New Construction: Cathedral City CA

Da, na, na, na, na, na nunt!

The CYA testing method you quote seems to be as good as any. My testing method is off the beaten path. I did write about it somewhere, but I don't promote it as it is not the often-sited TFP method and so I don't want to muddy the [CYA] water...

And now the fun begins! Easiest first.

Valves
The Pentair actuator is likely sitting on a Jandy body. They are two different but compatible devices. The actuator gets bolted to the valve. So you have to look for the brand on each part, not just what the actuator says, or even what the handle says. That might be what you're looking at. But you can take that up with the PB to determine what's what. Or take a few more pics of what you've got and someone here can confirm. You should get what you paid for.

SWG Flow
There's more at play than dialing in the exact RPM for the SWG, as of today. There are a few variables to consider. The position of your valves, the condition of your filter, etc. All can impede or improve flow, from day to day, hour to hour. I believe you were told to find the sweet spot your SWG required, then add 100RPM and run it there. That's why. The extra 100 covers the variables (usually), and so you don't really need to find the exact number by 10s. What you don't want is to assume you have the perfect RPM, then when your filter gets a little dirty, or your skimmer is full of leaves, or you adjust your spa/pool valves, that the SWG suddenly stops working due to flow. You want a little buffer.


Spa Spillovers
You might get all kinds of advice for how to adjust spa and pool balancing. I don't know much about that. But here's the bottom line. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to RPMs and balancing spa and drains and returns. Every pool is different. So you start with something reasonable, and then you start playing with RPM and valves. The ultimate criteria is up to you. Is the spa always clean but the pool not? You need to tweak the valves to give you better flow out of the returns. And vice versa. Do your spillovers look good, or do you want more flow? Adjust the RPMs and valves accordingly. It's all up to you, and requires a bit of experimenting. Oh, and just to make all that even more fun, you get to do it again one or three more times, as the seasons change. Weather and temp can affect all those adjustments.

If it were my pool, I'd leave it alone for now. Except to be sure water is circulating well in both pool and spa. You're in startup mode still. Keep the water moving. You can start skimping on RPMs next month, for now, pay the extra $20 in electricity to be assured your plaster is being taken care of this month, in both vessels.

Spa Spillovers
You might get all kinds of advice for how to adjust spa and pool balancing. I don't know much about that. But here's the bottom line. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to RPMs and balancing spa and drains and returns. Every pool is different. So you start with something reasonable, and then you start playing with RPM and valves. The ultimate criteria is up to you. Is the spa always clean but the pool not? You need to tweak the valves to give you better flow out of the returns. And vice versa. Do your spillovers look good, or do you want more flow? Adjust the RPMs and valves accordingly. It's all up to you, and requires a bit of experimenting. Oh, and just to make all that even more fun, you get to do it again one or three more times, as the seasons change. Weather and temp can affect all those adjustments.

Click to expand...

Not sure how well I explained that. And I left out runtime. In addition to experimenting with the valves to balance flow, and RPMs to achieve SWG flow and enough flow for spillover and general circulation, you'll also be adjusting runtime. Enough to satisfy chlorine generation from the SWG, and general water clarity and general cleanliness. All unique to your pool and individual tastes. Runtime might be the primary thing you'll adjust for the seasons.

For example, in the summer I run:
- 1.5 hours of "cleaner mode" (about 1900RPM)
- 7 hours of solar mode (controller alternates between 1500RPM, which ismy SWG minimum, and 2200RPM for solar panels)
- I adjust my SWG output to maintain my FC based on 7 hours of SWG runtime

But in winter, it's more like
- 1 hour of "cleaner mode" (about 1900RPM) every other day
- 3 hours of filter mode (1200RPM)
- my SWG is off due to cold water

Early spring and fall are different, too, to accommodate the SWG, but not the solar.

This wasn't a schedule for you, necessarily, just an example. What works for my pool. And I'm actually still experimenting with it. So far this scheme keeps my pool clean, warm and sanitized. But I haven't been through a fall yet with my new setup. And I'll continue to tweak to see if I can get the same results with any less RPM or runtime (to minimize energy use).

It can be a long process to dial it all in...

I'll have to ask our resident Pentair guy to confirm, but it looks to me like you have:

- two Compool actuators, which are a Pentair-sold part (not sure why they're labeled "Compool"),
- one Jandy Never-Lube 2-way valve (under one actuator),
- one Pentair valve, can't tell if it's 2- or 3-way (under the other actuator), and
- one Pentair valve 3-way with no actuator.

Pentair claims their valves are "never lube." The Pentair/Compool valve/actuator combo is what I have on my pool. I don't have any reason to think a Jandy valve would be better than a Pentair valve.

By the way, your bigger concern are those two, blue-handled PVC ball valves. Those will be the first to stop working...

Yorker said:

Are you identifying the Jandy Never-Lube valve solely by the handle?

Click to expand...

So far, yes. Which isn't conclusive. I went out and looked at my valves. No markings except on the top of the valve, under the actuator, so I couldn't read them. I'm thinking the original valve handle is placed on top of the actuator, but that doesn't mean someone couldn't mix and match valves and handles. On my valves, the only branding appears to be on the handle. Sorry, not much help.

Yorker said:

Regarding the PVC ball valves. I'll try again, but the owner of the company repeatedly told me that he installs them on all his builds and never has had one fail (which I know is BS). At the time when I brought it up (many months ago) I reminded him that the contract says Jandy Never-Lube, and he said that they do not make these type of valves for this purpose (or something like that).

I as there were so many other things that were more pressing at the time, I just gave up. Replacing them at a later time is something I'm sure I'm capable of.

Click to expand...

The only valve I had fail on my setup was a PVC ball valve. It was about five years old. Even my moron of a pool guy refused to use PVC valves (of course, he wanted to sell me Pentair valves, so there's that).

I have no idea what "they do not make these type of valves for this purpose" would mean. Unless "this purpose" is referring to giving the customer less than what was contracted!

I'm under the impression that a Jandy or Pentair 2-way valve can infinitely vary water flow from 0-100%. What other purpose are we trying to achieve?

2 or 2.5 inch is what a Jandy is made for. So I'm not sure what his deal is there. For my 3/4" lines, I used a brass ball valve. It converts to PVC on each end. That can be problematic, too, but I know for sure a PVC ball valve is not as reliable. Further, all but my 2" Pentair valves are in an irrigation box, so they are not exposed to the sun. PVC is not rated for UV, and I'm thinking the sun has a lot to do with the failure of PVC valves (the handle on mine, which was exposed to the sun, cracked off right around the time it started leaking). Yours are like mine was: pipes painted, but not PVC valves and valve handles.

Yorker said:

OK - I can't even talk about the run-a-round I got today from the pool/plumber guy. Maybe in a day or two (sorry).

I'm dosing the pool twice daily with 10% chlorine from home depot. The date on the box is 18200 which I believe is July 20th. Yesterday I took a sniff and the chlorine smell was extremely weak, our regular laundry bleach smells stronger. When I use pMath and check it 2 hours later, the dose has hit the mark of FC 7.0 but within 4-5 hours it's hovering at 3.5. My CYA was at 30 at first but increased to 40 a few days ago and remained at 40.

I called Leslie's and they told be their liquid bleach was 12%, but when I got there the box said 10%. I was unsure about the 90% "Other Ingredients" so I did not buy it. When I got home I do see that the HD box said the same thing. So the price is almost twice as much at Leslie's, not labeled any stronger - but probably less deteriorated than HD's.

I see Walmart carries 10% as well for about the same price as HD, I'm sure they do not store it outside - unfortunately all Walmart's near us are out of stock.

I know I have new pebble that's just 1 week old, but I'm dosing the pool twice day (total of about 100oz.) just to keep it between 7.5 or 7.2. Does that sound normal?

I did see that Leslie's has 31% MA for about $6 a gallon. I think I'm going to switch to that.

OH ... the plumber/pool guy (used to be their pool guy), questioned why they had not added salt yet. I said that the plaster was only a week old, he said well you just can't use the heater. I NEVER read anything about adding salt that soon.

Click to expand...

Do you have a Lowes? Their 10% has always worked well for me.

For me that strong muriatic is awful, can't stand the fumes. The 14.5 muriatic doesn't bother me at all.