le_cochon

Théière, Sadly I have to agree with everything you've said! I have seen poolguy's many comments on here and on other forums; when I first came across them my first impression was, yes, he does have an agenda, but living with the problems of a Desy pool has shown me that it's pretty much all true. I'm no pool expert, but my background is in engineering, so I can at least understand why the problems exist and what needs to be done to resolve them. As long as I can service the pump I'll keep it going until the liner falls apart, (which probably won't be too long now)! At that point it'll be poolhouse and sand filter time...  I'm also lucky that my pool is not a salt pool, so I can just chuck in as many chlore tabs as it takes to keep the water clean! A good idea to use a robot to help with the circulation; I hadn't thought of that but, I ain't gonna spend the best part of 1000 euros and certainly not down at the local JD magasin!! Steve

Yes, the design is certainly flawed, but it's not just the underpowered pump causing the problems in a JD pool. A more powerful pump will improve the flow and rate of exchange to some extent, but because the JD system pushes water out from one end and collects it back at the same end, relying on water circulating right round the basin, it can never achieve the same efficiency as a conventional pool with end to end flow and/ or multiple skimmers. In my pool, algae always starts to appear first at the Roman end, the furthest point from the pump. So the ultimate solution is to rip out the JD system, build a poolhouse, install conventional pipework and skimmers, new pump, sand filter etc etc. I've given that some consideration myself; but not everybody can afford, or wants to do this major work, so there are ways you can keep a Desy pool clean in its original form. This works for me: keep the chlorine levels up religiously; use good quality pure product to minimise the mineral deposits. Keep the skimmer basket and bag clean to maximise the water flow rate and make sure you have a 15 micron bag in for everyday use and not the 6 micron that JD are keen to sell you- (it just restricts the water flow even further). And in a JD pool - filter, filter, filter! Steve

Hi Graham, Desjoyaux prices for replacement pumps are scandalous, along with most of the other items which are unique to their system. We inherited our JD pool when we purchased the house; it was already 10 years old and needed attention. I was astonished by the prices quoted when I first talked to our local Desjoyaux agent and I have spent the last 6 years sourcing cheaper replacement parts wherever possible. As far as the pumps go, most, if not all of the JD motors, at least for pools of several years vintage are Leroy Somer LS71. It's essentially an OK motor, if somewhat underpowered for the job. The bearings are a common point of failure, especially the front one, due to (in my opinion) inadequate and badly designed sealing between the impeller section and the motor itself. However, these can be replaced easily by anyone with good DIY skills; I have changed the bearings on my own pump twice, along with 2 others belonging to friends. Both bearings are a standard item and cost only a couple of quid each, plus postage, on the internet. There is a step by step guide to this procedure on the Desjoyaux USA site downloadable in PDF form. I used this the first time I did the job and it works! There are a couple of caveats in the document to avoid destroying / damaging certain components during disassembly, which it is worth paying great heed to (bitter experience!) but otherwise it's pretty straightforward. Steve