My HOA has offered to pay for my CPO training/certification. Is there a course/program that TFP recommends for obtaining the CPO?

Hello, just wanted to introduce myself. I will be moving in to a house with an unground pool and this is my first experience owning a pool. A little scared and apprehensive but appreciate this web site as I am learning a lot here.

Hello pool gurus!

My husband and I are bit overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to summer-ize our first pool ever and are needing some help.

We have a 15,000 gal, vinyl, above-ground pool that the previous homeowner was using TruBlue Copper to maintain. After reading on here and having 6 & 13 year old boys, we want to use chlorine moving forward because little boys are gross!

We do have some lovely black-green algae that we found when we uncovered it and our test strips are giving us the following readings (I did also test the water from our hose out of curiosity & for comparison, not that I have any idea if it will be of any assistance).
Pool: Hose:
Total Chlorine 0 0
Free Chlorine 0 0
pH 8.4 7.6
Total ALK 240 120-180
Cyanuric Acid 150-240 30-50
Total Hardness 1000 500-1000

These numbers are from after refilling the pool from starting at about 1/3-1/2 full to now just under fully filled.

From what I have been reading, it sounds like we should start with draining and refilling again to drop the CYA levels and then retest and go from there, but I am not sure how much to drain or if we just need to dump the whole thing and start over?

I just don't want to make an expensive mistake and ruin our pool before we even get to use it! Thank you!!!!!

Part 1: pool motor sounded weak and pump not moving water properly. On the assumption that we had a dying motor, we bought a new one, (exact replacement Century (A.O. Smith) 1.0 HP Up Rate Motor, Round Flange 56J Frame, Single Speed - Model UST1102 Voltage 115/230, Max Amps 115V = 15.0 230V = 7.5, Single Speed, Round Flange, RPM = 3450, Threaded Shaft, Frame = 56J) and swapped it in. Same weak noise and pump not pulling water.
Part 2: took motor out of the pump housing, checked that impeller was tight, etc., and got a strobe app to check RPM because it sounded so weak. App says motor is running at ~1100 RPM instead of specified ~3450 RPM.
Part3: On the assumption that the old timer might be impeding the current to the motor, bought a new timer and swapped it in (motor still OUT of the pump housing). No improvement.
So: does our logic re impedance on the electrical circuit even make sense? Could the electrical wires from the house to the pool be shot. Or did we just have the bad luck of getting a faulty new pump? We are not sure how to proceed from here, so suggestions welcome. Again, the motor is NOT attached to the pump/plumbing so no plugs, etc.). Also, the toggle on the motor is set to 230V. Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone, first off this forum is a massive resource of information. I was hoping one of the vets here can help me down the right path.

Here is where I am at. Advanced in technical-inclination (at least I think so)

Natural Gas Jandy JXi 200n, about 6 years old now. I bought the house last year it performed flawlessly all year. This year would not turn on, gave me check ignition steps fault. As a newb with pool equipment I started with the ignitor, found the porcelain was cracked and it tested as open circuit. Replaced that, and still nothing (I handled it very carefully and did not touch the element with my fingers).

Noticed the power distribution board has burn marks on the "chip" in the middle and the socket. I made a wiring diagram for 220v and just soldered jumpers on the board in the same fashion as the chip (used 12awg, which is even bigger than that is in the unit), still nothing.

Started reading just about everything here and continued on....

Now I run through the entirety of the troubleshooting steps in the Jandy graphic, all sensors test 24v to ground, 24v is being supplied to the W terminal on the Fenwal. I check F2 and theres nothing. F1 has 110v, F2 nothing. Fenwal is displaying airflow fault. The blower has not kicked on one time during this entire process.

I jump f1 and f2 to test the blower, it powers up great and runs fine. I check for 24v on both sides of the pressure switch and the normally open contacts are closing fine. When I run the unit with the blower jumped I never get any heat out of the exhaust.

I feel the unit is not igniting. Both of my gas shutoffs are open.

What is the next troubleshooting step? Could my ignitor still be bad (yes) and I'm not getting ignition? How can I verify the gas valve is opening?

Last night, we had a pretty bad wind event resulting in lots of leaves, twigs, dirt, etc. in the pool this morning. We've got it cleaned out and the robot vacuum is running for the second time today.
We also lost power for 5-6 hours, and then I had the pump off until I got the big junk out of the pool, so no SWG for about 17 hours total. Tf-100 test results are as follows:

FC - 3.5
pH - 7.8
TA - 90
CH - 300
CYA - 70
Salt - 3000 (vs OmniLogic 2900)

I'm in the process of adding stabilizer to bring my CYA back up to 80, and I'll add some acid per Pool Math. Seems like I should add some liquid chlorine to bring my FC up faster than the SWG would do it (and I'd be kind of guessing what SWG% to set it at). Does that sound like a good idea? Any other suggestions???

Borax, diluted bleach etc? What do you use

Moved from here.

Similar if not same issue Salt flashing red , Cell off , Flow Green , output dark, buttons more less unresponsive. no fix.

We bought a pool last year and tried keeping it clean with little success. This year we opted in for a larger filter pump but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything, like at all. It runs and that about it. What’s going on.

After 5 years I think I'm ready to make the jump to a pool cleaner. With the SWG and this site, nearly everything else is completely hassle-free, with the exception of vacuuming, so let's go all the way.

I'm pretty sure that I would either need a cordless version, or else one with at least a 75' cord.

I don't think I need all of the bells and whistles.. I feel like if one or two nights a week I throw it in the pool and let it do its thing I should be in great shape, but maybe after using the automation I might really appreciate it.

So many options, I just have no idea where to even start.

Thanks!
Chris

Hello! I am just getting in to managing my parents and grandparents pool, but I am getting different results for my chemicals than the pool store. Here is my numbers
ph 7.5
Free chlorine 10
Alkalinity 80
Calcium hardness 500
Cyanuric acid 80

Leslie pools numbers
Ph 7.2
Free chlorine 9.11
alkalinity 44
Calcium harness 303
Cyanuric acid 117

Is there a reason that my test kit and Leslie’s pools give me different numbers? Maybe my kit chemicals are bad or the store is just lying to get me to buy their products? I appreciate any help I can get.

Hi gang, stumbled upon this community after much pool research. I am a new pool owner this season, with our pool being opened on June 12 this year by a local pool supplies/maintenance company. The pool was measured as 36’ x 16 1/6’ average, and was told that the volume should be around 89k litres, or ~23.5k gallons. I’ve inputted 24k gallons as most calculators I’ve tried is close to that number.

This is how the pool started (picture taken after the interlock contractor re-leveled around the pool), and also dumped the cover into the pool. Note that we did not open last season when we owned the house but was under renovation.



During the opening, 20L of chlorine (listed as sodium hydrochloride 12% on my receipt) was added. They got the cover out. I’m unsure whether they scrubbed the liner.

This is what it looked like the day after (June 13):


Without taking any water samples, the pool guy told me to add 40L chlorine without any stabilizer.

This is what it looked like after (June 14):


At this point I had purchased some test strips for quick testing at home (I’ve subsequently ordered a Taylor K-2006C kit which hasn’t arrived yet). The results showed no FC and what could be either no or 0.5 TC. I also had zero CYA.

The next day (June 15), I added 3.6kg of CYA (1/2 on each skimmer), as well as an additional 30L of chlorine (they ran out, otherwise it would have been 40L).

This is what it looked like the day after (June 16), when the pool maintenance guys also came to do some repairs on the equipment (flow sensor and fixing some plumbing joins). They brought and put in 1kg of flocculant, after which we put it in 8 hours of recirculating and then back to filtering. They also spent quite some time scooping up leaves and whatever was inside the pool as much as they could. The image is of the evening when flocculant has had time to work.



The next day I brought a water sample there, and these were the results (June 17, ~1pm):
FC 0.04
TC 0.57
CC 0.53
pH 6.6
Alkalinity 122
Hardness 117
Salt 2400
Iron 0.10
Copper 0.00
Phosphate 1605

Interestingly my test strips were showing higher pH (7.8), hardness (250) but I assume it’s not very accurate.

I purchased but haven’t used:
- 40L chlorine
- 3L phosfree
- 2kg pH plus
- 2 bags of salt (should have been 3 but I only purchased 2 for now)

I’m unsure whether the treatment plan has been correct (water was only tested when I brought back a sample). I think I may need more CYA before putting any more chlorine, and I should probably clean my SWG as it is showing check cell and low salt.

I’ve spent close to 4x their opening costs including the extra service call and chemicals, and they want to come back for some vacuuming after adding in the flocculant. This is as accurate account as I have notes on so far.

Last picture is from last night (June 17) 8pm, and it looks pretty close to that right now:


What’re my next steps here? I may have missed some details so ask away!

I am wondering why the recommended level for TA for an inground plaster pool using liquid chlorine is 60-80 in the TF Pool School and 100-120 in my TF-100 test kit instructions. Does climate have anything to do with it? I am in Tucson, AZ. My local pool supply store recommends 80-120. Also, other sources I have checked recommend 80-120.

My pool water is clear, I do not see any signs of algae etc. I tested today and results were as follows

FC: 3
CC: 1
PH: 7.5
CYA: 70

Yesterday my chlorine level was 6. I tend to keep it around 6-8. CC has been 0 to .5. Is the slight rise an indication I should SLAM? We have had a heavy bathing load and thunderstorms the past week.

Happy Father's Day!

I'm changing water with Ahh Some and overfilled tub to top of tub to easily get grime off of sides of tub. At some point during this process, the main ruse for the hot tub keeps popping.

Any guess at what happened?

Think water got in somewhere and shortest something? Will it dry out and maybe work soon?

Any ideas for me please?

--Doug

Hi all, I'm new here! My family and I are in the beginning stages of designing a pool. This is our first time building a pool so I welcome any feedback you have! We're looking to build a 18'x40' rectangular gunite pool. We do not want to go any bigger than 40' in length total and the pool must stay rectangular since we want to have an automatic pool cover. I've always envisioned a pool that has a tanning ledge with steps at the end to fit the entire width of the pool. My husband was concerned that a tanning ledge that big will eat up much of the shallow end, so our PB came up with two designs that are a compromise. Option 1 will allow for loungers, but we don't like how much it takes away from the shallow end on one side. I'm also not sure if I like how the ledge just drops off the way it does. Option 2 has a small tanning ledge that will allow for chairs, not loungers, which we are OK with. I like how this design looks more symmetrical than the first. The brand Ledge Lounger makes a chair that we think will fit (we will confirm with our PB). Option 2 also offers two 4' benches along the shallow end to allow for more sitting/hanging out. Which of these designs do you prefer? Will a 10'x4' tanning ledge even be worth it? Do we scratch the idea of a ledge at all? Please chime in! Thank you.

A couple of questions for the experts, which I am not. I’ve been battling all May and June to stay clear. I had a CYA and phosphate issue which is now resolved. Now I’ve got it to relatively clear but I can’t keep it there. My most recent tests are included. I’ve treated the high ph and the calcium since the test. Based on this group I believe I have a mustard algae issue and I’m convinced I should SLAM. So my question is since I have seen the chart, included, to treat mustard algae. So can I do all of these things together? If so what is the sequence. My understanding is….brush, Yellow Out, SLAM. Since this is my first SLAM any guidance is greatly appreciated. 16500 gallons in south Texas, in ground chlorine gunite quartz finish, extreme heat of 120 heat index’s lately. I have 12 gallons of liquid 10% chlorine on hand, 4 lbs of Yellow Out. Ty!!!

Sunday project: replacing my old intermatic timer that controls the SWG with a sonoff R2 so I can do it from my phone and have a better control over the schedule (I'm also in the process of researching ripping it all out and going to a nixie standalone, but this is step one because the R2 is easy to come by and the raspberry pi is not).

it seems the pump is also wired in with the intermatic timer. I think I know how to wire the R2 for just the SWG on and off, but how do I handle the extra pump wiring here?

Greetings all,

Wondering if I can get input on equipment choices. Thus far, changing Jandy NG heater to a Pentair 460736.

Thank you,

Cheers

After 8 relatively trouble-free seasons my Pentair MasterTemp heater died (heat exchanger) and so I replaced it with a new one. It is integrated with a Pentair Intellichlor salt system and Intelliflow pump, controlled by IntelliTouch/ScreenLogic. Previously the IntelliTouch/ScreenLogic completely overrode the panel controls on the heater. With this new heater, with exactly the same hookups, etc., ScreenLogic will turn the heater on and off (and is the only way to do so), but it will not change the set point as before. I can change the set point from the control panel on the heater, just not from the remote ScreenLogic interface. So now I can only turn the heater on/off from ScreenLogic inside but then need to go outside to the heater itself to change the setpoint. Not the end of the world I guess, but rather annoying. Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks.

Hello,

Bought the E10 couple days ago. And it ran a couple of runs now.

What bothers me is that it seems to catch the fine sand, but larger and lighter pieces get blown right out the back of it, back in the Pool.

At the end of the run, there is not that much in the filter basket, almost only sand.
Is it something I am missing or doing wrong?

Thanks

Hi, I'm a new pool owner with a small inground pool. I was given no information about the pool when I bought the house but the pump and filter were working fine. But now I'm getting air bubbles in the pump basket, crackling sound from the multiport area, and bubbles from return jets.

I recently had the pool resurfaced and leak tested. There was a small crack in the skimmer which was repaired, but no other leaks were found. The pump basket lid was removed (I had never removed it before) during the process. Once the pool was filled I filled the pump basket and closed the lid. The pump primed but had vortex of bubbles, which I never had before. And the water drains from the basket overnight. The filter was not making noise at this point.

I did a backwash and rinse. After I moved back to filter I noticed the crackling from the multiport area. I've tried all the suggestions for finding a leak and all joints, valves and gaskets are fine.

When I turn the pump off there's a quarter size bubble remaining, but with the pump on it looks like a lot more air. Should I stop running the filter? I don't want to break the pump. Any suggestions to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Hi! We live in south Texas and our pool gets too warm at times.

Is there a pool cover (especially an inexpensive one) that can help prevent evaporation but won’t warm up our pool?

Just had the pool opened the other day, and noticed that when the pump is on there is some water seeping up from the coping when the sucking noise is made in the skimmer. It only had this water in one section - on the side where one return jet is, to the left of the center skimmer, the other return jet on the right side area isn't having water seep out like this. I believe the return line runs in this section where the water is showing up. Does this look like a crack in that line which since under cement would have to be dug up to be fixed? When the pump isn't on no water seeps out and I am not losing water. How much of a $ to fix could this be? Since it happens only when pump is on I turned off the pump which means since it was just opened it can't be shocked and cleaned properly either - but if it is leaking it seems I would just lose water anyways so makes no sense to have it turned on. Thank you for any feedback!

Here is a 12 second video

Hi everyone,

Have a worrysome symptom going on with the heater( Raypack 206A natural gas). When the heater is activated, the pr-blower comes on, the gas valve opens and the unit ignites normal. Later when the unit goes into another heat cycle, I hear a bif wooosh (small expolsion) and a short burst of flame from the bottoms. It seems like there is too much gas in the area when the heat element fires. Looking for some help.

I have recently replaced the burner tray, blew all the burners out with air and have checked to make sure all gas connections are not leaking. All rust and debris has been removed, I even removed the back panel after multiple explosions , to make sure it was well ventilated.

I believe the heater was installed in 2016.

See attached.


Thanks,

Hello,

I recently purchased a home with a pool. Previously I had zero experience working with pools. We tried opening the pool ourselves and ended up with algae. Water was green and cloudy with noticeable algae floating on surface.

Couple weeks later, water is now crystal clear but we have brown spots scattered throughout the floor of the pool. When brushing it off it returns (not sure about if it returns to exact spot or not). And when vacuuming it to waste there seems to be an improvement but also seems to return in some places. Or I could just be missing spots. Sometimes they are so small that it is easy to miss at first glance.

After looking at stuff online it kind of sounds like yellow algae due to:
-Brushing causes it to poof up in a cloud
-It returns

But then these aren't happening:
-Doesn't appear to be on walls
-It is all over the pool not just in the more shady areas
-Water chemistry seems to be mostly fine and it is clear. We had high alkalinity that we got down and now pH is a smidge low.
-We are in the midwest and sounds like it is less common outside of the south.

I've tried touching it and seeing what it feels but it was just too hard to tell with 100% certainty because I have to go underwater (since it isn't on walls) and it immediately blows away when touched. There was one spot that maybe felt slimy but I think it felt gritty in other places.

I've tried asking a couple different pool stores about it and neither seemed concerned about it. Just mentioned vacuuming it out. If it is dirt/something that can be vacuumed out does it normally more than one go around?

We don't have a test kit yet but have been utilizing the pool store down the road. I understand that isn't ideal but here's the latest results from them:
FC: 3.86
TC: 3.97
CC: .1
pH: 7.1
Hardness: 197
Alkalinity: 146
CYA: 35
Copper: .3
Iron: .1
Phosphate: 1298

I'll attach some pictures. It is hard to pickup in photos but I'll post one and then another of same spot zoomed in. Would appreciate any suggestions on what it could be.

Hi - We finished our pool build last year, and have a new waterfall feature being added in the next 2 weeks to replace the one we threw together at the tail end of our build. Currently, we have a 2" line, tee'd off to (3) scuppers in slate stone. The IntelliFlo VSF is set to come on max RPM when all of the returns/features are "ON". Our new waterfall will have (1) 18" sheer water feature, and (2) scuppers on either side. I am worried using the one pump is not going to be enough.

Our PB ran (2) suction lines to the equipment pad, (1) with both main drains, and (1) with both skimmers. So I assume I have the following options, and do not know which is best?

- Leave as is, and feed the jet returns, tanning ledges blubbers, and waterfall from the IntelliFlo VSF
- Add a booster pump that will turn on as needed (suggestion of the hardscape company doing the waterfall install)
- Add a fixed speed pump feed from the skimmer suction line, just for the waterfall return (set and forget a valve for any water adjustment)
- Add a variable speed pump feed from the skimmer suction line, just for the waterfall (can make flow adjustments in the programming as needed)

If using a fixed speed pump, which Pentair model is suggested? If using a varible speed pump, which Pentair model is suggested? I know the waterfall features like higher flow vs higher pressure?

I want to keep everything Pentair - I have valve and data expansion modules on our IC already, and have plenty of open ports.

Thank you!

Vinyl inground 12,600 gallons sand filter….
My water doesn’t sparkle, but it’s clear. I have invested in the TF100 test kit And my numbers have been good. I was running the the filter 24hrs a day and still it doesn’t sparkle. I’m tempted to add a clarifier from the pool store, but I know that’s not recommended here.

Chlorine 5
PH. 7.5

FC. 5.5
CC. 0
CH. 250
TA. 100
CYA. 40

and everyday I swept or vacuum the bottom, we haven’t gone swimming yet. Any suggestions?

We're having our pool renovation started in about a week. They are removing a glass block spa wall and replacing with concrete and tile. Had firs Diamond Bright, then 15 yrs ago went with pebble tec finish called "Sandy Beach" with a lifetime finish however due construction issues that has to be redone. Anyway we are going with a Wet Edge signature matrix pebble finish and have narrowed o,ur choices down to Tahoe or a lighter Gray because we've heard darker colors could have issues with scale. With either choice we will be adding some abalone shells . If anyone can pose images of either of these so I can get an idea of the look. We are in the Orlando,Florida area.

Any pics and or ideas welcome. Thank you in advance, your input will be greatly appr

Is there a way to search for featured posts? If not, I would consider adding that to the next set of enhancements.

I like to send skeptical newbies good examples of prior threads, but being able to filter to only those "featured" threads would certainly help narrow down the search especially when searching on a highly used term like "SLAM".