Wow, I wish I had seen this forum years ago!

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welbo

0
Apr 14, 2016
81
College Station, TX
I ran across you guys while searching for a raspberry pi hot tub controller. After browsing the forums, it looks like a wealth of information on pool maintenance. I muddled around for three years trying to figure out how to take care of my AGP's. This place would have saved me lots of time and $$. Oh well, I'm glad to be here now. And I will add, it is refreshing to be on a forum dedicated to enjoyment where there are not so many hot tempers and heated issues (except for pool heaters ;) ).

I hope to post some pics and show off my deck and pool mods soon. I just got it re-filled two days ago and the area is a construction zone so I better get busy cleaning it up before pics.

For my second post to this site, I will discuss the uselessness of the Intex solar heater pads :mad:.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

HI and WELCOME! We LOVE pics of befores and afters! PLEASE share your mess so we can help cheer when it is done! LOL

Where is College Station? Can you please list it under your name?

I look forward to seeing you fall in love with your pool again!

Kim
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

Where is College Station?
Click to expand...
OMG, Kim, it's in Texas....Home of Texas A&M ("Fight, Farmers, fight!")

And Blue Bell Ice Cream.....that's sacred stuff!

Sorry, Kim, my son just graduated from A&M. He was in the Corp and now in Air Force Flight School. It's hard to describe A&M......you just sorta' have to be there to experience what a fun and proud school it is. Lot's of great Aggie jokes, too......mostly thought up by the folks over at ut.

There's so much "inside" stuff there I probably should have left it alone.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

Well it looks like there are a few fans on here. That makes it even more fun.
I am '97 and former Corps of Cadets as well. It is fun living in the city of my Alma Mater.

OK, OK, pictures to come when I get home today.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

duraleigh said:
OMG, Kim, it's in Texas....Home of Texas A&M ("Fight, Farmers, fight!")

And Blue Bell Ice Cream.....that's sacred stuff!

Sorry, Kim, my son just graduated from A&M. He was in the Corp and now in Air Force Flight School. It's hard to describe A&M......you just sorta' have to be there to experience what a fun and proud school it is. Lot's of great Aggie jokes, too......mostly thought up by the folks over at ut.

There's so much "inside" stuff there I probably should have left it alone.
Click to expand...

Wellll okay then........hehe! NOW I know! Love when something is so loved!

Kim
 

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Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

Welcome to TFP!

You can click SETTINGS upper right, then click EDIT PROFILE lower left and add a TX to the city/state field, scroll down and click SAVE. That will help the other few people who don't know where College Station is. :)
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

These aren't precisely 'before' or 'after' pics... kind of 'almost after'. Just shows the big mess I made.

This is the filled pool and the deck I made two years ago when I first put this pool up. It was an upgrade from a 16' Intex AGP.
ca42bfe5d2f0c0d0583b9e0755cabfc2.jpg


Here is a pano-view from the pool deck:
3a84c2470b630c277f931afaeb994ec3.jpg


Here is some of the plumbing rework I did this year so I can chose if I want water in the skimmer, lower inlet or both:
96a5512486433276896813b789aecb53.jpg


Just my pump and sand filter under the deck. I had a new one sitting in the box so I put it in this year. We had bought the same model for our old round pool and just left this one in the box when we put up this pool:
10034b71f5e956bcd905ff943f43bdd7.jpg

It's all a huge mess. I need to clean up all the wiring under the deck, pick up all the parts, wash everything and more. We've had 5 or 6 cloudy cool days here since I filled it. We don't swim until the water gets to 70 or above so I'm working on trying to heat it. Here are some interesting calculations-

17,200 gallons, I need about 2 Million btu' to raise all that 10 degrees (efficiency loss). If I used propane, I would need 19 5lb tanks at a cost of $350. Natural gas would take 18.60 ccf at a cost of $12! There's a clear choice there. Although I don't have a gas line out there so it isn't likely either way. Heating is useful to give us about 2 extra months of usage. We wouldn't use it more than that so probably not worth adding a gas line.

OK, I know I started about three new threads here when all I intended was to add new pics. I'll get over to the appropriate sub forum and add a post so we can discuss there.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

MarianParoo said:
Okay all you Aggie hijackers! Naughty. Notifications for ALL of you! Hahaha!

Welbo: have you researched, chosen, and ordered a recommended testkit? Pool School - Test Kits Compared
Click to expand...

I have a Taylor I've been using the last few years but it is just a 1001. It only does FC and PH. My old Wal-mart kit had the other reagents but I'm out of most. I like the Taylor kit so I think I'll order the 5001 or whichever model I saw recommended in the pool school.
I also enjoy taking my samples to the pool store and completely ignoring their advice and buying only a noodle before walking out.
Just kidding. They are very nice and useful and have pretty decent pricing. Independents.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

duraleigh said:
OMG, Kim, it's in Texas....Home of Texas A&M ("Fight, Farmers, fight!")

And Blue Bell Ice Cream.....that's sacred stuff!
Click to expand...

In order to preserve TFP's history of being as factually correct as possible, while it is in the same geographic region as College Station - Blue Bell Ice Cream is actually from Brenham, TX. Close, but not the same.......
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

The very basic principles that form the TFP methodss are accurate testing and understanding the results. All those old kits you have are expired and useless....throw them out.

I suggest you start with "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School and get a good basic knowledge of whether you want to use our methods.

You'll need to get rid of the pool store, regardless of how nice they are. The suggestions just don't mix well.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

welbo said:
I have a Taylor I've been using the last few years but it is just a 1001. It only does FC and PH. My old Wal-mart kit had the other reagents but I'm out of most. I like the Taylor kit so I think I'll order the 5001 or whichever model I saw recommended in the pool school.
I also enjoy taking my samples to the pool store and completely ignoring their advice and buying only a noodle before walking out.
Just kidding. They are very nice and useful and have pretty decent pricing. Independents.
Click to expand...

I'm a little late to the party, but welcome to TFP!! While there are a few (mostly independent) pool stores that do a good job of water testing we have found that the vast majority are fair with testing most days and downright bad most of the time.

We base our pool care methods on accurate testing and only adding what you need, when you need it. To do that you need your own test kit that tests everything we track. The K-1001 you have just isn't up to the task. I recommend the TF-100 as it uses the Taylor reagents we have found to be the best and it has been optimized for the home pool owner. It has more of the tests we use more and less of what we test less.
 
Re: Wow, I wish I had seen this forum 3 years ago

duraleigh said:
The very basic principles that form the TFP methodss are accurate testing and understanding the results. All those old kits you have are expired and useless....throw them out.

I suggest you start with "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School and get a good basic knowledge of whether you want to use our methods.

You'll need to get rid of the pool store, regardless of how nice they are. The suggestions just don't mix well.
Click to expand...

I see you are passionate about pool care. That is some of what attracted me here.
I know sometimes written words can come off wrong so I won't take it personally but you appear preachy and abrupt in your presentation. The attitude that I can do everything you say, exactly as you say, with no exception is quite a turn off. I will be using the knowledge the collective has shared and maybe even share something I have picked up along the way with all of you. I will likely continue to go to the pool store. They have great pool toys! I may even continue to have them test my water as a comparison to my own tests. My kits have no expiration date and still react the way I expect them to. They work great because I do not have any other option right now. It is much better than being totally blind on my chem levels.

In short, thank you for sharing your passion for pool care. It will be great to take that knowledge and use it to make my pool care easier and more efficient.

Now, I need to go order a new TF-100 kit.
 

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