Hi all. Please help me figure this out on my own. New house, first time pool owner. I had my liner replaced last week and they were able to save 24,000 gallons of water from my 30,000 gallon pool. I’ve gone over pool school and downloaded the pool math app. I’m struggling with choosing the product brands. Pool store products are ridiculously expensive and my local big box stores mainly stock Clorox brand. I also am unclear about the order in which each product should be added and how long to wait before adding the next. My levels are as follows:
FC .17
TC .17
pH 7.6
Alkalinity 97
CH 132
Cya 5
Iron 0
Copper .1
Phosphate 108ppb
Salt 1,946

Pool store suggested:
5 bags salt
1lb shock
30lbs calcium
12lbs stabilizer

Hello, I’m new to pool maintenance and have read every article in the pool school and then some. Background is we bought a house w this pool 2 years ago and have had no luck keeping up chlorine levels ever, with green algae growing back almost daily. Literally nothing has worked and we are over it. We’ve hired and fired 3 pool companies and spent tons on chemicals (Leslie’s got us goooooddddd) and maintenance to no avail. Drained the water once, cya went through the roof (thanks for 6 tabs a week from our 3rd pool company) so we started w CYA 180 last week, did a partial drain 4 days ago and CYA now 120. Did another drain of 50% last night refilling now so hoppppong for CYA of 60 ish.

Pool is Freeform (irregular shape) with a spa spillover (spa heater is broken though), approx 19,000 gallons, pebbletec (plaster). Pump, filters, and vacuum were all replaced this last year and (expensive) leak test (we’re desperate) revealed no leaks. We live in Phoenix so hot. Today is a high of 91.

Today I ordered the TF-Pro kit recommended by TFP, but it wont be here for a few days is my guess. So, finally, to my questions:

1. Once I finish this drain and refill, is there any point in going back to Leslie‘s to test my CYA, or should I just wait until I get my TF Pro test kit?

2. Should I go ahead and add some chlorine in the meantime to keep the algae at bay? we have chlorine tabs which of course I’m going to throw out now that I know better. We also unfortunately just bought a giant $350 bucket of granular chlorine from Leslie’s. they claim that it will not increase our CYA but I no longer trust them can I use this, or should I just call it a loss and buy liquid chlorine which I know TFP recommends?

3. We run our pump 16-18 hours a day! After reading TFP it says 4-8 hours should be fine depending on how clean you want your pool. My husband says it’s on that long per the pool company and Leslie’s recommendation to help with flow and prevent algae, but I’m inclined to think it’s yet another chlorine issue. Arizona is however much hotter than most places, so not sure if anybody has a recommendation that is Arizona specific.

Thank you in advance for your knowledge and help! I’m really excited to get started and hopefully have a pool we can use this summer

Recognize that this topic has been discussed previously; but have some specific questions based on region.
I am considering wo vinyl pool bids: one will be built with a 10" concrete wall; the other will be built with polymer or steel walls (dependent on shape) with 3 foot concrete footer. The location is north of Atlanta so ground is red clay. We will need a retaining wall based on yard topography. Appreciate any input regarding whether one or the other construction is better. Thank you.

Historically I'm pretty clear at start up, not this year.
Started the year super cloudy with about a foot of visibility - chlorine levels were at 0.

Spent the last 2.5 weeks trying to align everything, and am "Clear" but not crystal, and am running out of ideas.

Opening info 4/6/24:
FC: 0
PH: 7.4
Alkalinity: 150
CH: 265
CYA: 110 (no idea when this went haywire)
Iron/Copper: 0
Phosphates: 3,000

Did the normal work needed - Vacuuming, Acid to lower Alkalinity/aeration to pull PH back up after, Cycle water out/fresh in to bring CYA down (moving away from pucks this year), Started Slamming

Continued to Test myself but also have had a few pool store samples run, but as normal, ignored all there recommendations.

Where I am today 4/22/24 Slamming has been completed for several days, FC levels hold overnight and combined is 0 to .5 or less - BUT, I'm not CRYSTAL CLEAR.....

FC: 10
CC: 0 to .5
PH: 7.4
Alk: 140
CH: 220
CYA: 40-45
Phosphates: 1k or less

I know I need to drive ALK down some more with Acid, but would that elevated ALK really keep me from being CRYSTAL clear? Installed new filters 2 days ago as well.

I'm NOT a fan of clarifies, but I'm about to give in and try.... I'm at a loss (pics showing current today to where I was 3 weeks ago)

The last two pools I've done have been the summer waves 14' round 48" deep. While I have enjoyed them, the last one had a manufacturing defect last summer causing a seam rip and I lost an entire month out of the peak of the summer season and I was pretty bummed. 30 day warranty sadly, so I just had to take the loss.

Right after that I looked @ Intex and I found the perfect pool. It was 15' round 52" deep with a 2-year warranty.

Now it's......gone from their site??? I really liked that one, I feel like the extra couple inches in depth would go a long way.

You can get 52" in much larger pools but I don't have the space.

In a 16' round or less size, what should I be looking at, preferably in 52" depth? And not blue exterior!!

Also, I noticed that there are some permanent pools in these size ranges that are within my budget (ideally under 2k) but then right next to them on the site will be an identical pool for 3k more. Would it be possible to get into a permanent pool that will last me a few years under 3k out the door? That might be something I would look into.

Thanks!

Hi Everyone.

The family is complaining that our pool was cold last summer and convincing me that we should get a heat pump for our 18' round AGP. Our summer was a bit cooler than normal and windy last year. Having a bit of an extended season is also a plus for us. I don't have a way to get NG to the pool so a gas heater in not an option. We are in NY on Long Island, we use a solar cover whenever we are not in the pool, and would like to keep the pool at 85 degrees.

Been looking through threads and trying to zero in on what heat pump is right for my application. I am leaning towards the Raypak Crosswind 65-I. Their calc says it would meet my needs but a bit of a sceptic as they are trying to sell stuff.

Would appreciate your thoughts and recommendations on this.

Thanks in advance!

I opened my pool Saturday and water was very cloudy. before doing anything I ran my robotic pool cleaner a few times then broomed towards main drains. Ran pump for 24 hrs then added 5 gallons liquid shock, as I do every year at opening. Let run for 24 hrs then took water sample to pool store for testing like every year. usually PH, alkalinity and CYA are always great and FC is high, due to the 5 gal liquid shock. This year my readings are:
CYA=5
FC=0.3
TC=3.8
PH=6.9
T Alkalinity =128
I was told to add 5 lbs powder stabilizer, wait 1/2 hr then add 16 gal of liquid shock. Before doing so, I read it’s best to add less stabilizer and check results because it’s easier to add more than take it out. So I’ve added 2 lbs total since Monday and I only added 5 gal of liquid shock. From a suggestion on internet that said it’s all that’s needed to supershock my 20,000 gal pool. Well I did a test strip yesterday and still 0 chlorine. And it didn’t register CYA on strip. Should I wait until CYA is 30 before adding more shock and if so, how much shock should I add to get pool water right?

Hey everyone, I'm hoping for some suggestions. We have a saltwater pool with a Hayward T-cell 15 salt cell that we bought 2 years ago brand new. This year I cleaned the salt cell with water and Muriatic acid before opening the pool. Since opening the pool i have been receiving an error message that says cell temp sensor short curcuit and Chlorinator off sensor fault. I have changed out the air temp and pool temp sensors hoping that was the problem but it didn't change the error message. Does anyone what I should do from here or what else could be wrong? I really don't want to buy another salt cell when this one is only 2 years old. Thanks for your help

Hi everyone
I’m losing my chemistry in the pool, I’m assuming it’s leaking somewhere. Water level goes down 1/4 inch a day, and I thought it’s normal evaporation, but I turned off the pump for 3 days and water level went down 1/4 inch in 3 days. Any thoughts?
Please help.

Sorry for the quality of the photos . I’m eager to get started on the pool however we haven’t opened it yet . Our pump and filter just came in and will be installing Saturday. This is a photo of me just lifting the cover just to see how it looks . I currently don’t have a Taylor kit and might be sometime before I can get one . Long story but has to do with the wife . anyway I am taking samples to be tested lab numbers tomorrow morning . From the looks of it water is crystal clear and looks like some algae. It’s not necessarily a green tint might be little yellowish to . My question when I start vacuuming this can I just run it through filter then backwash instead of wasting . How do you guys think it looks ? This is my first year of really trying right on start up and I want to start it off right . I guess I’m saying how would you guys approach this ? Clarity seems really good . I will post the numbers I get tomorrow.

Opened our pool this weekend. Just as clear as when we closed. The problem is when I turned the pump on, it just hums and then trips the breaker? Think it’s time for a new pump? Do I need to troubleshoot first? The pump is about 11 years old. If new, where is the best place to order and what should I get?

We have an Intex 16x32 pool. I joined the forum to learn how to manage it better. We're about to replace the liner. So while searching for ideas on what to do, I found this forum. I'm looking forward to learn as much as I can.

Now that it's starting to get warmer here in San Antonio, our pool is just DRINKING bleach like crazy, and I'm wondering if that's normal or I should be supplementing for chlorine levels? Our pool techs that we fired in the past just added the same stuff every week without measuring levels and we had to drain and refill our pool because the CYA was so high, and I'm trying to avoid those levels creeping up by using chlorine pucks, etc...

I added 3 jugs of bleach to my pool earlier this week and I just checked chlorine levels and they were at 0 today. Before it started getting hot out, I was adding like half a jug of bleach to the pool each week. Just curious what other folks' experience is and whether this is normal to need to keep adding more bleach throughout the week and whether there's a most cost-effective method. Adding 5-6 jugs of bleach a week is going to be like $120 per month just in bleach alone.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts / tips / tricks!

To the TFP member who suggested irrigation tubing around the drain

I salute you.

Context, there was a post from several years back regarding a member's robot getting hung up on the drain cover of their pool. Thiey experimented with creating loops out of 1/2" irrigation tubing and filling it with something heavy to make it sink around the perimeter of the drain cover.

Well it works. I made two for my pool and my robot hasn't been stuck since. This was a cheap (20ish bucks) solution that can be left in the pool with little or no concerns. I didn't fill mine with pebbles, I had some leftover stainless cables from another project that i cut to length and stuffed into them. I also didn't drill holes in them either which didn't seem to matter.

Anyway I wanted to share my excitement and thanks for solving this irritating problem.

Link to the original thread.

Hi all, first off, I'm still not great with all this stuff so please bear with me.

Previously I was able to simply turn on the spa and blower buttons on my Easy Touch remote. The spa button turns the actuators and the blowers blow, ok good. Now I know that the pump needs to go on to make sure the heater works but previously I never had to manually do anything else other than those 2 buttons on the remote. Now, the pump doesnt turn on that way and I'm not sure what I need to change to fix that. The only thing that changed which most likely impacted this is that I had my pump calibrated for the winter months.

Does this make sense to anyone? Is this something you can walk me through figuring out? Thank you in advance

I have a 30x15 saltwater fiberglass pool. Pool and pump are 6 years old. Our current pump is a Speck-X ES90-III. This pump is the loudest pump on Earth. We are convinced the pool installers either installed it wrong or messed it up upon installation. It’s a loud grinding sound that you can hear from several houses away. After 6 years we’ve had enough and we want to replace it but not sure how to go about finding a pump that is right for our pool and compatible with our filter…we have a Heyward sand filter. A quick Google search doesn’t give many results for Speck pumps…so I’m thinking of replacing it with a different brand? No clue. Any guidance or a starting point is appreciated

Day 1 into my new SWG and when I started the cell showed just above 3000 ppm salt and the green generate light was on. Salt test is 3900 ppm.

2 hours later I check in on it and it show 0000 ppm and no generate light and no low Salt light.
Any ideas on what's going on?

Hi all.

Pool return jet caulk has started to come off. I take it I can just drain to below return and seal myself. Any particular type/brand?

Thanks!

Filter had been running fine and then all of a sudden, water started shooting out the top, right near the clamp holding down the valve. Tried to backwash and rinse which both work fine. But when I turn the filter setting back on, same issue. Thoughts?

Good morning,
I have a very slow leak in/on my pump. At the end of the day there is probably about 1/2- 1 cup of water that surrounds my pump. I have removed the rings and seals and replaced them. I don't see any visible cracks. I also cannot locate the leak. I am not able to visualize where the water is coming from. It just appears on the ground under the pump.

Any troubleshooting tips that anyone can provide?

I seem to have an issue with my filter. Just finishing my slam and my filter seems to plugging up quickly when I add DE to it. I have a feeling this is normal but I would have to backwash daily if I keep adding DE.

without DE I can go several days almost a week without backwashing but if I add 1/2 cup of DE the next day My pressure is up past 15 PSI. clean pressure is normally 11.5 PSI. after backwash it doesn't always come down to 11.5 sometimes stays at 13. but the other day I guess I didn't have the pump basket cover on properly and I was getting air bubbles in the pump and return jet and that made the filter pressure go down by itself without backwashing. probably went from 14 PSI right down to 11 just from the bubbles.

I do think the guys that installed the filter added only filter gravel to the filter instead of sand. my guess is I should have gravel on the bottom and sand on the top or all sand. I still have a light brown sediment scattered in the bottom of my pool I am assuming is dead algae from opening and slamming. I have vacuumed once and it doesn't seem to come off. I guess I should brush then wait for it to settle then vacuum to hopefully remove more of the sediment.

anyone else having weird issues when adding DE to their sand filter. otherwise water is clear. I have a feeling my filter cannot filter out the light sediment so it is just pumping it around.

Hi all,

I’m having some issues with my caretaker self cleaning system and I’ve attached some photos to better explain my issue.

1. I’m getting no pressure to the caretaker valve, about 3psi but the filter is fine.
2. I’ve cleaned everything about 5 times - skimmer box, removed the nozzles and even removed the valve itself and cleaned the small strainer which was relatively clean. The little springs inside the valve looked ok and seemed to pop out fine but I’m not too sure
3. The main gutter appears to not have any suction anymore. I originally thought it could be a blockage but I’ve used a drain cleaner and it appears as though that isn’t the issue
4. The nozzles seem to work ok but quite sporadic and some stay up after it’s off

I wasn’t sure if I had the water running to a wrong pipe or something else?

The photos attached show I have an odd setup as we just moved in - there is an automatic controller that turns the floor cleaner on with the other pump and I’ve played with it a bit manually but it still seems like the same issue…

I was thinking maybe it has something to do with the solar as I have that on standby and can’t seem to work out why that doesn’t appear to be working or it’s not all connected…. By the way, does anyone know if the solar system runs all pumps as the solar is just for the pool. It seems as though when I’ve had it on standby or I can warm the pool my energy bill has gone up.

Sorry for all the questions but it’s driving me crazy and any help
Would be greatly appreciated!’nn

Wondering if it is possible to have my pump run at priming speed for a few minutes when our Aqualink calls for solar?

Reason: Pump rpm required to "prime" the solar system (push water up to roof and force out all the air) is higher than the rpm required for the flowrate that my solar panels call for once the system is flushed of air (steady state rpm).

Scenario: Filter cycle starts at 8am and the pump primes, then drops down to filter speed. At, say, 10am, the air warms and the Aqualink calls for solar heat - diverter valve directs flow to panels and pump rpm increases to the steady state solar speed. But some air remains in solar loop.

I have a newer Aqualink RS-P4 (pool only) with a iAqualink 3.0, installed in 2022, that controls our solar. Just one variable speed pump runs filter, solar.

Thanks, Dave

Just started our pool build. Going with a simple rectangular pool with a spa and sun shelf. Planning and permitting took a little while because of the size of our yard but finally underway! Going with Pebbletec Sheen Blue Surf for the interior with the attached finish options for spray decking and coping. Feels so soon now, with summer looming

So... I was away for two months and upon my return I am seeing some stubborn algae clinging to several areas in the bottom of the indoor pool. Never had it this bad before (Thanks, pool sub guy!) I have been brushing repeatedly (from the deck with a nylon brush), but it doesn't seem to remove it. I have raised the bromine level to 10 ppm a few times, but this doesn't help either. Will raising the bromine level higher help.... or do I need to get in the pool and try to remove it by hand scrubbing? What the heck is going to get this green stuff out of the pool? It's kind of hard to see from the photos, but there is definitely stubborn algae clinging to the bottom of the pool.

So my pentair SWG is fine when run at 20 gpm but above 30 gpm is starts leaking. I tightened the threads as tight as I could with hands and reset o-rings a couple times. I have some food grade oring lube I use for beer kegs. I am thinking of trying this lube. Any thoughts on other things to try first? Maybe need new o-rings but only 2 years old. If I get new o-rings I'm thinking silicon would be better the buna as they more compliant and should last forever.

Thanks

David

27 foot round above ground Ester Williams aluminum pool installed 1985, new liner 1990, so old but well cared for and equipment has been trouble free all these years. Wall has two or three pinholes in one area two inches above ground level and can see some water leaking through. Remainder of wall has some minor signs of corrosion but generally in good shape. Winter cover still on, water level 8 inches below bottom of skimmer. Pulled winter cover back and see no visible sign of damage or leak. Leak appears to be very slow at this time.

Considering adding some water, say one inch at a time to see if leak gets faster. If leak is not too bad would then fill pool and try to use it this season and see how it goes. Would really like to get one or two more years out of it since may be moving after that.

Any ideas and suggestions greatly appreciated.

John

Just setting up our second Coleman 22’ x52” pool. The legs rusted out on the old one. We know we spent lots of money on chemicals with the last one and we are trying to do better by educating ourselves on proper pool maintenance.

long time lurker. use the pool math app. bit wanted to get on here for advice on iaqulink system. keep son having issues. lookin forward to getting advice.

Hi, I've had a pool for several years now and am accustomed to taking care of one, thanks to so much help from you all when we first started! My question now, is we just got a new liner the other day, and so just refilled the pool with fresh water. I'm just wondering if there is anything that might be a little different at first that I need to watch out for with the chemistry. Will the pH be more susceptible to fluctuations, for instance? So far the only things I've had to add were chlorine and stabilizer, but the pH has been on the low side and the alkalinity has been pretty high (both within the acceptable range, though). Usually pH tends to be high and alkalinity low, so this is a new scenario for me! Should I just treat it the same as our "before" pool, or should I check anything more frequently than usual? For reference, it is a traditional chlorine pool, about 20-25k gallons. I usually only check pH 1-2x per week and chlorine maybe every other day (although in the height of summer I usually add chlorine every day). Stabilizer and alkalinity I check infrequently. Thanks for any help!