We live out in the country. We have a weird set up because a wooden deck was installed over our in-ground pool concrete deck. We are in desperate need of a security fence.

Not sure best way to install. I want permanent. My husband wants one that we can remove.

What would be best way to address this? All the way around the perimeter (not sure we have enough $$) or put fence on wood deck which clearly needs repairing every year.

I have been fighting keeping the pH & TA down since we set up our pool in September. The pH will be 8 & TA 90, I add muriatic acid (liquid form), check it again the next day and pH is 7.4 & TA 70. 2 days later my pH shoots up to 8 & TA 90. I am adding muriatic acid every 2-3 days. Is this a normal thing?

Before replace the check valve, I was wondering the best way to verify the problem or something else I might try. I know we had the check valve replaced, but that was a few years ago. The question I have is it's not everynight. And sometimes it's down 5 inches and sometimes 10. We do have a lot of tiny debris falling from trees in the area and I know some makes it through the skimmer filters. So maybe sometimes it seats well and other times not? maybe moving to failure? Anyway for me to verify the cause. I have attached pictures of my plumbing. Valve 2 appears to control water to the pool and to the spa, they set it so some water overflows from the spa into the pool whenever the pump is running and adjusting it will alter the amount of flow. Value 1 appears to control water flow from the spa drain. It closes when in spa mode but if I manually close it while running in pool mode, it will rapidly drain the spa.

I have just purchased a 2hp pool pump. The former pump was a 1.5HP
It is NOT Practical to replace suction lines back to Main Drain and Skimmer
What benefits will I get if I replace my 1.5" suction above ground with 2" piping to pump suction?
What other options exist for me?

So after having some issues with Pentair and my old SWG unit I was given the opportunity to give the new Pentair PLUS SWG platform a shot and ended up with an IC30+, which is part of their new model line of salt water generators.





I'm not cool enough to do an unboxing video so instead here is a picture of the box telling you what's inside.



Check out that new acid washing kit. Pretty fancy.

I was told this is a drop in replacement for their current line of SGWs and I would be able to take the old one out and put the new one in. I'm coming off an IC30 so moving to an IC30+ was marketed as being easy to do if you already have the plumbing. The box also comes with adapters if you have their other sized units.



Turns out they were right. It's the same size as what I had and installation consisted of unscrewing the unions, taking the old one out, putting the new one in, and screwing on the unions. I don't have much more to say about the install other than that because that's all that it took. I did give the o-rings a coating of lube since I was in there and might as well since it was exposed. I have a Power Center and this one plugged right in, same size 4 pin connection on the end of the cord so nothing much to say there either. Overall the install was as promised, a direct drop in.

I don't have a before picture so lets just pretend I posted that, instead here is a side by side after.



A couple more action shots from the side





Powering on the unit it now shows a boot up reading sequence.



To access the buttons there is now a slide down cover instead of a pop up lid



The unit now will also tell you the current reading on the salt levels, which apparently my pool could use another bag, and if you scroll through the info also can get an easy reading on temperatures, run time, voltages, other warning states, model, and software versions. I think the old one did this as well but I never pushed whatever buttons were required to do so. Now there is a big INFO button right there so you can't not just go push it and see what happens.



It's only been a half hour since I got it set up so these are just initial impressions. Tomorrow will be the first full day run so I'll be going out there to see how it's working. Ran it tonight for a little while, made sure there were no obvious leaks, set it the chlorination up, watched it blink a few times, and set it back to my daily schedule. I do not have any automation but I do have a Pentair pump hooked into the Power Center with it's communication wire so the two units talk to each other enough that the SWG only runs when the pump is running.

Hopefully this first look is interesting to folks as I am not sure who has these style units yet.

I’m in the process of a water exchange. I have had an iron issue for a couple of years. I deduced that the iron was from using Clorox salt. I did a water exchange at the beginning of 2024 in and out method and basing my calculations on the amount of water going in and out and the size of my pool.

When I thought the exchange was complete, I started the pool up and tested for salt and it was at 800 ppm. I thought this was a small amount and probably wouldn’t matter. However, I still had a problem with staining, although it had improved. When I added salt I used Morton Pool Salt. So, I’m not sure if the problem was the residual salt or the Morton salt.

Right now, I’m using my salt level to determine if the exchange is complete. After 3 days of 24 hours of exchange, my salt level is 400 ppm. My question is: Can I actually get the level to zero?

I’m really ready to enjoy the pool this summer.

Hello! My wife and I had a contract accepted on a house with an in ground pool. It is concrete with a vinyl liner. The owner of the house passed away last year and the home is being sold by a parent who doesn't have any knowledge about the condition or maintenance of the pool. From what we can gather it has been empty for probably a year.


We realize we will have to sink a pretty penny into it, we just want to see how much. We are thinking if the cost will be 35k+ we might walk away. We are planning to have someone run a pressure test on the pool, but l wasn't sure if this can even be done in this condition (pictured above).


Will someone be able to access everything necessary to perform a pressure test in this condition?


Is there anything else we should be aware of besides performing a full inspection with a pressure test?


Thanks in advance for the help!

We are almost at construction of our pool time and we have a close friend/neighbor that is allergic to chlorine. Wanted to weigh the options between liquid chlorine and baquacil. We are having an 18x36 vinyl pool put in with a sun shelf. Any advice is welcome.

I have an old Pentair Superflo with a 1.5hp single speed motor. A new VS Superflo is about 1300 but I see these Neptune motor upgrades. I have a SWG so I was interested in this having an aux power output as well as provisions for future automation with low voltage inputs. Problem that I can see is, the aux output for the SWG only comes on at 2100 rpm? Isnt this a little high? Also it looks like the pump only switches one leg of the 220v output, so I dont see how that would work. Would there be a downside for me to convert my RJ-30+ to 120? Do I need to change pump impellers for the 1.65hp neptune upgrade?

I guess my other option would be use a current sensing relay or keep the SWG on a timer. Do the VS timers keep the time if they lose power? I know my mechanical timer does not, but the new wifi one I installed does.

One for the chemists please!
A bottle of Taylor R-0007 reagent in the UK delivered is approx £15 for 60ml (2oz). That's nearly $20!
R-007 is a N/10 solution which (I'm no chemist) on investigation means 24.8g sodium thiosulphate(ST) per 1000ml or 2.48g per 100ml.
(Stop yawning at the back!)

You can buy ST crystals freely and very cheaply. Smallest 10g sample was £2 which would be enough for 400ml of solution = approx 7 of these Taylor 60ml bottles which would have cost (7x£15) = £105 as opposed to £2.

Am I missing something?.......a trick maybe?

Hi everyone,

About to go into permitting on a new construction pool in FL. Here is some background info on the pool. We have a 10x8 spa raised 6" above deck with a 7' spillway into main swimming area. My pool builder says we need 12 gpm per linear foot of the spa spillway. He says this is necessary to achieve a "curtain" of water off the edge of the spillway. We really don't care to have a curtain from the spa because we have the two 36" waterfalls that are much more visible and on a focal point in the design. However, we don't want water to be dribbling off the edge and give the appearance things aren't "functioning as they should". 84 gpm (12 gpm * 7 gpm/ft) is putting a lot of additional demand on the pump though. I am wondering if we were to angle the spillway down into the pool at approximately 45 degrees, could we achieve a nice laminar flow of water from the spa down into the pool at a lower gpm? Any other ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Steve

Hi Everyone,

I just tested my water to see how well it held up over the winter. It visually looks absolutely perfect but this could be because its still early and cold. I plan on fully opening it May 1st.

Before the winter, I drained about 1/3 of the water to work on it and just filled it back to where it needs to be for the summer. I have NOT run the pump yet, so idk if this is simply a distribution issue.

Most numbers are where i expected them to be, but my CYA per the test increased, instead of decreased.

Numbers are:
Alkalinity 107
Calcium 118 (down from 184)
FC 6.5
CC .3
TC 6.8
Copper .37 (down from .5)
CYA 94 (up from 60)
PH 7.4

What is the consensus here? Run the pump and test again? Does CYA naturally rise when undisturbed for a period of time?

I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks

I bought a house in the fall with an old, in-ground pool. It is probably 30+ years old and in need of all new equipment and eventually cosmetic things as well. My goal is to replace all the equipment (heater, filter, pump - 100% of it) in the next few months, then over the next few years save up for and do the necessary big ticket items like replaster, and repour the pool deck.

The pool is a 20x40 w/ step, I calculate ~32,000 gallons at avg depth of 6ft (3 at shallow end, 9 at deep end). There are 3 supply jets, 2 skimmers, and 1 main drain. All piping is combined somewhere under the pool deck, and there is only a 2" PVC and 1.5" PVC coming to and from the pool.

I am looking at the following equipment:
Pump: Pentair Intelliflo3 3HP w/I/O 0011076
Heater: Raypak Avia 399k BTU natural gas Nitek 018045_A
Salt System: Circupool RJ60 Plus
Filter: VEVOR Cartridge 425sf

I mostly want to know if the above primary components are all compatible and decent (i know the filter is a no-name, but the others are higher quality/cost, and a filter is a filter...). I believe flow rates are all compatible, and the nitek version of the raypak should be longer lasting than the copper HX.

I am seeking unsolicited advice from anyone with much more experience than me.

One other topic - I am relocating this equipment as part of this replacement, and am interested in what else to plan to include in my equipment pad/shed. Right now ill have:
1. a dedicated 240v circuit for the pump
2. a 120v circuit for the heater/salt system/wifi/whatever else
3. a gas supply line for the heater
4. a hose bib water supply
5. a nearby drain connected to my french drain/stormwater system

Hi everyone,

I’ve been having some issues with my pool pump lately. The pressure seems to be lower than usual, and I’m not sure what might be causing it. I’ve checked the filter and it seems clean, but I’m wondering if there’s something else I’m missing.

Could it be an issue with the plumbing or pump itself? Are there any common problems or troubleshooting steps I should follow to get the pressure back up to normal?

Looking forward to the Suggestions!

Does anyone have experience with the CircuPool TOTALBalance pH Control System? 12k gal, no spa, SWG, plaster. This will be my second season with the pool after it was built. Spent last season constantly adding acid and never got the pH under 8. I was adding about a gallon of MA every 4-5 days and just don't want to deal with that again. All other chemistry levels were within normal limits all season. pH was the only issue. I understand plaster pools inherently have a higher pH until fully cured, but I'm tired of constantly dealing with liquid acid so I'm wondering if a CO2 system might be the answer. Thanks

After 14-15 years things are showing signs of extreme wear and breaking down.

Here is my current setup

• Filter - Pentair FNS Plus 60
• Main Pool Pump - Pentair Intelliflo VS3050
• Waterfall Booster Pump - Pentair Whisperflo High Performance 3/4HP Pump
• Cleaner Booster Pump - Puri Tech Uniboost 1.5HP Pump
• Pool / Spa Heater - Pentair Mastertemp 400
• Pool Light (x2) - Pentair IntelliBrite LED Color Pool Light 120V
• Spa Light (x1) - Pentair IntelliBrite LED Color Spa Light 120V
• Automation - Pentair IntelliCenter
• Shutoff Valves - PVC Ball Valves

Due to the nature of my property, all my equipment is all below water level.

We will be redoing the plumbing and replacing most all of the equipment. Here is what i'm thinking:

• Filter - New Pentair FNS Plus 60
• Main Pool Pump - New Pentair Intelliflo3 3HP
• Waterfall Booster Pump - Move the current Pentair Intelliflo VS3050
• Cleaner Booster Pump - Puri Tech Uniboost 1.5HP Pump keep until it dies
• Pool / Spa Heater - New Pentair Mastertemp 400
• Pool Light (x2) - New Pentair IntelliBrite Architectural Series LED Color Pool Light 12V
• Spa Light (x1) - New Pentair IntelliBrite Architectural Series LED Color Spa Light 12V
• 12V Transformer - New Pentair 300W Transformer
• Automation - Pentair IntelliCenter keep and use existing
• Shutoff Valves - New serrviceable Pentair or Jandy Valves

I welcome input, feedback and guidance.

I was "gifted" one of these from my neighbor who didn't want to mess with it anymore. He said it needed a new power supply, but I diagnosed the cable as being bad at the swivel. I thought cleaning the contacts would fix it, but there is something wrong inside the connector. I lose continuity in one wire when I wiggle the cord where it goes into the swivel connector with the brass strips. Does anyone have experience with the knock off 2 prong cords on Amazon? I saw some for 80-150ish. OEM is about half what this thing is worth. I am going to do a waterproof splice to make sure the robot runs before even spending that much on it.

My dolphin is nearly 5 years old and recently quit working. The power supply illuminates but the robot itself was immobile and the impeller fan was not spinning. I took the robot apart to ensure all bearings and rollers turn properly, but it still would not operate. I ordered a replacement cable from amazon and it fixed my robot. The cable was a whopping $165 after tax, but still much cheaper than a replacement robot.

This is the cable: Amazon.com

I drained for a refill to get CH under control as it was steadily rising since initial fill in November 2022. Before refilling I want to do a "mild" acid wash myself. Thinking 10:1 MA with a Stainless Steel brush. Thoughts?

Hello,
I converted my pool to saltwater last summer, and recently noticed yellowish corrosion marks on the plastic parts of both main drain lines. I also discovered that my pool has a leak, losing about an inch of water every 24 hours. I'm unsure if the leak is connected to the main drain lines in any way.


Do you have any suggestions on what I should do? I’d prefer not to drain the water, as I’m in California, and water is expensive (I replaced the entire pool water last year).
I am attaching some of the pictures of light, main drain.

Thank you!

Hello, everyone. My saltwater generator (SWG) is displaying a low salt reading and to inspect the cell error. I conducted a sodium chloride test and got a reading of 3200, while the SWG showed 2500. I've never experienced calcium buildup on the cell when I go to clean it and I clean it at least twice a year. The pool isn't used very often, especially after September, and it's usually just me using it. Is it time to replace the SWG?

Hello everyone,

I started opening the pool a little early this year, to try and get a head start on things.

it's going well outside of water clarification feeling like its not happening. or is at least slower than i would expect going on 2 weeks now. I would expect to at least be able to see the shadow of any lingering debris on the bottom so that i can more properly target said debris instead of (mostly)randomly vacuuming and hoping i catch anything I have missed previously.

before adding any chems i checked and adjusted PH added CYA to appropriate levels and initiated slamming, water is now cloudy blue and just not clearing.

I decided to try adding a little clarifier(with the expectation of it being largely degraded by the FC) to just kickstart the clarification so that i can better vacuum and brush. I dont think this should be any issue, mainly just posting in verification that this is a valid though generally not needed way to get things going.

thought/opinions are welcome. we had a great tfp season last year, just surprised at how stubborn the water is being to clear enough to see the bottom this year.

Hi, my new pool was finished and filled about 4 days ago. It has an aqua blue mini pebble surface. It was acid washed by the installer prior to filling. Everything I’ve read talks a lot about plaster dust in a new pool. I’ve been very religious about brushing twice a day and have been testing water twice a day as well making smaller adjustments as I go. My last house with a pool, the pool was many years old by the time we got there so no experience starting a new pool. I have not seen anything that resembles a dust like substance so I’m wondering if because it was acid washed prior to filling, does that mean I should not expect plaster dust or maybe its still coming?? Or maybe I have it and can’t tell? I’m assuming it would be pretty obvious if I had plaster dust.

The pH has been hard to keep down, going through a lot of muriatic acid, but I’m thinking that’s somewhat normal based on other posts?? (2 gallons so far in 4 days)

CYA35, TA150, pH = 7.7, CH350 ~9000 gallons

I bought Culligan brand salt at Costco which stated it is 99.6% pure. I dumped a 50 lb bag my 13,000 gallon pool and to my horror as I was getting ready to add a second bag i noticed in the corner it says "with sofner gard II" I did a Google search to see if I could find an MSDS sheet for what is in "sofner gard II" but could not find anything. Does anyone know what is in it, is it a small enough about I can not worry about it or am I about to drain and fill again?

I've got a Jandy water feature pump/motor that has stopped working. I tested the relay and realized the circuit breaker had been thrown. I flipped the breaker, and at first it came on. I realized the pump was dry because I had drained it to prevent freezing. I started filling it with water, and then it threw out sparks, a pop, and it blew the breaker again. Now it comes on for a few seconds, sparks, pops, and throws the breaker. Previously, I had replaced the capacitor and it had worked for like a year before this happened.

The question is, is there any other troubleshooting I can do on the pump itself? In other words, are there any other internal parts I might be able to replace, or is it more likely that the motor has just bit the dust? What is involved in just replacing the motor myself?

Pool was built in 2008. For the most part everything works fine. last replace the handheld remote June 2023. Hit Spa party last night and nothing happened. Usually the pool will switch to spa, the lights will come on and the heater will kick on. If I hit spa spearately the spa will come one, same with the lights ( although the mail pool light flashing green or is off - a Hayward colorlogic), but the heater is not turning on. It's an Hayward H400FDN. The screen shows "ho" I can not find any reference in any of the Hayward trouble shooting guides as to what this might mean. I found one online reference that it indicated water temp was too high, but the sensor seems to be correct with a reading of 72 ( we have replaced that in the past). I have attached a screen shot. So I am looking for help on where to start with the heater as well as any thoughts as to why the spa party grouping may have quit working on the remote. - or if the heater not coming on could impact that. We have self dealt with an IO code a few years ago, but pretty much everything else has been problem free. I am assuming the flashing light means the pool light is mal-functioning and would need to be replaced, but don't really care about it at the moment. Any insight would be appreciated.

Hello, we had a new build recently completed and the plaster is Aqua Cool mini pebble with touch of glass. However, this is the color of the plaster. I have not seen any pictures of the plaster being this color. Anyone else experience this with aqua cool mini pebble? Will this eventually change or is this it? Pill was plastered in November.

Is there a rule of thumb on how long after you add liquid chlorine you can retest the water?

TBH I was just more wanting to see if I had the volume of my pool correct in the pool math calculator. I tested FC tonight, added some, and tested 30 min later but I got wildly different results in two different spots in the pool. I think I must have tested a hot spot where some of the chemicals collected in a corner before mixing well in the pool.

Is there better way to check the volume of the pool? I did some rough measurements and volume calculations but not sure how close I am to actual. I run a SWG so not overly concerned on adding chemicals but definitely do not want to over add acid as I adjust pH during the season.

In Pool Setup und Tracking you have the option to toggle Filter Pressure which I have done. I also read under tracking that "You can customize some of the advanced levels / measurements to track. These will appear in more screens in the app if they are turned on."
So where do I input my filter pressure as I can't find it.

Thanks,
Chris