Austin, Texas - Recommend a company to walk me through my pool equipment

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C

Cetanorak

Well-known member
Jun 13, 2022
101
Wimberley, TX
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Just moved into a new home (first time pool owner) and would really love to pay for a one-time visit from a competent pool expert for a run through on the equipment and to comment on some issues that I've noticed right away. I do plan to (attempt to) handle the chemistry on my own using the TFP protocols.

Can anybody recommend a company in South Austin or hill country that would make house calls like this. We are in Wimberley.

When I arrived at the house, I noticed that the water seemed to be low (level with the bottom of the skimmer). One of the skimmers is missing it's weir door...the other's weir door wasn't really opening, likely due to low water level. When the pump ran, one of the skimmers was very loud (the one with the weir door) and the vortex within seemed to be taking in air at the center of the vortex. The returns then sounded noisier and inconsistent. I'm not sure the pump was losing it's prime or not...I'm just not familiar enough with pool equipment and have no frame of reference for these situations just yet. I turned the skimmer valves off and left the 2 drains on and the pump and filter would occasionally jolt. I turned everything off and plan to leave it off until somebody with a more trained eye can evaluate.


Thank you!
 
I can't recommend a local company, but why not post some pics here for us? I can't think of any pool equipment or chemical question we can't help you with. Lots of folks here available to help. Post pics of anything you have questions about.
 
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C,

Step 1. Put water in the pool. It should be about halfway up the tile line.
Step 2. See if the one weir door you have is now working. If it is stuck up, stick a brick on it to hold it down and see if your vortex goes away.
Step 3. Replace the missing weir door and fix the other weir door if still bad.
Step 4. Show us several pics of your equipment pad. There are many members here that will be glad to walk you through how everything works.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Years ago when we moved into a house in Hill Country, a company called “The Pool Peeps” came out and cleared my pool of the green. They taught me about my equipment and about the importance of chlorinating the pool with liquid chlorine and using an FAS/DPD kit for testing. They even walked me through using the test kit in person because I was intimidated by it at first.

The owners are different now, but the woman who used to own the company told me that the philosophy of the new owner remains the same. I haven’t used their services (they installed a VSP and SWCG for me) in a couple of years, so I can’t attest personally to their service. I also don’t know how far their service area extends, but it might be worth looking into.
 
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Skimmer 1 does not have a weir door, Skimmer 2 does. I have added water about up to halfway on the skimmers and the weir door on skimmer 2 opens and closes infrequently, perhaps the water level is now too high.

Video of Skimmer 2 weir door

With all three sunction valves open (Drain, Skimmer 1, Skimmer 2), Skimmer 2 displays much more suction activity than Skimmer 1.

Video of skimmer 1 suction

Video of skimmer 2 suction

I know that I need to get a weir door installed for skimmer 1, not sure how I determine what model/size.

Also the returns seem to be sputtering, as you can see in the following two videos:

Video of return 2

Video of return 3
 
Some basic questions that I have:

Can I get a manual vacuum head, skimmmer plate and suction vacuum in addition to using the pressure-side Polaris 360?

If water levels get too high after a rain, can I suction vacuum via skimmer to waste...in the pictures of my equipment pad, you can see a spigot in-line just after my pool pump. Could that be opened, turn off the drain & skimmer 1 valves and then use skimmer 2 to "vacuum to waste"?

Do I ever need to make adjustments to suction (skimmer 1, skimmer 2, drains) or pressure (spray, returns, polaris cleaner) valves to adapt best for certain scenarios?
For example:
• when running the Polaris pressure-side cleaner, should all 3 pressure valves remain 100% open?
• during the heat of a Texas summer, while on vacation, should I turn off skimmer suction and only use main drain to prevent skimmers from taking in air should the water evaporate to a low level?
 
C,

Looks to me like you have a huge advantage over most new pool owners as everything is pretty well labeled. :goodjob:

Your videos are all private so no one here can play them.

Skimmer 2 has the most action for two reasons.. One, it has a weir door, and Two, it is closer to the equipment pad. I suggest that you close the valve for Skimmer 2 just a little and leave skimmer one wide open. This will allow you to have about the same suction at both skimmers.

You really don't need a main drain, so I would only open it about 10%. That will give your skimmers more suction.

You most likely understand this already, but just in case. Your pump sucks water from the pool through the three blue Intake valves, Skimmer1, Skimmer2 and Main Drain. The pump then pushes the water through your cartridge filter and then into your heater. The water coming out of the heater goes through a check valve and into a Chlorine Tablet Feeder. After the feeder, the water returns to the pool through your three blue Return valves, Cleaner, Sprayer (bubbler) and "fall". I do not see a waterfall, so I have to assume the Fall line goes to your 4 pool returns,

I am sure you have many more questions.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Cetanorak said:
Can I get a manual vacuum head, skimmmer plate and suction vacuum in addition to using the pressure-side Polaris 360?
Click to expand...
You can, but why do you think you need it?

Cetanorak said:
f water levels get too high after a rain, can I suction vacuum via skimmer to waste...in the pictures of my equipment pad, you can see a spigot in-line just after my pool pump. Could that be opened, turn off the drain & skimmer 1 valves and then use skimmer 2 to "vacuum to waste"?
Click to expand...
You really can't vacuum to waste in your current set up. You can use the spigot to lower the water, but some water will always be going into your filter. You can add a 3-way valve between the pump and the filter. This would allow you to close off the filter and actually vacuum to waste.

Cetanorak said:
Do I ever need to make adjustments to suction (skimmer 1, skimmer 2, drains) or pressure (spray, returns, polaris cleaner) valves to adapt best for certain scenarios?
Click to expand...
That is something you can do if you find a need for it. As an example, if your cleaner is not running well and you think it needs more flow you could shut off the other two Return line and let everything go to the cleaner. You would not want to leave it like that.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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