Noob Pool Issues

[heydevo]

Hey everyone!

I'm a brand new pool owner, and I seriously have no idea what I'm doing . I got a rough run down from the previous owner, but I've run into some snags and he is absolutely AWOL.

Long story short, the pool is getting nice and green. It appears to me that the skimmer isn't doing a very good job of sucking things up. In fact, whenever I try to vacuum, I have to set the valve from the filter to the main release which seems to get some good flow into the skimmer.

I've attached a couple of pic of the set up for reference.

In "valve from pool to pump.jpg" - one side says SPA, one side says POOL and the middle goes to the pump. I usually always leave this in the middle.

In "valve from heater.jpg" - One side says SPA, one side says POOL and the middle says RETURN - I usually always have this in the middle.

Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks!
Devo

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Welcome Devo!

The valve in front of your pump handles suction from the pool. Handle set to right is full suction from the pool and left is full suction from the spa. When turned away from full lock, it begins to mix suction from both. So when you have the valve in the middle, suction comes from both spa and pool. Unless you are using spa, you want this set fully from pool. Same concept for the return. "Return" is not a setting, the label is there to let you know where that set of pipes go (return to pool/spa). Keep that on full pool unless you're using the spa...with one caveat. You want a little overflow going into your spa for circulation. If you're at full pool on the return and there is no spillover, move that valve towards spa until you get a little water overflowing into the pool. Try this and see what kind of flow you have in your skimmer.

If you have a skimmer and a main drain, you probably have a diverter valve under your basket in the skimmer (google it so you know what to look for). This valve balances water between the skimmer and main drain. Lift the valve out and make sure the flap/door is open. This position gives max suction to skimmer.

Now for the bad news...If your pool is getting green, you most likely have algae and you will need to SLAM. Before you start you need to pick up a good test kit (TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C) to find out what's going on with your water. Visit pool school (link above) and start with ABCs of Pool Chemistry There is a lot to learn here and you came to the right place.

 

[heydevo]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I left both valves open towards POOL, but there wasn't a lot of water going into the pump. I noticed that there was a lot of action in the skimmer, then it would stop. Simultaneously, the PSI on the filter would rise and drop dramatically. It looks like there is a low level of water in the pool, probably because I had things dumping out to the main drain.

I'm adding more water now then will try again and see if things get to "normal." Once satisfied, time to SLAM!

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Water level should be in the middle of the skimmer door. Do you have a diverter valve in your skimmer?

 

[Richard320]

Congratulations on figuring out that the surging is from the low water level.

Now the bad news: green is not a filtration problem. That's a chemistry problem. If the chemistry was correct, algae would never grow and the water wouldn't be green. You need to fix the chemistry and kill the algae.

If you see poor circulation, it's because the filter is probably clogged with dead algae.

A common scenario is that someone gets algae and dumps a whole lot of bleach or powdered "shock" into the pool. That kills a lot of the algae, and possibly turns the pool from green to grey. But the hardier strains of algae survive, and reproduce and the pool gets green again. Repeat the megadosing. It's never been killed off completely, so there's a never-ending supply of dead algae to clog the filter.

Complicating things, the most common dry forms of chlorine contain Cyanuric Acid, a stabilizer. Too much if it stabilizes the chlorine to where it doesn't work. That's what the Pool Stores refer to as "Chlorine Lock." I wrote this many years ago. It might explain things.

We'll take a 16000 gallon pool, because that's what I have. On a fresh fill, prominent national pool chain recommends 2.5 pounds of stabilizer per 10,000 gallons, which works out nicely to 4 pounds which brings CYA to 30.

With an average loss of 2 PPM/Day or 14 ppm/week, I'll have added 8.6 PPM/CYA if I used trichlor pucks perfectly. And they recommend a weekly "shock" of dichlor between 5 and 10 FC.... 2-3 oz per 10,000 gallons. Split the difference; I'll add 4 oz. CYA went up another .9.

So... by the end of week one, I have added 9.5 more CYA. It is now 39.5. Minimum FC for that is 3, so I'm probably okay.

Week two, up to 49 CYA.
Week three, 58.5. Minimum FC should be 5, but they recommend 3 as ideal, so the pool looks a bit hazy. So I'll toss in a little extra dichlor "shock" to jack FC up to 10. Which adds another 6.4 CYA. Keeping count? We're up to 64.9 now.

That caught the algae just in time.. we had two weeks of good luck. A steady diet of pucks and 4 oz. "shock" each week only added another 19 CYA, up to 73.9 now.

Week 6 it started looking funky, so we "shocked" it once again. CYA is up to 99.3. But minimum FC to keep algae at bay is 8, and we're still holding things to 3, because prominent national chain's preprinted sheet shows that as ideal. So algae got a toehold and the pool has a bit of a tint. So we throw two whole bags of dichlor in which jacks it another 7.6. By the time week 7 is over, we're at 116.4, because we had pucks in the floater the whole time.

So...in 7 weeks, from 30 to 116.4. Let's say there are no more algae outbreaks because they sold me a huge bucket of phos-free and another of yellow-out monopersulfate "shock" Nothing but the pucks and the extra 4 oz of dichlor "shock" weekly. So the next 7 weeks added 66.5, which brings the total to 182.9 CYA.

Now if we didn't understand this and things looked a bit hazy, we might throw an extra puck or two in the floater every couple weeks, which will drive it over 200 easily.​

 

[heydevo]

I do have a diverter valve, and the flap is fully open.

This morning when the timer started the pump, it looks like the pump isn’t full of water and the water in the skimmer area just seems to be sitting there.

 

[heydevo]

Good point. I did have to open and clean the filter. The previous pool man was supposed to have done it, and the previous owner was shocked at how dirty it was.

I probably do need a new filter, or a higer pressure water spout as I mostly cleared gunk, but the filter was still dirty-ish.

The previous owner left 2 gallons of liquid chlorine, which we used and I bought some tablets.

Is there a recommended chlorine to use?

i also don’t know the size of my pool, as the previous owner didn’t know the size either.

Congratulations on figuring out that the surging is from the low water level.

Now the bad news: green is not a filtration problem. That's a chemistry problem. If the chemistry was correct, algae would never grow and the water wouldn't be green. You need to fix the chemistry and kill the algae.

If you see poor circulation, it's because the filter is probably clogged with dead algae.

A common scenario is that someone gets algae and dumps a whole lot of bleach or powdered "shock" into the pool. That kills a lot of the algae, and possibly turns the pool from green to grey. But the hardier strains of algae survive, and reproduce and the pool gets green again. Repeat the megadosing. It's never been killed off completely, so there's a never-ending supply of dead algae to clog the filter.

Complicating things, the most common dry forms of chlorine contain Cyanuric Acid, a stabilizer. Too much if it stabilizes the chlorine to where it doesn't work. That's what the Pool Stores refer to as "Chlorine Lock." I wrote this many years ago. It might explain things.

We'll take a 16000 gallon pool, because that's what I have. On a fresh fill, prominent national pool chain recommends 2.5 pounds of stabilizer per 10,000 gallons, which works out nicely to 4 pounds which brings CYA to 30.

With an average loss of 2 PPM/Day or 14 ppm/week, I'll have added 8.6 PPM/CYA if I used trichlor pucks perfectly. And they recommend a weekly "shock" of dichlor between 5 and 10 FC.... 2-3 oz per 10,000 gallons. Split the difference; I'll add 4 oz. CYA went up another .9.

So... by the end of week one, I have added 9.5 more CYA. It is now 39.5. Minimum FC for that is 3, so I'm probably okay.

Week two, up to 49 CYA.
Week three, 58.5. Minimum FC should be 5, but they recommend 3 as ideal, so the pool looks a bit hazy. So I'll toss in a little extra dichlor "shock" to jack FC up to 10. Which adds another 6.4 CYA. Keeping count? We're up to 64.9 now.

That caught the algae just in time.. we had two weeks of good luck. A steady diet of pucks and 4 oz. "shock" each week only added another 19 CYA, up to 73.9 now.

Week 6 it started looking funky, so we "shocked" it once again. CYA is up to 99.3. But minimum FC to keep algae at bay is 8, and we're still holding things to 3, because prominent national chain's preprinted sheet shows that as ideal. So algae got a toehold and the pool has a bit of a tint. So we throw two whole bags of dichlor in which jacks it another 7.6. By the time week 7 is over, we're at 116.4, because we had pucks in the floater the whole time.

So...in 7 weeks, from 30 to 116.4. Let's say there are no more algae outbreaks because they sold me a huge bucket of phos-free and another of yellow-out monopersulfate "shock" Nothing but the pucks and the extra 4 oz of dichlor "shock" weekly. So the next 7 weeks added 66.5, which brings the total to 182.9 CYA.

Now if we didn't understand this and things looked a bit hazy, we might throw an extra puck or two in the floater every couple weeks, which will drive it over 200 easily.​

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Inspect, clean, and lube (Magic Lube) your pump lid seal/o-ring. It sounds like you may have a suction side air leak. With the cover off, remove the basket and check for obstructions at the impeller. Generally, you should only use liquid chlorine for sanitation. Visit Pool School.