Swimming pool phone help, service, parts & repair.

Commercial swimming pools, apartment, condo, hotel, motel.

BackintheSwim — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Commercial swimming pool maintenance help, apartments, condos, hotels, motels.
This is a message for the commercial property managers.

You need your maintenance staff on a lot of jobs besides your swimming pool.
You also need quick answers to trouble shooting questions. I know the swimming pool can be a real source of headaches for you. When it's not right the natives will be restless.

In some areas it is impossible to find a pool man to have on staff.
Then when you really need to call one in to help you, they are always booked up.

I can help you understand the double talk you may get from your staff or pool service.
I can help your staff understand the pool better.
A simple phone call could save you a lot of time and headache.

Is your maintenance staff learning on the job?
That is a common, normal situation.
You can speed up the process.
If they have someone to ask... they will ask.

I can help with day in, day out operation.
If your guys can find product models numbers, I can help them find a parts diagrams online.
A quick look at a heater or pump breakdown, along with a few words of advice could make all the difference.

Read my other Ether blog

Swimming Pool Man

Chemicals - Pumps - Cleaners - Maintenance

Call me!

Fix your swimming pool light.

BackintheSwim — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:21:00 GMT

We can find out what's wrong.

Get the tool box out and give me a call.

I'll walk you through each step.
We'll check out the switch and work our way to the bulb.

Read my other Ether blog

Swimming Pool Man

Chemicals - Pumps - Cleaners - Maintenance

Call me!

Polaris Vac Sweep needs help

BackintheSwim — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:53:00 GMT

The Polaris 180, 280 and some other models.

It won't go.
Is the pump coming on?
If yes keep following the list, if no repair pump.

First check the wall fitting for debris.
While the fitting is off run the pump for a moment to see if the flow really increases.
This will also blow out any remaining debris.
Test the Polaris.

Check the pressure relief.
It looks like a blue, black or red button.
It should be closed, tight, it has a strong spring for this.
If it is open or loose replace it.

Still won't go.
Is it laying on it's side?
Empty the pool sweep bag.
The head float is broken and has water in it.
Replace head float.

Still?
The hose is always tangled.
The hose may be too long.
The hose should extended to the longest point from the wall fitting.
Excess hose longer than the longest point should be removed.
Once cut it will allow the unit to stretch itself out straight once in a while.

Hose floats should float, the only float that should be underwater is the one closest to the Vac Sweep.

Do the wheels wobble on the axle?
You need wheel bearings.

When you spin one wheel do all the rest spin?
If not you need bands, wheels or rebuild.

Chemicals - Pumps - Cleaners - Maintenance

Air in swimming pool system.

BackintheSwim — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:13:00 GMT

I had a man call about air blowing back into his swimming pool.
It seems he noticed a few air bubbles over the last swimming season, those were not too bad.
Now he has much more air in his system. He checked the swimming pool message boards on the internet.
What he got was a lot of answers, most of them caused him to worry he had a cracked line below ground.
I doubted he had a cracked line. I suggested he take a towel and while the equipment was running to make sure the pump and valves on the suction line were completely dry.
Once it was checked and he knew it was dry I had him bump his pump, quickly switching off then back on.
It didn't take long for him to see a very small amount of water to spurt from the stem of one of his valves.
That was just what we were looking to find. While the pump was running and the the valves were under suction he could not see the leak.
If the valve will leak water while bumping the pump it will suck in air when the pump is running.
He happened to have a good quality new style plastic valve. One with screws over the front cover.
Although in his area he could not locate "repair parts" he was able to get an exact replacement valve.
He just took off the handle, front cover and diverter assembly from the new one and installed it in the old one.
Problem solved, no need to cut pipe or dig up the yard.

That one went pretty well, it was found quickly.
I have used and seen this method used for years to find small air leaks.
Most often the pump lid "O" ring is the only problem when you have some new air getting into the system.
The pump lid "O" ring as well as the rubber seals on the valve shaft will get dry and/or crack.

The other place you find new air leaks is the PVC male adapter that screws into the front of the pump suction.
Most often this happens when the pump is allowed to run dry for a period of time. Whether from a clogged up skimmer basket or low water level.
What happens when the pump runs dry is the water that remains in the pumps becomes very hot, 180 degrees or more, way too hot to touch.
This causes the PVC adapter to swell, once it cools down it shrinks, no longer making a tight fit.

I hope the information here was helpful, if you think I can help you give me a call.

1-888-MY-ETHER ext. 02507429

Starting my own swimming pool cleaning business

BackintheSwim — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:57:00 GMT

So you bought the "Start your own pool cleaning service business" book.
You followed everything in the book to the letter.

By the way, I've read the ebook, printed and read every last page. Yeah, I bought it too. I had been running a swimming pool service business for years before I bought it. My curiosity got the best of me on that one.

As far as the mechanics of starting a business it was an ok read.
If you follow the details, yes indeed you will have a business.

What you won't have is enough information/experience to actually jump in and begin to:
A. test and treat water.
B. operate swimming pool systems.
C. make decisions about what tools to use on what jobs.
D. speak with customers.
E. make money.

What you need is a mentor.
Someone who has been there and done that.

I won't ever claim to know everything. Because I don't.
I know what I know and that's all I know.

The guy who sold you the ebook on how to start this pool cleaning business is done.
I doubt he would really know how to clean his own pool.
He's a publisher, he has compiled information for you to work with to begin this new business.
His job is over. Your job is just beginning.

I may be able to help though.
Over the years I have helped dozens of rookies using the phone and company radios.
I have also helped countless pool owners over the phone.

Should you find yourself on a job and need help deciding how to tackle it, a little experienced help over the phone may just get it done.
You could save a lot of time and win the confidence of your new customer.

Not only help getting the jobs done, I may be able to offer some tips on the best ways to find those new customers.

You have put a lot of time, money and effort into this new business.
No reason to panic once you hit a situation you just don't know how to handle.

I am offering my services via the telephone.
You may call me from poolside and we will talk it through.
Step by step, as long as it takes to complete the task at hand.

If you think you may be interested, an introduction call before you actually need me would be a good idea.
Visit my phone service page and check it out.

Click here to call me.

Thanks for stopping by!

This is reprinted from my Yahoo 360 blog.

Swimming Pool Disinfection: Chlorine & pH

BackintheSwim — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Pool Disinfection: Chlorine & pH

Protecting swimmers and their families from RWIs (Recreational Water Illnesses) is the reason that pool staff regularly check both chlorine and pH levels. Chlorine and pH, your disinfection team, are the first defense against germs that can make swimmers sick.

What does chlorine do?

Chlorine kills germs in pools--but it takes time to work. Therefore, it’s important to make sure chlorine levels are always at the levels recommended by the health department (usually between 1.0 - 3.0 ppm).

Why does chlorine need to be tested regularly?

All sorts of things can reduce chlorine levels in pool water. Some examples are sunlight, dirt, debris, and material from swimmer’s bodies. That’s why chlorine levels must be routinely measured. However, the time it takes for chlorine to work is also affected by the other member of the disinfection team, pH.

Why is pH important?

Two reasons. First, the germ-killing power of chlorine varies with pH level. As pH goes up, the ability of chlorine to kill germs goes down. Second, a swimmer’s body has a pH between 7.2 and 7.8, so if the pool water isn’t kept in this range then swimmers will start to feel irritation of their eyes and skin. Keeping the pH in this range will balance chlorine’s germ-killing power while minimizing skin and eye irritation.

What else can be done to promote Healthy Swimming?

The best way to kill germs is by routinely measuring and adjusting both chlorine and pH levels. Since a few germs can survive for long periods in even the best maintained pools, it is also important that swimmers become aware of Healthy Swimming behaviors (don’t swim when ill with diarrhea, don’t swallow pool water, take frequent bathroom breaks, and practice good hygiene). Combining Healthy Swimming behaviors with good chlorine and pH control will reduce the spread of RWIs.

Water Quality	pH
- Poor Chlorine Disinfection - Eye Irritation - Skin Irritation	> 8.0
- Most Ideal for Eye Comfort and Disinfection	7.8 7.6 7.2
- Eye Irritation - Skin Irritation - Pipe Corrosion	< 7.0

The information above was taken from the CDC website.
Using chlorine combined with proper pH control is the best way to keep your pool water safe.

My old friend the Hayward Super Pump

BackintheSwim — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:14:00 GMT

My old friend the Hayward Super Pump.
What can I say?
Value? An excellent value. A very long lasting pump. Easy repirs when needed, parts are availible.
Ease of use? The Two knobs and square lid make it very easy to open and close. You don't have to break your wrist opening your pump.
Performance? Wired for high voltage on most installations, it can also run low voltage. Either way it has lasting power. It will catch a prime in cases where many pumps won't, It deserves the name Super Pump.
Overall Rating? The best for it's large easy to clean basket and easy open lid. Quiet running, long lasting.

Hello, I am a professional pool service tech. For for more than ten years my choice for service pump has been the Super Pump from Hayward. We service guys pump the worst stuff with these service pumps, all the trash and slime you could imagine. The Super Pump always pulls hard and does the job. Most of my Hayward service pumps were sold to customers eventually, those in need a quick pump replacement, they worked great even after riding and working with me for weeks. Your Super Pump from Hayward comes in many sizes from 3/4hp to over 2hp not only power choices but plumbing choices, it also comes in both 1.5" and 2" thread. When I help my customers choose their replacement pump, I always start with the Super Pump. I know it works and the price is always right.

I wrote this review for the Hayward Super Pump at The Aqua Superstore and won the 100 buck gift certificate for doing it.
Not too shabby I'd say.

I really use and recommend the Super Pump!

visit me at my other blog
http://poolservicedirectory.blogspot.com/

If your liner needs a patch.

BackintheSwim — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:57:00 GMT

If it needs a patch on any of these think about a new liner:
Seams, very hard to seal for a rookie.
Radius area, what I mean are stressed areas in corners,
and where the floor meets the wall.
tears over a couple of inches long.
Don't get me wrong, the newer the liner the better patching will work.
So new liners will take patching better.
The bonding material reacts better to new vinyl.
Not only that, larger holes on old vinyl, not only have trouble adhearing,
The rate the new material expands and contracts, as well as expansion from water pressure.
New viny liner material will stretch, old liner material won't.
They don't match on larger holes.
Trying to patch is always better than not. It could last forever or you may have to repaet each season or more.

NOTE- when you get a new liner save any vinyl material trimmed out.
no better patch material when needed. same age and pattern.

More on this story here:
http://poolservicedirectory.blogspot.com/

Swimming pool FAQ, message board and blog help pages.

BackintheSwim — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:07:00 GMT

The internet is loaded with places to find tips, tricks and free advice for your swimming pool.
The answers to swimming pool questions found there are often as varied as those who run those sites.
Some of the swimming pool FAQ's are part of a site that has FAQ's on hundreds of topics.
Frequently asked questions is what FAQ stands for, it could as well mean frequently answered questions.
Often the mix of answers is as varied as the users who visit there.
A simple question often has hundreds of answers, from the correct to the down right silly.
Many of these sites should adapt the wiki method and just let everyone fine tune one answer.

Message boards are another place where getting good answers is a hit or miss affair.
They try to have a conversation using short questions with short replies.
Often the message boards are run by true swimming pool experts who monitor those pages closely.
Others are run by someone who has had a week or two experience in the pool business and now know everything about all pools.
Some are filled with all kinds of pool owners and service people who tell about how they solved the issue at hand.
Still others I fear were created and run on their own, never really monitored at all.
Often I see answers to questions that I believe have to be placed to cause confusion.
Then there are the ones where, it seems to me, are simply a place for a few people to battle it out.
Not really wanting to help anyone, the only gaol is to have the last word.

The blog type help pages may or may not cover the topic or issue for which a pool owner needs answers.
I have a swimming pool blog, I try to post what I know about the things I think might be helpful.

While all these sites, FAQ, message board and blog, can be very helpful they can also be very confusing.
The main problem is the lack of real communication. Every swimming pool is different.
Many times what seems to be an issues related to one thing is caused by a couple of things.
While we know there are all kinds of equipment combinations from all kinds of manufacturers.
Also we know the construction of each pool is not the same.
Something as simple and direct as the plumbing to and from the swimming pool can be slightly different on ten out of ten pools.
The location of the equipment in relation to the pool can alter the way you might expect it to run.
What may seem a simple question often leads to several more questions to find out the real issue.

As an example, the pool owner wants to know why their skimmer does not work?
Well to answer I need to know:
Is it tied to the other skimmer or main drain? Is the skimmer line valved at the system? Is the filter pressure normal?
Did the problem start while you were doing anything? Was it a gradual or sudden thing?
And so on...
More questions to answer the one main question.

The only real way to do this is to have a conversation.

Thanks for stopping by.
If you need some help, lets have a conversation about it.
Call me!

http://poolservicedirectory.blogspot.com/

Swimming pool pump cut away view.

BackintheSwim — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:33:00 GMT

Let's look at the pump breakdown.

Starting at the motor and moving to the front.
The motor turns at 3,450 RPM (revoloutions per minute), well the shaft does, the motor itself does not turn. The motor shaft is turning the impeller. These are the only parts moving when the pump is switched on.
The impeller is what is moving the water. Most pumps today use what's called a closed face impeller. Back in the day, as they say, they were open faced, and made of bronze or brass, now they are made of plastic.
Much like a propeller on a plane or boat motor, the rotation causes movement, in this case it's moving water.
Inside the impeller are vains that look like small propeller blades.
Water enters a small opening in the front center of the impeller, as the impeller spins it is ejected out the side through the vains.
Then inside the housing the water is diverted up and out of the pump.
The vains in the impeller are very small, only slightly larger than the holes that line the strainer basket.
Now on to the rest of the pump.
The water enters where it's marked influent line, or better know as the pump suction.
The water is pulled through the strainer basket into the impeller, at that point the water becomes pressurized. It then leaves the pump at the point in the diagram marked effulent line, or what we call the pressure side of the pump.
There you go, that is about it.
A little about pump problems now.

the rest of the story
http://poolservicedirectory.blogspot.com/

Need swimming pool service help?
Call Me.

Chlorine and the gas fumes at your home.

BackintheSwim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:52:00 GMT

If you store your swimming pool chemicals in your garage, shed or storage closet you soon if not already could be sorry. That is a fact.

Two quick stories from my own personal experience.
Both spring pool openings.

I asked the lady where her pool ladder was?
In the storage shed she says.
I could smell the chlorine as I opened the door. There on the floor were the ladder treads, one side rail against the wall the other one the floor. Oh yeah, I love finding things like this. Well it's interesting, I feel bad for the customer to have to learn this in a real hard way.
So I go get the lady. I was telling her the chlorine had caused the ladder to fall apart. She was asking how could it? It's not even in the pool.
We got to the shed door and she went to pull it wide open and it fell off the hinges. It was so hard not to laugh. Strike one, you can see the ladder, so strike two, now I pointed to the ladder, she wanted to see it closer. The lawn mower was in between us and the ladder. She says move the mower, I grab the handle and it comes off in my hand, I'm about to die laughing now. She too is now finding a little humor in it.
All this caused from a chlorine container that was not sealed well and located in a damp environment.
No metal object in that room was untouched, in fact everything, metal or not was affected some how.
This was a major loss, all her garden tools, lawn furniture, hand tools and misc hardware.

Part two.
read the rest on blogger
http://poolservicedirectory.blogspot.com/

Chlorine feeder problems

BackintheSwim — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:39:00 GMT

When your chlorine feeder just stops working.
The first sign is you notice that your pool does not look right. After testing the water you can see that the reading is low. Last week you added a few pucks just like every other week. So what do we know? We know the reading is low and it should be much higher.

I helped this pool owner over the phone.

The first and most important point is safety!
If you loaded your feeder a few days ago and it's not working that means the chlorine has been trapped in the feeder for that time.
Chlorine is a green gas, a deadly gas!

You should expect when you open it to see a green tint to the pucks and water, and if not careful you could be overcome by chlorine gas.
You need a plan... here it is.
Turn off your pump, open the feeder while holding your breath, leave the area for thirty minutes. Allowing the time for the gas to dissipate.
This is serious!
Not the time to be tough and just take the eye burn and breathe the gas.
You may end up in the hospital or worse.

This feeder was the rainbow 300 off line.
The one I sell to my customers most often.
Generally speaking when it fails to deliver chlorine to the pool it's because the flow through the feeder has stopped.
The way this chlorine feeder is plumbed in could cause this, the line going into the canister, through the control valve is unfiltered water.
(This is normal correct installation)
That will be what we check first, taking the line loose right in front of the metering valve on the side of the unit. Once it's off look for any small debris that is trapped in the valve inlet. OK that looks good nothing there, next the tubing could be the problem, often chlorine tubing will look fine from the outside however it could be collapsed on the inside. While the tubing is still disconnected turn on the pump and check the flow from the tubing, it should be a full stream and coming out at a good pressure. If not remove it and replace it.
Next you will need to remove the chlorine from the canister, a bucket close by will be helpful. If you can just turn over the feeder and pour into the bucket, if not some coat hanger wire may be used to fish out the pucks.
Next, remove the tubing from the 90 degree elbow on the bottom of the unit. Again turn on the pump and see if water flows freely from the end of the tubing, this water will not be as strong and the flow from the first tubing we checked.
That is normal.
OK we have flow.
Next is that elbow on the bottom of the feeder, this devise has a check valve inside it. It has a small ball with a spring that allows flow only in one direction, out of the feeder.
Take off the elbow you should be able to see the ball at the top of the threaded end, take a small screw driver or a piece of wire to see if the ball will depress into the elbow.
It should move freely down and back up.

We have found the problem!
The check valve does not move, it's stuck.
It should be replaced, cleaning it may work for a short while.
The check valve has become gummy, with residue from the chlorine.
This combined with the fact we are using unfiltered water to supply the unit has caused it to fail.

For parts break down visit here

With all the tubing clear and the flow valve and check valve clear the feeder should work like new again.

What I do with my weekly service pools to try to prevent this gumming problem is I never add more chlorine than I think it will use in a week.
When I arrive after the week has passed I hope to find no chlorine in the feeder, still having a good test reading in the water. This allows the feeder to basically rinse itself out, removing the remaining bits of debris and chemical.

I hope you found this helpful.
If you would like phone help for your swimming pool questions, we can do it.
Find the call me link on this page and lets talk.

Helping you get your swimming pool back in the swim.

BackintheSwim — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:46:00 GMT

I can help you find the swimming pool parts you need and help you learn to install them.

Is your pool loosing water?
I may have some tips on where that water is going and how to stop it.

Does your equipment leak or does it just not run as well as before?
I can talk you through trouble shooting and repairs, I can help you find the parts you need.

Buying a home with a swimming pool?
Getting a professional pool inspection is the best thing to do.
If you can't get one for some reason the next best thing is a little knowledge about what to look for before you buy.

Learning to care for your pool?
I have trained hundreds of new pool owners to care for their swimming pools.
From water chemistry to filter system equipment operation.

Discover how you, me, the phone and internet can get you Back in the Swim!

There are hundreds of swimming pool advice and FAQ sites.
Nothing written there can compare to having someone to answer your questions live.
Not only answer your questions, but be able to ask you the right questions to help find out what could be wrong.

I don't claim to know it all, because I don't, I do however have over twenty years of hands on experience. A thirty minute call could save you time and money.
I like to talk, and I love to talk swimming pools.
I have talked to people all over North America about their swimming pool problems.
As far north as Canada and as far south as Mexico, from San Fransisco and San Diego to Long Island and Miami.