Hey all,
Just wanted to post a follow up on this thread.
First of all, the suggestion to SLAM was spot on. Even with blue water and a seemingly perfectly running system, after a few days of shock, my filtration system is running as designed. I never would have received this advice from Leslie’s so I am very much in debt.
As for my other side projects, I replaced the spider gasket in my multi-port valve over the weekend, and holy-cow that was a task! The valve was new, and the gasket was glued in with the force of the lord Jesus Christ. After 90 minutes of scraping, peeling, pinching, and cussing, the old gasket was removed. The valve is back in service and the leak is gone, but I have a feeling I did not close the chapter on this yet. I installed glue sparingly based on an online video I watched, but I suspect the next few times I rotate the valve, I will probably dislodge the gasket and create a new leak.
Chlorinator appears to be draining fine without replacing the check in the bottom. I removed the tabs and checked the inlet valve for obstruction. I added water through the top and it seemed to drain fine back in to the return line, so I suspect there is no issue there. That still doesn’t explain why tabs were not dissolving back when temps were in the eighties, so let’s see what happens there.
As for DE filter, the o-ring on the piping leading to the manifold corroded. I broke down the filter, inspected all grids and manifold, and reassembled with the new gasket. Charged with new DE, and “voila” no DE returned to the pool.
Lastly, took the Dolphin Nautilus apart to investigate and one of the drive wheel’s bearing fell out in the process. I bought a new one (after much searching around town) and went to reassemble when I found out the drive wheel plastic piece that holds it in place broke in the removal process. I have that on order with another drive wheel for the other side to see if that fixes the issue. (By the way, the original issue was that the vacuum was barely moving when it was turned on.) I did notice the drive wheel that I did have did not spin as freely as the new one, so I’m optimistic about the repair once I receive the new parts. Stay tuned though… since I’m not sure I have this one figured out yet.
I will add one more thing to this. I added granular stabilizer to bring my CYA up at the manufacturer’s directions by cascading it in to the deep end of the pool. I wished I would have read online first about the sock method, and I’m glad my vacuum is broken at the moment. It has sat in the deep end of the pool for five days now and is only now dissolving. My CYA as measured today looks to be about 30, so that’s a good thing. I thought the effects of adding were instant, but that was before the water cleared and I could see it all resting in the bottoms of the pool.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought someone might stumble upon one of these issues through that nasty Google algorithm and learn from my mistakes. I also wanted to take time to express my appreciation for the folks on here that got my through this.
Long story short, algae was still present, even after “green to clean” and following Leslie’s recommendation. Buying the test kit not just gave me a confirmation that chemistry was right, but it taught me a lot about the balance between CYA and chlorine thanks to you guys.
Just wanted to post a follow up on this thread.
First of all, the suggestion to SLAM was spot on. Even with blue water and a seemingly perfectly running system, after a few days of shock, my filtration system is running as designed. I never would have received this advice from Leslie’s so I am very much in debt.
As for my other side projects, I replaced the spider gasket in my multi-port valve over the weekend, and holy-cow that was a task! The valve was new, and the gasket was glued in with the force of the lord Jesus Christ. After 90 minutes of scraping, peeling, pinching, and cussing, the old gasket was removed. The valve is back in service and the leak is gone, but I have a feeling I did not close the chapter on this yet. I installed glue sparingly based on an online video I watched, but I suspect the next few times I rotate the valve, I will probably dislodge the gasket and create a new leak.
Chlorinator appears to be draining fine without replacing the check in the bottom. I removed the tabs and checked the inlet valve for obstruction. I added water through the top and it seemed to drain fine back in to the return line, so I suspect there is no issue there. That still doesn’t explain why tabs were not dissolving back when temps were in the eighties, so let’s see what happens there.
As for DE filter, the o-ring on the piping leading to the manifold corroded. I broke down the filter, inspected all grids and manifold, and reassembled with the new gasket. Charged with new DE, and “voila” no DE returned to the pool.
Lastly, took the Dolphin Nautilus apart to investigate and one of the drive wheel’s bearing fell out in the process. I bought a new one (after much searching around town) and went to reassemble when I found out the drive wheel plastic piece that holds it in place broke in the removal process. I have that on order with another drive wheel for the other side to see if that fixes the issue. (By the way, the original issue was that the vacuum was barely moving when it was turned on.) I did notice the drive wheel that I did have did not spin as freely as the new one, so I’m optimistic about the repair once I receive the new parts. Stay tuned though… since I’m not sure I have this one figured out yet.
I will add one more thing to this. I added granular stabilizer to bring my CYA up at the manufacturer’s directions by cascading it in to the deep end of the pool. I wished I would have read online first about the sock method, and I’m glad my vacuum is broken at the moment. It has sat in the deep end of the pool for five days now and is only now dissolving. My CYA as measured today looks to be about 30, so that’s a good thing. I thought the effects of adding were instant, but that was before the water cleared and I could see it all resting in the bottoms of the pool.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought someone might stumble upon one of these issues through that nasty Google algorithm and learn from my mistakes. I also wanted to take time to express my appreciation for the folks on here that got my through this.
Long story short, algae was still present, even after “green to clean” and following Leslie’s recommendation. Buying the test kit not just gave me a confirmation that chemistry was right, but it taught me a lot about the balance between CYA and chlorine thanks to you guys.
