Am I being had?

[kathgilliam]

History: New SWG, high CYA and Calcium, nothing to do but drain half the pool. Drain began, but when it got below the skimmers, it stopped. Leslie's guy told us to close valves to skimmers and continue drain. For awhile it filled and drained the spa, but then that stopped as well. When I checked and no water was draining, I went to clear the filter basket in the pump and it was steaming. The water was hot, but not boiling. I turned it off and called a service company this morning.

We hooked up a submersible pump and got the water level down to 50%, now refilling. The part that is killing me is that the service guy went to my set up (recently replumbed by the previous owner) and said it was a melluva hess, with much dramatics, tsk tsked about my one horsepower motor and old DE filter, and pulled on the pipe to the pump (say that 3 times real fast). It moved very slightly, and he "woe is me"-ed about how I had most likely melted the seals and he hated to have to replumb it all, but that's what he would most likely have to do, and in this heat and humidity.

Does this sound right to y'all? All I can hear is money leaving my bank account.

I will say this guy recommends a high (70 to 80) CYA for SWG and added chelation just like Waterbear suggested to me, so he's got that going for him, but I feel some cynicism about the rest of it.

K

[sevver]

I think he sounds like he wants to replumb your stuff. Sounds fishy, can you get pics of the plumbing up here for someone who knows what they are doing to look at it?

[noworries]

Sounds to me like you were draining from your skimmer, and when you got below that you were sucking air and burning up your pump.

Did you burn up your pump? I would try and verify that your pump is still good, then try and get it so your sucking from the bottom drain and not the skimmer.

I had to have my pool drained with a pump and a hose running out front to the curb.

[kathgilliam]

I don't believe I burned up the pump. It still runs. This man's contention is that when I run it, it will leak at the seal between the pool basket and the pump.

As soon as I get the pool filled, I will rinse the filter, start the pump, add new DE and let it run and we will see what happens.

The filter basket is just fine, exactly as it was when I cleaned it earlier in the day.

See pictures of my pool plumbing and the joint to which the pool guy is referring.

K

[hulla]

I had to fix the pipe coming from my pump too. Mine looks slightly different though. My pipe screws on and off. I just re-wrapped the threads with plumbers tape and the leaking stopped.

As far as the 1hp motor, just make sure it works and doesn't make weird noises. One hp is fine. And as far as the old DE filter... If it filters then it is fine. Just my opinion.

[Poolsean]

Oh poppycock. I see the problem...it's that horizontal round thingie with the purple band and umbilical cord hanging off of it. The one along the right side of the first photo!

just kiddin.

The red handled ball valves should be for your skimmer and suction cleaner lines (or second skimmer?). The black diverter valve will adjust between the bottom main drain and the red handled ball valves.
Looks like the outlet side of the pump is going between the inlet of your Polaris' booster pump (the smaller line) and up to your multiport valve on your filter. From there, it will plumb to a drain (waste) line and to your return. In this case it's going over to your salt generator cell (the poor "attempt" at humor earlier), then back to your pool.

It doesn't look bad. The pump joint doesn't look bad either. Other than the tightness of the plumbing, if there need to replumb, there's nothing that should be a problem.

[kathgilliam]

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!

Cross your fingers for me to have good luck tonight. If I do, I think I may just call this gentleman and ask him for an invoice for his time so far. I'll be posting new test results soon for your expert recommendations.

Kath

[Poolsean]

What does your pump basket look like? If you sustained heat damage, the basket would look like a mangled mess. The PVC is a little tougher than the basket, so if the basket still looked good, you most likely did not suffer any other damage.

Photos would help here.
Particularly around the inlet and outlet pipes. Overall photo of your equipment will help determine if the system is set up correctly. Or if you can provide the pump horsepower, filter sq footage area, etc....