discolored pipe in generator system

[poolbee]

I have an AutoPilot digital 220. There is a piece in the manifold assembly that I swear was a clear light gray color(there is what appears to be a coil inside it.)it is now very dark and yellow looking. Am I mistaken that it was initially clear gray or is there something wrong there? It is in the sun all day-could it just be yellowing from that?

Thank you!

[Poolsean]

Poolbee,

This is a clear (translucent) body check valve that should remain fairly translucent. It may get a little discolored over time due to the sunlight. If you're seeing it yellow, it may be due to some corrosion of the stainless steel spring within it. Check your water chemistry for low pH (although not likely with a salt system) or high chlorine levels (which can be corrosive over time).

[poolbee]

As in another post, my chlorine has been up for a while and it doesn't want to go down, but it seems the consensus is that's OK. I let my pH get to 7.8 before adding acid to get it to about 7.4. I haven't added acid in over 2 weeks though. It seems steady at about 7.6.
Before the CL went up, it was usually 3-4.I was looking at that valve today and I'd have to change my description of it as looking dirty inside. It looks like the water is cloudy. It is still translucent, but dirty looking. I did have major dirty, dusty work done in the yard(Unilock patio with literally tons of crusher run and sand, and yards of dirt spread around the landscape). The pool was full of dirt on a daily basis for about 2 weeks and I ran my Dolphin cleaner daily to try and keep the dirt out of the filter. Could this have settled in the valve?

I have only had the unit since the end of May this year. What does the check valve do? Is there a way to clean it?

[Poolsean]

Yes, that's possible. The check valve is there it automatically regulate the flow through the cell. If you turn the pump off, loosen the larger inlet union and wrap the in line screen with a piece of plastic (like a sandwich bag, or saran wrap), then close it back up. THEN turn the pump on to purge the debris in the check valve body, this should clear it up. You may need to cycle the pump on and off several times to clear it up completely.
Please remember to remove the plastic aftewards.

[poolbee]

Thanks. Do you mean the screen that I am supposed to clean periodically? I want to make sure I have the right thing so I don't screw up the unit!

[tenax]

yep, that's what sean means...you should see a red "error" light on your control panel on the flow display, but don't worry about that..after you have done what sean said, take the plastic covering the flow screen off, the flow to your autopilot will resume as normal. it's also a good check to see if your autopilot is shutting down due to a no flow condition as it should!

[poolbee]

Thanks. I'll try today.

Tried it but didn't do much. I saw another post while searching info on this. In it, Sean, you mention it you could see inside the PVC pipes they should be white. When I did my purge of the regulator, I noticed the PVC was very yellow, almost brown. I could scrape it off with my fingernail though, and it is white under that. Could that still be from all the dirt we had around(my Dolphin is still picking up tons of polymaric sand 3 weeks after the patio is finished) or could I be looking at an algae problem? The top 2 stairs are yellowish but that comes off easily with a Magic eraser and it is not slimy. Pool water is crystal clear, as well as pool walls.

At first I thought of copper corrosion, but I'm thinking the yellowing would not scrape off it it was. I check my pH every other day and have only once lowered it too much, but added borax right away to increase it and that was quite a while ago.

[poolbee]

Just a bump.

[Poolsean]

Sorry for the slow response...busy week and even busier upcoming two weeks. I have to work Phoenix, Monterey and Maui. It's a tough job and I can't get anyone else to go for me. ; )
The yellowish/brownish staining is usually metals (iron) in the water. It may be so, especially if you use well water to top off your pool, or if you have had metal problems in the past. I would recommend wiping the brown off with a rag with a very mild acid and water solution. Then use a sequestering treatment to filter out the metals.
This may not completely prevent the staining of the pipes from reoccuring, but it will keep potential metal staining in the pool.

[poolbee]

Hmm. I use regular tap water for my pool, but there was some staining of the liner as my pool builder used table salt for the SWG and I understand that has iron in it. As I added salt as needed during the summer I used solar salt.
I am bringing my water to the dealer for a final test before closing. I'll be sure to have the iron tested. They usually only test for copper-which last test was 0.1.
Thanks for the info. Maui huh? Tough job! But I guess when it is work-it's work!