Couple questions about cold weather winterizing and tablets

[Swenny]

Greetings all:

I am finding this site to be incredibly informative and I am most appreciative to everyone on here. My brain is filling up with lots of useful info, lol

I had a couple questions that I'm hoping others in similar situations face. I live in Minnesota and just purchased a 16' x 48" Intex Ultra Frame ~5,000 gallon AGP. Comes with ground cloth, cover, ladder, 1500 gph pump. Haven't set it up yet, still finding time to level out the ground. I have read the Seasonal Guide.

1. Curious if anyone leaves their pool up for the winter and winterizes it somehow. I know Intex suggests taking it down and I certainly don't want it to freeze and cause liner damage

2. If I do drain it every fall, in theory I shouldn't have to worry about adding too much stabilizer, correct? Would using the dreaded 1" pucks be completely out of the question?

Thanks!

 

[DaninFLA]

for 5,000 gallons I think it would be easier to take it down each year. the biggest pain of installing the pool is leveling the ground, which you shouldnt have to do again so it should be quick.

you can use the tabs and just keep track of your CYA. it can definitely add up quick, but if you keep track of it and it gets high you just switch to liquid chlorine the rest of the season.

 

[PridgNYC]

I keep my Intex up all winter in upstate New York. To winterize, I wait for the water temp to be consistently below 50, drain to just below the lowest plumbing hole in the liner, remove inlets and outlet eyeball plumbing and hoses, drain sand filter, tie three inner tubes together and to sides of pool so they stay centered and cover the whole thing with a mesh winter cover. Store pump and plumbing in shed. Pool has frozen solid for the past 3 winters with no damage. The danger with taking it down and putting it back up is the very real risk of getting holes in the liner either by trying to fold it up while the liner is cold or critters chewing on it while it is stored.

 

[Swenny]

I keep my Intex up all winter in upstate New York. To winterize, I wait for the water temp to be consistently below 50, drain to just below the lowest plumbing hole in the liner, remove inlets and outlet eyeball plumbing and hoses, drain sand filter, tie three inner tubes together and to sides of pool so they stay centered and cover the whole thing with a mesh winter cover. Store pump and plumbing in shed. Pool has frozen solid for the past 3 winters with no damage. The danger with taking it down and putting it back up is the very real risk of getting holes in the liner either by trying to fold it up while the liner is cold or critters chewing on it while it is stored.

That's another thing that seemed like it would almost cause more harm than good although I would wonder how it would compare with ice shifting on a vinyl liner, heh