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So I’m trying to budget to replace my liner next year. The actual liner + installation quote is $6500. Pricey but about what I expected. But the cost of trucking in water to refill the pool is $3500. 😮 Whoa. That seems so high. We are on a well, so I’d rather not fill it that way, both...

I'm just opening my Minnesota pool for the 2024 year. Tested the water yesterday when we first turned the pump on, and the FC was zero, as anticipated. Pool Math recommended I add 1.7 jugs of 12.5% chlorine to raise the FC to 4, so I did that a few hours ago. Just went out to measure and the FC...

I've been troubleshooting my Polaris 3900 for a few weeks now. My RPMs are low - they struggle to reach 20. At the same time, my pressure release valve in the wall connector has A LOT of water coming out if it, even though it's screwed down all the way. I've cleaned my lines, checked the...

My cell is generating chlorine, so this isn't a big deal. I'm just curious. Right now, my Aqua-Rite shows a higher number in the average salt reading than it does for the instant salt reading. I've not seen that before. Usually it's the opposite, as the system settles in. Has anyone else seen...

I have a trusty Polaris 3900 that is being finicky this season. I can't get the wheel RPM above 20, no matter what. The backup value is also firing strong and consistently, but it doesn't seem to have enough pressure to actually pull the vacuum out of corners and the like. It only manages to...

We just opened our pool last week - always a tenuous moment, especially after the violent winter we had this year in Minnesota. Everything appears to be working fine, except my Aqua-Rite is stuck on a steady, red light "No Flow" - when there clearly is flow. I've backwashed multiple times, my...

Tl;dr: Do I need to wait for all the snow/ice on my automatic cover to melt before I start pumping? It’s been a brutal winter here in the Upper Midwest. Almost 90” of snow, no real thaws. This week our calendar suddenly flipped and it’s in the 70s. (Highs were in the 30s still last week.)...

Last summer, one of the ropes on our automatic pool cover jumped the metal separator. By the time we figured out what was causing the pool cover to only open half way, the portion of the rope that was trapped on the metal was frayed. A pool cover technician said we can keep using it for now, but...

Hi all: Our 20-year-old Raypack has given up the ghost. It was a workhorse, but the elements finally caught up to it. The cost to replace is about $2300. I'm wondering how many Northerners here say a heater is a necessity and how many go without. Our pool is fairly large and deep. Water temp...

Hey all: We've had a rough winter here in Minnesota: cold, lots of snow (more than 70" here in the Twin Cities) and a really late start to spring. It was just last week that the snow finally melted enough for us to get the water off the pool cover. (And then my husband, per tradition, offered...

Good news and a question. First, the good: My SWG has been out of commission this summer. Thanks to this board, I was 95% sure the "black disk" was the culprit, but I couldn't find anyone who would touch my circuit board - until today, when a good friend who is also an electrician came for...

This isn't a big deal, but I'm curious. Lately, when I need to add chlorine to my pool, I calculate how much 12.5% Bosch to add using the Pool Math calculator. But when I test, about an hour later, my FC is much higher than expected - like 18 FC instead of 6. How is this happening? All my other...

Hey all: At this pointing the summer, I'm usually using my SWG to maintain my pool, but my circuit board is busted right now, so I'm using 12.5% bleach while we try to get that fixed. Everything was fine the last few weeks; I was able to keep my FC around 3-4. After a heavy swimmer load last...

I did an independent test of the salt in my water today using my LaMotte sodium chloride kit. I also did a thorough cleaning of the kit, as some pet spray had dumped on top. Now I have dark brown stains on my fingers. The kit says the salt titrant agent can stain. Is this the color it leaves...

Hi all: I tried to switch my SWG on today. I've had a green light for power the last few weeks. When I switched it to auto this morning, the generating area had a green light - for about 5 seconds. Then both lights went dark and I can't get anything to come on again. I checked the fuse box in...

The Intelliflo is new, so I'm still working out the kinks. When I wanted to backwash with my old single-speed pump, I just turned it off, QUICKLY turned the multiport to backwash, ran the backwash for a few minutes and then reverse the process. Problem is, if I didn't move quickly enough, I...

Hi all: Tl;dr: How much should we budget for pool ownership - specifically equipment? Longer version: We've owned our pool for five years. We've spent $1000s each year to repair or replace pool equipment. We've bought a new pool pump, a new vacuum, a new vacuum booster pump, a new automatic...

So yesterday, we replaced our six-year-old single speed pump with an Inteliflow variable speed motor. Today, the pump that powers our Polaris vacuum stopped working. Went from being pretty noisy to just nothing. It's five years old. Two questions: 1. Are these life spans normal? It feels...

This is my second year following the TFP method, and it ROCKS. I'm currently SLAMMING my pool. My question: how often should I test the water to check on the FC level? Twice a day? Every four hours? Do the weather conditions (sunny/cloudy/hot/cool) impact that? And a curiosity question: Last...

We opened our pool two weeks ago. Got everything up and running at the beginning, although the pump was really loud. I figured the motor is dying. So I closed our line valves and turned off the pump, so we could sleep at night. (The pump is right next to our bedroom window.) Enter this week...

Hi all: Our pool is open as of this week; this will be my second year completely handling the pool care, thanks to TFP. This year's spring question: the pump/motor is REALLY loud. It's right outside our bedroom window, and even with all the windows shut, it sounds like a F16 plane is trying...

Pool will be closed tomorrow. Our lines are blown out, because we're in Minnesota. Once that is done, is it possible or advisable for me to take any of the pipes apart? I'd like to check the pipes into our heater. It consistently refuses to fire because the pressure isn't high enough, even after...

Hi all: We got 6+ inches of rain last week, and since we're closing our pool this week, I spent some time outside getting water off our cover and shaping things up for winter. Once I got the water off the cover, I found the pool water level had dropped several inches; not sure where it went...

A month ago, I got my first Taylor kit. Back then, my CYA measured at 30. A few weeks later, after using the rest of some leftover dichlor I had sitting around (in addition to the bleach I used to SLAM my pool), I tested my CYA at 40. This week, I've slamming again. (Lesson learned: Don't let...

Hi all: I slammed my pool about three weeks ago. Had everything perfect. Then we had rain for a week, so the pool was neglected. (We have an automatic, non permeable cover, so when it rains, I can't get to the pool without clearing the water on the cover first, which doesn't make much sense...

I recently bought and started using a TK-2006 test kit, which helped me successfully SLAM my pool. Years past, I always used the Pentair Rainbow kit that came with our house, which as everyone probably knows, only has an OTO chlorine test. My question: if the OTO tests for TC, why does it's...

Hi all: We have a Raypak heater. It's old; I don't remember its exact age off the top of my head. Last year, it worked sporadically. At first, we thought the pressure switch was the issue. But we replaced it, and the heater continue to fire intermittently. We've been told we need a new gas...

Hi all: This is my first post, but I've been reading this board religiously for the past 12 months. We are relatively new pool owners; this year, I've appointed myself full-time pool girl, both to save money and to keep on top of issues. Last summer was a series of disasters: the pool had two...