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When opening with intention to vacuum all pool debris to waste, does it make more sense to add DE after vacuuming all debris to waste or OK to charge before?

How tight do you tighten the filter drain plug when reinstalling? I was able to keep mine from leaking by going hand tight.

Every year at opening I drive myself crazy stopping every single minuscule drip. Only to realize that I’ve been putting up with dripping faucets in the house all winter. Who else?

I just opened my pool and a day later had to replace my Pentair FNS plus drain plug. A lot of water and of course some DE came out. I know there are recommendations for how much to add after back washing but this doesn't appear to be the same. I would assume a lot of DE still clung to the grids...

While cleaning my FNS plus 36 DE filter yesterday I noticed that the clamp that holds the air bleeder on had deteriorated and no longer worked. I didn’t have another one so I used a zip tie for the connection and got it as tight as I could. How will I know if this connection fails inside the...

I have read conflicting advice on whether to be concerned about TA levels or not. My understanding is that you shouldn't be concerned unless you have a high CH level. Is this correct? My current TA is around 270 which is very high and CH is 110. I have been fighting cloudy water and have also...

I can’t figure out why my CH test doesn’t correspond to the results the instructions say should occur in the TF-100. After adding the R0011L the water only turns slight pink. It never does turn blue but it does go back clear after 10 drops of R0012. See pics below. What does this mean? My...

I have been fighting a cloudy pool for a week. It shifted overnight basically. After testing I was told to reduce CYA to 30. So I spent the last 2 days draining while filling. Unfortunately I ran out of CYA reagent but based on my calculations and estimates I should be close to 30-40. I have to...

My water turned cloudy almost overnight. I had noticed it was slowly losing it's sparkle so I tried to increase my trichlor dosage but to no avail apparently. I found smelly dead bird in the skimmer yesterday as well as pool water that is very cloudy. I began to SLAM using granular trichlor as...

I have a Pentair Challenger pump that I just replaced the motor on. Shaft seal sealed great but I have a very slow leak at the housing o-ring clamp areas Tried to relube and remount but still drips a couple times per minute. I am wondering if it will eventually quit and what will happen if I...

I replaced the shaft seal on my Pentair Challenger yesterday. There was a substantial leak between the seal plate and the motor. I checked it this morning and I still have a slow drip. I have done this procedure before and it seems like I always have to try a couple different seals before I ever...

Pool startup revealed what appears to be the need for a new shaft seal. I’ve ordered the rebuild kit with shaft seal and other seals and will replace everything when they arrive. However I am thinking of doing it differently this time. My motor is hard to get remounted and re-wired because of a...

We have had an unusually wet winter. For the first time ever my water level (currently 3/8” thick ice on top) is approaching my concrete pool coping. I have never allowed my pool to get this full. What will happen if it goes over the level of the fiberglass shell and onto the concrete coping...

Does my pressure gauge/relief valve need to be replaced? I am trying to find the source of prime loss with pump off overnight. Should it be making this noise? May 7, 2018 - YouTube

I am somewhat confused when it comes to DE filter grids. Everything I’ve read says that grids plug up over time and need to be acid washed. If that is the case wouldn’t it increase the pressure in the filter and decrease the return flow into the pool? My grids were 10 years old so I just...

I added a gallon of Muriatic acid and my pH is still reading 8.2 which means it is presumably higher. The pool calculator only goes to 8.6. Does that mean that is as high as my pH could be? If so according to the calculator I shouldn't have had to add that much to go from 8.6 to 7.5. My...

For the first time since I've owned a pool I had a neighbor confront me because my pool draining " flooded" his back yard and he couldn't mow. This neighbor lives 2 doors down and oddly enough the neighbor between us didn't say anything. Anyway, I drain my pool out behind my back fence. There...

I'm not trying to flame anyone but after years of dealing with a relatively small 10k gallon pool, I am starting to think that draining and refilling the pool in conjunction with stabilized chlorine might be the least troublefeee of all. I've tried the trouble free method and have had marginal...

I am putting a new motor on my Pentair Challenger pump. The pump will be wired 120 volts. My question is, where to put the hot and where to put the neutral? The motor has a dial which I turned to select 115 volts, so I know that is OK. However the connections just say L1 and L2. The diagram...

I am going to be installing this motor on my pool pump. I will be setting the motor to 110 volts as that is my supply voltage. I consulted the documentation I could find but didn't find the answer. With 110 I know there is the neutral and the hot. On most things you normally wire the hot to...

I am going to be replacing a gasket on my Pentair Multiport. It seems like the last time I opened up the multi-port, I had some DE leave the filter and end up in the pool. Is this possible or am I thinking incorrectly? Maybe it happened when I left the air relief valve open on the filter? I'm...

I have a 3/4 hp Pentair Challenger. I am curious why my diffuser has a different design than most that I see, including on the parts diagram at Pentair. Mine looks like this. Instead of completely round like seen at the link below. Does anyone know what is the purpose of the different...

I wish I would have taken pictures when I had my pump disassembled but I didn't. :( Anyway, I have a Pentair Challenger 3/4 HP pump. It was leaking at startup so I replaced the shaft seal. When I disassembled, I noticed there was a fair bit of corrosion on the shaft. In particular the area up...

I am trying to determine how my pump is wired. There is a 220 volt 60 amp breaker at the box and a 20 amp breaker at the service panel which appears to be 110 because it is a single breaker. I am assuming the pump motor is 110 but wondering why the box has a 20volt 60 amp breaker? Perhaps it...

I installed a new shaft seal on my Penatair Challenger pump the other day. Today I just noticed that it still has a small dripping leak. I replaced the difuser seal at the same time but I did not replace the housing seal because the pool store didn't have one. So I was thinking that drip was...

I replaced the shaft seal on my Pentair Challenger pump yesterday. Everything went ok and the leak is gone. However either the motor or the pump has a slightly higher pitch sound to it now. Should I be concerned? Here is the video: April 23, 2016 - YouTube

I have a Pentair multiport that has a handle that is hard to turn and the handle doesn't spring back into position after turning and releasing it. In other words it seems "limp" It is also very rusty probably do to some years when the water wasn't handled properly. I replaced the spider gasket...

My pump is losing prime overnight. Based on my understanding and reading here, this almost always is said to be caused by a suction side leak. However, there are no bubbles in the pool. The pump basket does seem to have a different sound than before acting somewhat like air is getting...

Yesterday I did a drain/flush on my pool to get the CYA lowered. The good news is I am at least down to CYA of 60 and attempting to go back to bleach instead of trichlor. Last night I added 6 bottles of concentrated bleach in an attempt to shock the pool and get the water clear. I ran the pump...

I will admit I have been a bit lax in my pool testing lately. That's easy to do when you open early, and temps stay cool for several months and the pool always looks crystal clear. Since opening I have just been testing ph and chlorine level. Then one day the furnace gets kicked on and that...