Hey All,

First post here. Recently completed pool construction. Have Aqualink RS system and Jandy JRT3000R heater/chiller. Went to use the spa last night for the first time. Aqualink worked fine putting the pool in spa mode but it would not trigger the heater to come on. When I went to turn on the heater manual form the control panel it worked fine. The heater has the remote option enabled. Verified its setup with 4 wires connected to Aqualink so it can control heating and cooling. Has anyone experienced this issue? What am I doing wrong here?

Hope someone can help me with this.. I just got the pool up and running and installed the Intellicenter2 app. when I open the App, I can see on the bottom say attempt to connect. Sometimes it does connect, other time does not connect and I have to log off and back on. Other times it freezes and I have to get out of it. At the panel I have no issues and it shows a good Wi-Fi connection. Very frustrating because it also does this on all our phones and I pads. My wife gave up using the app and uses the panel. Currently I am on firmware version 1.064. I checked for any firmware update and 2.017 doesn’t show up.

Good day all,
So my subscription renews June 12. Yesterday I tried using pool math and it said premium subscription required. I pressed subscribe and I was back in. This morning same thing pops up. Why isn’t it subscribing me? On my iPhone under my Apple ID under subscriptions pool math is listed there and says renews now June 12 of 2024. Any suggestions?

To preface... I have the Poolmaster 22260 test kit. I have never been able to get a color change when following the alkalinity test kit instructions, which by my measurement uses a 15ml water sample. Even after 20+ drops, nothing would ever happen. Taking the advice of TFP community via an earlier thread, I tested using a 10ml sample instead. Now, I need to test my assumptions on the correct calculation here. Using the 15ml sample, I am directed to multiply number of drops by 10 to determine the ppm. With the modified 10ml water sample, am I correct to multiply the number of drops by 15 to determine the ppm? By that math I calculated approximately 180 ppm from 12 drops. If that is correct, then I'm confused why the color didnt change with 18 drops using the standard 15ml sample.

Hello all. Longtime lurker and have been very appreciative of all the info I've come across here.

I have an old Esther Williams 24' round pool. It was purchased by my parents when I was in middle school and we installed it back then (dad was a contractor). I've since bought our old house and have been lucky enough to have my kids play in the pool I helped build as a kid.

Nostalgia aside, my heart sank the other day when I was brushing around the water line. I found a hole near the top of the liner by the skimmer - We just replaced the liner a couple years ago, so I was disappointed, but it's certainly repairable. I also found a second hole on the opposite side of the pool on the exterior wall. As I was brushing, I noticed a tiny pinhole leaking water out of the wall, but only when I brushed 'into' the hole.

When we replaced the liner, the inside of the walls were in great shape. No rust or problem areas. I think the exterior hole is from a rogue rock from the mower or weed whip. My thought is that because we now have a beaded liner (original was an overlap), there's a bit of an air pocket above the water line, which is where the water is entering at the small hole near the skimmer. I think as I'm brushing at the water line, there is a bubble of air/water that makes it to the exterior pinhole.

I obviously need to patch the small hole on the skimmer side, but I'm wondering if I need to do anything more. There's water behind the liner...Do I try to drop the water below the hole and see if I can suck water out of the liner with a wet vac, similiar to how we sucked the liner to the wall when installing it? On the pinhole side, It's very tiny. I feel like if I get the water out from between the liner and pool wall, I could leave that until the next liner is put in. I'm assuming it's going to be important to get the water out of contact with the interior wall, behind the liner.

Look forward to hearing some feedback on my dilemma!

I know I have been posting a lot lately, but I just had my entire pool renovated from plumbing to liner and everything in between.
Before my pool contractor is "off the hook", I want to make sure I understand everything.
This problem with the skimmers I have read is a simple fix by placing a rock inside the skimmer basket.
My additional questions are what could be the cause of the skimmer baskets popping out of place...not completely but just hovering out of place?
Also, for new construction, shouldn't this be something that doesnt happen?
A few other notes: my pool contractor still has not installed eyeballs in the returns.
I do see sometimes see occasional air bubbles coming out of the returns.
I also see some tiny air bubbles hugging the walls.
My psi is anywhere between 9 and 21 depending on the speed of the pump.
If anything else is needed to troubleshoot please let me know.

Anyone else in TX that has been impacted by the heat and winds of the high pressure cell experiencing rapid water level drops? Filled the pool up to the drain line and w/in 2 days, looks like it has dropped an inch+. Haven't done the bucket test yet. Our pools longer length runs N-S w exposure to S winds so I know that's accelerating the issue...hopefully that cell will move sooner than later...thanks

Happy Father's Day to all you guys !

Hello TFP friends. I have a Hayward H400 Millivolt heater which is about 20 years old. This thing is a dinosaur but when it works properly it’s amazing. I’ve had some issues over the last couple of years where it would take a little bit for the heater to turn on or wouldn’t at all. It’s very finicky. This year, it wouldn’t turn on. My buddy thought it was a bad igniter so I swapped that out. Pilot is lit and I get about 430 Millivolt reading but still won’t fire. I jumped the gas valve and it opens and fires. That’s good news cause that’s probably the most costly part. I tried following the troubleshoot guide but I’m new to jumping and multimeters so I’m not even sure I’m doing anything right. I was getting it to fire jumping the pressure switch so I replaced that. Still nothing. I know the pressure switch works cause when I jump the gas valve and have the heater running, I turned off the pump causing the pressure switch to disengage and it turned off the heater. I tried jumping the thermostat and again not sure I’m doing that right but it wouldn’t fire up. But I do here a click when I turn the thermostat knob so I think that’s working properly. Kind of at a loss now. So here I am. Any help is appreciated.

Happy to post more pics.
1074 is on the back side of the upper ledge pool. The upper ledge has 2 return lines, and one drain. I -thought- this was to control the 2 return lines, and choose where the water goes but I couldn't get it to move at all (I'd like too, as the pool is unevent so I'd like more water to go to lower side)
Very recently the drain started draining (reasonably high suction), 24/7. The only way to stop it is to have all returns pointed to the upper ledge (The valve in 1099). In this rotation I basically have it set to not send any water to the body of the pool.

I'm unsure how to troubleshoot this, though. I will say the check valve in 1099 is new, and my issue started right after it got installed, but I don't know if that is related.

Welcome any input, as I'd like to have pump circulation to the main pool, and not just all falling off the overflow.

So I have a 12x24 above ground pool with a swg, variable speed pump and a Hayward heat pump/chiller. I need 9 hours of pump run time to satisfy my chlorine demand at 50% swg output. As of now I have the pump on its own internal timer as well as the swg on an external timer. When I want to heat/cool the pool, I set the pump to relay mode which bypasses the internal timer. When the heat pump calls for heat/cool, the pump runs at 90%. Once the heat pump is satisfied, the pump drops to 55%. My issue is that the pump will now run 24/7 at 55% until the heat pump calls. Is there a multi function timer for the pool that can keep track of daily run time and regulate the pump so it only runs 9 hours when not needed by the heat pump? Thanks in advance.

I opened back in mid April and water had been clear and aside from shocking when I opened, adding a couple bags of salt, and CYA, I haven’t added anything else to the pool thus far. Salt was 2700 about 4 weeks ago and now 2600. FC has been steady and not dropping so clearly enough for SWCG to generate enough chlorine. Any other benefit to getting salt level up to 3200ish? Or should I just leave alone since it’s still producing FC and water is clear?

This year I had a wonderful idea that maybe I would swap out the hoses for PVC. Looks good, no? I mostly one of the shut off valves and the new skimmer replacing all the hoses added benefit.

I did this while my ag pool had no water in it. Once I got everything watertight now everything else situated with the pool, I started to put water in it. It seemed like a totally valid next step, right? Except, I failed to think about one factor

As you fill this pool, the side walls expand. It’s not easy to tell right here but the two pipes on the right, they are pushing on the pool. Here’s an inside view. But first, please ignore the gross mess of my pool. It is a work in progress. First up, will be figuring out how I am going to get the PVC contraption off the pool.

Oh and, good morning I got up early to start filling more water (from well) and that’s currently on hold. I think I’ll be asking Spouse if they have any god ideas on how I can get this out with letting out any water

Edit: The pipes are off. Spouse was a big help. After trying a few things, they push the pool in with there foot and then pulled the pipes. I hadn’t even thought to try that. Anyway, problem solved and progress shall continue.

Hello all,

Been missing from the forum for some time. Things seem to be working well for the past 4 years after I fired our pool company.
I came home from dinner tonight to find my Pentair pump running, outside of the program time limits. (tried to catch up with it to no avail). I switched the controller (Jandy RS8) to the service position and it does indeed turn the pump on and off.

About a week ago, I reprogrammed the filter pump and cleaner pump to an hour later, to try and preserve drain on the grid.

Please inform me what I should do to see if I can reset the system.

FC 11, CC 0.5, CYA 80, pH 7.8, TA 110, CH 650.
Last year I did whatever the pool company said, but this year I want a new plan. So I've been reading the website a lot this month. Just got the TF-Pro test kit last week and getting comfortable with it.
Questions:
1. Pool has been open 2 for months and has had a sweet smell (I say anti-freeze; kids say yeast). Pool company that winterized it said a month ago it would dissipate. Now this month said to add "First Aid" enzyme. Not crazy about either answer (tired of buying extra jugs of stuff). Is this smell normal? Noticeable most right when the cover opens. Don't recall it being there last year. I have long piping (~40-50') to 3 swim jets. Not sure if that is a factor.
2. Are the TA and CH too high? Need to do anything there?
3. Brown scum line forms quickly above the swim jets and return when they run for a short time (10 min.) Then it eventually rings the whole waterline if run longer. Is this normal?
4. Water is clear, but not crystal clear. Seems like it could be better. Any suggestions on clarity? Filters were washed out 2 weeks ago, so should be good.
Great site, thanks for all the knowledge!
Allen

Hello,

I have 2015 Bullfrog A7L

looking to replace my pumps as they are getting old, I will rebuild and keep them as backup.

Currently I have

2”x2” Gecko XP2, 56 Frame - labeled 2.5 HP, 2 speed

Pump 1: 11.4/3.6 AMP and Pump 2: 12/4.4 AMP

what is weird, that I keep finding similar pumps AMP wise, but they all say that they are 4HP and not 2.5HP


is it okay to replace the 11.4/3.6 AMP with second 12/4.4 AMP that says 4HP instead of 2.5 ?, or the 4HP will damage my plumbing.

LX 56WUA400-II

Thank you

I’m trying to set up an intex 16’x32’ and I ran out of time before a party tomorrow. The pool is basically ready to fill with water but I didn’t get a chance to dig out an area for the supports to be flush with the ground. I think I need a builders level and I don’t have access to one tonight.

One month from now I’m going on vacation for a month, and I was thinking of maybe draining the pool at that time.

Do you think I could try to fill the pool without supports, to use for a month, then drain it, go in vacation, and install supports when I come back?

Or am I am being crazy stupid?

Hey everyone.

To give some background when I bought my house previous owner had already setup a bestway pool that came with a flowclear sand filter. Opening this year my slam has taken multiple weeks. Cloudy water just not clearing and I try to brush and vaccum as much as I can. I always thought it was because the sand filter was small but finally broke down and decided instead of buying clarifier I would replace the filter sand. To my surprise what was in my filter looked nothing like the new sand I bought from the pool store. The old sand is much coarser and looks more like aquarium sand. Has anyone seen this before? I was having to backwash multiple times a week before putting the new sand in.

I've seen noticible differences overnight in cloudiness with the new #20 .45-.55 sand from the pool store.

Hi All
I’m following this form for quite some time but this is my first post. I have a 28k gal pool and currently using a liquid chlorine. I have enough of ‘hunting’ chlorine around during the summer due to possible shortage again (Sacramento CA area) so I’d like to to install Rj45 or 60 (haven’t decided yet). Also my wife prefers salt pool (happy wife happy life they say )
I need help with a salt generator location. Based on picture where would it be best to install it? I have a solar heating too.
I did speak with Discount Salt Pool and they said that vertical installation is also possible?
I appreciate any help on this.

My heater was working fine for about 2 weeks, and then I noticed strange sounds coming from it. 3 days ago I saw "bd" code. And now when the heater receives power it makes a loud buzzing sound, so I cut power from the breaker for the heater.

My guess is that I need to replace the boards but I'm concerned that maybe something else caused the boards to fry first. My plan is to open the panel and take a picture of everything in the inside. I've looked up videos online on how to replace the boards (ICB, FUSE).

My 5 year old Hayward 1.5 HP Super Pump is starting to make noise this summer (a low pitched ring) and I am starting to think about getting a replacement. Maybe its not going to die yet, but i need to start looking for replacements.

Is a variable pump a 'no-brainer' choice?

I have a Pentair IC 60 salt cell that I tweak with the Pentair IntelliConnect.
I went through past posts on the forum and came across a recommendation for this:

I am interested in not having to change the housing (so i don't have to modify piping.

I guess i would need to buy a Pentair variable pump/housing to get automation on the Intelliconnect.

My questions:
1. Variable is the way to go? I have a 4 month pool season (NY state).
2. is remote/internet automation important and worth it for a variable pump (this model will be able to be turned off and on with what i have, just not adjusted)?
3. Opinion on that pump? Other suggestions?

Thank you
John

New join to the TFP family. Been reading forum for 2 years now when I bought my first pool. 24’ above ground pool. Has been great first 2 years. Couldn’t ask for easier time pool maintenance and upkeep wise. But this winter my cover came off. We have crazy wind here (if it ain’t tied down you won’t have it tomorrow kind of wind). Needless to say spring time open had tons of small twigs, leaves, pollen, algae, water bugs just having a good ol’ time. Done 3/4 drain and replace. Vacuumed brushed vacuumed brushed etc.. got all my levels to TFP standard started doing the slam. Been going strong for 7 days now!!

Hello everyone,

I am installing a sand filter and am having hard time finding pool sand locally. Hayward says to use 0.45 - 0.55 mm, which seems to correspond to #20 grade. The only one I can find locally is Quikrete at Home Depot, which says it is #20-#40 and the Quikrete site says that is 0.425 - 0.85 mm. Would that be okay?

Also, I found a thread here that warned that the Home Depot Quikrete products was not good.

Appreciate any thoughts you all have.

Best, Gary

I had a very weird chemical experience today and I can't make any sense of it. I would appreciate any help you guys can offer.

I tested by water at Leslie's at 11 o'clock this morning and they said my FC was 4.0, and CC was 4.53. Their computer recommended non-chlorine MPS shock, which I thought was a great idea because it's supposed to kill chloramines without raising the chlorine levels in the pool.

Anyway, I was dying of curiosity so I returned to Leslie's at 4:30 pm to get retested. Now, five hours later, my FC was 3.66, and CC was 4.74! I actually GAINED chloramines! And to make matters even crazier, their computer AGAIN recommended MORE non-chlorine shock.

So my question is, what was the point of doing a non-chlorine shock? And how is this result even possible?

My pool: ph=7.5, TA=88, Ca=201, CYA=40, TDS=1000

Thanks in advance, Kevin

So the stairs I have are screwed together and the top and middle pieces were breaking apart at the screws. I got these galvanized "plates" that I was told wouldn't rust and SS screws, but looks like it is rusting due to SWCG.
I know we worry about the metal walls of the pool rusting out, but should I worry about this?
Thank you

The above thread is reference. I just completely remodeled the pool and had fresh water delivered today. The chemistry is telling me I have an insane amount of chemicals to add. I have no idea what to add first or at what rates and just put WAY too much work in to screw this up. The epoxy resin paint has hardened for 7 days before the water was put in today.

Chemicals list from Pool Math:
3 gallons bleach
9oz washing soda
97 lbs calcium chloride
13 lbs chlorine stabilizer

Link to my pool on pool math:


*****NOTE:******
2 of my daughters graduate high school tomorrow and we are having a party to celebrate. Would be amazing to have it safe to swim tomorrow if possible.
*****************


Thank you all in advance

*edit* I did backwash, rinse, backwash, rinse prior to opening the pool because I put new sand in the filter before filling the pool.

We have added 10 gallons of shock in the last week. My brother is telling me to use this site and balance my own water and stop going to the pool store.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

I had posted another thread about the $49 pool cleaner. My real issue was that my 15 year old Dolphin cleaner stopped working due to what I thought was a bad motor. I ordered a new motor, but it turned out the motor is not the issue. It seems the controller must be the problem. My wife is of the opinion that we should buy a new one. I know that this topic has been covered ad nauseam in different threads, but after looking through a number of them I just got more confused. Part of it is not wanting to spend $1,000 for a new cleaner versus $300 for new controller. The other part is there are so many different brands out there that my head is spinning. I am curious as to what folks on this forum think is one of the best ones out there. Thanks for your opinion.

I have been reading many threads about pool automation. I am like everybody else: sticker shocked shocked at the prices of the commercial automation. My current system is a modified Intermatic PF1202T timer. {The left wheel runs the SWG and power to the heater. The right wheel runs the booster pump. The pool pump is directly wired and is not controlled by the Intermatic timer}. The remainder of the equipment is: a Black & Decker 3hp VS pump, a Pentair 400K heater (previously Pac Fab), a Polaris 280 with booster pump, Pentair 48 SQ FT DE filter (previously Purex Triton). I recently purchased a Sonoff' 4CH Pro R3. I have been trying to program it with the automation adapter for the Black & Decker pump. My question is when programming Sonoff I can put it in speed 1,2 and 3. Reading previous posts' it was stated that speed 1 has priority over speed 2 and 2 over speed 3. Correct me if I'm wrong. If this information is accurate. Than I should be able to plug in speed 3 from 7 AM to 7 PM @1000 RPMs. Speed 2 10:45 AM to 2:45 PM @2500rpm. The speed 1 @1500 rpm from 7 AM to 10:45 AM. The other option is to use the EwLink ap on my phone & and program each speed back to back. Speed 1 from 7:00 to 10:45 AM at 1500 RPMs, the 2 from 10:45 AM to 2:45 PM at 2500 RPMs, speed 3 from 2:45 PM to 7 PM @ 1000 RPMs. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks.

We have a 30 ft round semi-inground pool. Last year was our 1st year with it and I used plastic pallets on the ground behind the pool to put the solar cover on. It was a pain to get back on the pool and I never failed to drag in dirt and pine needles. This year I was determined to find a better solution.

1st attempt was a 25 ft solar cover reel. I needed to use an inground pool reel because our fence and a tree would not allow enough room for a reel that swings away and we could not install 4x4 posts in the area behind the pool because of irrigation lines. Besides it would be too heavy for me to move off the pool by myself. I used stacks of 12x12 pavers to get the reel stand a little higher than the pool wall, ran some 2" pvc pipe down the middle of the reel pipes,secured the stand to the pavers with straps, attached the reel straps to the cover and thought all was good to go until I began to reel the cover off. What a nightmare ! By the time I had 1/3 of the cover on the reel it became impossible to turn, it wobbled, it sagged almost to the ground and getting the cover back on the pool was a nightmare.

I then moved on to option 2, which was to build 8 PVC baskets to hold the cover. This morning I went out to get some measurements for the PVC , walked by our fire pit and got an idea for a new option using our resin adirondack chairs.

I leveled out the border behind the pool so the arms of the chairs would be close to level with the pool wall, put a paver under the back legs and one in the seat for weight and then pulled the solar cover off the pool. It was so much easier than the plastic pallets and solar cover reel. The solar cover was well supported, off the ground, the chairs did not budge and putting the cover back on the pool was a breeze. I priced out getting new chairs around the fire pit and 6 new chairs would be $13 less than building the PVC holder/baskets. ($162 vs $175) I think my favorite part is when not being used the chairs look like they are sitting on a deck behind the pool. My husband likes that the chairs can be used elsewhere when not holding the cover and they can be easily stacked and moved into the garage during the winter or strong winds.

I am probably overlooking a downside to using the chairs but so far it sure beats battling that solar cover reel and the struggle getting the cover into the pool off the plastic pallets.

(still have to finish landscaping behind the pool from the install)

Here are my readings.

Temp 30.6c
Salt 3200 PPM
Chlorine 3 PPM
PH 8+
TA 140 ppm
CH 390ppm
CYA=35

First year running a salt cell that is reporting the salt incorrectley, be that as it may I am experiencing scaling on the pool walls "vinyl" and as you can imagine it is playing heck on my plates.

Is a drain and refill indicated here? Or wait and see what bringing down the PH and aerrating the water does?

Water is crystal clear and can see a penny on the floor of the pool.