Caretaker 99 Not Working Properly

[mig1980]

Hi everyone. My wife and I purchased our first house with an inground pool (or any pool for that matter) two years ago and am still trying to figure out how it was all setup originally. Part of that is the Caretaker 99 in floor cleaning system. It's got floor jets all throughout the pool but when we turn the valve to the cleaning system they don't really pop up, but sort of just bubble.

They were working fine when we first bought the home but after a few months they stopped working properly. I have had a few companies come out and they're only advise is to abandon and go with a robot cleaner.
Would anyone be able to provide guidance on what I could check or test to try and diagnose the issue? The system we have is the 8 port (I know they have a 5 and 8 port).

 

[HermanTX]

It would be helpful to post some photos of your equipment pad. Did the previous owner leave a diagram of all the zones? Also, do you have any wall returns to the pool or just the floor pop ups?
If the latter, then that is the only method to circulate water so it needs to be functional just so you can circulate water. Is your chemistry fine? My concern is that there is not sufficient circulation. A robot will only help to clean, but you need to have good circulation as well.

When the service people came out, did they physically go in the pool to try to replace the pop ups? Did they disassemble the main unit by your equipment pad?

 

[Bama Rambler]

What type and size filter do you have?
Which pump do you have?
What is your filter pressure with the Caretaker system in service and with it bypassed?
What pressure does the gauge on the caretaker dome show when it's running and when it's off?

 

[mig1980]

Here are some pictures of all my equipment. I added the pool filter and pump information to my profile. I see a few gauges on my system. Not sure which one I would need to check to answer Bama Rambler's question. The Caretaker doesn't have a gauge attached that I can see.

 

[mig1980]

Additional pictures

 

[Bama Rambler]

What you have is an Ultraflex system. When the system is on, do you see the motor in the valve top running?

The last picture you posted is your filter and the gauge on top is the filter pressure. What does it read when the infloor system is on and off?

What does the automatic valve on the left looking at the filter feed?

What do the two gauges in front of the filter read when the infloor system is running?

 

[HermanTX]

In this picture, the valve is open to both return lines. One shows 5psi and the other appears to be zero. Can you confirm if those readings are with the pump running, and at what pump speed? do you know where does each of those pipes (with the gauges) leads to in the pool? One must go to the caretaker system, and the other?

 

[mig1980]

Good day everyone. Thank you for the support thus far. I am going to try my best to answers your questions form the information I have been able to gather.

Bama Rambler questions:

What you have is an Ultraflex system. When the system is on, do you see the motor in the valve top running?

• I am not sure what you mean by "the motor in the valve top."

The last picture you posted is your filter and the gauge on top is the filter pressure. What does it read when the infloor system is on and off?

• With the infloor system on it reads a hair over 16 psi
• With just the pool pump running and not the cleaner program, it reads between 8 and 9 psi

What does the automatic valve on the left looking at the filter feed?

• Unfortunately, I don't know and I have no documentation to inform me. I asked my pool guy but he wasn't certain either. That valve as well as the two other lines to the right (with gauges) all state that they feed the pool return.

What do the two gauges in front of the filter read when the infloor system is running?

• The line/gauge to the left fluctuates a lot when the infloor system is on (between 10 and 50)
• The line/gauge to right is at a steady 6 psi no matter if the infloor cleaner system is on or just the filter pump

HermanTX questions:
One shows 5psi and the other appears to be zero. Can you confirm if those readings are with the pump running, and at what pump speed?

• The pump is running with those readings. Reference information form answers Bama Rambler's questions above.
• The pool filter ONLY speed is 1850 RPM
• The pool filter and cleaner speed is 3150 RPM

do you know where does each of those pipes (with the gauges) leads to in the pool? One must go to the caretaker system, and the other?

• Unfortunately I am uncertain. I asked my pool guy and he mentioned he wasn't sure either but assumed one of them was for the infloor cleaner and the other may be for the pool wall returns

 

[Bama Rambler]

Thanks for coming back and giving us some answers.

See followup questions below.

Good day everyone. Thank you for the support thus far. I am going to try my best to answers your questions form the information I have been able to gather.

Bama Rambler questions:

What you have is an Ultraflex system. When the system is on, do you see the motor in the valve top running?

• I am not sure what you mean by "the motor in the valve top." The Caretaker valve top is the black round thing that you had the top off of. The thing in the center of it is a motor that switches the flow to the different zones. Does it run when the Caretaker system is on?

The last picture you posted is your filter and the gauge on top is the filter pressure. What does it read when the infloor system is on and off?

• With the infloor system on it reads a hair over 16 psi. Has it always ran at about that pressure with the infloor system on?
• With just the pool pump running and not the cleaner program, it reads between 8 and 9 psi.

What does the automatic valve on the left looking at the filter feed?

• Unfortunately, I don't know and I have no documentation to inform me. I asked my pool guy but he wasn't certain either. That valve as well as the two other lines to the right (with gauges) all state that they feed the pool return.

What do the two gauges in front of the filter read when the infloor system is running?

• The line/gauge to the left fluctuates a lot when the infloor system is on (between 10 and 50). That seems about right, but the lower number may be a little low.
• The line/gauge to right is at a steady 6 psi no matter if the infloor cleaner system is on or just the filter pump. It seems odd that it and the filter pressure wouldn't fluctuate a little when the infloor cleaner is running.

 

[HermanTX]

do you know where does each of those pipes (with the gauges) leads to in the pool? One must go to the caretaker system, and the other?

• Unfortunately I am uncertain. I asked my pool guy and he mentioned he wasn't sure either but assumed one of them was for the infloor cleaner and the other may be for the pool wall returns

Do you have wall returns in addition to the floor pop ups? If so there is a possibility that you could bypass the infloor cleaner system and only use the wall returns for circulation. I do not see any valves on those 2 front pipes but one appears to have a check valve. Can you confirm that and what is mfg. Name?

 

[mig1980]

Here are some answers to the best of my knowledge

@Bama Rambler

• I am not sure what you mean by "the motor in the valve top." The Caretaker valve top is the black round thing that you had the top off of. The thing in the center of it is a motor that switches the flow to the different zones. Does it run when the Caretaker system is on?
  • Answer: It definitely runs and I can it shifting from one set of cleaning heads to another. What I am not sure about is whether the gears, etc. are working exactly as they should.
• With the infloor system on it reads a hair over 16 psi. Has it always ran at about that pressure with the infloor system on?
  • Answer: I wish I would have known to check prior. Honestly, this is the first time I have actually paid attention and documented the readings so not sure if it read the same when we first purchased the home 3 years ago.

@HermanTX

• Do you have wall returns in addition to the floor pop ups? If so there is a possibility that you could bypass the infloor cleaner system and only use the wall returns for circulation. I do not see any valves on those 2 front pipes but one appears to have a check valve. Can you confirm that and what is mfg. Name?
  • Answer: What would wall returns look like? I can verify if I know what I am looking for. Also, which two pipes are you referring to? I can look for a check valve if I know which I am looking at.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Let's try a little experiment.

Take the automatic valve on the left and see if you can rotate the handle straight up (If you can't, just run the experiment with it where it is). Then take the valve that's in the middle of the picture between the two gauges and turn it so that the handle is pointed inline with the left pipe. Turn on the Caretaker system, then let us know if the heads pop up as it rotates through the zones, what the filter pressure reads and what the left gauge reads?

 

[HermanTX]

Do you have wall returns in addition to the floor pop ups? If so there is a possibility that you could bypass the infloor cleaner system and only use the wall returns for circulation. I do not see any valves on those 2 front pipes but one appears to have a check valve. Can you confirm that and what is mfg. Name?

• Answer: What would wall returns look like? I can verify if I know what I am looking for. Also, which two pipes are you referring to? I can look for a check valve if I know which I am looking at.

There are only 2-5 wall returns positioned on the wall of a pool (depending on size). Whereas there are multiple floor returns on a infloor cleaning system. See drawing


The 2 pipes circled in green with pressure valve that reads pressure in each line. There appears to be a check valve on the line on the left.
'

 

[mig1980]

Good day everyone. I wanted to provide an update. It has been raining and snowing off and on for a while now in my area. Once the weather clears up, I will perform the steps listed above by Bama Rambler and provide feedback. Thank you all very much!