Pool Clown

Google "Diving Board Accidents" Then take a step back.

"now the service system light in on and nothing is happening. please help!" If the "service system light" and not the "service heater" is lit, Your problem is something other than the heater.

You can leave the shell over the winter in my area, Northern California, some very light freezing, nothing like PA I'll bet. But here you must keep the weep holes in the shell clear to let any possible water underneath the pool to equalize. I don't know if it's any diff. in PA. Maybe someone else knows.

Are they really in a SEALED room? One heater requires lots of air, two need even more. There is a formula for determining the size of both combustion air and make up air openings in the room that are required. (Probably can find that info on the heaters website) I'm not talking about the openings in the ceiling for the stack. This could be part your problem, if not the problem. Not buying the "differential Theory" either. But if it were, all you would have to do is bump the thermostat up a bit. With the new digital thermostat heaters, inlet temp only needs to be cooler by one degree cause a call for heat.

You may be able to get a way with a couple hund for a new actuatior (will have to be converted to compool/jandy) only those two company's that I know that I used to be able to get conversion from. And thats assuming that your controller still works. Oh that's right, you said it was a 12v syst. Scratch all that! Call pentair, tell them your story, maaaybe they can get you the stuff. Otherwise, manually works pretty good!

"When we first put the heater in there was an issue with water pressure." "The water valves are half closed to increase pressure running to the heaters." I don't see a gas pressure problem here. Let me rephrase that. IF there is a gas problem, I don't think Its causing them to not light. If those heaters fired by jiggling wires or adjusting thermostat or cycling power, It sounds more like a pressure (water) problem. Or thermostat. Since the new energy efficient heaters came out, and I learned how finicky those heaters are to gas pressure, I've also learned how forgiving Natural draft type heaters are to gas pressure. They can be way low on inches of W/C and still fire! And since it's not forced fire, you can't hear it running lean. Most of the time, the owner never knows till the thing soots up. Are these heaters down in a pit (vault) or unusually elevated in relation to the water? You said they always had "issues", perhaps something was not addressed at installation. Or a mis adjusted pressure switch(If heater is lower than W/L)? Jandy lite2 LG. You mentioned pilot lights are burning. Did you mean once a call for heat comes, and the pilot lights? or the pilots are burning constant like a millivolt? Do you store your chems in the pump room? Chems love copper. Wire. A few thoughts from a clown...

I doubt if a piece of wax paper will seal the main drain. Expanding rubber plugs as ps558 suggested. If the other end comes up in the skimmer, don't forget to plug that end too. But If the main drain line tee's into the main suction, I won't envy you!

Cheap test: push the salinity button and make a note of the salinity. Then take a water sample down to the nearest pool store THAT WON'T TEST IT WITH A TEST STRIP!!! He needs to test it with a salinity meter. See if those two agree. Then Get a good thermometer and check the temp, make a note. I think if you hold down the salinity button along with the decrease production button you'll get a temp reading (I'm not positive, check your manual) and see if those two agree. If not, then I would go for the purchase. And as always, be absolutely sure the pump is on AND pumping when taking these tests.

Do you have solar panels on the roof? run the pump at night and turn on the panels. But you already thought of that, right?

Sounds like you are doing things right. One question, How long are you running the pump each day? I would be running it 24/7 till the water clears.

Jkusmier, You have been lucky. If your unit is still working, hold your breath. Have had nothing but problems with the IC40's, Reads salt wrong, bad board, bad flo switch, Reads low salt, bad cell, cell max out on hours, reports hours in excess of the pools life (new pools). However, This seems to be the norm for companys that have chlorinators out for less than a couple of years. They will probably work out the bugs just as the other companys have. Lets just hope the warranty will keep up.

If you aren't a "pool guy" and you are going to take care of the pool yourself, a cartridge filter is the least hassle to manage. Every one is right about the efficient property's of the two, However, from a visual standpoint, you probably won't be able to tell the diff. in water clarity. You hose off a cart, and with D.E. filters you backwash, add D.E., and tear it down twice a year. As far as adding D.E. to a non-D.E. filter, Its all in the amount of DE you use. In those cases less is more. Your trying to enhance the filter media not replace it!

Absolutely!

something else to try... The problem may be the pilot, if carbon/spider gets into the burner of the pilot, it can sometimes "deflect" the flame away from the pilot gen tube. If you bend down and look at the pilot, it may appear to be on but the hole where the flame shoots out to heat the bulb is clogged. sometimes you can tap the assembly firmly, not hard to dislodge the obstrution. since your heater works sometimes and not others, you might get lucky. good luck!

Back off a bit, tell them you're not sure yet. Tell them they weren't the lowest price and don't tell them what the lower price was. see if they call you with a better price to get your business like they say everyone is in these times... Disturbing quote: he "is the best pool builder in the world". I would hand the guys card back and say "no thank you" Don't be in a hurry. The season is winding down. I'm not sure, and lets be honest, the contractor doesn't know ether, if you will be swimming this season.

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Don't do/buy anything till you get the salinity where It should be.

Cheapest way out? Providing when you say, "Pump Quit" you mean the motor stopped. Get a new motor and seal. If you only use the pool 2 wks a year, you don't need a pump. Biggest cause of motor failure in my area is water damage due to seal failure. When a seal fails, Its usually not because the pump is causing it to. anything bigger than a 1hp is unnecessary especially with a sand filter.

Yea, some builders do that, and I bet they will say " oh that's ok." I don't agree with that way of doing pressure testing. If you pump it it up and it leaks down, "It's going somewhere". Heres another bit of info you'll hate. PVC pipe with regard to cracks will not always "and probably never do" leak down to zero!

If that pump ran for several hours you will need to take the filter apart and inspect the grids. Running water backwards thur the filter for a long time like that blows the nylon sheath off the skeleton and could damage the grids not to mention the debris that is impregnated on the inside of the grids. Hopefully, that will blow off when its put back into operation in the correct direction. other wise they would need to be acid washed/soaked. (worst case)

Your not going to get that thing to work untill you get the salinity level correct (listed on the inside door of the unit).

Vince, You should not loose any pressure when pressure testing. Having said that, I do believe you might get some loss thru the pumps especially. When pressure testing, its best to pressure test the plumbing only. typically I test the plumbing before the equipment is even set. If it is a remodel, I just cut into the plumbing and hook up my stand pipe to test the underground plumbing. You can include the Paramount valve, It shouldnt leak.

Yes, Definitely, run the pump during solar hours. Also, how much sun does the pool get (directly) in hours ? How hot does it get at the pool each day ? Does it get windy each day? Even breezy counts. How cool is it getting @ night? These are all questions to consider when trying to figure out solar cover problems. I must admit I have NO experience with Silver solar covers I usually deal with the Blue solar covers. The company I work for mostly deals with high end products so I don't know about the "middle or low end" covers. It sounds like the cover is working otherwise you wouldn't get the warm layer. I suggest run the pump longer, typically 6-8 hrs a day. Longer with two speed pump.