Hello - I wanted to get the boards thoughts/recommendations on Fish Tape for installing my Colorlogic lights. My 3 old lights died and I was able to get the first two replaced by tying a pull line to old light wire. I was able to get the old light out and the pull wire along with it but when i was pulling the wire for the new light back in the pull line broke about 3/4ths of the way through(technically it was just a bad job taping the pull line to the Pool wire) so i planned on buying a Fish Tape. The run is just under 90ft with what i believe are a couple 90 degree turns. Just want to make sure i get the best tape for the job and have seen there are fiberglass, metal, polymer, etc.
Thanks!

Hello everyone, I have the Circupool RJ 45 salt system. We have had it since 2019 with no issues other than replace cell once in 2021. It has recently started showing "Cell Not Match" on the screen and none of the buttons are responsive. I have found a few forums that say to disconnect power and check connections, which I have done with no success. Has anyone else experienced this and/or found a fix for it? Also, can someone post a working phone number to Circupool, I have not been able to get in contact with them over the phone.

Thank you for any help.

First time pool owner, just moved to Grand Rapids Michigan. When we moved in I made the mistake of opening the pool, taking sample to Leslie’s… dumped random product into the pool following the recommendations… retested a week later, was told something different and sold more chemicals… retested a week later and now told something different again. After 3 weeks of this I still had a green pool and spent around $500 in pool chemicals.

So I finally did some of my own research, drained the pool and refilled yesterday. Now I’m starting fresh with the TFP method. I just ordered my Taylor test kit and I hope to never have to go back to a pool store again.

Looking forward to getting to know some of you! I am a veterinarian and former PGA teaching professional.

-David

**I know I need to make a signature, so for now: 25000 gal chlorine vinyl pool with sand filter

I'll have to add a photo later, but basically at each of the T joint spots on the pool, most of them on left or right on the underside i have rust. I have had this before, i used rusteoleum to cover it up, but now the rust is back but with degradation in the metal, holes etc.

On one of them i sanded and coated it again as best i could, then wrapped a bicycle tube around it and sprayed over that with plasti dip. Rough job but it seemed to be ok.

Any suggestions on what to do now that i discovered quite a few more under there? I'm thinking some sort of silicone tape and wrap em tight, but i dont know how long that will extend things short of tearing it all down and replacing the whole thing, liner included? I thought maybe there is some sort of wrap/brace i could also wrap around for strength

If this were to rust all the way to the top of the rail, this would put the structural integrity at risk, i would think, especially if theres more than 1 spot along the circle.

Thanks in advance

So, I have learned that I don't need it with a vinyl pool. But will it hurt or benefit the pool in any way even though it is not needed?

I want to install a wifi switch to control my pool light, I am 99% sure I have a neutral wire as required for the switch but want to make sure.
I have 120 v light switch but with 2 blue wires, not the typical black and white. I assume since it's 120 volts, one has to be the hot and the other is neutral. Is this correct? Not suure what the white wire in the back of the box leading to the GFCI outlet above is.

View attachment 511021

Just wanted to say thanks.

We just bought a new home with a pool back in May, and in the process of opening and cleaning, the pool turned a lovely shade of sour apple.

So I did what any pool newbie would do. Went to the pool store and blindly dumped a bunch of chemicals into my pool. I'm sure you can all guess how that went.

There were times when I got really fustrated. There were times I wanted to give up. But I knew there had to be a way.
SO, I did my research on my own. All signs pointed to TFP.
Lurked on this forum for about 2 weeks. Learned about SLAM. Bought a Taylor test kit. Followed the steps. Understood the value of POP.

A week later, my pool went from sour apple to crystal clear.
I would not have achieved this without you all and your expertise.

I still look at the before/after pics my wife took (which I will provide soon) and just kinda shake my head and smile.
What a feeling...

I’m preparing for a pool and deck renovation. Re-plaster, new tile, new spillway (scupper), and re-do the cool deck. I’m most concerned with getting a tile that will resist the calcium buildup. Maybe glass, since it is the smoothest? I already use a water softener for make up and that helps tremendously. My goal (dream) is to never have to scrape calcium off tile again. That’s tough here in the southwest.

Any other suggestions?

I have an enclosure that was built new with the house in 1987. It was rescreened in 04 after hurricane Ivan and was getting pretty rough.

The screws were rusting out, the white powder coating was so dead and porous that it would mildew almost as fast as it could be cleaned and the screen was well past it's time. A lot of the brackets (mostly receiver channel style) were becoming questionable because of rusted screws.

I debated on rescreening vs full restoration and finally decided to go all out. New screws, new brackets, paint and screen. I did every bit of of myself.

It's an uncommon design with a lot of challenges. First is the height, roughly 20' at the peak. The roof is also very steep. The high side wall combined with the steep roof made for a sketchy time on the ladder. The small amount of concrete deck made placement of large ladders particularly challenging. The steepness of the roof also made moving the tall ladders difficult because a ladder tall enough for one section is too tall to fit under the rest of the roof. You can't just slide a ladder over.

First step was to pull the screen. While a ladder was set up for that I gave each section a quick pressure wash (enough that I could work safely). I then removed and replaced every rusty screw and installed new "capri" clips I cut from aluminum angle stock. The trick is to do as much as possible in one spot before having to move a ladder.

With the screen removed and the metal work done I went back and gave the entire thing an inch by inch up close pressure washing to prepare it for fresh paint. I hit every inch from top to bottom with the highest pressure tip. I didn't include this step with the metalwork because I didn't want it to sit too long and get dirty before paint. Using a strong pressure washer on a high ladder can get interesting as it wants to push you around.

After a few days drying I hit it with a coat of white paint through a Graco handheld sprayer. Other than moving ladders again it was a pretty easy process. Very satisfying to see something start looking shiny and new.

Finally, after a few days of letting the paint dry, it was time to roll in the new screen. Roughly 3 100' rolls of screen over several days. A lot more moving ladders than the previous steps as you have to safely apply pressure over every inch of it to roll the spline in. You can't reach as far from the ladder as you can with painting and pressure washing.

Please forgive the condition of the water. The liner was in the process of failing and eventually drained itself. I'm waiting on a new one to be made now.

Pics below.

I added floc to my pool, didn't follow the instructions properly and now what was just a small cloudy issue has become a disaster. Luckily, my water is balanced and clear on top but there is still leftover floc on the bottom and walls of the pool but water level is too low so I cannot vacuum to waste until Saturday when water is scheduled for delivery so should I keep pump turned off or let it run since floc is already in the filter sand? I also bought new sand and plan to replace sand tomorrow or on Saturday, but after I remove the old sand, deep clean the filter and then add the new sand what do I need to do to make sure my new sand is not contaminated with the remaining floc in the pool?

I just came home to my pump starting and immediately shutting off. The impeller is not obstructed, so I have a feeling it may be a capacitor issue. I am about to test in that direction.

Since Jandy has discontinued this version of the stealth pump - and I have had issues mounting with the lid (replaced)- pvc pipes (replaced)…

I am thinking it may be time for a complete overhaul. I am going to try to fix it while I do research, so my pool does not get an algae bloom.

Does this pump have a run and start capacitor? One on top and one in the back? If it kicks on, water flows- then kicks off… any clue which one it could be?

I've got these test strips that test for both Chlorine and Bromine separately and my bromine levels keep showing high, like the upper limit of the range on the test. See photo. This is a new pool, I used well water that has been run through a home filter and a water softener, and the only products I have used so far are chlorine and muratic acid with some Clorox pH Down in the very beginning. I've also added 2 bags of Clorox Shock xtrablue. The water is highly alkaline from the well (water softener didn't do much, will need to check that on a separate note) and I have been adding muratic acid daily to keep the pH down and work on getting the alkalinity into range.

The one test strips I bought from walmart had bromine and chlorine on the same line with the same test.

So what the heck is going on with the bromine? Does chlorine simply interact with the bromine strip regardless of whether bromine is present, or is there something else going on here that I am missing?

Thanks!

Looking if anyone has specific recommendations for cooling down my pool a bit. I'm in Florida, and the pool gets full sun pretty much starting at about 9:30 or so. Currently getting up to about 93 degrees. I would like to get it between 86-88, or at least not above 90. I don't really want to drop thousands on big time cooling mechanisms. I typically run the pool during the day, however I read about running it at night can help cool it. I ran it last night from 2-7. I have a bubbler and ran the bubbler from 4-7. This morning the temp was at 90 degrees before the sun is even out, so I anticipate the pool will at least be 93 in a few hours. Is there anything else I can do? I see these products that are basically PVC pipes that you put into a return jet or the polaris port and they run a fountain that can cool the pool by a couple degrees. Does anyone have experience with these? Would my bubbler not be able to do the same thing? Any other ideas? Thanks

I have a pentair easytouch system ... it was installed about 5 years ago.
The low voltage breaker which controls the relays keeps tripping.

I have unplugged all the relays (there are 3 plugged in to the back of the circuit board) and the breaker still trips.

I contacted pentair support who said I need to contact a local pool/service company.

Any suggestions how to troubleshoot before I call a tech?

Long story short - we were away for 2.5 weeks and my pool sitter missed a day or so, which happened to be when we lost power so the SWG wasn’t running. Even running hot wasn’t a match for no power + big storms washing junk into pool. Ended up with slightly cloudy water, so I had her start a SLAM before I got back. Chlorine demand is coming down, but didn’t quite pass OCLT last night. But it’s close, so I think I’m at the tail end of that. (And yeah - I pulled the light and the ladder and scrubbed everything. )

Since I know I have iron issues, I took the opportunity of having high FC to throw some Polyfill in the skimmers and see what I can catch. But 2 days in and the Polyfill is just as bright white as it was when I put it in: the only thing it seems to be catching is bugs. Is all the iron on the liner already? Or do I need to do something else to get it to catch? Just be patient? I’ve tried it before, but never been able to catch anything.

The pool is a lovely clear green, and you can see the iron stains pretty clearly all over the liner. The pics show my robot at the bottom of the 9ft deep end, for reference.

Hello, we are SLAMing our pool to treat some significant black algae. It’s our third day and we have been running the pump nonstop. Do we need to run it the whole time during the SLAM? Our electricity is quite expensive so I’m a little concerned about that. How long does a SLAM take?
Also should brushing with a regular pool brush during the SLAM be enough? I am brushing twice a day, but so far not seeing a lot of change. I just ordered a new pool brush, maybe that will help?

our Polaris pool robot kept losing it’s tread; been in the shop for over 3 weeks. borrowed a friend’s robot and now testing the Dolphin brand.

our pool is a little cloudy and i’m not great at chemical testing but want to learn more as the pool store tests around us seem way over priced or at least seem to sell us more than we need.

my neighbor swears by TFP so i’m here

I have a new cartridge filter. I always add anti-freeze when closing pool. My question is, when I turn it on in the spring, will the anti-freeze that will be in the one suction line (skimmer) damage the cartridges in the filter ?

Can you run the filter without the cartridges while clearing the anti freeze from the suction line ?

Thanks
Rich

I replaced a Hayward super pump with a Hayward VSP super pump. Last night when finishing up, I just turned on the breaker, made sure the display lit up on the pump, it started to spin up and I then shut it down. No problem.
This morning I’m ready to fire it up and get it programmed. As soon as I turn on the breaker, it trips. I disconnected the load wires from the breaker and it still trips.
If I disconnect the ground wire from the pump, it will not trip. The other end of that ground wire runs directly to the GFCI breaker. That’s the way the original pump was wired.
So basically I only have the ground wire on there and that’s enough to trip the breaker. ???
What am I missing here?
It’s a Hayward SP2603VSP.

Hi all, pool is at 85 degrees
Chlorine 5.5
Free .5
Ph 7.4
Will be gone all day. Should I bump up the Chlorine? Nobody will be in it for a few hours. Just don't want any issues due to heat and warm water.
I still consider myself new..

If anyone read my first post here already from yesterday then this will make sense.

My installer did not leave a brush, net, handle or manual vacuum with my pool I just my robot vacuum

Just looking for and good starting point for these items.

Thanks in advance

Can’t keep chlorine in my pool (saltwater/SWG) and what I’ve been reading says to SLAM to achieve breakpoint chlorination. Trying to determine how much 10% liquid chlorine I would need to add at once to achieve the 10x level. My CC reading at pool store most recently was .15 but I am waiting on an FAS-DPD test to do myself. Pool is 26,000 gallons. Any insight would be helpful as I am a new pool owner.

Hi everyone. simple 5000 gal AGP with vinyl liner. Using test strips and K-2005 testing kit, I get pH above 8 and TA at around 320. I bought an electrode pH tester from amazon that has great reviews for accuracy and it shows pH is 6.8

Did I get a lemon? I don't have any distilled water yet to clean and calibrate (it says its factory calibrated and don't need to when its new). I am leaning toward the electrode tester not showing the proper results since TA is at 320.

Thoughts?

Hi,
New member here. Doing a Gunite / patio overhaul this fall into spring and looking to leverage some expertise from valuable members of this forum!

Name is Anthony with zero plumbing or chemistry experience. Neighbor let me have his 18’ above ground pool equipped with a 1.5hp pump. I registered on TFP because I feel like it is the right place for a beginner and 1st time pool owner like myself. Also, it is here that I’ve received only CORRECT answers to the many many questions I’ve had. So thank you for the knowledge and I look forward to picking y’all’s brains, A LOT!! Especially now that my very first plumbing project was finished about 6 hours ago (hopefully) on the very same pool. I will warn everyone in advance that this could get interesting to say the least. I’ll let y’all know how the plumb work dried and also upload a few pics. Thanks again for allowing me to be part of this wealth of knowledge that is TFP!!

Hey guys I havve a low hrs Calimar VSP pool pump that is not turning on. It has no errors and has power and it looks fine it’s just not starting up. No noise no clicks nothing when I try manual mode or wuick clean.
I believe this is the common controler to Black and Decker and various other units.

Suggestions? Is there some sore of reset I can try? I did shut the mains of and turened it back on…no dice.

Thanks Nochain

Hey folks, our pool is finally going in… I’ve got an Intelliflo VSF pump, a MasterTemp300 natural gas heater, a BioShield UV lamp, 3 MicroBrite lights, and the Intellivalves that will connect to the Intellicenter.

Can anyone help me with what breakers I need for this setup? And if there’s anything else I need for the Intellicenter?

Many thanks,

Moved from here.

My pool construction was completed in early March 2022. I have a small saltwater fiberglass inground pool which has one pool light (Jandy Nicheless Pro Series). The light no longer comes on and I have done the suggested troubleshooting--reset the light circuit breaker, checked the voltage on the transformer (it is in range). The light initially went to a green LED for a while and would not come on completely or change colors. Now the green LED does not illuminate, and the light does not come on/illuminate in any color. I suspect the bulb/cartridge is bad but surely seems to have failed early as it is less than 3 years old. I am open to any suggestions/recommendations.

Thanks for your help.

Steve

Greetings….
I have an in ground pool with a Polaris 380 cleaner…
I have become aware that the foam scrubber at the end of the sweep hose is instrumental, in keeping the sweep hose working as designed.
That having been said, I fell victim to the cheap (Chinese Crud) that you find on the internet ( 10 for $5.00 or?)
They lasted less than a week for each.
Lesson learned….
Can anyone suggest an appropriate replacement, that will last as the original did?
Thanks
Sandy
PS….if everyone refuses to settle for Chinese Crud, we can turn back the tide.

My free chlorine will not come up. Everything else is testing perfectly.