Greetings, All.

New owners of a home with existing pool. Just had the pool opened, and I will have plenty of newbie questions!

I have a Speck ES90 II pump with a single speed US Motors EZ48 KSSJXRME-2238 motor. I think the seal has failed, as the motor is quite rusted. I'm hoping to replace the bearings and the seals and give it a bit more life. One of the thru-bolts snapped off when I disassembled it, but I was able to get it all apart.
My bolt is 8" long with a 1/4" hex head. I've seen some generic 8-32 thru-bolts that are 9" long, can I use those and cut them short?

I haven't pulled the bearings yet. The markings on the bearing are 6203DW, which sounds like a fairly standard bearing. The shaft looks quite rusted around the bearing. I'm hoping to get a bearing puller to remove it. Do you think this is possible given the corrosion?
If the motor is too far gone, I would also be interested in swapping out the motor for a variable speed motor, while keeping the Speck pump part. Can I find another 48-frame variable speed motor to swap out?

Hi All - Looking for some guidance and feedback from the group. I have a raised spa setup for continuous spillover into the pool. Since opening this season, though, the spa is not consistently spilling over and spa level is dropping an inch or so below the spillover level. It will spillover when the variable speed pump runs at its high speed setting (3200 RPM) a couple times a day, but not at its regular speeds (1700 and 2400 RPM) that run throughout the rest of the day/night.

I've reviewed other posts on valve setup for spillover, cleaned all filters, removed/re-installed all check valves and everything seems ok. All pump settings are unchanged from previous years where spillover worked as expected.

Pool equipment pad picture included for reference, with valves set for pool mode on the suction side. Return valve/actuator set halfway between pool and spa - which - historically enabled spillover.

Any suggestions on further troubleshooting that I might be able to do before I call the pool builder's service department?

Thanks!
Scott

Sold and shipped by Amazon. Is it fake? To me it's 100% not original. Doesn't add any pressure even while cleaning algae.

I had a drain cover get broken at the end of the season last year. I removed it with the intention to replace it, but forgot. Now I’m trying get my pool cleat, but I thunk the drain line is mostly clogged and I am not getting the algae on the bottom of the pool to the filter to backwash out. So I cannot catch up enough on algae removal to make a noticeable difference in cleaning. And the algae is like 3 inches of a thick sludge.
Help!

Where do you get good straps for attaching your solar cover to the pool cover reel. The ones you buy with the attachment (plastic) hardware disintegrate in the heat and sun of Arizona. Any suggestions as to where to buy some more durable strapping?

I wasn't quite sure which topic to post this under but I work in commercial pools. And I have 18 of the Neptune Benson Flat Grate, Size: 18 Inch x 18 Inch, White.... Main drains that need to be replaced due to lost main drain certifications. They were installed in 2019, so they would have to be replaced after next year anyway. I guess my question is there any direct swap for the top grate? Notice in the picture that the screw is offset from the corner and almost every other Neptune Benson, the screw hole is in the corner. I'm aware of Neptune Benson buying out Lawson.. I'm just wondering if there's a solution here other than drain the pools and reinstall main drains from the get-go. This is for a city inspection purposes. And obviously this community wants the pools open and up to code ASAP since the pool's got shut down because of it.

Hi everyone,
I've been reading a lot here on the forums and on the main site, and I made the switch from pool store testing and advice to the TFP method earlier this month. Thanks to all of you who've shared your knowledge--it's already been a huge help.

When I started, my CYA was around 200, so I did a water exchange (pumping out while filling) to bring that down. I'm still getting the hang of testing, but I've been testing every evening and adding liquid chlorine as needed. I'm using a TFPro kit and tracking everything in the PoolMath app.

My kids have already started swimming a couple times a week, but I really want the pool dialed in before school is out in a month--once summer hits, they'll be in the pool nearly every day.

I'll attach screenshots from the PoolMath app showing my initial and most recent test results. I'd love feedback on whether I should lower my CYA further or make any other adjustments now to make daily maintenance easier once we're in full swim season.

Thanks in advance!

Pool is open and want to get the pool testing underway to get the balancing done. Are there any concerns with water temp affecting the results in the TFP kit?

Is there a proper way the clean the baskets. Pump on /off, skimmer valve open are closed, skimmer first filter second. Be great if I knew the sequin and procedure. Thank You in advance

The past 2 weeks my calcium test results have been abnormally high, jumped from ~460 to 550. I also had to retest due to color indicator not changing. This past weekend, we noticed blonde hair turning green. I took water samples to Leslie's for metal testing. Pool water was 1.2ppm, hose water was 0.6ppm. The tech told us that many people have had high copper recently due to rains, pollen and mosquito sprays. We have an autocover, but do light a mosquito incense candle next to pool when it's open. Pool is 5 months old. I've never added algaecide. I've added CYA, borates, and chlorine in the past, and muriatic acid regularly.

My question is: is this copper level concerning for a heater coil issue, or could it be an environmental cause?

Hello,
My pool company is coming to open my pool tomorrow for the first time since I built it last year. They recommended I add enough water so that they can start the filter when they arrive. When I opened up the cover the water is green…Is it time to panic, or can I do something immediately tomorrow to start getting the algae out? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Mike

I have two Raypak heaters that worked fine (having had their fair share of issues through the years) into last summer. I am prepping the pool to open for 2025 and I noticed the rust at the bottom of the heaters had broken through in places. I made it worse by touch the holes - the layer is paper thin at this point. Heaters were placed in service in the late fall 2010 and first used in 2011, so they delivered good life for me. Having said that, it would be great to get another year or two of service out of them. Attaching a photo of the area that concerns me. Rest of heaters look OK. Pool heater and spa heater have similar rust and breakage below the tray.

Thoughts?

Budget preferably under $700-800. I am currently looking at the Evo 604iq but the one I had from a few years ago I remember the app not having a schedule feature just the ability to operate it from the app. I do not have wifi at the location so manually starting it from the app each time is a no go, I need one that I can set it up one time with a hotspot and program in the schedule and then allow it to basically clean ~twice a week unattended. I wonder if evo has updated their app since to allow this?

Any other recommendations that can do this? Thanks!

Hello,

I have a five year old Mastertemp 400 Pool/Spa heater setup that was getting E06 error (first error ever with heater).
THEN:
Replaced Sensor with aftermarket, and cleared the E06 code, but heater would shut off with SFS code on back of control board after 1-2 minute run.
I ohm tested prior to and post install at 3.8Mohm. Wires running to control board at 3ohm.
Tested flue gas with meat thermometer and it was rising, but never got over 250 when running in those 1-2 minute spans.

NOW:
Getting E06 code before ignition. Air blower turns on, 20-30 seconds later, either while gas valve clicks, or about when it should, the heater goes into SFS error prior to ignition.
I have not tested Thermal Regulator, or Internal bypass.

I do not understand why the SFS sensor would be triggered prior to startup.
Breaker has been cycled multiple times, but the only thought I have is that the control board needs to be reset with the 10 second hold on membrane pad "OFF" button,,etc.
Without tearing into the manifold yet, is there anything else I am missing?

Thanks,

As the title says, my Speedstir decided to quit working at the end of last season. I took it apart but there are no mechanical parts in there to fix. Anyone have any suggestions short of buying another one?

On that note, are the Smart Stirs a better product?

We have a 36x18 vinyl liner inground that has two AquaGenies (skimmer/return in one) on one of the long sides and a normal 1.5” return on the other. We installed it four years ago. Last year, the normal return seemed to have a drop in the flow rate coming from it. With the other two returns open, it’s hard to even feel anything coming from it. If I partially close the valves to the other two returns, I can coax it into flowing, but even then it’s not steady: it spurts and squirts with a lot of bubbles. If I close the other two returns completely, it seems “normal”.

I am guessing I have a minor crack or break in the return plumbing. I bought a leak test kit, but before partially draining it to access the return, I wanted to see if there’s another possibility I haven’t thought of.

Just opened the pool - seems the app has gotten an update and is prompting me to sign up for premium, which I have had for several years. I should still have time left from last year - I have notice that it will renew on May 21 which I have OK'd.

Just stumbled across the answer, I'll leave this post for others going down the same path. You have to relink your subscription - hit Premium and you will see the link. I'm back in business.

We have an above ground pool with a composite deck around half of it. We bought a 'cheap' cantilever/offset umbrella that had a metal cross-base with plastic snap-together sections filled with sand that fit on top of the metal feet at Bed Bath & Beyond 3 years ago. Now, the umbrella itself has developed some small holes and the wine red color is now mostly light pink, so we are replacing the whole thing. The metal feet under the weighted sand base left rusted places on the composite decking. I researched how to remove the rust and am having pretty good luck getting it off. The new umbrella is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I'm not sure if the base is the same, with the metal feet sitting directly on the decking and the sand-filled base on top of that or not, but I imagine it probably is.

My question is how should I best protect the deck so that the metal feet don't rust onto it? I've read suggestions online of putting a grill mat or wicker mat under the feet, and those will probably work. Although the feet are already painted, what about spraying the bottom of the feet with some extra coat of paint? If that is advised, what type of paint - regular spray paint, lacquer, automotive undercoating, etc.? I wouldn't want the paint to wear off and get on the decking. We don't plan to move the umbrella around regularly, so it wouldn't be dragged too much, but may move it slightly for readjustments or when cleaning the deck periodically.

All ideas are appreciated.

I keep hearing that if you can afford, go big and use at lower power. So, since this is a new investment, that's what I'm aiming for. Pool is roughly 20K gallons, so either are enough overkill.
I have a new pentair intelliflo 3 pump with relay, currently just on intermatic timer 24/7, using pump for schedule. No other fancy automation. I will probably wire the SWCG it up to the pump relay.

Core55 seems good, it takes up less room in the plumbing and doesn't need wall space, which I like. My equipment pad is pretty cramped. The dowside used to be the Core went in I guess 25% increments with only 4 settings, now they have 6 settings, so you can do 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, 90%. I mean, I don't really need 5% increments or tighter, I don't see much advantage to that. The Core series seems much less common than the RJ. But I like it's all-in-one design, at least in theory. It only needs about 7" of space, but needs some above/below clearance.

RJ60, I see the RJ45 is hugely popular, I imagine there is not any downside to going the 60 other than slight price increase. The RJ45 needs 16" and another 4+ for the relay. I saw with the RJ that if you run at low GPM, you should invert it (so it flows --\_____/-- instead of --/`````\-- ). I also see there is a vertical space saving option, not sure how that would be affected by the extra low GPM though. With the RJ, you have a separate control panel, you have wiring from source to control panel, and from control panel to flow switch, and from control panel to cell. But you also have some cool information available, such as water temp, cell voltage, current, salinity.

Price - the same, or within a close enough range.
So, which would you go with? How useful are those pieces of info? Useful enough to outweigh the longer installation run?
Do you think there's any difference with regards to pump flow / efficiency? Any other pros or cons to weigh in on? Appreciate it!

Hello. I noticed my local pool store is now testing for Phosphates. I have never had a test for those. My level came back at 3,762. Is this something that needs to be addressed? I suppose the concern is algae growth, but I have never had algae and stay on top of my chlorine.

Help! We closed our pool for the first time by ourselves last fall. I was excited/nervous to open it. All was going well until water hit the sand filter. It’s spraying out. I’m hoping this is an easy, quick fix we can handle ourselves.

I've been busting my shoulders leveling the edge my new resin pool will set on. My soil is so hard and compact that I have to soak it to chip it away to level. I just got delivery of my new pool. The bottom track the wall goes into is a flexible plastic and same for the connectors. I'm starting to think I might be fine if get my edge perfectly level and skip the pavers. What do you think?

Notes: I am in the PNW and I will be doing a 72" expandable liner for an 18'x52" pool.

Just opened pool today. Pressure much higher than normal (22) on Filter with weak jets; pressure 10 on Recirculate with strong jets, so it's the filter that's causing the high pressure. Filter usually runs about 10-15. I have a Hayward sand filter with 350 lbs. sand. Sand was replaced before last season & was fine last year.

Pool is 10 yrs. old & never had this issue before. Some algae on opening but not out of the ordinary.

I have seen in some older threads that algae in the sand filter could be causing the high pressure. So my question is, do you Slam on Recirculate and then when done put the valve back on Filter & pressure should go down gradually? Or do you want to "Slam" filter at the same time?

Thanks.

So I’m “working” from home today, and got bored and decided to try making a reference CYA solution.

I did 12 grams of granules to 12 liters of RODI water, which should yield a 1000ppm solution I can then dilute to whatever target.

Has anyone else done this? If so, how’d it go?

Good Morning fellow concrete swimmin' hole enthusiasts! My dear old frankenfilter has finally bit the dust and needs replacing. I went to Leslie's yesterday and an adorable child with no experience indeed could not help me find the appropriate replacement. He said I should call a technician but I am not a quitter and am here seeking advice because the wait time is 1+ weeks and my pool is turning greener every second.

The weathered piece of paper on the side of the tank says TA 60 - 60 D with an ambiguous punch between letters of the model. It's a top mount sand filter that I believe is a Pentair Tagelus 60 60d sand filter. I have an 18k gallon in ground pool in central Texas. I have the Pentair 2.2 VST pump. I only have one skimmer and one main drain.

Any suggestions on replacement models would be lovely. I really don't want to switch to a cartridge because of the maintenance frequency - I am cool with backwashing and setting/forgetting and just regular old sand has worked extremely well for my water quality.

Your advice would be much, much appreciated. Thank you so much!

My pool was uncovered yesterday and there are a bunch of leaves in the bottom of my pool. Is there any issue with using my robot in water of this temperature and emptying the basket fairly frequently? I don't have the time to vacuum manually.

I have an Aqua Products EVO 604 robot.

Hey folks,

I am opening the pool for the first time and obviously the topic of algae is something I keep seeing and it's various forms (Green, Yellow, Black, etc.). It made me wonder, how does one algae bloom over the other? Are the colour/types of algae different stages of the same organism? Why would a pool have green algae instead of black? Does black require certain environmental conditions different than green? If left alone, does green algae become black algae?

For the past at least 10 years I have used a 90 day algaecide in my pool in the North Fl summer months. This past winter because of health issues I lost my pool for the first time ... Green/black a mud pit. Anyway all fixed for the past month but Ive not had the sparkly water Ive had all my pool use days. 2 days ago I put in my 90 day algae prevention copper based and my pool is super sparkly again ... finally. So Ive read about potential issues with hair, equipment and God knows what else. I don't want to start an argument but I find it much easier to use the "liquid chlorine" method (more forgiving) for taking care of my pool.

WHY should I not use Copper in my pool? Looking for answers. IS it dangerous in some way to my and others health? Oh I have a cheap ... cheaper than an in-ground pool 16x32 Intex pool that I love and have loved for 4 years now. Way cheaper and easier to maintain than a $45,000 hole in the ground.

I noticed on the the Pentair Pool App, there is no longer an option for SWG percentage for spa mode. I verified that my IC40 no longer produces when in spa mode. I know previously you could choose up to 20% during spa operation. I sent the question to Pentair support, but they never answered the question. Any ideas on why they did that?