Recent content by tpribors

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    iSwim solar panel repair

    The installer (and my neighbor) is going to bring me some. The plugs look different than most. The plugs in the kit you get from "the internet" are tapered and use a straight metal probe to push them into the 1/4" tube. I don't know if the ones he uses use any kind of special tool. My break...
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    iSwim solar panel repair

    My iSwim solar system is now 8 years old and I'm getting some leaking tubes. So far all of them have been where one of the 1/4" tubes in the field mates to the header. My installer has been out and used to do it for free but the last trip was $200 so this is becoming a DIY project... Does...
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    Yellow (orange?) discoloration on horizontal and verticle surfaces

    PS. Your recollection of Vegas water is correct. The calcium content of tap water is nearly off the scale and it just gets worse. Between the calcium and phosphates (I truly have no idea where it comes from unless it is the pigeon s*** that blows off the roof into the pool) I'm on a regimen...
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    Yellow (orange?) discoloration on horizontal and verticle surfaces

    I'm just back here and didn't mark this to get replies so sorry for the delay. Sorry, I was typing without the stuff in front of me. I used Ascorbic Acid (which is Vitamin C according to the label). Both start with "A" :)
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    Yellow (orange?) discoloration on horizontal and verticle surfaces

    I just remembered I posted this. I tried many things. We had a drain and clean and they polished the surface of the plaster. It came back by fall. Everyone said yellow algae (I know, but I tried anyway, had nothing to lose for $20 of the yellow gone.) Water test results never showed iron...
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    Phosphate remover

    Quite likely. But to reiterate: It was not a problem until the phosphate level went through the roof and FC dropped due to a salt cell failure. So the system was sitting on the edge of a cliff with only a step backwards keeping the person with the selfie camera from falling into the Grand...
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    Phosphate remover

    I know the mantra of this forum is that pool stores are evil and that phosphates are a waste. I happen to disagree. I've found a store that has ONE PERSON that I trust, and being an engineer, have verified by three independent sources that the numbers are reliable. End of discussion. I won't...
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    Phosphate remover

    Boy the people here must have stock in pool chemical test companies. I trust my pool supply place. Test results have been correlated to a home test and to two different test locations using different technologies. You may not trust them but I do. The article quoted is what I was referring...
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    Phosphate remover

    It's at 2500 from 300 and may be contributing to other problems so I'm using a phosphate remover. I am new here and didn't see the recommendations and I'm using Bio-Dex max which seems similar in doses to the ones recommended here. I started by adding 16 oz to start. It left a really cool...
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    Pentair IC40 chlorine production down

    So as I mentioned elsewhere I used to test my own water. All the bottles of drops and everything. Pool store got the same results. The last test I so doubted the new automated disc test that I went to another store that used the drops and everything right across the line was the same (and...
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    Pentair IC40 chlorine production down

    I generally clean the salt cell whenever I clean the filters. Once in the spring when we bring the pool on line, then every 3 months until I put it down for the winter usually in mid-Nov (yes, with the solar heater and blanket I usually get from mid-March to April to mid November). If we get a...
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    Pentair IC40 chlorine production down

    How are the different IC20/40/60 different? Is it possible the blades that look fine aren't used in the IC40 and it's not that they are still working but simply that they aren't used and that the blackened ones are the operational panels?
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    Spa tiles "bathtub ring"

    Yes. I tried CLR. It didn't affect it either. . It's not organic - there are no sunscreen or hair product (personal care materials) used in the spa. Like I said, it's not calcium since straight from the bottle (31%) muratic acid doesn't react with it. I've tried the abrasives like...
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    Pentair IC40 chlorine production down

    Today I pulled the cell to look more closely at it. The last time I cleaned it I just ran a quick acid bath and put it back because it wasn't too dirty, but I didn't inspect closely. Today was an extra maintenance day so I pulled it to inspect closer. I conclude based on the wear at the...