Help! I found a very small deceased mouse in the top window our Pentair pump and every time we open the lid to remove it from the basket, it flows back into the incoming line. We tried pushing water through the line with a garden hose to see if it comes back up through the pool skimmer, but no luck. After turning on the pool again he comes back into the pump window. Is there a way to lower the water slowly to allow it to fall past that line opening so we can get it out of the basket? So gross to have it in there….. PS. We replaced all of our Hayward equipment with Pentair a few months ago and our old Hayward pump water level would lower with it turned off, unlike this new one, so everything would drop to the bottom of the basket.

Hello,

I am a happy new pool owner and looking forward to learning as much as I can about my pool and what TFP has to offer.

My new quartz plaster pool with PMM Pre-Mix Marquis (Tropic Blue) finished the two week startup process yesterday and I am seeing some ugly water mark stains on the plaster. I am in contact with the pool installers, but am wondering if this is a huge problem or if this can be common and fixed with minimal headaches. I have attached some pictures below.

I followed all of the guidelines and steps that I was told and my readings as of yesterday are below.



If anyone has any information or suggestions I would really appreciate it.
Thank you!

So…my spa emptied out one night and I figured there was some debris keeping my diverter valve open. I remove actuator and pull out the diverter assembly and it looks like this:


So I purchased another diverter valve assembly for $80…and within two days it happens again:



First, anyone know what causes this? The inside of the valve is smooth. Could it be I need to lube up the inside of the 3-way valve? Not sure what to try next. Any guidance appreciated!

There is lots of information to go through on the forums, and I am just getting started. We should be filling our pool in a couple of weeks after the pebble tec is put in. I am having pool water trucked in because we live way out in the country, and our city water comes from a well and is iron rich, etc. It would be dark if we filled from there. Once the pool contractor tells me to fill the pool, I was told by another person with a salt water pool that it will be a bit before we put in salt. What are the first steps I should be doing once I add water to the pool? We are brand new in ground pool owners. I know we need a good test kit, and we will follow the recommendations from this site. I have been looking at the pool school docs. Just trying to get a feel for what we should be doing. I don't want to be misled by the pool builder.

Hi folks - hope this finds you all well.
My pool has been on autopilot for a while till last week when I realized the SWG (IC60) wasn’t producing chlorine.
I’ve been getting FC readings of/near zero for a week+. Water is perfectly balanced. No CC or algae. SWG cell “looks” perfect - all green lights and when the cell light is on I even see some bubbles at time indicating it’s operative. However, no chlorine in the pool (even keeping the IC60 at 60%+ which is way oversized for my pool and pump running 24/7).
Totally buffed.
The only thing I noticed is that since a month ago the salt reading on the intellicenter wall unit has been slowly going down (now at 3000) but two separate tests (Taylor and strips) confirm it’s still 3600ppm. So this suggests to me there’s something wrong with salt sensor (on intellicenter or intellichlor?) and perhaps this is preventing chlorine generation? The SWG is not indicating low salt.
The cell itself is new - installed last year - which makes me think it’s the intellicenter perhaps?

Such a mistery I’m at a loss.. any suggestion?

Should the liner fit snug on the stairs? Also there is an obvious thicker line that should fit along the bottom of each step. Should there be anything that holds the liner in place across the bottom of each step? I am sure I have not worded this right. Just need some answers before I go to the company that installed the liner and steps. Thank you

New pool owner for about a month. I’ve read through the recommended cya/fc levels and have a pretty good handle on how and why that all works. One of my many question is should I up my cya and fc all at once or little each day.

Current readings checked at 2pm today. Will check in the morning to see how much chlorine loss.
FC 3.5
CC 0
Alk 80
Salt 3300
Cya ? Tested with Taylor kit (TF Pro) and could see the dot with full tube. So little to none

I purchased 3 gallons of Natural Chemistry Instant Conditioner to raise cya to recommend 70-80 and will also purchase liquid chlorine to get fc up to 6-7. Should one chemical go before the other or can they both be add together with 10-15 minutes in between?

Will Alk and ph go up or down after adding conditioner and chlorine?

In general, how much Muriatic acid and baking soda is normal to keep on hand? I know every pool is different; I was just wondering what the best practice is.

After I get all the chemicals in check, what is a good starting point to set the swg % and for how long? Right now it runs 9 hrs at 60%

For a swg is it mechanically better to run it for 2hrs at 100% or 4hrs at 50%. It probably doesn’t matter but if you can get another 2 to 3 seasons one way or the other why not find out.

Will having the cya and chlorine at higher levels be dangerous for my dogs. They swim 2-3 times per week and don’t want to get them sick in any way.

Last question for now. To be safe should I do the slam process while cya is low before raising everything. If so what do you recommend I bring the cya up to before the slam process?

Equipment
13000 gallon fiberglass pool
Tf Pro Test Kit
TCell940 swg I think 1.47 lbs per day
Hayward 24 in sand filter with glass media
VS pump
Heater on back order
OmniLogic controller. I can turn off swg while pump is running for water feature at night if need be.
I’m near Savannah GA so it’s hot

Thanks to all the TFP members with all this fantastic information. Please let me know if I’m on the right track or if I should be doing something different

The return pipe will be in the middle, flowing up and directly into a 3-way valve and the two sides will go to the pool and the spa. I'm just trying to avoid an unnecessary 90 elbow and having the pipe stick out. If I install it vertically, all three pipes will be in line.

I have a 2000 gallon swim spa that has had the same water in it since end of last summer. I know the recommended water change is 3-6months but typically any recommendation for that says the water will get too far out of balance and nasty and require it. The thing is, my spa is crystal clear, the water is perfectly balanced, I do not have to put any chemicals in it other than a bromine tab or two every couple of weeks and shock it with 2oz of mps every couple of weeks. Ph doesnt budge. I rarely use it this time of year and when I do use it, its typically just me and sometimes my wife and we are usually very clean when we use it (usually just nights in the winter) I also only run it at 98F so I don't do a ton of sweating in it and I only use it as a big hot tub and don't exercise in it. I never have a single guest use it, so I know its never been peed in.

So with all that being said, is it still a good idea to drain it and change the water? Thanks

Hi,

We had seven people swim in the pool today, chlorine level is nine, CYA is 60. Combined chlorine level is two (4 drops to clear). Saltwater chlorine generator.

What has me concerned as we have several parties going into the Fourth of July weekend and I went out and tested it and noticed I had combine chlorine. I wondered if this is kind of a normal thing after seven people just went swimming.

Should I react to this or just let the chlorine generator work out overnight for 12 hours which is what it usually does.

Hello,
I am from Oklahoma and recently bought a BestWay pool that is bowing in extremely at the sides only.

Hi everyone just had a ppol
Completed and and looking for advice
It started pretty good but needed up being kind of a mess … the builder had his supposed 16 year old working with him small small chips in my poured coping
And lots of broom marks on the concrete in front of my pool and small chips
Builder is acting like I’m a jerk and that there is pretty much nothing he can do
Have been actually been losing sleep over this
Has anyone had any similar issues and what did you do ?

Hello all,

I had a bad winter, tons of leaves and algae to greet me (cheap cover which has since been tossed), so I added 6 lbs of shock to clear things up. Lots of vacumming, etc and here is where I'm at today with a Taylor test kit.

TA - 130
CH - 210
FC - 7.8
CC - maybe .5? There is a hint of red at .4 and it's clear at .6
CYA > 100 as the black dot cannot be seen before the gauge starts.
My PH reading is yellow so it's below 7 after adding one bag of soda ash.

My pool is an 18' round, 48" deep, salt, and is covered when not in use.

Looking for advice on how to raise PH, after adding 4# already the PH didn't move.

I noticed a white Flaky substance that gathers on my step in a pile.It’s very soft you can’t pick it up with your hands it separates and floats away.Any idea what it might be?

We just had a new liner placed and the pool will be done being filled by our local fire department this evening. My question is how do I proceed with testing the water and in which order should I add. I use TFP test kit and app, but just not sure on the most advantageous way to proceed In these circumstances. Thanks everyone!

New from Florida. Need help with brand new pool.

Trying to get a handle on how much liquid chlorine to add daily? CYA is 50 (I think I am testing more accurately now after the helpful hints). According to this FC should be min 4 ppm, target 6-8 ppm.

6/19 I was perfect (8.5 pm). Had a weeks worth of rain and 6/24 was at 4 pm-added @ 2" liquid chlorine.
6/26 2.5 ppm, added rest of jug @ 3" liquid chlorine. 6/27 4.5 ppm. Jug says 13 ounces (10, 000 gallon pool) daily. Hard to estimate ounces from that big jug so I started trying to turn the ounces into mls. 13 ounces = 384 mls. Wanted it up a bit more so I added 400 mls 6/27. 6/28 still at 4.5 ppm.

Yes I know that the sun (has been cool for NC so far-getting hot now) is eating it up daily. My question is am I on the right track testing and adding daily until I get a hang of what my pool is using? And do you recommend I add these small amounts frequently or what-is this normal?

6/28 added 800 mls-figured it used my 400 mls yesterday so mI I doubled it today.

Thank you!

I have a new Hayward heater. I keep getting a lo code when the pool is turned off. This is a brand new heater and pool. My pool company that installed the pool told me to make sure I’m getting proper water flow in the system. But didn’t tell me how to do this. Do I do it on the Hayward screen or on the pool pipes. I’m new to this. They were no help. I would like to figure this out on my own so they will not charge me. So if anyone can help I appreciate it. Pool and sand less filters are very clean.

Need to replace 6 year old cartridges in a Pentair C&C Plus 240 filter but am considering upsizing to 320 cartridges. I'm not sure its cost effective if the only benefit is less frequent cleaning. I have a 16x32 salt water pool that holds approximately 20k gallons of water with one skimmer. Chemicals are balanced but pool vacuum can't keep up with dirt and minimal tree debris. The pool is surrounded by crops that likely add to the debris. Neighbors with similar pools swear by their Pentair DE filters. Not wanting to deal with DE after years with an above ground but am curious if anyone has any experience with the Quad D.E. Cartridge Style filter. I'm also wondering if one skimmer is the problem and if so, what can be done at this point?

We have the Hayward Aqua Trol RJ salt generator. The power light is on so we have power but all the other lights are not lit and we’re not getting any readings, they show 0. We have reset it and replaced the thermister and still nothing. What else could it be?

I have had a 28ft round pool since new for about 8 years. this season I replaced the pump with Hayward 2 speed and changed the sand. I have some questions and this looks like the place I have been searching for. I will be searching this site for answers but here is my main question:

new sand quickcret pool sand. only thing if could find locally. since replacing water flow into the pool drops, pressure up. after just a few hours. a quick backwash or rinse, takes care of the problem. but I will need to do it again soon. one last thing on it. after everything was installed I had to lift the multi-port a few inches to instal some pvc.

thanks to all

Hi,
I have a Hayward Tristar VS 900 that was damaged in a hail storm. I have a replacement controller but when I took off the old controller the wire harness came apart and I have no idea which of the 4 wires go to which plug on the controller.
Hayward won't help. Does anyone have this pump and would unscrew the control panel and send me a picture of the wire arrangement? Or just know how to order the wires? I've attached a photo of the underside of the controller and the wires attach to the white display plug with the red connectors.


Thanks,
John

I recently moved to a house that has a pool. I've never owned a pool, and I'm having trouble figuring out what exactly everything is. Specifically I don't understand the multiple pump situation. There are a few things that I know...

1. The pipe with the orange line sends water to the solar pool heater (currently not in use).
2. The valve in blue is closed to the pool heater.
3. The pump in orange is a variable speed pump that is currently on a 4 hours high -> 8 hours medium type schedule. This pump is tied to a clock timer that when off kills the power to both pumps. The clock timer is set to turn on at 6am and off at 6pm.
4. The pump in green seems to be required for the pool sweep to run. This pump is tied to a clock timer that when off only kills the power to this pump.
5. The filter is DE filter that hits about 20psi when the pump is running on high.

My goal right now is to figure out:

1. What kind of schedule should the green pump be running?
2. What, if any, changes to I need to make to the clock timers?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

I received my TF-pro kit earlier this week. Just need to confirm this is correct

I have a blank mixing bottle with a red cap. This has no marks or volume indicators on it.

Per the instructions I mix 7.5ml of pool water and another 7.5 ml of r-0013 stir, sit, shake and test.

I want to mark the mixing bottle at 7.5 and 15 but wanted to make sure this procedure is correct.

It’s rained so much the pool is overflowing. There is a snapping turtle in the water next to the pool. Wiley wants to play with . He keeps laying in the mud. There’s tadpoles everywhere! Wiley needs a bath. Now I need a bath. I was hoping to get in and clean the pool today. I guess I have other plans now

Please don’t judge my pool. No one has been in it this year and cleaning is next priority

We havd a 8-year-old 20,000 gallon salt water pool with an attached spa. We heat the pool w solar and although we could use our heater (Sta-Rite Max-E-Therm 400) for the pool as well, we only use it for our spa. Late last year something happened that caused the heater to cycle on and off.
I have the spa temp at 104F, starting at 72F it will heat for about 16-17 minutes until it reaches approx. 85F and then it will shut off, after about a minute it will ignite again. In the beginning it will typically heat for 75-80 seconds and then shut off for about 60 seconds. It takes me 30 minutes to get to 90F (before this problem I would have reached my set temp of 104F by then). I am able to reach 100F after 50 min but by then it is heating for 40 seconds and then shuts off for 80 seconds. After 1h I reach 102F.
I never see an error code.
The highest exhaust temperature I have is around 350F.
There is no rattling sound when I start it up, it sounds just like before.
I opened the casing and there is no debris, no rats nest and cables all look fine etc.

Any idea what I should look at next? I have read about the thermostat thing being corroded, but I am not sure how that would drive this behavior and not trigger an error? I am a newbie when it comes to trouble shooting heaters, so TIA for any help!

I bought this waterproof deck box to store acid in because I wanted to get it out of my garage. Now I’m worried it will get too hot??

Just noticed that our filter has no power to it, however our heater does. Checked the breakers but nothing seems to be tripped. Any advice?

Is there a reason that the pool math app shows a target for CSI of -0.60 to 0.60? I thought the target range was -0.03 to 0.03 with ideal range of -0.03 to 0

We started in early June when temps in North Alabama were unseasonably cool, used a 3" Clorox 6 in 1 in a floater, did well for a few weeks, then the heat came. Algae bloom.
I decided since the QS500 salwater was on sale via Amazon to purchase. I think I made the rookie mistake of not vacuuming the algae before BOOST, assuming once chlorine level was ideal it would kill algae?
I previously had vacuumed once and scrubbed the walls with a soft brush before moving to saltwater.

I followed the Intex instructions for the nearly 7K gallon pool, 4 and 3/4 sacks of 40lbs salt for as close to 175lbs without precisely measuring out. Ran BOOST for 24hrs. some improvement in water clarity, algae was still there, so I vacuumed the pool again, this time floors, walls, removed all algae. Backwash and rinsed sandfilter. Still cloudy, but Intex says that can remain for 3-6 days after boost, I am on day 4.

I set up the filter and QS500 to run 4hrs per Intex with regard to the gallon capacity, I was out of town Monday night, checked today, still cloudy, seeing signs of algae starting to form. The Taylor K-1001 still indicates free chlorine is low, and so do the Clorox and Intex provided sticks, reading here and elsewhere, I see they're not accurate? Hence me buying the Taylor kit for accuracy and using the sticks to triple check, they seems to be in line thus far. These levels have remained the same since Sat, pre and post BOOST, and normal 4hr daily operation.

So I am at a loss how to proceed at this point to clear up the water and stop the algae. As you can see, the pH level per Taylor looks ideal, but not so according to the sticks, which can be inaccurate, correct? But the free chlorine measuremnts seems to be in line with Taylor and the sticks. Pool photo looks clearer than it does in person, has a aqua green tint.