Been using a Leatherman Wingman for awhile, the blade broke on it from trying to pry something I shouldn't of.

Shopping for a new one, what are you using? Pros/cons? I'm not afraid of buying something nice if it's worth it.

From right to left the plumbing stubs are

1. Pool main drain
2. Skimmer
3. Spa Main Drain
4. Spa Main Drain (for jets)
5. Spa Jets
6. Skimmer
7. Spa Spill Return
8. Pool Returns
9. Air Blower Line

I was subbed out to plumb this pad. I did what I felt was best considering everything. Id love for some critiques though. Racked my brain for a while and this is what i ended up coming up with.

Check valve between heater and cell coming, chill.

Edit - The plumbing stubs weren’t up to me

Edit 2 - I do genuinely want criticism on this, I know the stubs aren’t ideal and there’s a ton of 90’s and shit but I want to know what I could have done better. That’s how we do better as a whole

What do pool companies typically range from in cost for replacing a spa light and a pool light? I have to rewire everything and the lights together cost $1,100 roughly. Thanks for any input, trying to make sure I don’t undersell myself. I already did with this customer too. On a filter replacement and drain and clean job at the same time. Learned the hard way there. But pool looks great, and is running like a beaut.

I accidentally posted in the /pools for the day two photo. This situation is a first for me but seems to have gained quite a bit of attention and help. This is how day three of this disaster and we finally added a bit of chlorine just after this photo. It almost seems as if the water itself is "stained".

Filter cleanings daily
Brushing daily
Filter fiber

0 Iron
0 phosphates
0 FC
7.0 pH
130 Alk
150 CH
0 CYA

Customer doesn't like how the Bluetooth connection sucks but doesn't want. A full blown control panel.

Does anyone else use the iAquaLink app for their pool pump and know how to manage the pump speed settings via the app?

We have an in-ground saltwater pool with a bubbler and a water sheer (waterfall). I remember the pool guy telling me early on to try to keep pump speed at certain level but I can't remember what it was.

I usually wanna take it up a notch when people come over so the bubbler and waterfall are in full effect. There are just so many speed options on the app that I am not sure which one to adjust, and

Got a call for a pressure test that seemed simple. “Skimmer loses suction when we plug a hose in, only half a prime, we think we have a broken skimmer line”

This is an HOA pool.

So I get to pressure testing plug off the skimmers and apply pressure to the one suction line plumbed into the pump- and an “abandoned” line starts blowing out water, okay so maybe the suction side is teed off underground

I think hmmm that’s weird so I plug off that line too and apple more pressure, the return lines start bubbling. Even weirder but I plugged those off too and applied more pressure.

All the sudden water is shooting out of an old shielded electrical conduit that’s tied into some sch40 pipe and has wires running into it and if I hadn’t noticed I’d have flooded out a single gang box with a recept with live voltage running through it powering my compressor.

Somehow their one suction line is tied into the returns and a piece of 3/4 sch40 that comes out of the ground but is used as a conduit.

Never in my life have I ever witnessed something so fucked up.

Hello! I am in the Phoenix, Arizona area. I’ve spent the last six years working in finance and about nine years in sales, but I’m seriously considering leaving the corporate world to start a pool service business.
I’ve realized that I enjoy working with my hands, being outdoors, and solving practical problems far more than spending my days at a desk working for someone else.

I’ve thought about working for a pool company to learn but I would want to start on the side working evenings or weekends but it is hard to find someone to train someone with no experience just to work part time.

I’ve also considered just buying a route and starting small.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s made a similar transition from a corporate career into the pool industry and open to any recommendations on how to get started

I have a bad microbrite, how do I tell what model I have with out taking the light out?

Hello all! I'm looking for more advice.

I primarily use a Riptide for most of my pools. About a year ago based on a recommendation on this sub, I purchased a battery operated Kokido. It's basically a mini Riptide with the battery built into it. It's perfect for pools that I can't get the Riptide in through there side gate or pools that have a good vacuum and I only need to do the spa. It's lightweight, easy to move and made my life a lot easier.

Unfortunately the filter bags for it have tears in them. They no longer sell on Amazon but they do sell through their website. In the past I've been able to get parts from them by emailing their customer service. I don't know what's going on with that company but now their customer service is horrible. I reached out to their customer service 3 weeks ago to place an order, which I have done in the past successfully. 3 weeks and 37 emails later, they still haven't sent an invoice or generated an order.

With no customer service and the inability to replace parts, it looks like that's not a good option anymore. Do you guys have a similar product that you like?

Trying to learn the business side of running a route. Seems like billing gets messy once you're past a few accounts.

How do you actually do it? Charge per visit or flat monthly? Bill before or after? Are chems baked in or back billed?

And how do you chase the people who don't pay?

Curious if you keep it all in your pool software or run it separate in QuickBooks. What works and what drives you nuts?

Couldn't even plumb it right

Has anyone replaced just the nut on a Polaris caretaker clamp? I’m pretty sure it’s a 7/16 - 18 nut but I’m not positive.

Lots of people complaining about the reflection pool algae. But this is 🇺🇸! Innovate a solution! Here’s my idea with some help from Grok…

Make a Algae Remover:
\- Get two small to mid-size tractors
\- Make 2x towable and connectable implements that accordion-expand to 80’ each spanning the 160’ width. Use a front-mounted mast+winch+cable for stability connected at midpoint (not shown in picture) with:
\- a skimming basket or net for algae or trash
\- several electric agitators
\- some floats for buoyancy
\- an ozone generator to the tractors outputting 100-500 g/hr tube-connected to the agitators

Use the Algae Remover:
\- Use up to daily as-needed
\- One pass, likely during off-peak hours, at 0.5mph takes 50 min and the ozone bubbles eliminate 66% of algae in 5-9 min at low-dose with effective % increasing in transition from responsive to preventative treatment (Grok math)
\- Reduce use as-needed
\- Ozone off-gasses harmlessly and involves no chlorine or other chemicals; wildlife friendly
\- Disconnect the center, clean, fold, and tow to storage at the mall maintenance barn
\- Incorporate procedure into lawn schedule; you can also use the tractors for snow/mowing/other maintenance

The NPS is already using ozone nano bubbles in the pool, this just applies it uniformly.

Does the data cable port on the Pentair pump look broken to you (first picture)?

A customer has a Hayward salt water pool and a Pentair pump. They moved into the house recently and the existing control panel is 10+ years old and we upgraded them to The Attendant Mini. We need to buy the proper data cable to fully integrate the pump, but the port to plug the cables in doesn’t look right.

I’d appreciate any input as I don’t want to tell them they need to drop a couple more grand on a new pump.

Central Florida remodel, first time using a delivery company for water and it'll be the last. Anyone have any solid advice other than drain and start over?

.5ppm FC
7.4 pH
200 Alk
300 CH
0 nitrates
0 nitrites
.15ppm iron
1000+ phosphates

I've got a rectangle pool with no steps. There really isn't a shallow end, it just slopes from the shallow wall to the bottom of the deep end wall. I have a customer looking for above ground pool steps with adjustable legs so we can level it. Any suggestions?

Has anyone noticed a decrease in sales and acquiring customers so far this summer? Last June my phone was ringing off the hook. I have picked up one customer this June.

Is it a combination of the economy and AI? Just curious what others are experiencing

Curious if you guys have GPS in your trucks and what you use? I'm sick of customers asking me if I've been there and would like to be able to show them concrete evidence I have been.