Took me quite awhile to lower my water too from about the same stage as you. We have an outside trash can and I measured 6.5” of water in it from the rain. I am hearing a thunderstorm approaching now so hopefully the bleach and acid I dumped in did the trick for now. Walmart was completely out of the 10% pool chlorine I was buying so I am having to use just plain old bleach. I dialed up the erosion feeder so hopefully that helps. I’ve supplemented with tablets in the skimmers from time to time too.
Blank slate/Pool build in Maryland
- Thread starter Captchaos
- Start date
I have a floater so I don't have to put them in the skimmer. If you turn the pump off with a tablet in the skimmer basket your pump gets exposed to LOTS of extra chlorine from it just sitting there.
Kim
Kim
I actually didn't think of that, good point. The builder had me keeping tablets in the skimmers during startup so I figured that was a decent way to quickly keep up chlorine. Maybe not!
I'm still trying to figure out what my schedules should be with the new pump. 600 RPM moves water and only uses 27 watts of electricity but there is no visible flow of water in the returns I have in the tanning ledge. It also obviously doesn't pull the skimmer doors down but I have been fighting with so much rain today I haven't really be able to figure out what speed can pull the doors down because the water is up to the top of the skimmers again despite spending a couple of hours pumping water out this morning. Another thing the rain brings is these stupid frogs at night again. I have to vacuum millions of eggs out of the pool the next day and it takes forever. There are so many frogs out there right now if I open the door it is practically deafening (and I am not even overstating this!). GO AWAY RAIN!
I'm still trying to figure out what my schedules should be with the new pump. 600 RPM moves water and only uses 27 watts of electricity but there is no visible flow of water in the returns I have in the tanning ledge. It also obviously doesn't pull the skimmer doors down but I have been fighting with so much rain today I haven't really be able to figure out what speed can pull the doors down because the water is up to the top of the skimmers again despite spending a couple of hours pumping water out this morning. Another thing the rain brings is these stupid frogs at night again. I have to vacuum millions of eggs out of the pool the next day and it takes forever. There are so many frogs out there right now if I open the door it is practically deafening (and I am not even overstating this!). GO AWAY RAIN!
I have a pond with wetlands behind us so I know the froggy songs you speak of! With an above ground pool I don't have the frog egg problem in the pool as you do thank goodness! Every once in a while we will get a visitor but not many.
Kim
Kim
The pool cleared up nicely Sunday night into Monday and it is very clear again. I am experimenting with a 12.5 hour schedule, which is probably still overkill but I still can't figure out at what RPM my skimmer doors drop because the pool is at flood stage again. Another 1" of rain today, .75" tomorrow so a few more days still. We have four jets in the tanning ledge and four in the pseudo-hot tub area so I like more waterflow during those times.
New variable speed pump:
Compared to my old single stage pump:
New variable speed pump:
| Schedule | RPM | Hours | kWh | Cost Daily | Cost Monthly |
| 12p-5p | 800 | 5 | 0.046 | 0.03059 | |
| 8a-9:30a | 2500 | 1.5 | 0.945 | 0.1885275 | |
| 7p-10p | 2500 | 3 | 0.945 | 0.377055 | |
| 12a-3a | 600 | 3 | 0.035 | 0.013965 | |
| 12.5 | 0.6101375 | $18.30 |
Compared to my old single stage pump:
| 8a-9a | 3150 | 1 | 1.92 | 0.25536 | |
| 12p-4p | 3150 | 4 | 1.92 | 1.02144 | |
| 7p-10p | 3150 | 3 | 1.92 | 0.76608 | |
| 8 | 2.04288 | $61.29 |
WOW! That cost difference is CRAZY! NICE! Make sure to keep good notes of what you do so you can make sure to redo it next summer. You will change it all of the cooler months as well.
Kim
Kim
Well a questionable seller with shady practices caused me to have to send back the variable speed pump. Replacing the pump twice; once in pouring down rain and a second time in intense heat while dripping sweat, and I'm out of patience for the time being. The single speed pump is back in for now at a 6 hour per day run time with my janky Zwave pool automation setup. It seems to be doing reasonably well, though I would much prefer to be able to run it 24x7 because the pool was a little cleaner. That is a complete waste of energy though, so I'll just live with it for now.
I've run into a couple of issues so far and called in the pool builder.
1. The pump is leaking a little bit and introducing air into the system. It only leaks drips when the pump is stopped so I think it's sucking air when on, even with plumbers tape. It was much worse without plumbers tape. My wife said the pool builder was there with a wrench. I assume he knew what he was doing because it says to only hand tighten. He also said he got all of the air out.
2. I still cannot keep any chlorine in the pool. CYA is at 30, pH is fairly stable, but I am back to like zero FC after 2-3 days. I am using the erosion feeder as a supplement and that seems to be doing absolutely nothing. The same tabs have been in there for a month so I'm kind of at a loss for this one. The builder adjusted the knob but I already had it on 3/4, where the builder told me to keep it on 1/2 initially. These things either suck or I am doing something wrong. I'm leaning towards the former but how can it introduce ZERO chlorine? I don't get it.
3. The air blower/bubbles in the poor man's hot tub overflow a bunch of water out of the pool. The patio is on a grade so it flows right out, into the grass. This annoys me because I've had to add water to the pool a couple of times and I paid seven hundred bucks for this thing thinking it would be more like jets that shoot out further instead of just bubbles. Pool builder's response was just, "Yes, they overflow out of the pool." Well, that's pretty annoying. Very neat effect though!
4. The deep end skimmer door gets stuck closed every third or fourth time and leads to air in the system because it sucks all of the water out of the basket. Pool builder didn't say anything about this to my wife so maybe he forgot when he was here. I'll remind him for tomorrow.
5. One of the waterfall rocks came loose, builder will come back tomorrow to mortar it back in, which is great because pool party on Saturday. I've had to yell at kids twice to not climb on the waterfall so this will be a good thing not to worry about on Saturday.
The pool has been just great so far. I was originally going to keep track of how many times we used it (we have a boat too and I like to compare usage because I am crazy) but I lost track a long time ago. There are days where I get in 4-5 times and spend half of the day in it.
I've run into a couple of issues so far and called in the pool builder.
1. The pump is leaking a little bit and introducing air into the system. It only leaks drips when the pump is stopped so I think it's sucking air when on, even with plumbers tape. It was much worse without plumbers tape. My wife said the pool builder was there with a wrench. I assume he knew what he was doing because it says to only hand tighten. He also said he got all of the air out.
2. I still cannot keep any chlorine in the pool. CYA is at 30, pH is fairly stable, but I am back to like zero FC after 2-3 days. I am using the erosion feeder as a supplement and that seems to be doing absolutely nothing. The same tabs have been in there for a month so I'm kind of at a loss for this one. The builder adjusted the knob but I already had it on 3/4, where the builder told me to keep it on 1/2 initially. These things either suck or I am doing something wrong. I'm leaning towards the former but how can it introduce ZERO chlorine? I don't get it.
3. The air blower/bubbles in the poor man's hot tub overflow a bunch of water out of the pool. The patio is on a grade so it flows right out, into the grass. This annoys me because I've had to add water to the pool a couple of times and I paid seven hundred bucks for this thing thinking it would be more like jets that shoot out further instead of just bubbles. Pool builder's response was just, "Yes, they overflow out of the pool." Well, that's pretty annoying. Very neat effect though!
4. The deep end skimmer door gets stuck closed every third or fourth time and leads to air in the system because it sucks all of the water out of the basket. Pool builder didn't say anything about this to my wife so maybe he forgot when he was here. I'll remind him for tomorrow.
5. One of the waterfall rocks came loose, builder will come back tomorrow to mortar it back in, which is great because pool party on Saturday. I've had to yell at kids twice to not climb on the waterfall so this will be a good thing not to worry about on Saturday.
The pool has been just great so far. I was originally going to keep track of how many times we used it (we have a boat too and I like to compare usage because I am crazy) but I lost track a long time ago. There are days where I get in 4-5 times and spend half of the day in it.
Sounds like, overall, the pool is a BIG win! SWEET!
Weir door-take a good look at it.....turn off the pump then play with the door. Push it and see if you can make it stick. see if there is a place that is a tiny bit thicker or such that you can smooth to keep it from happening.
Losing FC-Are you depending the the pucks for your FC? I would switch to liquid chlorine now. It is much better. I don't have a lot of luck with the pucks over time. They are okay for trips but everyday use has not worked for me.
What a pain to have the blower push the water out of the pool
Let us know what the PB says tomorrow!
Kim
Weir door-take a good look at it.....turn off the pump then play with the door. Push it and see if you can make it stick. see if there is a place that is a tiny bit thicker or such that you can smooth to keep it from happening.
Losing FC-Are you depending the the pucks for your FC? I would switch to liquid chlorine now. It is much better. I don't have a lot of luck with the pucks over time. They are okay for trips but everyday use has not worked for me.
What a pain to have the blower push the water out of the pool
Let us know what the PB says tomorrow!
Kim
I would just dose with liquid too. When can u bring ur cya up cause at 30 I was burning off 3 ppm when it was hot out. Once I got up to 50 was better. I always kept my fc on the high side of target so when I lost during the day I was still st my target. It’s what I do now with my salt.
Well it does seem like he's responding to your issues which is good. Like real good. Too bad that he couldn't have explained those returns in your poor man's hot tub...that is information that would have been useful when you were making decisions about things! Geez, it isn't brain surgery right?
Sorry to hear that your VS pump didn't work out. Did the PB not offer one at the time you made your choices and signed your contract?
Sorry to hear that your VS pump didn't work out. Did the PB not offer one at the time you made your choices and signed your contract?
Sounds like, overall, the pool is a BIG win! SWEET!
Weir door-take a good look at it.....turn off the pump then play with the door. Push it and see if you can make it stick. see if there is a place that is a tiny bit thicker or such that you can smooth to keep it from happening.
Losing FC-Are you depending the the pucks for your FC? I would switch to liquid chlorine now. It is much better. I don't have a lot of luck with the pucks over time. They are okay for trips but everyday use has not worked for me.
What a pain to have the blower push the water out of the pool
Let us know what the PB says tomorrow!
Kim
Yes I have manipulated the door manually and it does not get stuck very easily. In fact I'm not even really sure how it is getting stuck. It doesn't do it every time but I'd really have to shove it closed by hand to get it to stick. I was going to take a file or sandpaper to it, but I'd let the builder do it. It's why I paid him all that money, right?
I am not depending on pucks for FC, just as a supplement when I can't dose with liquid chlorine. I've been using liquid chlorine since the pool has been opened and it's a good thing it's a TFP, because if I wasn't following these methods it would not be sparkling clear like it is.
The builder broke the union yesterday, so much for "hand tightening" eh? The best part? He broke the wrong union! That one wasn't even leaking! In their defense, I only texted him and wasn't on site to show anyone, and it's possible that was leaking too and I just didn't notice it. They came back today to fix the waterfall and mortared some of the other loose ones in too and appears to have fixed the union because I can see my pump is drawing 1918 watt$ of electricity.
Thanks Jim, I will bring up the CYA. I'll bump it up to 40-50 to see how it goes. This experience has led me to want to add a SWG.
The builder did offer a VS pump but I was not going to pay $1200 to upgrade. That seemed high to me. I can buy the pump from a reputable online site for $960 shipped, and then still have a $450 2HP single speed pump as a spare.
I did add some CYA but ran out. Added about an entire “sock’s” worth and still only got up to about 32-33. It rained five inches in two hours on Saturday night so I’m sure that diluted it a bit because the pool was also low.
CYA at 32-33 and I am still losing like 3 FC per day. I absolutely cannot keep up with this. I don’t know if it’s all the frogs at night, the eggs they insist on laying, the sun, my sister in law’s daycare kids in the pool today, the chlorine bottles at the hardware store being old, a combination of all?? The pool is crystal clear but I keep ending up with literally zero FC in 48 hours. 1 and 1/3rd bottles of 10% bleach gone in 48 hours. I just dumped in 1 and 2/3rds and will check again tomorrow to see how much I lose. At this rate I will have no choice but to go to a SWG like I had in my old above ground Intex.
I hope the hardware store carries liquid chlorine unlike Walmart for the foreseeable future because I will be in big trouble without it. My erosion feeder is basically worthless.
CYA at 32-33 and I am still losing like 3 FC per day. I absolutely cannot keep up with this. I don’t know if it’s all the frogs at night, the eggs they insist on laying, the sun, my sister in law’s daycare kids in the pool today, the chlorine bottles at the hardware store being old, a combination of all?? The pool is crystal clear but I keep ending up with literally zero FC in 48 hours. 1 and 1/3rd bottles of 10% bleach gone in 48 hours. I just dumped in 1 and 2/3rds and will check again tomorrow to see how much I lose. At this rate I will have no choice but to go to a SWG like I had in my old above ground Intex.
I hope the hardware store carries liquid chlorine unlike Walmart for the foreseeable future because I will be in big trouble without it. My erosion feeder is basically worthless.
Bet that ^^^^ has a LOT to do with it. The other stuff is not helping either. Talk to your local hardware store to see if they would be willing to keep the chlorine coming for you. A lot of times they will work with someone if they know they have a buyer!
Kim
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,111
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
Capt, I feel like I'm sort of in the same boat. Not so much with FC but just getting everything right in general. I'm having trouble getting CYA up and I've done 5 sockloads! Luckily since I also need to increase CH, I've been chlorinating with cal-hypo that was given to me by the PB. Which is good because I want to use it up and get rid of it. CANNOT WAIT until I can turn on that SWG!!! One less thing to have to worry about!
My 28 day Wet Edge startup says to keep FC between 1 and 3. I've been trying for the high end of that but it's definitely been hard keeping it steady.
Pretty sure I see a SWG in your (near) future
My 28 day Wet Edge startup says to keep FC between 1 and 3. I've been trying for the high end of that but it's definitely been hard keeping it steady.
Pretty sure I see a SWG in your (near) future
Bet that ^^^^ has a LOT to do with it. The other stuff is not helping either. Talk to your local hardware store to see if they would be willing to keep the chlorine coming for you. A lot of times they will work with someone if they know they have a buyer!
Kim
Another thing I thought of this morning; I have not cleaned out the filter yet. The builder is supposed to do a "Pool School 2" which was supposed to be 30 days after the water fill but we haven't done it yet. I need to remind him about this or just do it myself. I know there are probably baby frogs and eggs in there along with whatever else it's sucked up.
Thanks, we're like 2 hours apart. I do have a whole bucket of pucks from the builder that I haven't used. I've had the same 4-5 pucks in the erosion feeder for over a month because the stupid thing doesn't seem to do anything.
Capt, I feel like I'm sort of in the same boat. Not so much with FC but just getting everything right in general. I'm having trouble getting CYA up and I've done 5 sockloads! Luckily since I also need to increase CH, I've been chlorinating with cal-hypo that was given to me by the PB. Which is good because I want to use it up and get rid of it. CANNOT WAIT until I can turn on that SWG!!! One less thing to have to worry about!
My 28 day Wet Edge startup says to keep FC between 1 and 3. I've been trying for the high end of that but it's definitely been hard keeping it steady.
Pretty sure I see a SWG in your (near) future
I was going crazy trying to keep the levels up at the beginning between pH, CYA, CH, FC, etc. My pH is fairly stable now and I am adding a lot less acid. I can keep it in range pretty easily now. With CYA it seemed like it was very hard to get up and then once it did it went up easier. I need to buy another bottle of that though.
I was told to keep FC 1-3 as well for the first thirty days. The builder also said not to turn on the floor returns during that time period either so I didn't end up with rings around the return fittings in the bottom of the pool while the plaster cured. I still haven't turned them on because I don't have a heater and it's been fine without. I am thinking about not turning them on until next year just for good measure.
You're right though, I'll probably end up spending my variable speed pump money on a SWG. I've been thinking I can cut out the erosion feeder and stuck it right there.
Sadly the pool is starting to cool down a bit due to the cooler nights. Our above ground pool always did that around this time of year too. It's down to like 85. Brrrr!
Cripes, really? Nobody told me this and I've noticed that the plaster is darker around these than in other areas. Aaarrghhh!! Oh well, I've resigned myself to the splotches and white spots, why not a few dark spots too?
Oddly, I've not had a problem with PH AT ALL. I think I've added about 8 oz of acid and half of that was just yesterday! I'm sure my lucky streak will come to an end sooner or later. My biggest problem right now is CH. I put in 5.5 lbs of calcium hardness increaser and it only went up like 25 points. I know I need to add 4 lbs more according to pool math but I was afraid that pool volume wasn't right and didn't want to overdo it. Hopefully I've not ruined anything during this learning curve!
I had not heard of the "not use floor returns" either but it sure does make sense...........will have to try to remember that for the future builds.
Kim
Kim
Here is a not-so-great picture of it:
It is the Hayward CL200. Automatic Chemical Feeders | White Goods | In Ground Pool White Goods - Hayward Pool Products