Lacking Equipment Knowledge

[Vs6817]

So I’m trying to gain a better understanding of my equipment. For the most part I know what most of the elements are but not super familiar with how some of them work together or work in general. I have this valve here that I know when I turn to certain directions will turn my waterfall on and off but does messing with this valve doing anything else that I’m not aware of? I feel if I turn it to stop the waterfall that the jets alone aren’t enough to circulate the water.



I have another lever in the picture below that I think controls the pressure? I’m not sure if that’s accurate. Is there a certain pressure I should be trying to maintain?


Is there anything else I should know about my setup that I might not know already? Or anything I should look into?

 

[mknauss]

The top picture shows the OFF tab on that valve handle. Whichever direction that OFF tab points is what is closed.

Your returns should be plenty to circulate the pool. When you turn off the waterfall, does your filter pressure go up?

The other picture is such that I cannot see what is what. If you upload the picture to the Media Gallery it will allow me to zoom in.

 

[Vs6817]

The top picture shows the OFF tab on that valve handle. Whichever direction that OFF tab points is what is closed.

Your returns should be plenty to circulate the pool. When you turn off the waterfall, does your filter pressure go up?

The other picture is such that I cannot see what is what. If you upload the picture to the Media Gallery it will allow me to zoom in.

I went ahead and uploaded that photo along with a few others. I’m not sure if the filter pressure goes up I’ll have to test it out tomorrow.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/media/b83a14b2-ac00-4e07-9b31-6418930ae4f4-jpeg.3205/full

https://www.troublefreepool.com/media/44a9d8ad-7d59-46b8-b749-68238ed9635d-jpeg.3203/full

https://www.troublefreepool.com/media/jandy-energy-filter.3204/full

 

[Vs6817]

Hey guys, its official. As of today I no longer have a pool guy come and maintain my pool weekly but rather I am going to be using the TFP method to try and keep my pool as clean as possible for the summer and beyond. But as I undertake this task I was hoping to gain a better understanding of my equipment I have. I posted yesterday but I believe my pictures were not the greatest quality so I took some new ones to better illustrate my question.

Here is my setup that I have. But I am trying to figure out what the 2 valves do.


I have this valve here, which I know will turn my waterfall on and off but aside from that does it control anything else? Does this determine the force of my jets as well?


I also have this valve here which my pool guy once instructed me to “turn slightly up” when I told him my automatic suction pool cleaner kept staying in the same spot and was constantly towards the top of the pool instead of cleaning the pool floor. Does turning this correlate to my pool cleaner? Is there a specific direction I need to turn it in order to get my cleaner to stay at the bottom of the pool?

 

[Jimrahbe]

6817,

It appears to me that the input to your pump is connected directly to your skimmer. Water is sucked from the skimmer into your pump. Then pushed out of your pump to the valve directly above your pump. That valve sends the water to either your cleaner through the "little" filter and/or to your main pool filter.. Turning that valve will effect how much water goes to your cleaner or your filter.

The water that comes out of your filter, goes to a valve that sends the water back to your pool and/or your waterfall. You currently have one of the return paths shut off.. I assume you have the waterfall shut off..

If you look at your valve that controls the waterfall you can see how the valve works.. Look at the "Off" tab.. If the off tab is pointed at a pipe that pipe will have no water flow.. As you move it away from the pipe, you will slowly let some water into the pipe. If you turned that valve 90 degrees, both the pool returns and the waterfall would get the same amount of water. If you turned the valve 180 degrees, the waterfall would get all the water and the pool returns would go zero.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Vs6817]

6817,

It appears to me that the input to your pump is connected directly to your skimmer. Water is sucked from the skimmer into your pump. Then pushed out of your pump to the valve directly above your pump. That valve sends the water to either your cleaner through the "little" filter and/or to your main pool filter.. Turning that valve will effect how much water goes to your cleaner or your filter.

The water that comes out of your filter, goes to a valve that sends the water back to your pool and/or your waterfall. You currently have one of the return paths shut off.. I assume you have the waterfall shut off..

If you look at your valve that controls the waterfall you can see how the valve works.. Look at the "Off" tab.. If the off tab is pointed at a pipe that pipe will have no water flow.. As you move it away from the pipe, you will slowly let some water into the pipe. If you turned that valve 90 degrees, both the pool returns and the waterfall would get the same amount of water. If you turned the valve 180 degrees, the waterfall would get all the water and the pool returns would go zero.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thank you so much for the great information this is very useful! Do all pools have that little filter in addition to the main filter? In my case that small filter says “Jandy Energy Filter.” What’s the purpose of having this small supplemental filter? Also, you mentioned turning that first valve will effect how much water goes to my cleaner or my filter, is there a desired position I’m aiming for with this?

 

[Jimrahbe]

6817,

All pools are somewhat different, so you will just have to experiment with valve positions to see what works best for you.

Personally, I like being in this Century, so just like I don't use an old black rotary dial phone, I also don't use a water powered pool cleaner...

I use today's low voltage robot cleaner..

See this ...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Vs6817]

6817,

All pools are somewhat different, so you will just have to experiment with valve positions to see what works best for you.

Personally, I like being in this Century, so just like I don't use an old black rotary dial phone, I also don't use a water powered pool cleaner...

I use today's low voltage robot cleaner..

See this ...

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim! If I didn’t just buy the cleaner I have now I would get that Dolphin unit, it looks awesome! I bought the one I currently have on my former pool guys recomendation. I should have done more research myself but oh well. I didn’t know there were units that were self powered like this.

How would you prioritize equipment upgrades? Assuming all things equal what would you say should be upgraded first, I feel like the equipment I have is fairly old, I dont know what the average life span for this stuff is but I’d guess they are towards the end of their lives.