I am a new pool owner, as well as a new TF-Pro-Salt test kit owner. I've run through tests a couple of time, and don't have any questions yet on the topic of specific tests. I am trying to get a process down, using the items supplied in the kit, and one I can repeatedly use from beside the pool sitting at a table under an umbrella.

Right now I collect a water sample using a plastic bottle (one given away by Leslie's pool to take in for them to sample) and go to my table. I have a pad I sit down on the table in case I spill something, a couple paper towels, and the test kit. I start the tests, but then after a test I need to empty the test cylinder and rinse it. That means getting up and going about 30 feet to an outdoor spigot/hose, where I can rinse the cylinder in the yard, and presumably contaminate the cylinder slightly with spigot water for the next test. I shake it while returning to my spot, and if big drops dry with the paper towel. Then move on to the next test. It looks like some of you may get extra cylinders and magnetic stir bars to do all your tests in one sitting, and rinse them after all tests are complete. For those without the extra cylinders, what is your process? Is a couple more cylinders the only optimization?

I appreciate your ideas.

I realize this sounds stupid, but theres logic behind my question. Do i really need to have a bigger heater for a bigger pool. The heated water flow is restricted by the return jet regardless of the size of the pool. The heat pump heater can only heat the water to a design temperature as it flows and that flow is restricted by the pump pressure and the return jet. Any comments?

Hello! We are currently at the final stages of having our 16 X 32 gunnite pool installed. This is a salt water pool and not sure of the exact specs of the filtration or pump. It is Haywood so once I have all the info I will update the post. Hopefully the pool will be complete in the next two weeks so I am looking for advice in filling, opening and making sure I don't do something stupid to ruin or damage the plaster or filter system.

Disolve chlorine stabilizer. I tried boiling water, worm water, pool water, even acid, nothing disolves stabilizer (cyanuric acid) granules. Then i realized that the stabilizer attaches to chlorine in the pool so i added a little chlorine to a small amount of stabilizer and it disolved quickly.

History of my interest in this question:

1. I found that after 6 months my salt cell was full of calcium deposits.
2. After cleaning it I measured the Total Alkalinity (using TF-100) and found it to be 180
3. Over the course of 3 weeks I added acid daily to keep pH at 7.2 until the TA was down to 70

How did this work?

• My understanding is that the pH in my pool rises every day due to aeration (there is a spillover from a raised spa and the lower pool.) I have been led to believe that this happens because there is an equilibrium between carbonic acid and dissolved carbon dioxide. As dissolved carbon dioxide is removed due to aeration this equilibrium drives carbonic acid levels lower thus raising the pH.
• The pH in my pool goes back down when I add hydrochloric acid.
• Somehow (I don't quite understand the chemistry details...) the lower pH reacted with the TA reducing it over time.

Questions:

• General Pool Care: Now that I am "done" reducing the TA I am now maintaining my pool's pH at 7.8. Every 2-3 days after adjusting pH to 7.8 I measure it at 8.1/8.2 again. Does this mean that I am continuing to reduce the TA (though slower than I was at pH of 7.2) as a side effect of maintaining the ideal pH? Is this normal?
• Academic / Curiosity: If aeration raises pH by removing dissolved carbon dioxide and I lower pH by adding hydrochloric acid, then how does this not get out of control? I'm adding extra chloride ions and aeration is removing carbon dioxide. Won't I eventually run out of dissolved carbon dioxide / carbonic acid if there isn't anything replenishing them? Won't I eventually have a HUGE surplus of chloride ions unless there is some mechanism removing them? I'm sure I'm missing more elements of the chemistry at work here (presumably something to do with buffers?)

Hopefully someone can help me understand what I am missing from my understanding.
Thank you.

mandrade09 said:

I live in the woods in northeast MA and have plenty of wood. I am thinking of a wood fired swimming pool heater. I have a propane heater. But the price of propane and electricity these days is ridiculous.

Pool is inground 20x40 approx. 30k gallons. I have a solar cover as well.

Does anyone have any experience or familiarity with the below brands? Or does anyone want to share their experiences with wood fired heater?

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Any insight is appreciated.

Matt

Click to expand...

Hello Matt,

If you're still around...I ordered a WarmWaterSolutions 120 last fall and received it this spring. I live in SE Pennsylvania. I have a firewood business so I have a lot of scrap to burn. I have a 23k gallon Kidney pool that is in direct sunlight. I had my liner replaced so I started with sub 60 degree water. I have burned the stove for 2 hours the first day and raised 13 degrees. I have burned an additional 8 hours and I'm now up a total of 18 degrees. I gain about 1 degree an hour of burn. I'm not sure about the folks below that are speaking in pounds of wood but I would guess I have burned less than 1/4 cord in those 20 hours. it's not something you need to burn all of the time but it will get you where you are going.

BTW: The family that owns WWS's is very nice and the product is second to none. Very impressive communication, crating, and delivery. I poured the pad myself and was able to do the hookup. The product includes everything you would want, including dual thermometers and a wood poker.

let me know if you have any questions. I'm very satisfied.

I have a Pentair IC60 that generates chlorine when initially turned on, and then a couple minutes later flashes "inspect cell". I've had it for about 3 seasons. It was doing the same thing toward the end of the season last year, but the water was pretty cold and I dismissed the issue due to cold water. It seems somewhat insane that it will produce chlorine when initially turned on, but then go to "inspect cell" after a couple minutes and stop generating chlorine.

Any way to fix this problem, or does this mean I need a new SWG?

I am getting bubbles on the returns to me pool on low speeds. I see air in strainer basket when running low speeds. I'm assuming that's my reason for bubbles in the returns. Is this normal behavior on the Hayward vsp pump?

I asked Jandy about this, and they weren't interested in helping.

What is the correct positioning and orientation of the breather tube?

Should the end with the angled cut be on the top or bottom?

Should the angled cut face the pool (outlet) or the pump (inlet)?

How high relative to the top of the plates should the top of the tube be positioned?

What are the effects of that tube being a little too high or a little too low?

I have a Purex DE ( Pentair now ) Pool filter that needs replacement.
In your experience, should I go with another DE filter or should I change it to Cartridge filter and should I go with Pentair or Jany?

Hello,
My Hayward SP3400VSP with the OMNI controller on top is really starting to scream. It still pumps and moves the water great, but pretty sure my neighbours are going to complain soon. I'm guessing the bearings are going.

Not sure if I can order/buy replacement bearings? If this is a repair I can do, or if I am better off just buying a new pump?

With that said, do I only need to buy a new motor? Or does everything need to be replaced including the OMNI controller? Would you have a recommendation for the new pump? I have done some reading and the Ecostar Pump I currently have is not thought of too highly.

Thank you,
Kmac12

I've never struggled with low CH. Lately for the last couple of weeks I'm reading 150. This pool has always been on the high side 250-300+ usually. Plaster pool about 13 years old. Everything else is close to normal for me anyway. this mornings results TFTtest with new chemistry.

FC 5 ppm
PH 8.2 (before adding acid)
TA. 130
CH 150
CYA 70
Temp 86
Salt 2600 Taylor test

What can cause low CH? It's been a fairly dry and cool winter/spring here(South Fl). With the heater keeping the water at 85 I've had more evaporation than I'm used to. Was convinced I had a leak until I passed a bucket test. So have had to add more water than usual. Rain usually keeps this pretty full.
I'm not even sure what to add to bring it up.
As I was writing this I decided to test my tap water. 50. That could be the problem.

Hi, I have a 3 tier waterfall and have gone through a few leak repairs.
- Crack in the base was repaired with quikrete and then painted over w/ pond shield. The pond shield started peeling off 2 years later, but the quikrete lasted.
- Two foot length crack in the wall of the bottom pool was fixed using quikrete also, but that only lasted two years.
- We also have chunks/layers chipping away from the top pool that I assume will eventually create a huge issue.

We aren't in a place to get this fixed professionally, but we are pretty handy.
I'm tempted to just lay down an entire new layer of plaster/concrete on top of the old but making sure no water gets in-between the old and new is probably hard.
Any suggestions on how to tackle this waterfall project?

Also, our concrete deck has a long crack that runs the width of the deck (12ft) and it's also rough from the salt water and general age of the entire build (built by previous owners in 2002). What do folks put down to protect the deck from degrading further?
Thanks so much for any advice you have.
I've attached pictures.

When we removed the cover this year, we had bad thick scaling on the grout lines, and some of the tiles' surface area was frosty..... a thin layer of scaling. Normally, this does not happen till summer. In the past, I have easily removed the scaling on the grout lines using a single-edge razor....But I am not able to remove the thin scaling. Looks like it needs to be polished. Can someone recommend a cleaner or solvent that will remove the frosted scaling over the blue tile area (look to the far right in the picture for that). The worst tile surface scaling appears to be directly under the waterfall spillway area. Thanks

We just opened our saltwater pool Monday. The combine chlorine is 5.2 and the free chlorine is 1. The pool is about 27,500 gallons. Any advice on how I can adjust these readings?

Hi Friends! I hope everyone had a lovely winter and getting geared up for POOL SEASON! I drug my little beauty out of the garage and got her all assembled. Seems I have some pool set-up amnesia as it took me longer to get this darn dang thing assembled this season.

I have 2 arms that were damaged last season (long story...) and I'd love to get some thoughts on what I can do this season to correct the damage before I fill'er up! I'll attach some pics - I'm thinking maybe some pool noodle could get in there and create a round surface for the weight of the pool vinyl to rest and remain straight. Very small amount of rain water in the pool so far - so now is the time to fix! I've checked Bestway website - replacement arms are out of stock. I've checked Amazon but not sure I trust the measurements.

I also want some guidance on paver placement as I begin the fill process. I have the little 5x5 stone squares this season, but I also know the legs might move a bit during the fill. So just general guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I'll have to dust off my trusty rust removal bucket, and my test kit. I cannot wait for a happy pool season! CHEERS!

I inherited a pool with a safety cover and we put the cover on only when we close the pool for the winter. I get a lot of pine needles falling into our yard over the seasons that seem to still end up getting into the pool under the safety cover. My question is if it's a thing to put a normal cover beneath or on top of the safety cover when closing the pool to keep debris out? And if there are any suggestions on how to do so?

Thanks!

I bought a 7lb bag of CYA at Ocean State Job Lot at the end of last season. It remained unopened in the garage over the winter (not exposed to excessive sunlight or humidity). This year, I used up the Clorox brand CYA I had left, about 1lb, and then opened the new bag. Per usual, I put 1lb in the sock and hung it front of the return. This stuff will not dissolve! It hung in front of that return for hours yesterday afternoon, like 4-5 hours and hardly any of it dissolved.
I used the same sock that I used the other day for the Clorox brand and that dissolved fine, within like an hour it was completely gone.

Is there some way I can get this to dissolve so it's usable? Or I am just SOL and should go buy a new bag of Clorox brand that I know dissolves? I really hate to waste it since I already spent the money on it and disposing of pool chemicals is a pain.
If I start over, how do I dispose of this stuff? Both the stuff in the sock that's already wet, and the remaining 6lbs of dry in the bag. I can't return it since I bought it several months ago.

I just opened my pool , it's a sand filter. First i did backwash for 15 mins, then changed it to Filter position (i didnt do Rinse in between)

There were a few problems after the backwash:
Pressure was 30 always
The jets were not working but skimmers were sucking
During backwash the pipes on the filter were leaking


After that I changed the heater valve(black valve) to off the heater, previously it was in the middle,, now the jets are working. There is still some leak from top of the filter. the current valve positions are in the picture, what's going on appreciate some help here and jets started to work

Hi all,

I just did some pool renovations and upgraded my easytouch to an intellicenter. Seems to be much more functionality within the Intellicenter compared to the easytouch.

I have added the expansion card to the intellicenter to include additional valve control ports. I currently have 4 intellivalve actuators, (1) for bubbler supply, (1) for deck jets, and (2) for waterfall operation. The waterfall and the 2-intellivalves were added as part of the recent renovation. I have figured out how to automate the bubbler and deck jet intellivalves within the intellicenter.

My question is this, how do I program the two new intellivalve actuators to fire (one to open, one to close) at the same time when I select the Waterfall feature.

What other cool features does the intellicenter have that I was missing out on with the easytouch?

Thanks!

I noticed something orangey-brown on the walls of the pool and on the seat carved into the deep end. (just on a small section of the wall near the seat and on the seat) It was barely noticeable, but when I brushed it it went away. Is this mustard algae? If I do a chlorine loss test tonight and it checks out and the orangey stuff doesn't return, am I okay? Or should I go ahead and shock the pool now just in case? Thanks!

FC 7
Ph 7.8
TA 60
CYA 50
CH 240

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Hey everyone -

My FC is at 8.0 and CYA is 40-50. Pool math app puts that at the top of the recommended range. Is this ok for swimming? My kids are getting anxious

My FC comes down very slowly after opening and shocking cuz I have the solar cover on all the time. I have turned the SWG off.

Thanks!

Hello,

I opened up my pool and turned on the pump. As soon as the pressure built up, the plumbing broke off from the yellow rubber piece in the images. I was able to put a plug in the opening of the jet to stop the water from draining.

I am fairly handy and have an idea of what I should do, however I am not even sure this was installed correctly. Is the rubber boot (so to speak)even the correct way to put this on? The plumbing was glued into the rubber boot. Rubber boot was slipped onto the outside return jet piece and held on by a metal screwed in clamp.

How should I fix this? Same way, but with a PVC union piece and the rubber glued back onto a new piece and reinstalled?

I had a new piece for the outside return that I can use. Images to show what I am working with. This is a 32 x 16 Semi Above Ground Doughboy Pool.

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Pool was well balanced last I tested. Cya was at 90 and a SWG was installed. I am hoping the CYA continues to drop so that I can run lower free chlorine and still sanitize the pool. I’m not sure at what rate the CYA is going to drop, but since I’ve been running chlorine tablets for so long, I do not own any conditioner. Once the CYA drops to a level that I want to maintain do I just put pucks in floaters to supplement the saltwater generator or do I actually add CYA conditioner using the sock method I’ve read about? If I need to add conditioner for A pull my size. How much should I have on hand?

I’ve run high free chlorine to compensate for my high CYA levels basically since I found this place very successfully. What would you consider the optimal CYA level for saltwater generator pool knowing that I’m offsite Monday through Friday.

I have a damaged 17 year-old concrete pool deck for a vinyl-lined pool. (Pic 1)


The area by the pool steps, which is a molded one-piece set of steps, is sinking (Pics 2, 3, 4) and there is a long crack running through several sections to the side of the pool. (Pic 5)





The steps also appear to have sunken an inch at the exit point (at the top of the steps; Pics 6, 7). Also, the coping by the steps has sunk and is experiencing misalignment. Hard to see in the photos.



Once contractor proposes a cantilever deck. They have told me they have done many cantilever pool decks but they are not a pool builder. The estimator didn’t think the steps were sinking when she visited during the pool season and water was lower. With the water higher, it looks obvious.

I asked how the cantilever deck is kept from shifting the pool wall with expansion and got this reply: “We use a bond-breaker material between the pool shell and the concrete to allow for proper movement as the concrete expands and contracts with temperature changes.” Case closed?

This made me wonder about the liner track. The coping seems to be directly on top of the track. (Pic 8) Not all tracks are like this apparently. Will bond-breaker material affect keeping the liner track in place? I'm also wondering if the track will get out of position when the coping is removed.


The proposals doesn't mention addressing why the area is sinking. Is it safe to assume it will stop? We bought the place in 2013 and it seems like the area has sunk more since then. Could water be seeping in at top of steps from spashing/waves and eroding the ground underneath?

Any advice appreciated.

Hello! We bought our intex 18’ round above ground pool in 2020 when our daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids moved in during the pandemic. Both kids learned to swim in it and the adult children took care of it for the first two years. When they left the care and maintenance has been left to my husband and I. While we have done many google searches this site never showed up until I asked a question and AI quoted the site! So glad to have a forum to learn from. I am hoping to save some money and get more enjoyment out of the pool. Thanks for the great support.

Hi there,

Had an issue happen with my pump's ability to keep prime and draw in water randomly in late February, and have been trying several fixes - all with no luck. The next step is the pool company is pushing for an $800 leak testing, which I am working to resolve on my own before it gets to that point. 13k gal inground saltwater pool, with two large live oak trees above and around the pool - so the pool gets tons of droppings and debris . We had some good freezes in February, but I had the pump running 23 hours a day so nothing should have frozen and cracked. I have tried many common fixes, all with no luck so far, which is why I am seeking y'alls wisdom.

Issue: Pump does not draw in enough water, loses prime, and pressure is lost in the system, with zero pressure in the filter. My pump is a TriStar VS 950. No noticeable water leaks around pump, and water level was never low at the time of malfunction.

I have tried several things so far to resolve this, all without luck:
1. Filter cartridges cleaned
2. Skimmer line has been blasted with both a hose bladder and with CO2. No blockages. Pool guy was not able to blast the line between the floor main drain to the skimmer basket (two pipes in the skimmer basket - one from main drain to skimmer basket, and the other from skimmer to pump as I understand it) - so we do not know if that is a potential issue or not.
3. Replaced and lubed housing o-ring
4. Replaced and lubed pump basket lid o-ring
5. Replaced filter pressure gauge
6. Impeller has been cleaned - no blockages detected (although I have not fully taken apart the pump to observe the impeller from the inside)
7. Every time I attempt to prime, I fill the pump basket to the top. It immediately goes down to the lower level shown in the picture below. I also open the pressure gauge on the filter so that I can bleed out air. No air comes out during the priming process.
8. I have even tried to prime the pump with a hose shoved down the skimmer basket, and that does not lead to extra waterflow into the pump basket while priming


If you guys have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm about out of ideas besides replacing every o-ring and gasket in the pump.

Thank you very much for your help!

Picture #1 = photo inside pump basket while trying to prime, the water level starts full (after I fill it) but is brought low in the basket and a small amount of water is coming in from the skimmer basket line. Picture #2 = my equipment setup (the old robot cleaner motor is on the left, this is no longer used as we have a dolphin now).

Hi all,
I have attempted to read the Hayward heater help guide on his site and the troubleshooting document provided by Hayward, but I'd like a second opinion before I order more parts.

Based on the serial number, the heater was manufactured in January 2015. It came with the pool when we bought the house in 2021. It fired up okay this season about a week ago. It heated the pool, no problem. Then we got an "Sb" error code and couldn't get the keypad to do anything except flash the preset temperature. I read that Sb was a display failure code, which seemed consistent with what we were experiencing. After reading the troubleshooting documents, I ordered this from INYOpools: Hayward FDXLBKP1930 Bezel & Keypad Assembly, Universal H-Series Low Nox Heater - INYOPools.com

Hayward FDXLBKP1930 Bezel & Keypad Assembly
I connected it, and it didn't work. (On a side note, I tried to reconnect the old one and it wouldn't light up at all now, so that's a bit worrisome.)

Looking again at the troubleshooting flowchart (screenshot below), now I think I also need to buy a display, which is a separate thing on the page 20 referred to in the flowchart (screenshot below). I think I was assuming keypad and display were synonyms before.

So it looks like I should add IDXL2DB1930 to the bezel/keypad I just ordered to make this work. But what is the difference between ordering the separate display to go with my keypad and ordering FDXLBCP1250, as mentioned in the note above the parts list? Is FDXLBCP1250 everything I need in one -- display board, bezel, keypad? Does display board = control panel? Because the actual keypad I received when I ordered FDXLBKP1930 looks like this except it is shaped to fit on my heater and doesn't have that flap: Hayward Bezel and Keypad Assy with Door for Select Universal H-Series Low NOx Heaters - FDXLBKP1932 - INYOPools.com

Is the display board IDXL2DB1930 my next move here? It is concerning that I can't get the old display to light up at all now? I don't think I broke anything when unplugging it. Is it a problem that my new keypad looks different (different button placement) than the old one? Does that matter for display board compatibility?

Also, when shopping online for IDXL2DB1930, there is such a variety in pricing and even what that sku looks like (keypad included?). For instance, what is the difference between

Hayward Display Board Bezel IDXL2DB1930 - PoolSupply4Less

and

Hayward Universal H-Series Pool Heater Display PCB - IDXL2DB1930 Replaced by HDXFDSPB0001 - INYOPools.com

Thanks for any wisdom you can share?

Hello,

New pool owner here (via home purchase), just got our pool opened this week. Trying to get comfortable with the Screenlogic interface, and I apologize in advance for really dumb questions! Thought our system was busted at first, every time I would turn on the spa, lights, features, etc...it would turn off after 1 minute. Realized everything had egg timers set, ugh! App is very clunky - wouldn't let me put the timers down to zero at first without going up, but eventually everything seems to be functioning. What would be a good use for the egg timers?

I see there was a schedule previously set - is this something I should keep enabled? What is the point of it - to make sure the spa is getting filtered regularly?



I've figured out what most of the features do, but any idea what Pool high and Jet 1 Side are?



The pool has fountains on the pool sides and a spillway from the spa to pool. I'm sure a dumb question, but are those mostly for decorative purposes, or should I say run the spillway regularly so that water flows to the pool. Wasn't clear if those are something I should leave on all the time.

Any other tips or recommendations would be much appreciated! Been trying to read as much as possible to hopefully get to speed shortly