Recent content by sduda210

Pucks are also acidic. If your pH and alkalinity are rock solid you will have to add borax and baking soda to compensate for the pucks. But if you're constantly adding acid, the pucks may help reduce the frequency of acid additions. Personally, I like to add single chemicals to the pool...

I have had an Explorer E20 for a few years now and used to do a great job at cleaning my pool. This year I can throw it in the pool and it will eventually get stuck cleaning the same swath of the pool for the entire cycle. It generally goes to the deep end and will clean one path from water line...

This was probably the best condition I've opened my pool. The chlorine levels were still at 2 ppm from closing. I vacuumed the bottom to waste and filled. I'm currently doing the season start slam. The water is cloudy but it isn't really using any chlorine. Based on past experience I'll be clear...

You have to understand the pros and cons of each chlorine type. When I open after the long winter I always slam the pool, whether the water is clear or not. Since my fill water has no detectable calcium levels I use cal hypo to slam my pool. I like that I can buy a 55 lb bucket of it and it...

How old is your salt cell. I had a similar experience with my salt system. Even though the cell was only 3 NJ pool seasons old, it was spent. I replaced the cell and I'm back to running the cell at 30% power for 12 hours a day.

I have ran both a "chlorine" pool and now a salt pool. There's no comparison, the salt pool is so much easier. The initial cost of ~$1,500 sounds like a lot but you will save money over the life of the cell. We'll probably never go thru this again but I installed my salt system at the...

I've heard that taking the cover off during the day will allow the sun to heat it faster but I always forget to put it back on. Then I lose all the extra heat and more than I gained during the day. To me it's better to just leave it on.

I'm also in NJ, but further from the coast, and I usually open mid April. I opened my pool on April 27th and the water temp was already at 64 and I had the start of a swamp. We had a warm fall, winter, and spring. It's not surprising to open to algae this year.

Just confirming, is this your pump? https://www.poolsupplyunlimited.com/pool/hayward-w3sp2603vsp-super-pump-variable-speed-pool-pump/166009p1 If so, the motor is removable. I know because the wet end is very similar to the wet end of the Hayward super pump motor I replaced with a variable speed...

I tried borates two years ago and really didn't notice a difference. As a background, the pH in my pool does not constantly rise or drop. I usually open the pool with a pH in the 6s due to the pool filling with rain and I add borax to get the pH to 7.4. The pH is usually drops to 7.0 in late...

I've shocked my salt pool once during the season in the past 3 years. I did it because a kid threw up in my pool. Otherwise I just maintain proper chlorine levels.

With an FC of 10 you might not be getting an accurate pH reading.

I test the water in October before I close. I usually have 50 ppm CYA at the end of the season. I lower the water to below the returns and allow it to fill with rain over the winter. With the combination of dilution and degradation I open the pool in late April with less than 20 ppm. I see it as...

My house was a foreclosure and the pool had about 3 feet of leaves at the bottom when I opened it for the first time in 2020. It took me three weeks from a swamp to clear. The first week was spent scooping leaves out from the bottom, brushing, vacuuming to waste, and refilling with water. I...