Please bear with me, ladies and gents. This is a lot. Also, THANK YOU- the TFP Forum has served as an invaluable resource for me over the past month of this headache... err... journey.
Approx. Summer 2004- The 25,000 gallon inground vinyl side pool I grew up with is being manage by my high school boyfriend. He says there is "something wrong" with the "system". At that time, my mom buys a Hayward 1.5 HP superpump and a Hayward DE filter- these items were stored in a pool shed, out of the elements but subject to weather fluctuations. The problem (I'm sorry I can't be more specific) does not resolve. The pool is left to decay, becoming a pit of muck in the backyard.
Summer 2021- my mom- bless her- decides to reopen the pool. We remove everything- including 70-some huge toads, two snapping turtles, and a painted turtle who now lives with us- her name is Gertrude. She contracts a pool company to get the pool up and running. They install a new liner, and new return lines. They state that they pressure tested the new return lines and the existing skimmer line that goes from the skimmer to the pump before leaving. While they knew the existing equipment is/was Hayward, they did not mention to us until this point that they are NOT authorized Hayward dealers, so they won't really do anything with our Hayward equipment. They recharge the filter with DE powder dumped into the skimmer. THE POOL IS GIVEN A FRESH FILL.
The day after they leave, our SWG arrives, and my uncle, a professional journeyman plumber, installs the SWG after the filter. All LEDs indicate the SWG is happy.
IMMEDIATLEY, right from the word "go", when the power switch is flipped, the filter operated on the higher end of acceptable pressure. Within an hour, the pressure would go up, and the water coming out of the return jets would drop off until there was no flow. I called Hayward, and it was suggested to me that I regenerate/bump the filter. That works, for about an hour. Then problem repeats. I called Hayward back, and they ask if the system was backwashed, and I don't know- so I tear the whole thing apart, see chunks of old, calcified DE in with the new, clean the whole thing until it is like new, reassemble, checking gaskets. I mix the appropriate weight of DE into a slurry, and recharge filter. There isn't a shut off on my incoming line, so I pay a plumber to come out to install one so I can properly prime pump (and to document all of this...). The system flips on, the pressure on the pump looks great(!), the return jets are just blasting away!... and then the same thing occurs. ARRRRRGH!
The pool company came out the next day, re-pressure tested the skimmer line to the pump, said it looked good, and blew out the line (from the pump to the skimmer)- no debris present.
I would love to get to SLAMming the pool, because that fresh fill? Now a green algae pond. But I don't see the sense in SLAMming until the pump is working properly.
Please- PLEASE- bless me with your thoughts and knowledge! I am at my wit's end- and $14,000 poorer- with a 10-year-old anxious to swim!
Approx. Summer 2004- The 25,000 gallon inground vinyl side pool I grew up with is being manage by my high school boyfriend. He says there is "something wrong" with the "system". At that time, my mom buys a Hayward 1.5 HP superpump and a Hayward DE filter- these items were stored in a pool shed, out of the elements but subject to weather fluctuations. The problem (I'm sorry I can't be more specific) does not resolve. The pool is left to decay, becoming a pit of muck in the backyard.
Summer 2021- my mom- bless her- decides to reopen the pool. We remove everything- including 70-some huge toads, two snapping turtles, and a painted turtle who now lives with us- her name is Gertrude. She contracts a pool company to get the pool up and running. They install a new liner, and new return lines. They state that they pressure tested the new return lines and the existing skimmer line that goes from the skimmer to the pump before leaving. While they knew the existing equipment is/was Hayward, they did not mention to us until this point that they are NOT authorized Hayward dealers, so they won't really do anything with our Hayward equipment. They recharge the filter with DE powder dumped into the skimmer. THE POOL IS GIVEN A FRESH FILL.
The day after they leave, our SWG arrives, and my uncle, a professional journeyman plumber, installs the SWG after the filter. All LEDs indicate the SWG is happy.
IMMEDIATLEY, right from the word "go", when the power switch is flipped, the filter operated on the higher end of acceptable pressure. Within an hour, the pressure would go up, and the water coming out of the return jets would drop off until there was no flow. I called Hayward, and it was suggested to me that I regenerate/bump the filter. That works, for about an hour. Then problem repeats. I called Hayward back, and they ask if the system was backwashed, and I don't know- so I tear the whole thing apart, see chunks of old, calcified DE in with the new, clean the whole thing until it is like new, reassemble, checking gaskets. I mix the appropriate weight of DE into a slurry, and recharge filter. There isn't a shut off on my incoming line, so I pay a plumber to come out to install one so I can properly prime pump (and to document all of this...). The system flips on, the pressure on the pump looks great(!), the return jets are just blasting away!... and then the same thing occurs. ARRRRRGH!
The pool company came out the next day, re-pressure tested the skimmer line to the pump, said it looked good, and blew out the line (from the pump to the skimmer)- no debris present.
I would love to get to SLAMming the pool, because that fresh fill? Now a green algae pond. But I don't see the sense in SLAMming until the pump is working properly.
Please- PLEASE- bless me with your thoughts and knowledge! I am at my wit's end- and $14,000 poorer- with a 10-year-old anxious to swim!