New house, new pool, new tools.

[Benny07]

Good afternoon all

I recently moved home and the new home has a much larger pool that what I'm used to. Going from a small intex 6000 gallon pool to this is a big change.

Now I'm not sure exactly what equipment I have and if everything is running OK. Currently it's all plumbed in and the pump is on however it's making a noise I'm not sure it should do.

Here are a few images of the equipment and as you can see in the pump the clear part the water is kind of splashing up.

Also it's very green at the moment. As they left it as they moved out.

Any helping point out what I have and why the pump seemingly has too much air in it would be a great help.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hey there! Welcome to TFP!
-My first question is- is pool water half way up the weir door (skimmer)? If it isn't the pump may be suckin air. No bueno.
-Next I would suggest turning everything off and open up the lid on the pump. (empty any debris). Then clean the lid and gasket, use silicone lube on the gasket and close it up. Does that help?
-If air is getting in to the pump, it will show in the basket. Check those flexi tubes for any damage.

As to the green water-
Green water means algae, which is killed by what we call the SLAM process: SLAM Process
Your pool seems to be set up to use pucks. They can be the pits as they contain both chlorine & stabilizer CYA. If the CYA builds up, you need yet *more* chlorine to be effective at sanitatation. Yet use the pucks and its a vicious circle.
We recommend liquid chlorine (aka Liquid Shock, or just liquid chlorine from Walmart, Lowes, HD, pool store...aim for the best price or a Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWG).
Get yourself a GOOD test kit and learn to use it (easy peasy if you go one test at a time).
Here are our basics-
Pool Care Basics

Holler back if the ideas at the top don't fix the problem, ok?

Maddie

 

[wireform]

+1 @YippeeSkippy, check the water level at the skimmer, make sure basket is full and yet some when pump runs. The picture of the gauge looks like the pump is off but the gauge is not on zero rendering it broken. You need to be able to get a good pressure reading to know if the filter is clogged especially with green water which means algae laden water.

 

[Benny07]

Hey there! Welcome to TFP!
-My first question is- is pool water half way up the weir door (skimmer)? If it isn't the pump may be suckin air. No bueno.
-Next I would suggest turning everything off and open up the lid on the pump. (empty any debris). Then clean the lid and gasket, use silicone lube on the gasket and close it up. Does that help?
-If air is getting in to the pump, it will show in the basket. Check those flexi tubes for any damage.

As to the green water-
Green water means algae, which is killed by what we call the SLAM process: SLAM Process
Your pool seems to be set up to use pucks. They can be the pits as they contain both chlorine & stabilizer CYA. If the CYA builds up, you need yet *more* chlorine to be effective at sanitatation. Yet use the pucks and its a vicious circle.
We recommend liquid chlorine (aka Liquid Shock, or just liquid chlorine from Walmart, Lowes, HD, pool store...aim for the best price or a Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWG).
Get yourself a GOOD test kit and learn to use it (easy peasy if you go one test at a time).
Here are our basics-
Pool Care Basics

Holler back if the ideas at the top don't fix the problem, ok?

Maddie

First of all thank you for the reply!

I'll double check the skimmer tonight but I'm pretty sure it is half way up there. Is there usually a mark on the skimmer with how high the water should be just so I can make sure the water is at the correct height?

I'm going to try and clean the skimmer tonight and check if there's any leaks or blockages.

I'm worried about the pressure gauge as it was showing just above 0 with the pump running so not sure if its a faulty gauge or due to the air getting into the pump. I can definitely see air in the basket at the front. Might it be worth back washing the filter as the house has been empty for a while so I'm guessing the filter hasnt been cleaned for a while.

Like you say I think that tall thing is a automatic puck feeder, I'm guessing its ok to leave that where it is just not to use the pucks in it.

Going from a small intex sand filter to this setup has me all over the place haha

Also with regards to testing kit I currently have a Taylors K2006 so will run all the tests and then i can at least get to fighting the algae problem. Just need to calculate how many gallons I have lol

 

[Benny07]

+1 @YippeeSkippy, check the water level at the skimmer, make sure basket is full and yet some when pump runs. The picture of the gauge looks like the pump is off but the gauge is not on zero rendering it broken. You need to be able to get a good pressure reading to know if the filter is clogged especially with green water which means algae laden water.

That gauge reading was when the pump was running haha, which is why im concerned.

Will look at stuff a bit more now i understand whats going on. First time using a skimmer ever so need to learn that too.

I have also ordered some Hayward Jacks 327 so that i can reseal the o ring if i need to.

 

[wireform]

If the water is midway up the skimmer opening you are ok then the very next place would be the lid seal at the pump which is very probable .

 

[Benny07]

Well here's an update. I cleaned out the skimmer as it was filthy. They also had a skimmer sock in there which I need to replace as well.

Issue is that I cannot get the pump to prime at all. I'm also having issues with the plastic ball valve coming from the skimmer as it doesn't appear to stop the water when its turned to the off position. It slows the water but doesnt stop it flowing completely so when I open the pump cover water comes rushing out.

With us still moving in and it seems everytime I look at the pool the list of issues get longer I may just leave it over the winter and hope I can get it going again when things have calmed down a little.

Just frustrating that something that should be simple to do I can't get it working haha.

 

[Benny07]

Managed to get the pump going last night. Must have been the water level as I put more water into the pool and then we had a few days of rain so it raised it to around 3/4 of the skimmer level. Surprised that it's that fine of a margin for the skimmer to suck in air but you live and learn. There's now no air that I see in the pump basket so I now know that's definitely working up to there.

The issue I now have is that the pressure gauge is only reading 1 bar when it's running. When it's not running it does go back to 0 so I'm not sure if it's the gauge that is broken or if there is a problem elsewhere. The flow coming out of the return jets feels good but not sure if that's low or not as this is the first time I've really checked since the pump was running.

The other issue I'm having is when I try and backwash the filter water comes out of the inspection glass. I think the valve on it has broken so need to replace that too.

Any help on why there is low pressure on the gauge would be really helpful. I have noticed a small leak on the return coming from the filter but not sure if that will effect the pressure on the filter. Attached image of gauge when pump is off so you can see it goes back down to 0.

EDIT: I've actually just realized I might be being stupid. Looking at the gauge again it goes all the way up to 100 psi, which maybe why its looking so low on the gauge as pool filters pressure is usually around 15 psi. Filter maybe working correctly then which is a relief.

 

[Benny07]

Hey all,

Recently just got a new house and inherited the pool so i have a few questions with the plumbing and how its all done just to see what people think. Excuse my paint skills but I'll try my best way to explain it all.



Here are following explanations for the lines:

Line 1 (Blue line). This goes from my skimmer which then goes to the pump and sand filter
Line 2 (Red line). This comes out of the filter and then is split and runs down to the far end of the pool.
Line 3 (Green line). This is the other side of the split in the pipes and then goes through an inline chlorinator and returns to the pool at the angle stated by the arrow.

Because im not using the inline chlorinator on line 3, would it help the pool circulation if I closed the valve on line 3 and sent all the return from the filter down line 2?

Pool is 18 x 30 and an above ground.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[ajw22]

Congratulations on the new house.

Why do you feel circulation on the pool needs to be changed?

 

[Benny07]

Congratulations on the new house.

Why do you feel circulation on the pool needs to be changed?

Currently in the middle of a SLAM. Pool is not really clearing up just stuck at a cloudy turquoise color.

The over night loss last night was 1.5 so I'm nearly done with it but just the filter doesn't seem to be clearing the water at all.

See attached images.

 

[ajw22]

You are not nearly done with an overnight FC loss of 1.5.

A sand filter takes the longest time to clear a pool.

Are you monitoring your filter pressure and backwashing the filter when pressure rises by 25%?

Sand Filter Use and Care - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter describes how to improve filtering by adding pool grade DE to a sand filter.

Pool grade DE MUST be used, food, pet or garden grade will not work. The use of the wrong type of DE will cause it to go directly through the filter and cloud up your pool worse.

 

[Benny07]

You are not nearly done with an overnight FC loss of 1.5.

A sand filter takes the longest time to clear a pool.

Are you monitoring your filter pressure and backwashing the filter when pressure rises by 25%?

Sand Filter Use and Care - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter describes how to improve filtering by adding pool grade DE to a sand filter.

Pool grade DE MUST be used, food, pet or garden grade will not work. The use of the wrong type of DE will cause it to go directly through the filter and cloud up your pool worse.

Yes cleaning the filter regularly, brushing and vacuuming everyday. The pool has been that color as posted above for over a week now.

Cya test is coming out at 40 so I've been keeping chlorine above 16 using the handy app.

The FC demand has reduced drastically and I'm loosing about 5fc 24hrs vs before where it'd all be gone in the matter of hours.

Just not sure if there's more I should be doing and just worried with it being new equipment to me whether it's filtering correctly or not.

Haven't gone the DE route yet but will possibly have to get some next weekend.

 

[ajw22]

Be patient and let the process work.

Record all your tests and chemical additions in PoolMath and turn on sharing your logs so we can follow along and provide advice.

 

[Benny07]

Update: decided to purchase a new pressure gauge from TFTestkits. As mine currently goes from 0-100 psi which is way to high so a glycerin filled 0-30 will work much better.

Think I have set my settings correct on the app to share my tests but I'm not 100% sure on how many gallons are in the pool so I've set it to 20,000 on the app and left it at that. I haven't been logging my additions as religiously as I should so will start doing that from now on.

When vacuuming today it seemed a little clearer but not sure if that was because I haven't vacuumed in a couple of days due to weather and Christmas.

Will stick with it and see how we go. Hoping it'll be ready for summer time

 

[Newdude]

Think I have set my settings correct on the app to share my tests

Yup. We can see them.

I'm not 100% sure on how many gallons are in the pool so I've set it to 20,000 on the app and left it at that

You'll see soon enough if all the adds are over shooting, falling short, or just right.

 

[Benny07]

OK managed to get the pool pretty clear, however with this cold weather we have had it's made the leak at the return port much worse on the filter. I have no idea how to fix this leak as it looks like the pipe goes into the filter and is then sealed with like a clear sealant.

The leak is now sucking air into the system when the pump is running and it's also draining the pool enough that I have to keep adding to it every 4 days or so.

I would like to replace these connections with something that I can unscrew so I can take off the filter if I ever need to. Not sure if they have something like this.

Any advice on what to do with this would be great. I have 0 plumbing experience so not sure if its a job I can do myself.

 

[wireform]

Can you post pics of the leak you speak of in order to advise.

 

[Benny07]

Can you post pics of the leak you speak of in order to advise.

Hope these are good enough, seems since I increased the water level there's no air getting back into the pump now so that maybe why I was seeing air in the pump.

We are supposed to get more freezing temps tonight and tomorrow so worried it's going to split even more now that there's a stream coming out.

 

[Lake Placid]

Hope these are good enough, seems since I increased the water level there's no air getting back into the pump now so that maybe why I was seeing air in the pump.

We are supposed to get more freezing temps tonight and tomorrow so worried it's going to split even more now that there's a stream coming out.

It appears from the first pic where a slip coupling is visible that someone has tried to repair this before. My guess is they didn’t get the male threaded coupler sealed so they slathered it with silicone to try and stop the leak. Assuming the external threads on the multiport valve are in good shape you can cut behind the old repair coupling and re-plumb it with a new union similar to the one I’ve circled in yellow. If you can get a pic with more of the pipe showing behind where I’ve circled in red we can better advise where to cut and what additional parts you might need. INYO shows the union kit here, but if you contact them they very well may be able to assist you in sourcing a single union that will work as opposed to buying the full kit; have the part number from the sticker on the multiport valve handy when you’re talking with them.