Jason, I am not sure what you mean when you say you shock it and wait till it holds overnight, then you let it drop to normal levels. How do you hold it and drop it? you mean u run the filter to check if it remains constant and then shut it off?

another thing, do you guys raise your alkalinity before closing ? seems my local shop and leslies recommend to raise it before closing, I dont see anything in your post about this.

This is more or less the standard shocking the pool procedure. You raise FC to shock level, test after an hour and raise FC back up to shock level if needed, repeating as needed (which it shouldn't much especially if you start in the evening). Then you leave the pool alone overnight, and hopefully it will still have the same FC level in the morning. If it loses chlorine overnight, raise it back up to shock level as often as practical until the next evening and then do the overnight test again. Once FC holds overnight, you leave it alone and the FC level will fall on it's own due to sunlight.

I don't raise alkalinity before closing. Depending on your CH levels that could risk calcium scaling. Even if scaling is not an issue, there isn't any reason to raise TA. It is important that PH, TA, and CH levels be in their normal ranges. Borates and CYA don't matter nearly as much over the winter, and are often towards the low end of the range in the fall, which is fine.

The only reason I can think of as to why they suggest raising the TA is if one closes with Trichlor tablets in a feeder. If one shocks with chlorine and doesn't use Trichlor, then it is better to keep the TA lower to help prevent the pH from rising too much.

I am not sure what feeder is I know when I opend the pool this year there was a string that was run from one side of the pool to the other and on it there was black containers(seems like a 2L pepsi bottle shape), no idea what was in it but is that possibly the feeder with trichlor or chlorine tablets in it? My concern is that I am not confidend closing myself the first year but if I need to shock and the FC does not hold I can not make the appointment for closing untill it holds and those guys usually busy for a week or two. Will be very hard to coordinate me shocking it properly and scheduling the closing, unless ofcourse I assume the FC will hold onvernight on the first try. When you guys say its important to hold levels stable over winter, do you mean I will need to add chemicals over the winter ? I am pretty sure the previous owner stated he didnt touch the pool when closed and water this june was very clear when opened, just some leaves and bit of dirt on bottom.

what about me feeder question

A feeder is a system that runs water over trichlor pucks to provide a continuous dosing of chlorine (but also CYA). What you describe doesn't sound like any chlorination system to me.

I see, no one seems to have any idea what the stuff in my pool was, i am confused. the pool was in great shape when opened so I would like to keep doing whatever the previous owners did but this has me puzzled.....

Maybe bobbing bottles to help prevent ice forming during the winter ?

I'd guess they cut some holes in the bottles and made a makeshift floater for over the winter. Added some granular chlorine and let it slowly dissolve over the winter. If you follow the sites suggestion you'll end this year algea free, and start next year the same.

Good luck

I have a question regarding the anti freeze, I watched a video on youtube of a guy puring half a gallon into each skimmer line which seems to differ with whats suggested here. Here I read u need a gallong for 10 to 15 feet of line and also to fill in the return lines which I have about 4 off if I recall correctly. Since I bought the house with pool I am not sure how many feet the lines are so can I just measure the distance to filter and assume that is close enough ? I have no idea how far down they go and so forth, nore if the return lines are really just one line that splits on the side of the pool where they empty into the pool ? also no clue how I would get the anti freeze into them unless they drop down just past the pool wall line

Dont worry about antifreeze. Just blow the lines out and cap them off while the water's bubbling. If any water is left in the lines, it will seek the lowest point; likely well below the frost line in New Jersey.

If there is only one pipe leaving the equipment pad to go to the returns, then they are almost certainly chained together along one pipe run. If there are several return pipes at the equipment pad then that many returns are plumbed in parallel.

A round guess at the distance from the skimmer or return back to the equipment pad (going around the outside of the pool) will do for measuring the pipe lengths. You don't need to be exact.

There is certainly no need to fill the pipes with anti-freeze. 1 gallon for every 15 feet is on the high end. Less will usually be fine, I just like to be conservative. In an ideal world, you don't need any anti-freeze in the pipes, since they should be dry. But if they do fill with water you want enough anti-freeze to prevent the water that does get in from freezing. More anti-freeze is required the colder your winters get. One of the principals of winterizing is that you always want there to be more than one thing preventing damage. That way when something goes wrong you still don't get plumbing damage (which can be very expensive to fix).

Returns can almost always be filled from the return fitting. The pipe should go down at least a little from there. Depending on how your plumbing is setup, there may also be a spot at the equipment pad that will allow you to pour anti-freeze into the return lines, though often enough there isn't.

What is the return fitting Jason, do you mean the hole in the pool where water jets out?

Yes, the return fitting is on the pool wall where the returning water enters the pool.

Where do you guys buy your Poly 60 and atnifreeze? I have been buying most my chemicals over the summer at Walmart but I do not see any poly or antif at my store. My other options are local shops/Leslies' but they are usually expensive so just wondering if there is some other option out there.

Do you guys think its ok to add the Poly 60 after lowering the water level and not let it mix through the filter? my pool should be about 25k gallons when lowered and thats what one bottle of poly is good for that I mean to buy, if I add before dropping i would need like 1 1/4 bottle and i would rather not spend the extra $25.

$25 a bottle is a little on the expensive side, I got 2 bottle sent to me with free shipping for $38. Polyquat is pretty thick and needs some pump time to get circulated around your pool. I am planning on adding it to my pool the day before I close it and letting the pumps run through the night.

Well the pool guys came, blew the lines and left they advised not to add any antifreeze as them sealing the lines is sufficient and they guarantee their work. I did want to use up my antifreeze anyhow so I poured a bottle into each skimmer, two bottles into auto fill pump hole, and they told me to pour last two straigh into the hot tub. Now I am finally clear of the pool work, although it was not bad at all during the season, and can focus on planting, insulation, and a million other things after moving thanks to all the guys here for the help with my pool.