gallon, service by local pool company. that’s all the info we got. thought i can get more info here. i’m planning to maintain it myself if it’s not too terrible. planning to buy the taylor kit and try it out. i included picture of the system. what do i have? where’s the pump, filter ( type?), generator? what can or should i control or change? is water loss a thing? do i replace the water loss with just water from the hose? any daily/weekly/monthly/yearly things to do will be greatly appreciated.IMG_4094.jpegIMG_4093.jpeg

Spa Return Not Working in Auto/Pool Mode

Spa return jets work in spa and spillway modes, but not in pool/auto mode. Valves in pool/auto mode are set to return water to the pool and the spa. I have to run my pump at 2100 rpms to get even a slight return to the spa in pool/auto mode.

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Aqualink VSP settings, confirmation

First time poster but long time lurker.

I had to replace my 2 speed Jandy pump a month or so ago. Moved to Jandy PLUS HP 2.7 VSP. In the past all my work as been done by my builder but their prices went way up this year and a local pool repair company had much better rates so I had them come out and replace it. Unfortunately I think his tech had no idea or just didn't care how he setup the pump and had essentially every speed set to 2700. I do have a heat pump as well. We spend the majority of our time in the pool between 4 and 7 pm.

In addition this new pool group actually installed the wrong pump as I ordered the one with the speed set but they installed it without. The have offered to either refund the difference and/or come install a speed set.

1) Is there any real need for a speed set if I have aqualink?

2) After reviewing the site I think I got it but wanted to see if you all had any concerns or suggestions with this setup?

Settings:
1 Filter 1800
2 Low Speed 2000
3 Cleaner 2750
4 Mid Speed 2400
5 Temp 1 3000
6 Temp 2 2500
7 High Speed 2800
8 unused

Schedule (summer)
Filter 8:00 - 8:30
High Speed 8:31 - 11:00
Cleaner 8:45-10:45
Low Speed 11:01 - 4:00
Mid Speed 4:01 - 7:00
Filter 7:01 - 9:00

Schedule (Winter)
Filter 8:30 - 9:00
High Speed 9:01 - 11:00
Cleaner 9:15-10:45
Low Speed 11:01 - 4:00
Filter 4:01 - 5:30

Filter