Equipment Help & Saving Money

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BuckeyeMan

Well-known member
Sep 17, 2021
82
Maricopa, Az
Pool Size
16310
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I am new to this. I bought a house in Arizona in 2020 as a Winter home, and have had a pool guy watch the pool since then to maintain it, when we are there, and when we are not there. He comes once a week, and charges $110 a month.
So, my question is, do you really think that I am going to really save much money? I just spent $121 for a TF-100 kit with a SpeedStir, then I will have to purchase chemicals to adjust the stability of the pool when needed. With the pool guy, I don’t have to purchase those same chemicals.
Also how often are you guys checking your pool. By the sounds of it, the site seems to be giving the idea that I need to check it every day, which would tend to go through a lot of the testing Reagents.
 
For a few $$ over what you just purchased you can manage your own pool how you like it and not how they will tell you it is. Chemistry that you'll need is very cheap cuz you won't be supporting the local pool ripoff artists and buying from the larger stores withou the word pool on the label.
 
Most TFPers, once they get the hang of it, spend a couple of hundred dollar PER YEAR on their pools. You only need to test daily in the beginning to get a feel for your pool. Nowadays, I test one or two days during the week and, maybe if I’m feeling perky, I’ll run a full set of tests every other Saturday or so. Frequency goes up a bit in the summer but not by much. A full set of test kit reagents will last me 18 months … actually, I usually throw them out before they get fully used as they have a shelf a life (I guess I should test a bit more frequently 🤔). Fact is, you don’t spend much on testing and chemicals, you spend lots when equipment breaks or wears out but that would be true pool guy or no pool guy.
 
Last edited:
I’m a new pool owner and knew ZERO about pools. Never even knew anyone that had a pool.

This first thing I did when I got around to minding the pool, was start googling. That led me to this site. Trouble Free Pool Care is EXACTLY what I was looking for. My pool was turning into a swamp because I had no clue what to do with it.

I’ve learned more here than I ever wanted to know about pools. Reading has taught me a lot and every single thing makes sense.

Bought the TF test kit. It is WELL worth the expense. You won’t regret it. I already know my pool chemistry well enough that I only test chlorine once a week. Other things twice a month. Results are exactly what I can predict they will be.

Asked questions and got advice on what simple tools I needed to go buy. Took that advice and now instead of struggling to get leaves and junk out of my pool, I handle it easily in maybe 10 minutes twice a week.

Everyone here is helpful and genuinely wants to see you succeed. I’m still asking, listening and taking advice. These folks know their stuff and have the data to back it up.

My expenses after the test kit and proper basic tools have been $50 in liquid chlorine from Home Depot. A gallon a week runs me $4.15. That’s $20 a month right now and I have enough to last until March. Even if that doubles in the summer, it’s still WAY cheaper than a pool guy. Added bonus of no one coming to your house once a week and I know exactly what goes in my pool.
Follow TFP and yes, you will save money. It really is quick and easy to do and you will have a clean, sparkling pool you can enjoy.

Fine print: This is an unsolicited, unpaid testimonial. LOL!
 
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I am new to this stuff. Bought house with pool in Arizona in 2020, and been having pool guy take care of since then. Yesterday I let pool guy go, and going to risk taking care of while we are wintering in Az.
No one ever explained anything about pool equipment when I bought the house, so could use a little or a lot of info on the equipment.
It is a 14,000 gallon pool, cartridge filter system, with variable speed pump. Pool is pebble finish, bottom drain, auto chlorinator basket on pool deck,etc.
Previous owner had the pump come on high speed for about an hour, then ramp down for several hours, for about a total of maybe 2-3 hours a night, starting around 11pm-2am. I have noticed that it is not doing it now, so not sure how to set it again. I will try to post the pictures. Any help would be appreciated.9AB5A7F4-1332-4958-8747-05CCF73FD11C.jpeg
 

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Kaylee34 said:
I’m a new pool owner and knew ZERO about pools. Never even knew anyone that had a pool.

This first thing I did when I got around to minding the pool, was start googling. That led me to this site. Trouble Free Pool Care is EXACTLY what I was looking for. My pool was turning into a swamp because I had no clue what to do with it.

I’ve learned more here than I ever wanted to know about pools. Reading has taught me a lot and every single thing makes sense.

Bought the TF test kit. It is WELL worth the expense. You won’t regret it. I already know my pool chemistry well enough that I only test chlorine once a week. Other things twice a month. Results are exactly what I can predict they will be.

Asked questions and got advice on what simple tools I needed to go buy. Took that advice and now instead of struggling to get leaves and junk out of my pool, I handle it easily in maybe 10 minutes twice a week.

Everyone here is helpful and genuinely wants to see you succeed. I’m still asking, listening and taking advice. These folks know their stuff and have the data to back it up.

My expenses after the test kit and proper basic tools have been $50 in liquid chlorine from Home Depot. A gallon a week runs me $4.15. That’s $20 a month right now and I have enough to last until March. Even if that doubles in the summer, it’s still WAY cheaper than a pool guy. Added bonus of no one coming to your house once a week and I know exactly what goes in my pool.
Follow TFP and yes, you will save money. It really is quick and easy to do and you will have a clean, sparkling pool you can enjoy.

Fine print: This is an unsolicited, unpaid testimonial. LOL!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I appreciate any help I can get, and love the info here on this site. I have taken the plunge by letting the pool guy go,but will have to call him back in May to take care of it , till we return again in late fall, to winter, but want to save the $110 a month while we are here.
 

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Buckey,

Since your pool has no automation system, this means that you set speeds and when you want the pump to run using the pump's display. Do you have the manual for the pump?

Here is a general description of how your system works.

The pump sucks water from the Skimmer and/or the Main Drain. The valve in front of your pump, called the Intake valve, is what selects where the water is coming from. In your case, the pump is sucking from a fully open Main Drain and a Skimmer that is about half open.

The pump then pushes the water through the filter and through your heater to end up at the valve marked as "Cleaner". This valve allows you to turn off the In Floor Cleaning system (IFCS) if you want. When the Cleaning valve is open it sends water to your IFCS's distributor, which looks like a little alien space ship,, The IFCS rotates inside and sends the water to the pop-up heads, one zone at time.

When the Cleaner valve is closed or set like in your pic, some water goes to the Aerator and Dek-Clor ball valves. The aerator is a small sprayer that sends water into the air to cool it. The Dek-Clor will look like a skimmer lid in your deck, but inside is a place to put chlorine tablets.

And finally, once the water passes the "T's going to the Aerator and Dek-Clor, the water enters another Jandy valve that either sends the water to your wall returns (eyeballs) and/or to your waterfall.

What specific questions do you have about your system??

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Buckey,

Since your pool has no automation system, this means that you set speeds and when you want the pump to run using the pump's display. Do you have the manual for the pump?

Here is a general description of how your system works.

The pump sucks water from the Skimmer and/or the Main Drain. The valve in front of your pump, called the Intake valve, is what selects where the water is coming from. In your case, the pump is sucking from a fully open Main Drain and a Skimmer that is about half open.

The pump then pushes the water through the filter and through your heater to end up at the valve marked as "Cleaner". This valve allows you to turn off the In Floor Cleaning system (IFCS) if you want. When the Cleaning valve is open it sends water to your IFCS's distributor, which looks like a little alien space ship,, The IFCS rotates inside and sends the water to the pop-up heads, one zone at time.

When the Cleaner valve is closed or set like in your pic, some water goes to the Aerator and Dek-Clor ball valves. The aerator is a small sprayer that sends water into the air to cool it. The Dek-Clor will look like a skimmer lid in your deck, but inside is a place to put chlorine tablets.

And finally, once the water passes the "T's going to the Aerator and Dek-Clor, the water enters another Jandy valve that either sends the water to your wall returns (eyeballs) and/or to your waterfall.

What specific questions do you have about your system??

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Actually I just found the manual for the IntelliFlo Variable Speed pump, the Paramount Cleaning System, and Filter. The manual for the pump is confusing though. I need to see if I can pull up information about current settings, times on, and time off.
Are the valves in the positions they should be? I have not touched much, so they are the same positions they have always been in, since I bought the house.
Other thing I am wondering is, back in June the pool guy said I need to drain pool, and refill, and I asked why, and he told me that it should be done every2-3 years, because the water gets stale, and makes it hard to keep the water stabilized. Said once it is refilled, it would cost a couple hundred dollars in chemicals. So not sure how to drain, and how much to drain.
 
BuckeyeMan said:
Thanks, I appreciate any help I can get, and love the info here on this site. I have taken the plunge by letting the pool guy go,but will have to call him back in May to take care of it , till we return again in late fall, to winter, but want to save the $110 a month while we are here.
Click to expand...
I think the biggest challenge you’ll have will be getting the pool guy to manage it the way you want it kept.
 
BuckeyeMan said:
So, my question is, do you really think that I am going to really save much money? I just spent $121 for a TF-100 kit with a SpeedStir,
Click to expand...
Undoubtedly yes. When you have reliable test results and only need to add what you actually need, the bills plummet. $110 for the first month gets you most/all of the season.

But. That’s just the savings. The part where it’s worth it’s weight in GOLD is the results. Check this thread out. Keep scrolling and scrolling through regular Joe/Jane pools that can spank any brochure out there, with very little effort once you become one with your pool. We will happily guide you until then.

How Clear is TFP Clear? Let's See (Pics Only Please).

How clear should my water be? A very common question. Here is mine on a calm morning where I could finally vacuum. Yes I know, I'm still manually vacuuming. It took me 7 years to finally get an SWG, I'm working on a robot. :) So now let's see your water clarity.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
You will also save by buying house hold cleaning supplies like super washing soda for $4 vs $14 for PH up. But like others have said once you get the hang of it it’s not a lot of trouble.
This is a great group, if you have an issue like algae post your test results and ask for help and avoid pool stores :)
 
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BuckeyeMan said:
back in June the pool guy said I need to drain pool, and refill, and I asked why, and he told me that it should be done every2-3 years, because the water gets stale
Click to expand...
LOL! That is not true. Water doesn't get "stale". Draining and refilling every few years comes from things you don't need or want (like metals) being added to your pool water. It also comes from excessive amounts of necessary things like CYA being added from pucks and shock. Some things you can only get rid of by draining and refilling.

Wait until you get your test kit and then post results. Folks here can tell you if and how much you'll need to drain.
 
BuckeyeMan said:
he told me that it should be done every2-3 years, because the water gets stale
Click to expand...

Buckey,

What your pool guy told you is a load of Bull Feathers.. :mrgreen:

The truth is that pool guys just dump in all kinds of stuff that we don't recommend and some of it does not go away.. But you can't tell just by looking at the pool, you have to test the water to see what "balance" it is in. This is really what TFP is all about. We teach pool owners how to test their water and let the pool owners decide what the pool needs and more importantly what the pool does not need.

If your pool guy has been using chlorine tablets to sanitize your pool, it is quite possible that the CYA (Stabilizer) could be very high. The higher the CYA the harder it is to keep the right amount of chlorine in the pool.

The only way to know is to test the water. If you test, you want the testing to be accurate and we find that test strip and pool store testing leaves a lot to be desired.

I suggest that you buy your own test kit.. Either a TF-Pro from TFTestkits.net or a Taylor K2206C. The "C" is important, so don't buy one without it.

No matter what you do, I suggest that you don't drain the pool until you have some kind of testing done.

Most IntelliFlo pump manuals have a "Menus" page.. I find it is easier to understand how the pump works by looking at the Menu page in the manual first. It kind of gives you an overview of what goes where. If you use the Menu page you can look at what setting are already in the pump.

As far as your valves go, I'd leave them as they are for now. I am not a big fan of In Floor Cleaning Systems (IFCS) and if this were my pool I'd most likely shut it off. That said, this is your pool and you should evaluate how well the cleaner is working first. If you think it is doing a great job, just leave it on..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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That's a pure pool guy thing. They know very little and when that little get them confused they throw words out there among them are chlorine lock, stale water and every pool needs a water change every 2or 3 years and lots more. Take things into your own hands and you'll be pleasantly surprised how simple concepts work. You only treat the water for the one level that's out of range and then move on to the next if there's one. Once there's a relative balance you don't have erratic swings which we call maintaining balance.
 
Kaylee34 said:
LOL! That is not true. Water doesn't get "stale". Draining and refilling every few years comes from things you don't need or want (like metals) being added to your pool water. It also comes from excessive amounts of necessary things like CYA being added from pucks and shock. Some things you can only get rid of by draining and refilling.

Wait until you get your test kit and then post results. Folks here can tell you if and how much you'll need to drain.
Click to expand...
The pucks is what is used in pool deck chlorinator. 3” tabs
 

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