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Never hide who you are......

I guess i dont understand the question completely. Could you rephrase?

I guess i dont completely understand the question......could you rephrase?

@@CrystalEdgePools the boulders that I was digging up still had gravel packed in drill hole with what looks like the charged failed

Are they blasting your rock instead of hammering?

@@CrystalEdgePools they blasted a lot of rock out there

Could you tell me your geographic location? It can make a difference on the advice

@@CrystalEdgePools I am located in New Jersey, so we have to winterize appropriately for freezing temps

The spa is maybe 150-200 ft away from the pump/pool plumbing, but it’s raised and above grade compared to the pump. Not sure if this matters

That is the nature of the cmp's which are great chlorinators. Typically when you first start up, the air bleed may take a hot minute. Does it come on after prime or still not?

@@CrystalEdgePools yeah, i figured it out. I was looking at the wrong model online. It turns correctly. Also, I was looking at it when my variable speed pump was on its low setting. When it's running on its cleaning cycle it's flowing right.

Then nothing to worry about with any sump advice. Earth formed (such as traditional gunites do not have them)

Thank you.

Back at ya!

It's not pointed at so it's none of your business Nazi.

I guess there are sharks in the pool

It's Texas, there's big, fast, aggressive rattle snakes.

You likely have an earth formed pool

To speak to this unusually weird defense of the bucket test, if you're trying to evaluate the loss of water in a pool in a given time frame, a duct tape line is far more effective and scientific than putting a bucket next to a pool. I appreciate all y'all die hard bucket testers and support your owning those feelings, but a tape line and a measuring tape is far more effective and unchangable by any elements. Please stop telling people that a tape measure is not effective. Nearly every engineered structure, vehicle or project has utilized them throughout history.

Glad it helped. Upgrades are possible for many systems. I realize that money is involved, but depending on your system, it may not be as bad as you think. Though i cant say for sure on the return flow problem, many times when we have witnessed this in a system that has a clean filter and an unobstructed skimmer it is because the plumbing was fed in a system without a manifold. When a feed line has more than 3 returns without a manifold, it has been our experience that performance between returns is not equal. If you haven't checked the filter and skimmer, that would be a good place to start though.

In speaking specifically on fiberglass pools in texas, freezing of the surface should not cause damage to the pool shell. This is assuming a pumped out sump and a pool filled to operating level. This would leave the water roughly 5" below the top beam and the ground will not freeze 5" in four days. Properly backfilled, dry material around the pool shell will not freeze and expand. This is why we are firm believers in a pea gravel backfill around a fiberglass pool shell (other than cavity washing which should only be done with 100% sharp sand and no clay content). These materials do not retain water when sump is kept dry.

Glad it was helpful. Deciding the end of a filters life is really a combination of pool performance and gauge response. If heaters arent firing or u/v's arent turning on from flow restrictions after you have cleaned the filter, than the filter likely needs changing. Also if water features dont perform as expected or pool flow is diminished, the filter has likely reached the end of its life

On a single pump system without pool main drains, (which is how this pool is set up) it is handled with the single diverter valve. If a system has 2 sets of main drains (pool and spa) as well as a skimmer, there should be more diverters to handle selection.

@@CrystalEdgePools Thanks for your reply. I think what I find confusing is that you refer to and label the pipe, second from the right, as Main Drain/Spa Draw. Main Drain, as far as I'm aware, usually means the Pool Drain, as distinct from the Spa Drain. So, in this case, to drain the spa, I take it that you would shut off the feed to it and close (or partially close) the Skimmer/Pool Draw. Also, it looks like there is no way to balance or adjust the skimmer flow in comparison to the pool, if using a vacuum pool cleaner. If there is no pool drain, how is water removed from it once the level drops below the skimmer, if there was a maintenance issue? The only way I can see would be to use a submersible pump but then if you were totally draining it, how do you prevent the pool from popping up if there is no hydrostatic relief valve? I'm assuming it's not a vinyl pool as one of the tags at the top of your post shows #fiberglasspools.

Relax folks, focus on the pool and leave your Second Amendment concerns out of the posts.

Im in and out of a 200 mile raidus of the DFW metroplex. I have ran into many more diamondback rattlesnakes and other unsavory creatures than people. Nice to think ill have a chance to live another day to put in another pool....make another video

Just go into the timer setting and select "off" and then "save"

Hi gunner0322. If you have a spa system with no blower, you likely have a venturi system with draws in air as the water is flowing through the jets. This is usually fed through inlets at the top of the spa. These often times look like small circular discs on the top rim of the spa. Regardless of where exactly they are located, if these air inlets become clogged with any debris (such as organics, dirt, etc) they will choke of the air inlet and reduce the amount of air introduced to the jets when flowing. The first place to start is to locate and confirm that these inlets are clean. Most venturi caps are removable and then cleaned out. Obstructions can be lodged at times due to the vacuum created in this design to feed air into the system. Give that a shot and let me know if it fixes your issue.

@@CrystalEdgePools thank you!

Yes, this will work for diagnosis. It is tougher on a 4 barrel system and the manifold would be removed during this test. Typically with 4 cartridge systems we recommend just replacing the cartridges rather than trying this test.

Great to hear!

Im glad the video helped to narrow down the problem. There are far too many crooked or ignorant contractors/maintenance people who are more than happy to sell you parts and equipment when the problem is so simple. You bring up 2 very important points with your comment: 1. Everything in the pool water will go through the filter. Chemical additives can be hard on the filters construction depending on what they are. Floc is a product thats designed to clump heavy particulates together (such as dirt). Adding this to a flowing filter will clog the filter because of this. When adding floc-out to a body of water, it should be done while the pool is off and then left to sit for 8-24 hours to ensure that everything has gathered on the pool floor. When restarted, it should then be vacuumed out immediately and the filter removed and rinsed upon completion. When we do initial cleanouts after construction, we hook a hose up to the pump outlet and eject this heavy material right out of the pool. After we finish with removal, we then rehook the plumbing back up and filter the fine cleaning. (It should be noted that doing this process will drain the pool down because you are ejecting and not recirculating. We usually overfill the pool to the very top of the skimmer so that it ends up halfway down 'or at normal operating level' when we are done. We have removed an entire skid steer bucket of sand that was accidentally ddropped into the water with this method and never drained the pool during the process. We often times will be filling the pool while we are doing this process just to ensure that we do not lose too much water depending on how much dirt needs to be ejected) 2. Constant chemical additives should not be necessary for a properly designed and running system. We see these weekly "pool maintenace techs" over treating water constantly down here. Many times when we follow behind them we find out they are overchlorinating the pool, not cleaning filters and constantly "shocking" the pool (often times weekly or monthly). This is because (just like many people who can buy and push a lawnmower arent actually landscapers) most of these guys have bought a net and a vacuum and call themselves "techs". Whether on purpose, or through ignorance, they create a chemical soup for you to swim in because it provides a temporary appearance improvement and sells more chemicals on their weekly bill. Additives are necessary at times, but should never be a constant part of pool maintenance. The systems we construct for our customers keep their pools sparkling clear with no additives and 1 (or less) 3" chlorine tablet per week in 105+ degree temperatures. Im not saying you specifically are doing this, but im using the opportunity to warn people. Be wary of advice to keep adding chemicals constantly. You often dont need a change to the chemistry as much as a change to the system.

Boy, im sure sorry to hear that! The pipes with the 90's are likely for venturi air (air introduced to the spa system through vacuum when the water is pumped through the jets at a high rate of speed). Many spas use this system and it usually works fine. We started adding blowers for 2 reasons: 1. On demand air through sealed plumbing 2. Venturis can get clogged at times Its hard to know how things have been plumbed after a pool is finished, and we can only hope it was done correctly. However, I have seen jets act as inlets on a spa to feed the venturi. I dont know if thats the problem on this, but it might be. Usually an air blower can be added to a system you are describing if it was plumbed correctly. They are relatively cheap and run off either 120 or 240 from your subpanel (depending on which blower you choose). Im not telling you to do this, but it can be an option. The rule for blower size is 1/4 hp for each jet (i.e. 6 jets= 1.5 hp blower). Should you elect to do this, it may fix your problrm, or it may not. I have to emphasize that because i do not know your pool plumbing i can only throw it out as an idea and cannot guarantee results, functionality or possible future problems on the system. One way i would try to determine validity of this approach would be to take a shop vac (with the hose on the blower side) and try to introduce air through your pipes. If you get the result you are looking for, you may consider a blower addition. Again though, because i cant verify how your spa was plumbed i can only throw it out there as an idea and not a suggestion. **Make sure the blower is mounted 1' above the water level of the spa when installed!!! Many people add them too low and not only will they not perform right, they can also receive water back up into the blower (even if they have a check valve)** Dont lose heart! Usually there is always a way to fix these problems!

@@CrystalEdgePools Thank you for the detailed response. Makes good sense. Will see how I go about it.

I know........and alot of these guys are charging but not doing it (as you can see on our 4 cartridge cleaning video). Pool maintenance should be easy!

Hi KC6442. Pentair does actually make a 200 sq. ft. single cartridge filter (we used to install them when we gave pentair a shot over about 100 pools). Im not sure exactly why they are such a maintenance item for you on your pool without seeing it, but do remember that a cartridge is a sacrificial item that will wear out periodically. Usually when you have psi changes that often, you are simply coming to the end of their lifespan. Just like an oil filter on your car, it can only efficiently filter for so long. If you are having this problem with NEW cartridges, please respond and let me know further about your pool. There may be another issue.

@CrystalEdgePools thank you, sir, for this much needed knowledge. I'm a diy guy. But, I certainly appreciate it

Thank you very much!

This is normal. No worries! Just make sure the gasket is good under the cap and snug (hand tight)

Start at the middle between the 2 and just ensure that the skimmer draws enough to keep top water debris going in