A Robot Cleaner to go with my pop-ups

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Yep, I have two neighbors who are delighted with the performance of their infloor system, but in both cases, they have a deep well with the main drain at the bottom. Pool builders should know enough to NEVER put one in a play pool. Also A&A has to certify the design of any installation. I can’t believe they don’t reject this type installation, but a sale is a sale, even if the system will never work properly.
It does help the solar heat the pool evenly, and disperse the chemicals rapidly. But it’s an expensive option for that minor benefit.
 
jonpcar said:
Proavia, did you see this discussion about the ecostar?

EcoStar reports 5 watts

Today I went to update my Ecostar pump schedule to accommodate more skimming/filtration for pollen. I noticed it read 5w on the display screen. I wish! I believe the wattage should be 766 for that pump speed. Regardless, 5w is incorrect. The pump was replaced under warranty about 2 months...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

That particular post describes why it makes no sense for me to run my ecostar under 1200rpm...it’s really weird that no one else has the same “wattage floor” that mine seems to have. Yours doesn’t?

Nlandas, did you make sure no other return paths are open with the popups?
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Yes Sir. I made sure.
 
Thanks for all the help and info.....lol! SO HERE'S THE UPDATE, I stopped by A&A as it's on my way home and PAUL, a very cool guy told me that it could be that my housing has worn down and could be losing some pressure as one or all of the T-VALVES aren't closing all the way due to the the wear and tear of the opening. Of course the whole thing and the gears are warranted and it's a matter of installation. I should have asked him if the pop-ups are warranted as well since its their products and maybe have them all replaced. I'll try this first and see what happens before I dive in and pay $600 for a 2 year old Polaris 955 from a fellow Veteran that sold his house.
 
The A&A pop-ups - and any other moving part of the system are warrantied to the original owner for life. I am on my 4th set of pop-up heads in 19 years.

Since you drive by there regularly, take a few heads out and have them look at them. If they need replaced, all of them probably need replaced. Let us know how the replacement of the housing goes.
 
NLandas said:
...it could be that my housing has worn down and could be losing some pressure as one or all of the T-VALVES aren't closing all the way due to the the wear and tear of the opening.
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My original system used the large acrylic balls instead of t-valves...those balls definitely “wore” the manifold and there was leakage to every zone. Shasta replaced my manifold with the tvalve version (the acrylic ball version is obsoleted, they don’t even make replacement balls). I’ll have to keep an eye out for the wear on the t-valves, I believe I am about 6-8 years into it...

My popups are free replacements, too...but IF there was a Venturi replacement for mine (there isn’t), I wonder if it would include that “upgrade”. Chief’s report on his experience with the Venturi replacements isn’t optimistic but I am sure that there are some cases where they might be the right fix, especially for throw distance.

Thanks for continuing the updates NLandis, let us know how it ends up...if you end up with a robot, I still think you probably want to forget about using the popups at all...but it sounds like you are figuring it out.
 
I definitely think it's the pop ups but now I need to buy the tool to take it off or I can wait til Monday as someone is coming by courtesy of the A&A to check out the housing as well as the dead spots. Never really knew A&A parts are warranted for as long as I'm the original owner. I might just get all pop ups + the housing replaced....that would be extra cool! Then I'll evaluate.
 
I have installed a Flow Vis flow meter and have nine pop-ups I need to have A&A replace. I do NOT have a heater by-pass valve and believe that may be the issue causing the challenges I have faced over the last 21 years. I finally purchased an A&A system pressure device to measure each zone. I am lucky to get 6 or 7psi with my Intelliflo running at 3230rpm. This sets my Sta-Rite filter at 30psi (with new filters).

Do those of you with IFCS have a heater by-pass valve?
 
Well, as promised, here is my update. Replaced two of the pop-ups (where the dirt seemed to sit) and right away, dirt was swept away. Housing will be replaced as it's worn out and I might just replace the other pop-ups as they are all 100% Warranted and Backed by A&A.....how cools is that?

Now to another issue, I can't believe it but hey, after 15 years, I shouldn't complain. My panel over the weekend gave me the No Cell Power message. I will start another Forum for it though Thanks to ALL the POP-UPS/CLEANER suggestions.
 
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Sounds like you're on your way to getting the infloor back into shape. Great to be the original owner.....

Chances are if 2 pop-ups were bad and the water valve housing needs replacing, you will benefit from replacing all the other pop-ups too.

Look at the pop-ups on your very top step - they are probably low pressure heads. Compare the size of the hole in those pop-ups to the ones in deeper water. The low pressure are smaller than the ones in the deeper areas. Make sure you put low pressure heads back where they belong.
 
proavia said:
Sounds like you're on your way to getting the infloor back into shape. Great to be the original owner.....

Chances are if 2 pop-ups were bad and the water valve housing needs replacing, you will benefit from replacing all the other pop-ups too.

Look at the pop-ups on your very top step - they are probably low pressure heads. Compare the size of the hole in those pop-ups to the ones in deeper water. The low pressure are smaller than the ones in the deeper areas. Make sure you put low pressure heads back where they belong.
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Will Do. Thanks Proavia!!!!!
 
Most of the A&A heads, (other than the new Venturi type) have three different size orifices. Each head can be set for low, medium, or high flow at the time they are installed. After 15 years of messing with my system, I have a couple of the install tools and about a half dozen spare heads laying around, so I’m pretty familiar with the them.

The plastic install tool is well neigh worthless as it’s pretty easy to break. The metal install tool is much better, but it cost a lot. Spare heads are also expensive (as I recall about $60), so you should appreciate any that A&A replaces.
 
chiefwej said:
Most of the A&A heads, (other than the new Venturi type) have three different size orifices. Each head can be set for low, medium, or high flow at the time they are installed. After 15 years of messing with my system, I have a couple of the install tools and about a half dozen spare heads laying around, so I’m pretty familiar with the them.

The plastic install tool is well neigh worthless as it’s pretty easy to break. The metal install tool is much better, but it cost a lot. Spare heads are also expensive (as I recall about $60), so you should appreciate any that A&A replaces.
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Yup! Thanks Man! I'm planning to have ALL replaced. I'll probably take the rest out and head to A&A for replacements I'll mark the STEPS' pop-ups just in case....Thanks Again! Maybe I can get an install tool from A&A at a discounted price.
 
Update. Thanks to all of you. All the pop-ups were replaced including the cleaning system gear and housing. Pool is now SPOTLESS! Very pleased. I have my youngest set the positions of each zone - free labor. Also, spruced up my board (PCB) cleaned and replaced a bad relay for free and ALL SYSTEMS GO!

Thank You All!
 
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Nice! Thanks for posting...many, many times people on these forums participate in discussions/troubleshooting and never hear an update or if/how it was resolved. Glad to see a happy ending, especially for us IFCS “weenies”, haha @Jimrahbe.

Sounds like your overall problem ended up being primarily the popups themselves...I’ve had times when I’ve had worn popups that were probably too old...and they had leakage out the “sides” even though they still seemed to operate correctly. I’ve never really thought about how that impacts the throw distance...but it obviously would...especially if there are zones that have multiple leaking heads.
 
That's great. Now, with your new found IFCS efficiency, you may be able to lower the RPM of you VS pump a bit. It's a trial and error type thing, and may take a couple times to find the sweet spot.

Got to love the warranty to the original owner - and the free labor.
 
proavia said:
That's great. Now, with your new found IFCS efficiency, you may be able to lower the RPM of you VS pump a bit. It's a trial and error type thing, and may take a couple times to find the sweet spot.

Got to love the warranty to the original owner - and the free labor.
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Very True!. With brand new pop ups, housing, and gear. I have started the trial and error already.!
 
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