brettnolan

I would say that he is probably right. Intelliflo is the high end pump and you would never need the 3hp that it's capable of. Go superflo, save cash up front and down the road

The salt cell and the power center have to match. Can't cross brands.

maybe something wrong with the wire(chewed by mice, pinched, etc)...between the ET and the acuator?

You need a GFCI on the light, wherever it goes back to the equipment pad...somewhere in the circuit for the light. If water got into the junction box, it could be causing the breaker to trip, but not necessarily damaging the light itself, although it could also damage the light.

i'll tell you what that is...a nightmare repair

That stupid little side pop-up won't let me respond.. I'm not totally familiar with either of these but...the Hayward Phantom is a PRESSURE side cleaner, so it requires the booster pump to add water pressure to the dedicated return line. The Zodiac G3 is a SUCTION side cleaner, so you would either have to replumb your equipment pad to turn the dedicated pressure line into a dedicated suction line or connect your Zodiac into the skimmer. Again, not being totally familiar, but reasonably so...I would take the Zodiac back (or feed it to the dog) and have the Phantom serviced. If it is anything like a Polaris 360/380, it is fairly simple to replace parts or adjust it so that it travels up and down wall and doesn't get stuck on the steps or in a corner or whatever. I dislike suction cleaners, I don't think they work very well.

I don't understand why some people can post pics and others can't, but I can't, so....here is a link to a picture. I need as much info about this type of coping as I can get. This pic doesn't show it real well I don't think, but I believe it is silver (aluminum obviously) and ridged. If anyone knows the manufacturer or what it's technical name is, or where I could get parts/pieces for it, that would be awesome. Thanks! http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/55144-Aluminum-Pool-Coping-Question

Yep, $2500 at best probably. Good luck.

I personally think that's plenty big enough. But...you could have a party and invite as many people as you think you might want to invite to a pool party and see how much room they take up in your backyard. ;-)

I would agree...master spas seem to work fine, but they seem cheaply made.

I can't answer your question directly, but I can offer an opinion. First, before you think I'm a company shill...in about a month, I am leaving my current job to start my own company. There are many reasons why, however, I firmly believe that the company that I work for builds, by far, the best pools in my metro area. And customers pay the premium, we are definitely not the most affordable. I have a friend that is bound and determined to save a few bucks by building her own pool, via the kit. Now it's hard to tell for certain because she seems to change her mind on various things every five minutes, but I'm not sure she is really going to save all that much money. By the time she pays for the excavation, the backfill, the concrete work, and various other things not included in the kit, in my opinion, she is going to be tantalizingly close to the price she could have paid my company to do it. Furthermore, she is having a hell of a time (almost a year now) getting the permit and getting other ancillary tasks done that a builder would do for her. And still, she won't listen my educated opinion on really anything. For instance, she has two boys. One will be a junior in HS next year, the other will be a freshman. They aren't going to be around all that much longer, and the novelty of a new pool doesn't last forever. Yet she wants to have a larger pool than she needs, but she wants to pay pennies for it. Now, I'm sure you have the skill to do it. It's not real hard to build a vinyl liner pool. This is just my two cents on the headache of doing it yourself...REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sit down and do a THOROUGH cost/benefit. I would say that if you are only going to save a couple thousand dollars, let a GOOD pool builder do it. So I guess my bottom line advice is, take your time and do plenty of research.

maybe sell or trade the 2.5hp for a smaller one...that IS pretty big for a normal sized pool with 1.5" plumbing

Yes, the union comes apart. It screws back together and you should use Magic Lube on the o'ring inside, no need for teflon or anything. If it leaks (from the inside), replace the o'ring.

You only need to replace the heater gasket most likely. Possibility that the split nut is broken but not super likely. There is no way you need to replace the entire heater for a leak, unless you drilled a hole through the stainless steel.

Btw, there is also a white version that is not a high temp union that is cheaper...this is just the first place I found a picture

Buy one of these... http://www.inyopools.com/parts_praher_high_temp_unions.aspx #3 to be exact and a 2" x 1-1/2" reducer. Next time it leaks, replace the o'ring (or rings). No more replumbing.

We're just having a little fun with you. By the way, unless "that little T" is cracked, you should be able to replace a o'ring to stop the leak. :-)

Even though I have never successfully "liked" a post (because somehow having ZERO likes is over the daily limit), consider the like button pressed Pool Clown.

Foxx must have had some deal with Pentair. It's a Pentair Whisperflo...Foxx is a builder. Your filter is also a Pentair TR60 even though it has the Foxx name on it....assume the whole pad is Pentair. When you fix the leak on top of the pump, get a pump union...much easier to repair in the future, you will cut the plumbing this time, next time you will replace an o'ring.

I guess I should have more directly addressed the main question. It sounds like you definitely have a clogged impeller. You're not going to do any good by priming the pump more or better, the blockage is on the pressure (return) side of the system. The water comes into the pump and can't go anywhere but back the way it came. Technically, you COULD have a blockage further along (the multi-port valve, filter, return lines), but based on the things you described, 90% chance it's the impeller. The only reason I asked about the pump was so I could describe how to take it apart, if you (or anyone else needed). There are six 9/16" bolts to remove the motor from the housing. You need an Allen wrench (don't know what size) to remove the diffuser then you can remove the debris from the impeller. Put back together and you should be back to normal.

Water chemistry should NOT be an after thought. It's probably the single most important aspect of pool ownership. You can have clear and appealing water that has terrible chemistry which can destroy your pool and its equipment. You should learn all you can about water chemistry (which I think was your intent when you started the thread) and know what everything that you put into pool does, or does not do, and how it affects the overall chemistry of the pool. Just throwing this or that into your pool is unwise. I say this not because I'm an expert, in fact, I'm fairly weak in my water chem knowledge...but I DO know how important it is.

If you can feel stuff in the impeller, you can usually (at least I can) get it out that way if you don't want to take the pump apart. It's not easy, but possible. For most people, it would probably be easier to just take the pump apart. What kind of pump do you have?

Set your multi-port valve to waste and vacuum to the street (or wherever your backwash normally goes). Probably be doing it blind the first time for sure, maybe the second time as well.

This is strictly my OPINION, based on what I like to see when I show up to a job site... 1) Intelliflo 2) Neither, but definitely NOT Autopilot 3) Either...although prefer a good old sand filter (cartridge may not be so bad for 12K gallons)

Is there a brand name or anything on the transformer? I still think they are fiberoptic...have you ever seen them work?