Intex questions

[Brokk]

I'm closer to finding the source of my air bubbles. It's not hydrogen, but it is the chlorinator. Or one of it's connections. I decided to hook the pump straight to the pool and skip the chlorinator. Bubbles are gone. So now I have to take the chlorinator apart and see what the issue is.

The bubbles *could* be my auto cleaner issue as well. As they would make the device lighter and not have as good of a contact with the bottom of the pool. I'll give that a shot tomorrow.

[PoolDoc]

Regarding your equipment questions . . . I don't have personal experience, and too much of the info on the Internet -- even in forums -- is distorted in various ways. The information about above-ground equipment is particularly unreliable.

The simplest answer is: you have a set up that seems to work well for you, and keep the pool clean. I'd stick with it. Changing things around might mean changing EVERYTHING around. For example, you could install a Hayward S210T93S ProSeries 21 . . . and it would likely out perform what you have. But you'd need to install a ball valve between the pump and filter: the pump is -- as is TYPICAL -- much too big for the filter.

In the pool industry (as in so many others) "New & Improved" is often a lie, and almost never really true! Keep in mnd, "updated engineering" usually means "engineered to SELL!".

Good luck!

[Brokk]

I'm closer to finding the source of my air bubbles. It's not hydrogen, but it is the chlorinator. Or one of it's connections. I decided to hook the pump straight to the pool and skip the chlorinator. Bubbles are gone. So now I have to take the chlorinator apart and see what the issue is.

I took it apart, probably more than I should have. However, the chlorinator also has an Ozone generator as part of it. It diverts some of the water flow through the clear tube on the outside where you see the process with the Chlorine and the titanium plates, but there is also some water flow through the middle where you don't see it. Ozone is generated and pulled into the water flow at that point. That seems to be the source of my bubbles. It's basically pulling air into the water stream and the generated ozone goes along for the ride. Basically it is intentional.

So I'm kind of stuck. Unless I unhook the O3 generator and block off the tube. Really worried about messing with it though.

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"Ozone is made by drawing air through Corona Discharge (CD) cells that break down oxygen molecules, which then recombine into ozone molecules. Ozone gas is introduced to the pool circulation line using a venturi injector. Water passing through the injector creates a suction that pulls the ozone gas into the water. The ozone dissolves in the water. Ozone can oxidize some contaminants and most bacteria."

That pretty much describes what I'm seeing... Not all models have it though. So perhaps I should bite the bullet and get a newer model without the Ozone.

[PoolDoc]

Plug the ozone generator . . . it's not doing anything useful.

Pool owners don't realize that ozone is more toxic than chlorine gas. In Germany, ozone is used in commercial pools. And I think most public aquariums in the US use it. But doing so requires special, very expen$ive equipment AND full time trained operators to keep it safe. US ozone systems for pools are 'made safe' by making so little ozone that there's no danger to you . . . or to any bacteria in the pool!

Basically, they are a scam. What's worse is that most US systems aerate the water, and strip carbonate alkalinity, which causes plaster damage to concrete pools!

[Brokk]

Plug the ozone generator . . . it's not doing anything useful.
!

I can block off the tube, but what little O3 it might be generating would be left inside the device. Would that be harmful? (like corrosion)

I am concerned about unplugging the Ozone generator completely, because the machine might throw an error and refuse to work at all.

[PoolDoc]

I don't know. Try it and see.

It may just tell you the ozone is unplugged.

[Brokk]

I don't know. Try it and see.

It may just tell you the ozone is unplugged.

It has a light dedicated to telling you when the O3 generator needs replacing. However, since you say it likely produces so little, I opted for trying to plug the tube. It took me three tries before I found something that worked, but I have finally stopped the bubbles. I have the auto cleaner hooked up now, but unfortunately not much dirt in the pool for it to clean. We'll see how it goes.

FYI, I have well water. Your comments at the beginning that people should read, say this site can't help you if you have well water. I suggest a small shift in words. I think what you were trying to say is that this site can't help you to solve problems caused by well water, or directly related to well water. Something like that. I am fortunate not to have hard water or iron in my water. However my water is highly acidic. I think our lowest professional testing result came in around 5.5 PH. I think it's gotten lower than that myself. For 14,500 gallons of well water, it took 1 box of soda wash and 2 boxes of borax before the test strips nudged above 6.2. However, they were old strips. It was probably 6.2 before I added the second box of borax. It's now safely above 7.2 after a third box of borax was added. (Yes, I bought new strips, the old ones weren't registering PH or stabilizer correctly)