1) When I closed last fall, I drained to waste w/ both the skimmer and mains until the skimmer started sucking air, then closed the mains until the skimmer line was dry and the pump lost prime - then immediately closed the valve for the skimmer, killed the pump, and added antifreeze and gizmo to skimmer. Thought this was a nifty way to completely drain the skimmer. Did the same thing when I closed a few days ago. Anything wrong w/ that? Everyone's pump runs dry for a few seconds from time to time, so I'm wondering if there's any harm here?

2) Closing, Shocking and Polyquat: I've read threads here as well as at Pool and Spa Forum. Water was crystal clear last Saturday, when I vacuumed thoroughly and shocked heavily. Brushed Sunday morning, added polyquat Monday morning and vacuumed again while draining Monday afternoon. Used a compressor to blow the lines, added antifreeze, return caps, gizmo, etc. I didn't test FC before adding polyquat Monday AM - I'm certain it was pretty high (I'm guessing 10-12ppm), since I'd shocked heavily Sat PM and water temp was 63F, CYA was 50. Should I have waited another day to allow FC to drop more? I recall waiting an extra day last year. I guess I'll know when I open next April.

Thanks for any feedback,
Joe

letting the pump run dry doesn't remove all the water from the lines, but if you add antifreeze to the lines in accordance to the directions on the bottle it shouldn't really matter. Regardless when we winterize lines we are using specialized blowers to remove the water from the lines and test the plugs afterward so we typically don't use anti-freeze unless there is some type of sealing problem.

As for the chlorine level, 10-12ppm is fine.