2 years of planning and it’s finally DONE in Tampa!

It was a one time start up fee but he only comes once per week. I won’t add chemicals but he said that he thinks we might be able to swim in 3 weeks. Brushed it today and saw pretty minimal plaster dust on the sun shelf.

Not sure I want to deal with another pump. May just have to deal with running the Intelliflo at a max rpm and only turn the bubblers and deck jets on occasionally
 
Holy poop I wish i saw that a few months ago! Basically that XF pump puts out an additional 50gpm at max speed, and the XF at 1000rpm less can flow the same amount?

So basically right now at 3450rpm my Intelliflo flows at best, 170gpm.
Intelliflo XF at 3450rpm is 225gpm.

Intelliflo at 2350rpm is 115gpm
Intelliflo XF at 2350rpm is 155gpm.

Thats insane and might literally be the most simple solution to my problems. I will go take a peek at the pentair website to make sure the flows will follow the curves with 2" suction and 2" returns.

Now i just need to find a way to either return the Intelliflo or sell it to offset the cost.
 
Hey wakerider, im on pentairs website, i want to confirm the model number of the pump you suggested; 0203055?

It does say it comes with 2.5" unions, i assume i can still get union adapters for 2" plumbing but expect a slighter drop in flow.
 
tampatommy
I never saw this thread until now. WOW!!!! What a transformation. Absolutely incredible. I almost wish I had not seen it and I bet you can guess why. :p. Then reality starts to kick in. I really do have a great pool and spa and even better equipment, unfortunately, I just don't have some of the modern features like lighted bubblers, raised spa with sheer descent waterfall, laminars, firewater bowls etc, etc. Those would sure be a transformation for our back yard and if there was any "easy way" to put some of those in, I certainly would, but there is not. I would have to go "your route". Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to say VERY VERY NICE and GREAT JOB!!!
All the best.
r.
 
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Hey wakerider, im on pentairs website, i want to confirm the model number of the pump you suggested; 0203055?

It does say it comes with 2.5" unions, i assume i can still get union adapters for 2" plumbing but expect a slighter drop in flow.


From Pentair's site the part numbers are as follows:
XF VS: 0203055
XF VSF: 022056

But I'd call to check since there seems to be a lot of errors present on Pentair's site... Also if you do go that route make sure you are getting the latest model, as a quick Google search turned up that 022056 is the newer replacement for 022055. (Pentair IntelliFloXF Variable Speed Pump 022056 | Pool Supply 4 Less )

Looks like it comes with 2.5"/3" unions, so you'd need a reducer. I think I read a while back that the pump is basically the same as what you have now, just with an upgraded wet end. 3.2KW for both I believe, so you should see increased performance with no change in your electric bill.. Don't quote me on any of that though, as I am neither an electrician or a plumber. :)
 
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Well, i found out what the problem was with one of the bubblers not bubbling as much as the other. See pic. Holy moly it took forever to clean all of the plaster out. The chunks in the pic are just a fraction. Both had tons of plaster chunks. I ended up breaking another one of the eyeballs for the bubblers due to poor design, so ill call Pentair tomorrow and see if they can send me two new ones. They are both 3/4" eyeballs now since there is like a glued in plastic reducer to make them 1/2", and in playing with them i broke them. But they flow equally which im happy about.

Went back to the pool equipment store. In a roundabout way they will take back my intelliflo (011018) and exchange it for the Intellflo XF/VS. But it may take a few days. It would only be a couple hundred dollars more. The one guy was like man why did you buy the original intelliflo the new ones are so much better. Lesson learned.

Pool is still on the green side. Apparently adding chemicals every 7 days is the proper startup method to clear and balance the water quickly. *insert middle finger emoji* The chlorine tabs in my basket have already completely dissolved. So im basically just looking at water being filtered with no chemicals until he comes back to dump a ton more acid in on Monday, and maybe the water will look better! :eek:

Untitled by T V, on Flickr
 
WHAT???????? :shock: How in the world did all of that get in there?? oh and MORE?? UNREAL! How did you even find it and then get it out??? Good job! Can you leave them open and running just in case there are some more bits in there?

SCORE on the pump. Nice of them to help you out like that. This can be a lesson for all upcoming builds as well. Thanks for sharing!

Green pool=yuck! Might be time to send them down the road and take over your pool care.

Kim:kim:
 
Tomorrow morning will by the 7th day since any acid or chlorine tabs were placed in the skimmer basket (lasted about 3 days). I tested the ph a little bit ago and its a darker red than what shows up on the test kit, so well above 8.0. The chlorine reading was lighter than 0.1. Maybe if they dumped some more acid into the water it would start to clear up and my pool wouldnt be green still! Ugh.

Over the past 2 or 3 days we have lost about an inch of water. I assume it is likely due to evaporation. I do not see any signs of anything leaking around the pool or deck, so hopefully its just me freaking out over nothing!
 
The two bubblers struggle as it is to produce a good plume in 9” water depth with a 1/2” eyeball. The spa spillover is always on as it cannot be turned off, nor would I want to because that is the feature we like the most. It’s a 48” spillover and needs to be at 2900rpm to prevent water from trickling down the wall with the returns on. I’m not 100% sold on replacing the pump yet. I’ll see how I feel about it once we are able to get in and swim.

Adding. Second pump isn’t really an option without a major re plumb. I have a home run for the skimmer, spa drain, and pool main drain and I would have to split into one of the suction lines and plumb it to a second pump. My manifold is beautiful and I don’t want to mess it up for something pretty trivial. I do love bubblers and deck jets and spa spillovers though. We will just run what we want when we have people over
 
We did a 3 bag mix, so a total of 150lb of glass per 1200lb batch. Instead of doing the standard “touch of glass” or “puerto Rico blend”, we did 1.5 bags of each into the mix to give us large cobalt blue glass beads as well as the smaller sizes glass beads of the Puerto Rico blend. For our pool it was an additional $1800 to add the glass, which is well worth it in my opinion. I should have pics of the finish after it was exposed and before it was filled a page or two ago.
 
Acid will not clear your green. That is going to take chlorine. The acid is for lowering pH. With the pH being so high it will take some time and lots of acid. What you will do is turn your pump on high (returns running) and add enough acid to get your pH down to 7.5. Brush the pool good in the area you added the acid. Let it all mix for about 15 mins. Test again. If the pH is still not in the 7s do it again. You might have to do this a few times to get it down as it is hard to tell just how high it is. Everything that rolls the water pushes the pH up as does the plaster curing. It will be a while until the plaster's effects are over so this is something you will have to work on for anywhere from 3 months to a year depending on your pool.

I would not be waiting on them to clear your pool but that is just me so..............I am all about do it yourself.

Kim:kim:
 
Yea im pretty annoyed. I understand not shocking the pool with liquid chlorine but im sick of green and hope that the 3 chlorine tabs he put in the skimmer basket start to help. Here are the test results i just did from a little bit ago. Unfortunately, pool guy came this morning while i was at swim school with the little fish and did not get a chance to brush it immediately after until this evening. There is no visible plaster dust when i brush the pool anymore.

FC- 5.0
PH- 6.8
CH- 250
CYA- 70
 

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