The pump is making a noise
The sound tells you most of it. A rattle like gravel is usually debris that has got past the basket and is bouncing around the impeller. A steady screech or grinding that gets worse as the motor warms up is almost always bearings, and that one is on a clock. A loud hum with the motor not turning points at a failed capacitor or a seized shaft rather than anything inside the pool.
What we check
- Pump and skimmer baskets, and the impeller behind them, for debris
- Whether the noise changes from a cold start to a warm one
- Bearings, shaft seal and capacitor
- Whether the pad and the plumbing are carrying vibration and amplifying it
Debris and a tired capacitor are straightforward repairs. Bearings that have been screeching for weeks usually mean the motor is already damaged, which is why it is worth a call early rather than once it stops.
The pump will not prime, or it is losing pressure
A pump that will not hold prime is pulling air in somewhere on the suction side before the water reaches it. The usual suspects are the pump lid o-ring, the drain plugs, a union that has backed off, or a valve stem that has dried out. A pool sitting below the middle of the skimmer will do the same thing, and that one costs nothing to rule out.
What we check
- Water level against the skimmer mouth
- Lid o-ring and lid seat for cracks and dry rot
- Suction side unions, plugs and valve stems
- The filter gauge reading, before and after cleaning the filter
Worth knowing which direction the gauge moved. Low pressure with poor flow points at a suction side restriction or air. High pressure with poor flow usually means the filter itself is loaded and needs cleaning or new media rather than any repair at all.
The pool light is out
How many lights are out narrows it quickly. One out of several is usually the lamp or the fixture itself. All of them out at once points upstream, at the breaker, the GFCI or the transformer. Lights that work but look dim or flicker often have water in the niche, and a fixture that has taken on water is not something to keep switching on.
What we check
- Breaker and GFCI, including whether it trips again straight away
- Transformer output where the fixture is low voltage
- The fixture, lens gasket and niche for water intrusion
- Whether the run is original, and whether an LED replacement is the sensible fix
This is the one we would ask you not to poke at yourself. Pool lighting is mains power next to a body of water, and a GFCI that keeps tripping is the system telling you something is wrong rather than a nuisance to be reset.
The heater will not fire
Most modern heaters will tell you something before you touch anything, so the error code on the panel is the first thing worth reading. Beyond that, a heater that ignites and then cuts out is a different problem from one that never tries. No attempt at all tends to be gas supply, the pressure switch, or a call for heat that is not reaching the board. Lighting then dropping out points at the flame sensor or at airflow.
What we check
- The error code on the panel, and the fault history if it keeps one
- Gas supply, or the propane level on a tank setup
- Water flow through the heater, which the pressure switch depends on
- Whether the fault is in the heater or upstream in the pump and plumbing
Tell us the make, the model and the code and we will tell you straight what it points at and whether it is something we take on.
The salt system is throwing a fault
A low salt warning is not always low salt. Cells read salinity indirectly, so a scaled cell, a cold pool or a cell near the end of its life will all report low when the water is fine. Test the water before buying bags. Cold water lockout is normal behaviour, not a fault, and it catches people out every winter when chlorine production stops on a cool morning.
What we check
- Actual salinity by test, rather than what the display claims
- The cell plates for calcium scale, and whether an acid wash will recover it
- Cell age and output against what it should be producing
- Flow switch and the wiring back to the control box
Scale cleans off and flow switches are replaceable. A cell that has simply run out of hours does not come back, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a clean that buys a fortnight.
Automation and controls are not behaving
Automation faults usually look worse than they are. Valves that no longer swing between pool and spa are normally actuators rather than the controller. Schedules that reset themselves point at a dead backup battery or a board that is losing its settings after a power cut. A panel that works at the pad but not from the app is a connectivity problem, not an equipment one.
What we check
- Actuator travel and the limit stops at each valve
- Relays for the pump, the lights and the heater, one at a time
- Whether schedules survive a deliberate power cycle
- Network and app connection separately from the panel itself
Actuators and relays are standard replacements. Before we touch the board we will say clearly whether a repair is worth it or whether the system is old enough that putting money into it is money you spend again next season.
The pool is losing water
Some loss is just Florida. Before anything else, rule evaporation in or out with a bucket test: a bucket of pool water on the step, marked inside and out, left for a day with the pump running as normal. If the pool drops faster than the bucket, the water is going somewhere. Where it goes next splits the job in two.
What we check
- The equipment pad first, since pump seals, filter o-rings and valves are the common answer
- Whether the loss continues with the pump off, which points away from the plumbing
- Wet or sunken ground near the pad and the pool returns
- Skimmer throat, light niche and visible cracks in the shell or tile line
Pad leaks are typically fixed on the visit. A loss in the shell or the buried plumbing is a different scope of work, so tell us what the bucket test showed and we will tell you honestly what you are dealing with.
