initial pump/filter start up.

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xFLYNNx

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Dec 20, 2016
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CARROLLTON, TX.
Sorry about spamming different sections of forums, had posted this in the pump filter area also.

I just finished setting up skimmer and return and wanted to go over starting pump and getting the fun started.

1st time pool owner so I'm really trying to take on a ton of info in a short amount of time, please bare with me. This is the pump and filter I own. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I've done thus far, after installing all the hoses I began filling water the last 2" to get water to skimmer height. Realizing I didn't have the waste hose to prevent water shooting right out of filter next to pool I ran down to Lowes and got one. When I get back I've got water running into the alley, the water was coming from the pump skimmer lid that I just had resting on the pump. So the water level raised to skimmer height and was just pouring out of the pump there. I shut the water off and screwed the lid on. I then followed instructions to start filling filter. Turned filter handle valve to backwash, turned pump on (I didn't prime it cause I didn't know what that meant at the time) ran pump for till water was coming out of waste line. Turned pump off, set to rinse, ran pump for 1 more min, turned pump off set to filter and began running again.

So, continued filling pool to half way up skimmer, I notice that the return is pushing water but it doesn't seem very strong. The gauge on the filter stays at zero psi. If I put my hand over the jet I hear motor work harder and pressure begins to build. I've only held hand there for 5 or so secs at a time to see what would happen. I do have a couple tiny drip leaks. One where pump line goes to filter at pump side and one where return line from filter goes to return jet. Both need to be taken apart re tefloned and tightened back up. When looking into pump skimmer glass lid, I see water coming into pump dropping down in, the entire area isn't filled with water... not sure if that makes sense. I watch videos and other peoples skimmer area there at the pump look like a white water churning and it's filled to top. Skimmer at pool, I ran this pump for 6 hours and I don't have anything in skimmer basket, there's plenty of little bugs or stuff in the pool that something should be collecting in there, matter of fact I saw a bee in there and when I opened the skimmer flap the bee floated back into the pool.

This is what's got me concerned the most, the pump motor is hot to touch, like after 5 seconds it's too hot to touch. I ran it for 6 hours or so last night cause I added all the salt and read that it needed to run to dissolve salt, I had the kids jump in there and manually dissolve to speed up process. I'm worried the motor is going to overheat so I've currently got it off and plan to address leaks and what ever info you can help with.

I feel I'm certainly doing something wrong, feel that the priming is what my issue is. I've taken the lid off the pump a couple times because it appeared there wasn't a lot of water in there when I run it, I'm sure you know what happens when I do, the housing immediately begins to overfill with water till I manage to press the lid back down and screw it on. I don't have an inline ball wall to prevent pool water from going into pump when I need to prime it so I'm wondering what does one do when you open this up to throw trash away?
 
Pump isn't priming, sucking air into system from somewhere. From what I read that should only happen before the pump to filter line. I'm not able to look at pump filter lid because I've got no way to stop pool water from running through right there. I've taken the intake line from skimmer to pump off and plan to hard pipe a shut off ball valve right at the pump tonight. I've got some Jack 327 lube delivering today, so wish me luck and hopefully this will fix my problem.

I called Hayward 3-4 times yesterday and never got through to anyone. Waited 20-30 min each time.
 
My money is on the clear lid on the pre-filter basket. That seems to be a very common cause of suction side leaks. There should be a big o-ring inside the lid. Is it installed correctly?
 
Can you stuff a tennis ball or rag into the skimmer pipe? Just be sure it does not get sucked into the pipe...

You should clean and lube the oring every time. You really should not get that much stuff in that basket as it should get caught by the skimmer basket.

Take care.
 
Never would've thought of that. Is that pretty common thing for people to do?

If that works pretty good then I may not have to hard pipe a shut off valve in place, save myself a couple bucks also. Is it a better idea to go ahead and do the shut off?
 
We have the same set-up, we have to "burp" the clear-lidded skimmer that is in front of the pump
- (ours has a air release screw on the top of the lid)
- Just loosen it until the water starts flowing out that screw, then gently tighten it back down.

Also our skimmer came with a plug, but I like the tennis ball idea! It would be far easier to remove too!

ETA, just found the Hayward manual for that pump/strainer, for the least resistance, can you turn the sand filter to recirculate? (that bypasses the sand) And does the pre-motor strainer fill with water at all? I agree with jeffchap, it sounds like the pre-motor strainer (lid) doesn't have a good seal.
 
Yeaaa I fixed it! Well let's back up a step, I'm not sure what fixed it, haha. I got the lube in yesterday at lunch. Went home, plugged the skimmer up and took that pump lid off. Since the oring is kind of down in the lid a bit I just smeared a layer of lube on the rim of the pump housing itself. Primed her up and hit the pump switch lost prime instantly so I went back to work disgusted. During all lid off and on and re teflon'n my fittings I lost water to about an 1" above bottom of skimmer. I had my kids run the water and told them to stop it once water level got to the middle of the skimmer. Well when I got home the water level was 3/4 covering skimmer. I plugged skimmer again, spun lid off, primed it, put the lid back on and hit the pump just for the sake of it prior to pulling that oring out and coating it with lube. To my dismay the darn thing sealed proper and held prime.. So I guess between the combo of having that smear of Jacks and water level that high did the trick.

So the next step was turning that toxic green pool water to something swim able. I've got the TF100 landing on Friday so I don't really have a way to check water yet. I happened to find myself in Home Depot last night and saw a these, http://www.homedepot.com/p/HTH-1lb-Ultimate-Shock-Treatment-52012/207203908 grabbed one and threw it in late last night. This morning the pool is no longer green, but looks like reg water although cloudy enough that you can't see the liner pattern in the bottom.

Any who, test kit comes in Friday so I'll get to play with that this weekend and hopefully have a swim able pool shortly!
 
Good to hear about the pump :)

You can clear the pool with nothing other than bleach or pool chlorinating liquid. Avoid the potions which add unnecessary things to the water and may cause problems. That stuff shouldn't hurt but it's easy for things to go seriously sideways with some of the pool potions.

Here's some important links to help you get started. You'll need just 10% plain bleach from Walmart (not scented or splashless), or 10% or 12.5% chlorinating liquid. You'll also need some muriatic acid to get your pH down to 7.2 before you start the SLAM. You'll find that in the paint department at Home Depot. Be sure not to splash any of either in your eyes, and avoid breathing the fumes from the muriatic acid (stay upwind or just float the bottle on the pool water and pour in an estimated amount)

TFPC for Beginners
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
PoolMath
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
SLAM Process
 
Tf100 kit arrived today. Tested clorine/ph with k1000 kit. Fc didnt show up and ph was over what k1000 would register. Did cya test, it was 0. Using pool math i need just under 8 lbs of stabilzer to hit 75 on cya, some muratic to lower ph and 128 oz of 10% bleach. Do i understand correctly that if ph is higher than what kit can read i need to calculate it in pool math as 8.2 to determine qty of muratic to use?

Is there a correct order i need to achieve target numbers? Like dont add bleach till cya is at 75%?

Do i add all these chemicals one after the other, wait 5 min and retest?

In the pools current state, if i get the chemicals right, how long till i can swim? I thought i read something that said if i use dry stabilzer that i need to wait a week to retest.

Sorry for these noob questions, just trying to get the kids in the water with out their hair falling out or melting skin :(
 

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No worries. Until the pool is cleared up, don't add any more than 30 ppm CYA, per PoolMath as mentioned. Use the calculated amount, being careful to have your pool volume correct. No need to test it after, just be sure you use the right amount, and 30 ppm is what you will have. You won't re-test until after your SLAM when you raise it up to normal level, but keeping it low for now will make the SLAM easier.

Bring your pH down in two or three steps. Use PoolMath to determine how much muriatic acid (MA) you need to get down to 7.6 and go ahead and add that. Wait 30 minutes for the water to mix, pump running. Test pH again, and adjust by adding MA to get pH down to 7.2. Wait 30 minutes, test again, and if need be, make another adjustment.

Then you can start the SLAM. Per the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] your shock level will be 12 ppm FC for the SLAM. Be sure to print out the SLAM Process instructions and follow those to the letter. I'm away tomorrow, but there will be others to answer questions. No question is a problem - we've all been there!
 
You may swim when your FC is at or below shock level based on your CYA, you can see the bottom of the pool, and your pH is between 7.2 and 7.8.

So you can swim during a SLAM - typically the issue is seeing the bottom of the pool. That is for safety, in case a swimmer is in trouble you must be able to see them.

Take care.
 
With the amount of rain some of Texas is getting, it might, but normally no. Main thing is to keep the water level within the height of the skimmer opening. Very heavy rain can cause pH to rise which wouldn't be helpful, and that occurs when there's a lot of splashing.
 
Awesome, I went ahead and began it yesterday evening. Just added 2nd batch of bleach. Checked ph which was still at 7.2 and fc was at 3.5 from last nights addition. I'll give it an hour and recheck it. So i don't have a vacuum but do have a brush and pole. I plan on braving the 80 degree water and giving at good scrubbing today. Is not being able to vacuum while doing the slam going to make this a waste of time or just going to drag the process out further?
 
Vacuuming helps the fine dust of dead algae 'carcasses' get to the filter quicker. Brushing will stir that dust up and eventually it will all get to the filter. It takes time and very hard to predict how long. You can take a picture looking down at your ladder each day and see the change over time.
 
Not seeing much clarity difference if anything at all. Cya is at 35 so up'd the shock level to 14.

Until slam is finished i need not concern myself with anything else? Salt level and raising cya to 70, i see by raising cya would cost me to run through more bleach but would that not speed up slam?
 
If you are reading higher than 30 CYA but less than 40 you need to round your CYA up to the higher number -ie 40. You then want to SLAM at 16 FC and try your best to maintain this as much as you can. The maintain part is the key to moving through a SLAM quicker.

You don't need to worry about any other levels until the SLAM is complete- just the FC levels as you determine the amount to dose to take it up to SLAM level again and the CC -which you can test for towards the end of the SLAM when the water clears up and your ready to complete the OCLT. The only thing is if you are doing a lot of backwashing and water replacement, you'll need to recheck your CYA level and perhaps add to bring it up to an acceptable level again.

Raising the CYA level up for a SLAM does require more liquid chlorine but the other often forgotten downside of a SLAM at a higher levels is it'll require a larger amount of the R-0871 testing reagent. That could have you putting in an emergency order for more -when your SLAM is not quite completed.
 
Well it sounds like I'm headed the right direction then. As far as back-washing the filter, how will I know to do that? When I 1st got pump primed and system holding pressure the filter gauge read 15 psi, once it goes up 10 psi is that when I backwash?

Also, I was in there yesterday brushing it down, and found 3 different spots in an area about 15" in diameter where grass has poked up through the liner. In that area I dug down at least 3" deep, covered the entire area with 2" sand and the pool pad and in under 3 wks time have grass poking through, amazing! So I've been reading up on this, buy a syringe fill it with round up, snip the grass level w/ liner, poke syringe through dispense the roundup then patch the hole. Does that sound about right?
 
I would backwash around 19 PSI, maybe 20.

Someone else here will know better, or you could ask for soil sterilant advice from a good person at a nursery. Something that will bind with your soil and work for a long time.
 

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