First water tests

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I have been spraying it down every couple days, but I think it has also been neglected like the pool... I have a brand new one sitting here and am thinking it's time to swap the old one out?
 
I wouldn't swap yet. How dirty are they when you clean? Do you have a pressure gauge on the filter? Clean the filters, note clean pressure, when it rises 25%, then you should clean again.

If the pool is green, you should be cleaning them fairly often.
 
It hasn't been green for a few days now, psi seems steady at 5, but the filter is pretty brown even after cleaning. I'm not checking pressure super often though.

Would there be a "speed" advantage to a clean filter though? As in, even at the cost of another new one because I filtered algae into this one, would the new one help with the goal of having 48 hours left to try and get the water clear?
 
PoolPadawan said:
Would there be a "speed" advantage to a clean filter though? As in, even at the cost of another new one because I filtered algae into this one, would the new one help with the goal of having 48 hours left to try and get the water clear?
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Don't know. Would be based on the condition of the filters, without seeing them I don't know.

Might be worth the cost of the carts to throw them in...certainly wouldn't hurt.
 
PoolStored said:
Don't know. Would be based on the condition of the filters, without seeing them I don't know.

Might be worth the cost of the carts to throw them in...certainly wouldn't hurt.
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20240711_131208.jpg
Best pic I have at the moment since it's dark out. This was the first time I took it out last week to clean it and had started spraying at the bottom. When done, most of it looks about like that section.
 
Cartridges can last 10+ years, if pool water is maintained, no pool store potions put in and are cleaned appropriately. Those don't look "bad."

If you don't mind the cost to speed it up, throw the new ones in and keep these as spares.

Here is a guide for you:

Cartridge Filter Use and Care - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Stupid question time. After vacuuming, I have to turn the pump off in order to get the skimmer basket out to empty it and clean it out. It's maybe about 50/50 that when I turn the pump back on, it just starts running normally. The other times, it starts running (I can see plenty of water, sometimes I'll re-prime just to ensure that it's holding water w/o issue), but the jet & skimmer are completely still. What am I doing wrong?

I turn the pump off, remove the basket, clean it out/off, put the basket back, and turn the pump back on. Round-trip (the pump is about 50ft from the pool) is MAYBE 45 seconds. And like I said, works fine at least half the time (maybe it's more, but the frustration when it doesn't work makes it feel like a lot less).

Note - the jet does have water coming out of it, but without much pressure at all (I can plug it for a few seconds and get a good couple seconds of "normal," but then it goes right back to no real pressure)
 
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PoolPadawan said:
The other times, it starts running (I can see plenty of water, sometimes I'll re-prime just to ensure that it's holding water w/o issue), but the jet & skimmer are completely still. What am I doing wrong?
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When you say "I can see plenty of water" what does that mean? See it where?
PoolPadawan said:
I turn the pump off, remove the basket, clean it out/off, put the basket back, and turn the pump back on. Round-trip (the pump is about 50ft from the pool) is MAYBE 45 seconds. And like I said, works fine at least half the time (maybe it's more, but the frustration when it doesn't work makes it feel like a lot less).
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Which basket? The pump basket? Skimmer basket?
PoolPadawan said:
Note - the jet does have water coming out of it, but without much pressure at all (I can plug it for a few seconds and get a good couple seconds of "normal," but then it goes right back to no real pressure)
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I would replace the cartridges, lubricate the pump basket cover o-ring with silicone lubricant (not silicone sealant), like magic lube II (don't use a PTFE/Teflon lubricant) and restart.

Take and post pictures of the equipment pad to we can see everything.
 
It's the skimmer basket - usually the pressure is pulling it down so much after vacuuming that I can't pull it out of the skimmer without turning the pump off.

Anyway, I can't do a ton of troubleshooting at the moment due to some mid-day meetings, but I did just go out and turn the pump off for a few seconds just to look at the pump basket (clean) and water level in the pump (good) and then turned it back on. The pool jet started sputtering with a ton of pressure, did that for maybe 30 seconds, and then went back to pretty much nothing. I waited a couple minutes, repeated the same, and the same thing happened.

I can put some new ML2 on the o-ring a little later today, but the cartridge is brand spankin' new and installed just a couple hours ago. I vacuumed once prior to putting the new cartridge in and this was the first time after. It's been nearly 2 hours now and certainly that has to have an impact on SLAM, which I'm already working against the clock on as it is. My stress level is at a 500 out of 10 and my hope is dwindling. Ugh.
 

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The Frog Leap Infuzer thingy... empty, turned down to zero so that it's not doing anything-per earlier rec when I realized I should have researched it before they installed it as part of the pool package
 
I can't tell, but the pump looks like it has no water in it.

Are you sure you put the filter back together correctly?

PoolPadawan said:
but there is absolutely no suction into the skimmer basket.
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If the return is working, but the skimmer is not pulling water, that makes no sense. How are you determining there is no suction?

How many skimmers and returns do you have?
Is there a weir door on the skimmer?
What is the water level in the skimmer mouth? 25% up, 50% up 75% up?
 
Wier door is open, one skimmer, water level just over 50% (increased it from about 25% this morning and maybe looks closer to 75% from this angle).

The water in the skimmer has absolutely no movement whatsoever. The wier door is just held open by the fact that the water is holding it open.20240724_131723.jpg
 
With water level that high, the weir should be almost in the vertical position, as it should have foam in it to make it "float."

Check the weir moves freely, and that it has the foam in it.

CAREFULLY put your hand near the hole in the bottom of the skimmer...I think you will find it is pulling water.
 
I just disassembled the filter housing. I have no clue if it was installed correctly as I didn't do that part this morning, but it's just a single cartridge filter with a 4" diameter opening. Seems like it can't be messed up?

I have the filter back out. There's plenty of crud in the housing (which I'm told there wasn't when it was drained out a few hours ago) and the filter is nice and gross looking already. The skimmer is not suctioning, and it appears to be getting fuller. The return is barely a dribble compared to usual. The pump definitely has water and I can see water coming into it (which should mean that's coming from the pool and flies in the face of me saying there's no suction happening at the bottom of the skimmer).

All I can think of is that there has to be a clog somewhere, but nothing seems to make sense as I can see water coming into the pump, I can see water going into the filter housing from the pump. And the filter housing drains water back out when the pump is off. In my simple mind, it seems like all the parts are moving water where they're supposed to. It's just that none of it is resulting in activity in the skimmer or return.
 
I think your weir door is not working and your water level is too high.

'Both of those factors will make your skimmer "look" like its not pulling water.
 

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