Last time I posted, asking for help with a cloudy hot-tub, it really was time to drain... so that's what I did. But now it's only been a month with that new water, and I'm not wanting to drain. So I'm SLAMing, and would appreciate your opinions.

I was gone for a week, and did not add enough chlorine to last that whole time. (What should I do in the future? Throw 2-3 cups of bleach in it before going away for a week?) Came back to a cloudy hot tub that smelled like a pond.
12-18: 0 FC, 4.5 CC!, 8.1 pH, 70 alk, 40 CYA, temp 98.
I added 1/2 cup bleach (10%), and it ate it up in an hour. Repeated, it ate it up. Before going to bed, I added 1 cup bleach. I also added pH down several times throughout.
Ran the jets, got a bunch of foam. The stink improved a bit.

12-19: in the PM I tested it, and it was .5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 50 alk. It looks & smells improved, but still very cloudy and a bit stinky. I added 1.5 cups bleach. Set the filters to run 14 hours a day.

12-20 I finally had time to address it better.
10:45am tested at 5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.9 pH and added 1 cup bleach
1pm tested at 17.5 FC, 1.0 CC
4pm 13 FC, 1.5 CC, 8.1 pH and added 1T pH down
4:20pm 7.7 pH and added another 1 T pH down
5pm 7.6 pH and added 1/2 cup bleach
9pm 16.5 FC, 1.5 CC and added 1/2 cup bleach (still bubbling, but finally no foam!)
10:20pm 22 FC, 2 CC
The cover was open ALL day (12.5 hours), and I ran the jets frequently (which I know fought against my pH).
I set the filters to run 18 hours/day.

12-21 I woke up with a new resolve, and also realized a SLAM is in order. So that's what I set about doing. It's my 1st time, so please LMK what I did wrong or what else I need to do. Any feedback is welcome.
Woke up to the water smelling better (more like funk, less like a pond), and significantly less cloudy. I finally had/have hope!
The filter had been off for 2h45, so I figured a pH test would be decently accurate.
8:45am 14 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 60 alk and I added 1 T pH down (to try to get in a zone for SLAM)
9:35am 7.6 pH and the filter had been running for an hour (which doesn't help my pH). I switched the filter out to a clean one, and added 1 cup bleach.
11am 31 FC, 1.5 CC (I know this is higher than I was supposed to aim at... my goal was to keep it above 20 all day long, and just go out and run the jets any time I thought of it)
12:25pm 30 FC, 2.5 CC
4:40pm 26.5 FC, 1.5 CC
The cover has been open all day, and the filter has been running all day.

Now what? Just keep the FC high and it'll eventually sort itself out?

It was low-ish on water anyway, so I'm considering topping it off with water. Would that be okay? Or do I need to solve this cloudiness first?

I'm tempted to try Oxi-shock... to get that CC to go away. But you all have told me in the past that SLAM will take care of that persnickety CC. So do I just stay the course with the SLAM?

Please advise.

I’ve loved my SWG over the past few years. Even with having to add salt and clean the cell every few months, it’s so much easier than dealing with buying, transporting, storing and deploying liquid chlorine constantly. But a recent salt-stain event had me questioning the SWG if there is iron staining from the salt. So I tested several brands and types of salt.

If you want to skip the detail, I concluded: Buy the salt with least amount of iron and, when distributing it, dissolve/distribute it well, not leaving a layer on the pool surface for more than a few minutes. Diamond Crystal and Clorox had the most iron, “Morton” and “Salinity” brands had less iron. “Aquasalt” had the least iron (zero), but tough to find at a reasonable price.

Along the way I got “pool-stored” a bit, that and other details follow….

My “stain event” occurred when I dumped a full 40 lb bag of Clorox pool salt on the top step (as I usually do), but about an inch deep of salt sat there covering the large oval step for a couple hours (after I was interrupted by a post-hurricane power outage). When I came back and brushed it into dissolution there was a noticeable brown stain left on the step – picture enclosed. This prompted me to test several different salt brands for iron content.

Results of the iron tests follow, but I might first note that I usually maintain my chemistry well and keep CSI very close to zero, but this day/week the PH may have floated up towards 8.0 or 8.2 as I was dealing with other post hurricane matters. I think I read that high PH may increase sensitivity to iron staining. Full chemistry at the time: FC 5, PH 8.2, TA 50, CA 200, CYA 25, Salt 2700, Phos 150, WaterTemp 87, CSI 0.1

My test method was arguably extreme, but it was just for comparative purposes. I dissolved 1 lb of each salt brand into 32 oz of water, then tested with a “Hanna Iron (Fe²⁺ & Fe³⁺) Chemical Test Kit model HI3834. Instructions state that it detects the combination of ferrous and ferric ions by first reducing the ferric ions to ferrous. Given the extreme ratio of salt to water, not all salt dissolved, in each case a layer of salt remained on the bottom of the container. And yes, my test reagents expired 7 years ago, but the results are similar to what I was seeing when testing years ago on well water that stained concrete over the course of a year or more from well water irrigation.

Except where noted most of these brands can be had for about $7-$9 per 40lb bag at various big box discount stores. As noted Salinity and AquaSalt were pricier. Detailed results follow, in order of most iron to least iron, noting this may vary from batch to batch. When you research how it’s mined and packaged, there is a lot of variation, depending on many factors such as the original source and all the equipment that comes in contact with the salt along the way.

Diamond Crystal Water Softener pellets: ~1.0 PPM (mg/L). Slow dissolve, about 45 minutes if they’re not stacked. The pellets look like peanuts.

Diamond Crystal Splash Ready Pool Salt: ~0.5 to 0.75 PPM. Dissolves a lot like morton into smaller clear glassy crystals, then rather slow to finish dissolving over perhaps an hour.

Clorox: ~0.5 PPM (mg/L) iron, maybe higher. Fast & easy to dissolve but clumps if stored for awhile. This is what stained my step surface when an inch of it was left on the surface for a couple hours. Noting again that my PH was running high at 8.0 or 8.2 at the time of stain.

Morton Professional’s Choice Pool Salt: 0.2 ppm / just a trace of iron. A bit slow to dissolve as it first half-dissolves into clear smaller crystals, much like the diamond crystal splash ready.

Salinity brand...... Just a trace of iron, $15/ bag from pool store. Label states “high purity salt for swgs - premium salt blend fine granular quick dissolving with *stain inhibitor” (says imported, ‘Amanaplast’ logo) - Note this finer powder, like Clorox, dissolves quickly when swished or brushed but when spread 1/4" deep takes longer than some others. This would be runner up to the winner, except for the fact that we have no idea what the ”stain inhibitor” chemical is, no ingredients listed. A bit of sequestrant perhaps? Most TFP folks don’t like adding unknown chemicals.

Aquasalt: ZERO trace of iron. This would be the clear winner – except for the price. Very fine and almost powdery, dissolves easily, much like Clorox. But it’s $25/bag from Leslies, delivered. Leslies asks only $12.50 per bag but charges another $12.50/bag for delivery and they won’t ship to the store. I called corporate and a store, no joy. A friend of mine has access to a local wholesale distributor and they told him the price would be $7.50/bag but they never have it and seem uncooperative to order it. Weird that.

More thoughts/speculation:…. Reading the instructions on many salt bags, they advise of course to distribute the salt around the pool, don’t do what I did and leave it stacked in one place for hours. But that seemed bogus to me, since I wondered if I’m simply staining the entire surfaces – just more slowly, gradually. So I continued to wonder about the long term effect of having added more than 1000 lbs of salt over a few years. Still, the pool water itself registers zero trace of iron using the Hanna test kit and all the surfaces look pristine, except for my “stain event” – that I cleared with a sockfull of ascorbic acid powder.

Then I speculated that, like CYA and salt, the summer rains and resultant overflow are probably clearing the iron just like that same overflow & splashout removes CYA and salt itself. Unless the iron is stuck stained to surfaces, gradually staining all surfaces, ugh.

So – not to worry? After all that hoopla and work, I suppose I’ll just buy Morton pool salt and dissolve & distribute it well – LOL.

“Poolstored” sidebar…. While buying the “Salinity” brand from the local PinchAPlenty store I asked the tech if they ever carry Aquasalt. He said no, and he added that he would never buy salt from the big box discount stores. Naturally I asked if he used the stuff I was buying from his store. He said no. So I asked where he buys his, and he said “I can’t tell you – since I work here”. Sigh. If anyone finds a good way to acquire Aquasalt I’m all ears!

As implied by the picture, for stain removal I first started with some vitamin C tablets, then acquired a 2 lb container of ascorbic acid for $17 from wallymart, then used the sock – very simple and easy. Then I got to wondering what happens to the iron that I “wipe off” with ascorbic acid – does it settle elsewhere eventually? Some good threads exist here in TFP on iron removal – many thanks to @Texas Splash, @JoyfulNoise, @Brian Malone, @BoDarville and many others for all those comments in threads such as getting rid of iron and rust and Polyfill and iron binding during AA treatment and related threads. Just for grins I fashioned some polyfill around my cartridge filter and also tried the “aquabag” for a few days on a return port – but never captured any visible iron using those methods. Then again those attempts may be moot since I did not run the PH and FC back up to get any iron to precipitate. And reading through those iron removal threads I never figured out if sequestrant should be present when trying to precipitate the iron. Alas – the surfaces look great and the water is totally clear, so I may have just been wasting even more time!

Thoughts and opinions always welcome and appreciated. Happy SWG-ing and salting everyone. … Joe

craig135 said:

I've owned a Northern Lights cedar hot tub for about 8 years and loved it. 4' deep and about 600 gallons. I've used an ozonator, bromide/bromine, MPS after bathing, and weekly di-chlor shock. Some experts say only bromine, others say NO bromine, use bleach. They all say one or the other can destroy the wood. Lots of opinions. This past year it developed a slime on all surfaces. I tried to take it off with fiberglass scrubby pads and they just clogged up with a white papery substance. The filters were clogged with a slimy white pulpy mess. After googling around I determined that it was white mold. After draining scrubbing, treating with di-chlor and drying out completely, I still couldn't get the residue out of the wood. I tried a light power washing even though I know that's tough on the wood. I ended up with a white/cedary/toilet paper like pulpy mess. Cleaned that up, dried with dehumidifier, sanded, new filters, filled, balanced water, shocked, and ran for a day testing continuously. Drained and repeated. Checked water just about every day, used tub 3-4 times per week, mold was back within a month. Repeated entire process and this time washed walls with 30% vinegar then filled with water, drained, rinsed, then repeated with bleach solution. Again, filled with water, balanced, shocked, etc. Mold was back within a month. I started super shocking with di-chlor (50ppm) and ran it for days/24 hour filter cycle, drained, rinsed, refilled, repeated. I also used a commercial pipe cleaning enzyme and took apart the plumbing at the unions to hose them out. Mold began accumulating in the filters within 10 days.

There is very little information on the web regarding white mold infestation in cedar tubs. From what I've gathered, the mold's roots penetrate the wood and feed on the sugars in the cellulose, then form a protective slime barrier making it hard for the sanitizers to get through. Figuring I wasn't getting to the roots, I repeated the process. I drained and ran dehumidifier at 40% humidity for a week. I knew it would shrink the wood but I'm desperate. I was left with bleached white powdery wood with some mold residue in the cracks and gaps. I'm sure alot or most of the white was from the chemical treatments. This time I removed the benches and jets to be able to completely sand the inside of the barrel and get to all the nooks and crannies in the benches. After the punishment of powerwashing, di-chlor, bleach, etc. some of the staves had a corduroy texture so I sanded with 60 grit to get the white out, then 120 to smooth it out.

I read somewhere in this forum or another that cedar, when treated with certain chemicals turns to paper. Now I'm wondering if I've been chasing white mold when all I was doing was burning the cedar with harsh chemicals and creating paper pulp (except for the slime that was forming everywhere). Now I'm in the middle of reassembling the tub, but wondering what is the best approach to sanitize for any remaining mold/spores before refilling. Some people mentioned that they didn't know anybody who was able to get rid of the mold completely and were considering an epoxy coating or fiberglass to seal the wood, not necessarily to seal for leaks, but to reduce the wood area the mold roots can cling to.

I have alot of hours invested and getting the same result. Nightmare.

Any takers?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hello, I also have a northern lights cedar tub that we purchased less than a year ago and I have the same problem. I have spent endless hours scrubbing, I have done multiple cleans with total cleanse, left shocks running for days.... still little to no improvement. Did you ever figure this out?

Good evening,

I have a Hayward SP555 niche and I'm looking for a pool light replacement fixture that will fit the niche or a fixture with an adapter that will fit, the face plate needs to be almost 10 3/4"
I'm looking to replace my 12-volt fixture, (which is burned out), with a 12-volt color changing system. I'm not able to read the model number on my old fixture, but the plastic outer ring is a SP570?


My current light mounts on a shoulder bolt on the bottom and a screw on the top, my mounting ring has a slot at the bottom that fits over the shoulder bolt and mounts with a top screw and the holes are 10” apart.


1. Does anyone know what Hayward replacement model number will be for the information that I provided, or can you recommend a product to use that will fit my old Hayward SP-555 niche.

2. My pool is 12x30 with an average depth of 5'6", what wattage/voltage should be purchased?

3. Will the new light project from deep to shallow end of pool?

My phone number is 518-469-4271 and my email is

Thanks for your time.
JIm

My pool has in-floor cleaning, SWG and a Solaxx acid dosing system, so it is as close to "maintenance free" as one can get.

Untill...my Solaxx acid pump and controller started to go haywire. The peristaltic tube wore out, rollers got weak and the duckbill valve started to leak. Well...Solaxx discontinued their PhTek controller and no longer support it. It uses an Italian controller (sorry, the brand escapes me) so I found them on the web emailed them and go no response. Ive gotten used to low maintenance so I stated searching for a new acid pump and controller.

I found a really neat dosing pump made by Hanna Instruments called the BL 100. They do not stock them, they are made when you order so It took about 3 or 4 weeks to receive. They sell direct from their website and the guy I spoke with on the phone was very helpful, we even ordered couple of spare parts like the tube, checkvalve and even another probe.


I installed it a couple of weeks ago and I really like it. It has proportional control and the set point goes to two decimal points, and has kept the Ph perfect since install. The display is green backlit when everything is OK, but turns red if it goes out of your high/low/over run parameters. It also has dry alarm contacts and a level switch contact to keep the pump from running if the tank is low. The Ph probe ready the Ph and temperature that is dispayed on the controller. Everything comes with its own a signed certificate of calibration. It is a neat piece of kit if you ask me.

Since I was replacing an existing pump set up, it was realtively straightforward for me. I used the old tank and ran a new injector line and check valve. I bought a cutting board from Wally World to mount the new controller on the slumpstone block. Its wired into my Jandy system so it is programmed to run with the main pump via the iAquaLink just like the Solaxx was.

Probe

Controller and Ph probe


Old Solaxx pump

Anyhow...if anyone is looikng for an acid dosing pump and controller, I give thumbs up to the Hanna BL 100.

I’ve been relying on Pinch a Penny to test and recommend chemicals and my algae is getting out of control. I’ve gone to “pool school” lol and just ordered a test kit. I was using the calculator and it shows that with my CYA at 60, the FC for SLAM should be at 24. This sounds insanely high, and I don’t want to damage anything. I’ve been taking care of my pool 6 months now and have kept everything in the recommended range from Pinch a Penny, but now understand the balance between FC and CYA after spending some time on the site. Is it 100% safe to bring FC up to 24? Is there anything I can do in the meantime? I only have a regular test kit now and it only goes up to 5. Not planning on swimming in it, just want to get it somewhat under control in the meantime.

hi everyone
we have an older kidney shaped pool and are doing a renovation. Thus far, we’ve been told coping is possible with all the natural stone paver suspects (marble, limestone, travertine, dolomite), plus concrete, and flagstone. Are there any other practical/viable options for kidney shaped pool coping? For example: we have been told porcelain is not doable on a kidney shaped pool. True? location is miami Florida.

Thanks for any guidance.

After almost two years, Pentair has published new IntelliCenter firmware. The previous 2.xxx firmware had so many problems that Pentair withdrew it from their website. Hopefully they've fixed problems and added capabilities without introducing additional new problems.

Thanks @SA Pentair User for the heads up.


Post your experiences here to help others decide if they want to try the new firmware.

Does anyone know if Pentair is still intending to update their firmware to version 2.x or are we stuck with 1.064 forever? I have stayed on 2.017 for 18 months now but it still has some bugs and I am trying to decide whether to roll back to 1.064 or wait in hope of an update. Moving to 2.017 was a bit hairy as it swapped around some of my slave panels. This was made worse by the fact that I link into Control4 home automation. I suspect rolling back will be equally complex. That said if there is going to be a new version of 2.x anytime soon then I won’t bother rolling back but rather wait.

Hi All,

I am leaving for about two months in Jan-March and am shutting the main water supply to the house off because, in No. Tex., if it is going to freeze it will be during this time. I normally do not shut my pool down for winter because...Texas.

I want to leave my pump running but because I am shutting the water off, it will not be able to fill the pool when the level gets low. So, I have a few questions:

1) Can I run the pump with just the main drain feeding it and shut off the skimmers? I do have a leaf cover on the pool to keep debris out of it.
2) I have a Pentair EasyTouch 4 with two actuated valves but I am not sure how to close the valve to the skimmers and if i do so does the pool automatically pull water to the pump through the main drain?
3) I also have a poolside spa, that spills over into the pool, with what looks like two drains in the bottom of it, will those drain the spa if I am using the main drains to feed the pump?

My apologies, I purchased the house with the pool and do not have complete knowledge on the easy touch operations. Everything has been working the way I want it to since I moved in (if it ain't broke, don't fix it). I can do basic things in the easy touch menu like changing the schedule and such, but I'm not sure how to address the valves. The manual is not very helpful.

Thank You,
Doug

Today I asked the pool guy at my swim club a few questions. You might be interested in the answers.

How do you test the water?
Answer: shows me the cheapest tester that goes up to 3ppm



Next question. What Chlorine do you use? Do you use stabilizer?

Answer: only liquid, no stabilizer.

Here is the pool in question :


Since the pool gets direct sun for the entire day and they don't use cya I assume they have to add chlorine multiple times a day (I didn't ask)

Interesting, right?

I had a pool about 20 years ago above ground and I used a kreepy Krawly to do the cleaning, I have just installed a new 7.4x3.8 above ground pool and I have a S50 Robot cleaner. I upgraded the filet to the fine filet and got rid of the mesh filter but I find it doesn't clean the floor as in like scrub the floor after using a clarifier so I have to manually vacuum the floor. My question is would a suction type cleaner like the kreepy krawler or others suggestion welcomed, do a better job than these robot vaccums, being an above ground pool warranty on the liner can be void if i use any robot cleaner that can clean walls.

I’m curious to know if any of you fine TFPers would be able to give a loose estimate on renovating the decking around my pool. It’s 16x38, and I would probably go with some type of tile. The concrete currently extends out about 5 feet from the pool.

Again, just a really loose estimate is all I’m after.



Backstory for those interested:

We bought this house almost 2 months ago, and it came with a beautiful pool, which we loved until we got shocked. We have a bonding issue that endless amount of electricians (and money) have spent full days out here trying to diagnose and resolve the problem. Nothing they can do is deterring the stray voltage that is in this neighborhood. When I pitch the idea of rebuilding the grid they want nothing to do with it. They all either ghost me or wish me good luck. Other neighbors have safe pools, I know this one can be too.

Years ago I would have called a buddy and attempted to rebuild the grid myself somehow, but I have MS, and can’t work like that anymore. I’m hoping if I approach it as a renovation they’ll remove the concrete deck, exposing a bad bonding grid, and we’ll fix it before the new deck is laid.

It’s either that or fill with dirt and become a farmer, but I’d miss TFP too much to do that

Question of 'best' process for the weekly maintenance use of AC... should the filter remain in place during the 15-30 minute cycle? Or is it preferred to have the filter float in tub during the cycle?

Obviously rinse off after completion of cycle... and I have scheduled to deep clean every 3 months... and swap out when I do 6 month purge (I have 2 filters to allow for seamless swapping).

We had a IntelliBrite 5G Color Underwater LED Pool Light that failed after three years of use.
It seems to be a very common failure, where gradually each color is lost until eventually the light stops working altogether.

We pulled apart the light and investigated what is going wrong, and we discovered that one of the chips that supplies the power to the LEDs overheats and eventually burns out and hence why the LEDs stop working.

We looked at a full Pentair replacement light, but that costs $1,000.
Even if you just replace the Pentair LED board inside the niche, it still costs $600 and it's likely to fail after 2-3 years.

My daughter is a SW & HW engineer, so she set out to design a low cost replacement, and we have just receive the first prototypes from the factory in China.

The design is still under going testing, but the initial testing is looking good.

You basically open the existing Light, remove the existing Pentair LED light PCB and replace it with board below.
It's as easy as undoing four screws, remove the two connectors, and replacing it with the prototype shown below.

Hey all ,
Well my Maytronics Dolphin S300i is starting to show the early signs of its demise . Has been a workhorse for the last 7 years, so I guess I cant complain . Was a Maytronics factory refurb that was only about $700. , so $100. a year isnt too bad I guess . It works ......sometimes . Problem is , about 50% of the time, it just wont turn on . If it does turn on , its works for the duration . Eventually , its going to just be dead/dead . Dont want to be without a robot when that happens researching and waiting to get the new one delivered while the pool gets dirty . Not going to waste $$$ attempting a rebuild .
So ............
Ordered the brand new Maytronics Dolphin NIYA Sonar 50 - cordless .
Maytronics Dolphin NIYA Sonar 50
Going to be a guinea pig on this one I guess, since I dont see to many reviews , and since its a brand new offering from Maytronics . Looks to be a "budget" cordlesscleaner from Maytronics . Cordless, and does the floor/walls and waterline . Bluetooth capable , 2 year warranty . Its only $499 , and the few reviews I have seen are pretty good for a $500. "budget" cordless cleaner . The only downfall I can see is it the filter basket is not super fine .
Its not a "new" model . Maytronics Bought out Seauto , and rebranded . This model appears to be the SeAuto Seal , which has gotten very good reviews . Now that Maytronics rebranded it, the price did go up a bit , but also it now has a 2 year warranty with Maytronics , so that should help with customer confidence (maybe) .

Here is the only you tube review out right now ........ NIYA Sonar 50 Review

Anyway , going to give it a try and report back !

Oh yea .........also ordered the Betta SE Plus skimmer to go with it , since I will have no more pool cleaner cord to interfere !

hello! just added a ton of baking soda to the pool, and our brush broke while brushing it (the pole is separate from the brush, and it is not not possible to re-attach the brush to the pole).

so, now there are now globs of baking soda sitting at the bottom of the pool. can this etch the pebble tec, should i make sure it is brushed around before leaving the house? i have a wetsuit if i need to swim down there and brush it by hand

Hello all. I recently acquired a pentair intellicenter. I have a heat pump I’m trying to wire in. I’m assuming the heater will go straight to the breaker so it has constant power but what I’m confused about is the diagram on the door shows electric heater next to the aux ports and below the gas heater connection. It’s a 2 wire with a plug. Bit there is no plug to that port. Is this a special wire I need to get or do I run it through a relay.

Hello!

I'm trying to solve an intermittent "SF" error code on my heater. OK, that's the temperature sensor. It mounts at the left hand edge of the manifold. No big deal, right?

The Hayward service manual lists it as P/N FDXLTER1930. They're all over Ebay & Amazon. OK, I bought one. Went out to install it this morning.
Why won't it screw in? Whups, the old one is DIFFERENT. First of all, it's all plastic. Second, it has an O-ring to seal it instead of goop or teflon tape.
Third, it's SMALLER DIAMETER than my new FDXLTER1930.

Clearly, the FDXLTER1930 is the wrong part for my heater. I websearched till my eyes bugged out, and found nothing else.

Anybody have a clue? The wife wants her pool back, sooner rather than later . I guess I'll be calling Hayward tomorrow.

My 9350 is about 6 years old, and started throwing errors with the blinking light. Pool store diagnosed to a bad cable. Estimate is around $350 for the cable, which is ridiculous.

Regardless, would you sink $350 into an old cleaner or go for new. I have the money, but don’t like wasting it.
If I should replace, is there a better brand or model I should consider?

Raypak Digital 406A several years old. Natural Gas. Starts, heats then in about 10 minutes loud boom (explosion) and access cover is blown off, repeats explosion every 5-10 minutes. Turned off power at house main electrical panel. Replaced control board, did not fix problem. Removed disassembled & inspected burner, no dirt, cobwebs, minimal corrosion. Removed igniter & inspected, some corrosion. HELP! Thanks....

Do some of you guys with really cold pool water that keep it "open" go 3-4 weeks and still maintain FC above CYA to FC target ratio?

(I have no affiliation with any of the vendor or product below, I was not asked to write any reviews and I have received nothing in return. I am just a first-time pool owner sharing my experience )

poolpartstogo.com

• Quick shipping: I placed the order on Friday April 26th, the order shipped via UPS on Monday April 29th and was delivered on Friday May 3rd.
• Great customer service: I originally placed an order for the 2HP version of the pump. After reading TFP I decided to go with the 3HP version instead. I submitted a ticket to PoolpartsToGo and they responded very quickly. They agreed to take back the 2HP pump (under their return policy) because the box was unopened and they even paid for the return shipping. The responses were very quick and helpful. I have also emailed them questions about this product (and others) and they have always been helpful. 10/10 I am very happy with all of my interactions with this company.
• Discount: They seem to often have a new 10-15% coupon code advertised on the top of their site, and they honor it. If you don't see this coupon, sign up for their email list and wait a few weeks for the next promo code. It seems like they do this all year around.

The Black+Decker 3HP VSP

• Price: Currently $1,020 after a 15% discount. Great price.
• Warranty: 5 year warranty. This warranty is directly to the end user and doesn't require professional install. I have never had a warranty issue so I can't comment on it.
• Installation: I paid a local pool pro to install the pump. He explained to me that he isn't familiar with the Black+Decker pumps and wouldn't offer them to customers because theres no local network of suppliers or distributors for quick access to replacement parts or pumps or warranty service if a pump breaks. They don't want to leave customers without circulation in their pool for extended periods of time. I understood this risk and understand that if my pump stops working it may take longer to get it back in service vs other brand name pumps.
• Compatibility: The inlets and outlets seem compatible with 'brand name' pumps - so it's pretty straight forward to swap them in.
• Noise: Very quiet compared to the dual speed Jandy pump that it replaced
• Energy Usage: I have the pump on 24x7 @ 1500RPMs, it uses about 215W (roughly $20/month in electricity here)
• Reliability: The pump has been running 24x7 since May with no hiccups. The pump has survived Florida summer heat and storms. A hurricane passed through and we had some power brownouts and blackouts which resulted in the panel showing an "under voltage" error - understandable because of the power fluctuations - however the pump resumed normal operation as soon as I hit "start".
• Panel / automation: The configuration panel is dead simple. I purchased this automation panel but never installed it. Our pool originally had a Jandy dual speed pump so I dreamed up big plans to automate the run time, RPMs and schedule of the new pump to keep electricity costs in check. But after seeing that I can just leave the pump at 1500RPM 24x7 for minimal cost I decided to keep things simple and just run the pump on that simple setting.

Overall the pump has been excellent and I have no regrets about the decision to get it. I know 2 other people in my area who have Black+Decker pumps (lower HP versions) and they have had the same excellent experience with their pumps (they have had their pumps for longer than I have had mine - maybe 2 or 3 years).

I'm hoping that this review will help normalize B+D pumps and ease concerns for anyone who is considering a B+D pump.

When you think you have it all figured out @Jimrahbe @mknauss ...

Looks like the iChlor cells are being replaced by IntelliChlor LT cells.


The IntelliChlor Plus & LT Salt Chlorine Generators have new and improved modular designs — providing more serviceability, accuracy, and value than Pentair's first-generation IntelliChlor® and iChlor® Salt Chlorine Generators.

KEY FEATURES

• Drop-in replacement for existing Pentair salt chlorine generators requires no additional plumbing.
• Compatible with existing IntelliChlor Power Center and Pentair automation systems.
• Modular design enables simple replacements for electronics and sensors.
• Easy-to-read LCD/LED interface with built-in diagnostic information makes service easier.
• SmartSense™ technology accurately adjusts chlorine output when the pump is off, or the pool cover is detected as on.
• A redesigned conductivity sensor provides more accurate salt level readings.
• Acid cleaning kit provided with all units makes routine cleaning easier.
• Regular cycling helps prevent calcium and scale buildup to maximize cell life.

Hi everyone. I need help identifying this part. It's a skimmer-like device with a sealed plastic lid. Any help is appreciated.

I have an outdoor pool timer from Dewenwils (a T30) that has worked reliably for a couple of years.

The unit has one recurring problem. Any change to the WiFi requires re-pairing the T30 to the WiFi. Usually, I can get this to work after 10 to 25 attempts. No luck this time.

The T30 is quite close to an outdoor modem with a solid 2.4GHz signal. A few other devices connect with no issue.

When attempting to pair the T30 with the Dewenwils App, the App seems to discover my T30 and prompts me for the WiFi SSID and password. Once provided, the T30 - after a few seconds - stops and restarts. Inevitably, it reports that it could not connect.

I suspect that there might be a "phone home" issue, where the device is trying and failing to reach a Dewenwils site. I don't have the right equipment to look at network packets. So, no insight into any handshake that might be failing.

I have tried power cycling the box, doing 5s resets, etc. Nothing seems to work.

I appreciate any insight and advice anyone can offer.

I have been trying to track down a leak on my Sta rite pump, I’ve changed the shaft seal(Amazon), the water slinger and all o rings, still have a drip inconsistently, upon taking it back apart I noticed a slight crack, I can feel it with my fingernail, on my impeller leading up to the threaded portion of the impeller(C105-137PEB), I have purchased another (PS200) shaft seal from my local dealer, I also am waiting on a new impeller, is there any chance that the cracked impeller is causing the leak? I am waiting for the new impeller to arrive(a week out) as I don’t want to put in the newest seal if the problem is the impeller..
Thanks..

Hi TFP fam,

We are looking to build a 5000-6500 gallon pool in the Houston Area. We have a small backyard, so that's as big as it could be. Our pool builder provided these specs for our future pool. We are still learning the different lines, specs, and also makers. So some feedback and suggestions would be helpful.
Water feature

Does these look good and appropriate to the size of our pool? Anything else we should take away or reconsider? The builders also said we could build it with pentair, but it'll be an extra $1600 more. We like the idea of pentair more but we're not sure if it's worth the extra cost.

We're also highly considering the SWG, which they said it'll be another $2700 more with a Jandy system. I'm following up with them in terms of the actual model.

Thank you so much!

I'm still in the first few months of owning and maintaining a pool. I just got the TFPRO kit and after about an hour of reading everything 3 times to double check, I am pretty confident in my results. The levels seem pretty healthy, the water clear; but I'm starting to see these deposits just over the spillway from the spa to the pool. I run the in floor cleaning each night for a few hours to try and remove major particulates and keep it clear. I know Phoenix has very hard water and I see stuff like this on fixtures and the water heater from time to time. Is this just normal for a pebble pool in Phoenix? Calcium Hardness seems fine and there isn't any build up along the water line.
TA 100
Ph 7.7
FC 7
Calcium hardness 200
Cya 50
CC 0.5

Has anyone ever used pool math with the attached kit ? I have hot yet purchased a kit just trying to find the easiest and quickest one to use