No I didn’t try that. I’m such a novice at this. It was all Greek to me but I’m really good at research! That’s how I found TFP
Contractor ruined our pool:(
- Thread starter Santamina
- Start date
I’m so excited about getting the kit!! I watched the SLAM video and I’m ready to do it if that what is needed. Pump seems to be fine. I put it back to normal mode and it started working. I ran upstairs after that and started to look up water tankers in the area?.
Thanks for the info on algae. Im absorbing everything you guys are telling me!! ?
As far as the contractor goes...????
I’m scared to even tough the actual filter. That’s the thing the contractor Jerry rigged. I feel like if I even blow on in it’s going to explode. Nightmare.
Attachments
Shirker
0
- Jul 2, 2014
- 749
- Pool Size
- 19000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
OMG That is terrible! You are going to have to get a new strap.. and open that puppy up its probably all clogged wtih the crud you have been vacumming and that was suspended in the water. And hose it off. all the grout mix that was suspended in your water is in there. I bet you can vaccumm the stuff up just watch the pressure and clean out your filter often, if you can't vaccuum to waste.
Honestly I would be considering filling suit against the guy. Why is he messing around with your filter like that. He is supposed be working on the tile! Geeze!
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I know!!! Ugh!!
Our new clamp is on the way. It was hard to find as no one in the area carries it. He had been taking the top off and hosing the cartridges off WITHOUT taking them out. I didn’t know it then but no wonder my water was green for so long. The pool store guys won’t even touch it now because even they think it’s dangerous. I feel like crying ?
I “think “ it might be a DE filter. Yes backwashing was done. No luck. In my inexperienced opinion, I think 3 weeks is a long time to be dealing with these water issues. But I don’t really know...
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
Once the hardware guys chime in here there will be no crying... (stretching the line from a "League of Their Own" there)! You should probably take the cartridges out and clean them out real well. assuming you can get the darn thing open. If this was my pool I don't think I would recharge with new DE or use half the amount until the muck was cleaned up.
I agree with the pool tech on this one. Don't mess with the filter! I had no idea this was his "fix". Is the guy who did all the damage the owner of the company? I wonder if he damaged anything inside your filter as well. Could you get a picture of the label on the filter and a picture of the full equipment pad? Odds are this guy didn't recharge the filter after he "cleaned" it.
His guys opened and closed it fine. Once he personally messed with the filter it wouldn’t shut properly. It even exploded on him! He brought his One guy back at midnight to Jerry rig it shut.
Here are the pics I have of the filter label.
Attachments
I’ll have to look up what this means ?. Until this happened I never touched my pool equipment. Getting a crash course for sure!!
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
I just have to ask... Why was the guy that you hired to do your tiles messing around with your filter? It seems like the finger would be pointed at him as the one that broke it. Was he trying to run the filter to clean the mess he left in the pool and only made the filter worse. If it blew up on him then the pressure must have been pretty high or the clamp was not correctly seated. I think your DE unit really needs to be inspected by a pro I would imagine.
Anyway .. If you never took notice of your equipment you may not know how it works. Here is a description of the various Filtration types from the Pool School section on the site. Simply the DE tank has grids that are coverd with a fabric or mesh that are charged with Diatamaciuos Earth (the white stuff) that filter particulates. When you back wash you need to recharge the grids with new DE because the DE gets washed out. Every now and then you need to take the grids out and wash them. I'm not sure your contractor even knew how a DE filter works based on what you are describing and he probably just made things worse, especially considering he had to "jerry rig" it to keep it closed.
The other thing I thought of is if he broke the grids the white stuff in the pool could be DE that has flushed through the filter. If the mesh on the grids is torn then they aren't holding the DE. It could also explain why you are not getting any filtration. I once had a pool with a DE filter and one of the grids broke and the fabric tore.. I had a stream of DE getting pumped into the pool until I fixed it. That's why you need to get inside and see what the state of the DE grids are.
Hang in there kiddo
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You cannot run a DE filter without the correct amount of DE or you run the risk of ruining the cartridge or grids. The DE traps the debris, without DE the debris becomes embedded in the cartridge or grids. In this case the filter uses grids.
Santamina, When your part comes will the pool tech be the one putting it on? If so try to be there so you can watch and see how the inside of the filter looks, and how to open up the filter.
When they redid my deck they tried to keep junk out of the pool but dust and concrete chips went everywhere..
I finally drained it I found a lot of junk in the bottom skimmer hole that had settled. If you do drain it check with your water company, in GA they knock the sewer and overage charge off if you send in a receipt.Think last time It cost me around $225.
But check with the folks here, I know some have float risk,we are up on a hill and I drain my over a few days just to be safe
Eek, what a horror story! I'm kinda new here, too. These folks helped me rescue my pool that looked a lot worse than yours. Picture pea green soup, and you'll be close. Fortunately, I didn't have a clueless contractor to pick up after -- just a pool service that had been abusing our pool for the past several years. In order to get my pool back on track, I started by draining about half the water because my pools CYA was WAY too high, and the only way to get that number down is either to drain the pool or to practice some sort of water exchange. I elected to bite the bullet and I drained about half the contents of the pool. From that point forward, I SLAMmed the pool, and tested using the TF-100 kit. In less than a week, the results were dramatic. In about 10 days, I was able to finish SLAMming and had a crystal clear pool -- clearer than it had looked in a long time.
So what I'm getting at is just pay attention to what the old salts here tell you and you'll be able to get your pool back in shape. Also, if you do the maintenance yourself, instead of hiring a pool service, you'll save a ton of money and your pool will be healthier for it. Cuz, in my opinion, your average pool service shouldn't be allowed within a hundred yards of a pool. They're clueless about the problems they're creating that can't easily be solved. And in the process, things get steadily worse. I fired my pool service two months ago, and it's one of the smarter things I've done in recent months. And don't listen to the advice given out by the pool supply stores either. They're there to sell you chemicals, most of which you don't need. Really, all you the chems you need are chlorinating liquid (aka bleach, for algae control) and muriatic acid (to regulate pH). Well, if your CYAs get low, you can get some stabilizer, but you'll use it sparingly.
One comment I can make about draining a gunite pool. A few years ago, shortly after we bought this house, our "pool guy" let the algae get out of hand and couldn't correct the problem. So we elected to drain the pool and start over. What did I know? I didn't know about TFP back then. So we drained our 20k gallon pool dry, and had the pool guys even scrub down the sides and floor while it was empty. Then we refilled it. We had no problems with cracks at all. This was done during the summer too. It gets plenty hot down here in Houston, but we managed to dodge the bullet that sez you shouldn't drain a pool in hot weather. We were clueless then, but we got away with it.
So what I'm getting at is just pay attention to what the old salts here tell you and you'll be able to get your pool back in shape. Also, if you do the maintenance yourself, instead of hiring a pool service, you'll save a ton of money and your pool will be healthier for it. Cuz, in my opinion, your average pool service shouldn't be allowed within a hundred yards of a pool. They're clueless about the problems they're creating that can't easily be solved. And in the process, things get steadily worse. I fired my pool service two months ago, and it's one of the smarter things I've done in recent months. And don't listen to the advice given out by the pool supply stores either. They're there to sell you chemicals, most of which you don't need. Really, all you the chems you need are chlorinating liquid (aka bleach, for algae control) and muriatic acid (to regulate pH). Well, if your CYAs get low, you can get some stabilizer, but you'll use it sparingly.
One comment I can make about draining a gunite pool. A few years ago, shortly after we bought this house, our "pool guy" let the algae get out of hand and couldn't correct the problem. So we elected to drain the pool and start over. What did I know? I didn't know about TFP back then. So we drained our 20k gallon pool dry, and had the pool guys even scrub down the sides and floor while it was empty. Then we refilled it. We had no problems with cracks at all. This was done during the summer too. It gets plenty hot down here in Houston, but we managed to dodge the bullet that sez you shouldn't drain a pool in hot weather. We were clueless then, but we got away with it.
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,146
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
DE filters require regular backwashing and addition of new DE. When you backwash, you need to add new DE. If you do replace the filter, I highly suggest you replace it with a cartridge style filter. They are way less maintenance. I only need to clean my cartridges 1-2 times per season.
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
you are correct.. You don't run your filter like that in normal circumstances.. I had too many thoughts going at once there...
A story if I may (Awe, dad not another story) My current pool originally had a DE filter when we bought the house. The owners showed me how to backflush it and add more DE and that was about the extent of her pool maintenance, lesson, which wasn't much. Luckily my family had a pool and I knew a bit more. So one of my first tasks after moving in the house was to see what was going on inside the DE filter. It was completely compacted with DE. The previous owner never rinsed the grids off, she just back flushed and added DE.. so over the years it was developed "atherosclerosis of the filter" compacted full of DE with little channels the water would flow through, like an ant farm. So I started flushing all the old DE out with a hose but forgot to flip the valves to waste and flushed a bunch of DE into the pool. Well. after I got the cartridge reassembled I figured the easiest way clean up the DE in the pool was to let it settle out and then vac up back onto the fitlers. And then clean the filters again. .... SO if the white stuff on the bottom of your pool is just DE that has been blown out the returns you can just vac it up, rinse of the grids and repeat. So my suggestion to not put in DE was because you may be just vacing up DE anyway.
ALSO the comment about the contractor hosing out the filter gave me the shivers and a flash back. Where the valves set to backwash or normal operation when he was doing that? he may have been hosing the DE into the pool when he was doing that. Just some thoughts.
Meanwhile flashback to my pool... turns out the added weight and pressure of all that compacted DE on my grids started the process of the grids structurally falling apart. The pool guys here are probably thinking what about the pressure, didn't I notice the pressure, well the gauge was compacted with DE too and read low.. I had to replace the gauge. I nursed 3 or 4 more seasons out of the DE and replaced it with a cartridge system.
SO we or the Pool Tech guy needs to see what's going on with your DE grids. If the contractor was the gorilla you are describing I don't know what to expect.
First, I need to say a big thank you to everyone for being soooo helpful!!!! ?.
Today was like Christmas morning when I saw my kit arrived!
Let’s get right to the results:
-CYA 60 or 65 (should I not see the black dot
️ at all??)
-FC 12
-CC 1
-calcium hardness 325
- alkalinity 150
Now going to go look up what this all means!! Thank you in advance everyone!! ??
Today was like Christmas morning when I saw my kit arrived!
Let’s get right to the results:
-CYA 60 or 65 (should I not see the black dot
️ at all??)-FC 12
-CC 1
-calcium hardness 325
- alkalinity 150
Now going to go look up what this all means!! Thank you in advance everyone!! ??
Thank you so much for sharing! This is such an awesome group. I can’t stop talking about TFP!
We may drain the pool halfway. I’m really scared of it floating/cracking etc. that would just be the icing on the cake! Glad nothing went wrong with yours!