Just had some questions on what chemicals I will initially need. I bought 5 gallons of 6% bleach. I guess I should buy some baking soda and Borax. Anyone know how much I should buy of this initially? Also, are there any other chemicals I would need?
Getting my pool opened tomorrow
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Bleach was a good idea but wait till you test before you buy anything else. You may not need borax or baking soda. You may instead need muratic acid.
You will certainly make good use of the bleach. Hold off on anything else until you test the water and post those results.
(bama beat me (as usual) :lol: :lol: )
(bama beat me (as usual) :lol: :lol: )
Thanks.. Another question, how do I "clean the pool". That might sound like a stupid question but I never had a pool before.. It is an in-ground gunite pool...
For things on the surface of the water a pool leaf rake on a long pole is a good tool. For stuff on the bottom you can brush it around or vacuum it up, again with a pool brush or a pool vacuum.
Ok thanks Jason. This may be another stupid question, how do I hook up the vacuum? I see this long blue tube that looks like a vacuum tube, is that it?
Yes, the long tube/hose is it. There should be a vacuum head that connects to the hose and to a long pole. The other end of the hose gets plugged into the skimmer. There are two ways to plug the hose into the skimmer. The best way is to use a vacuum plate, a special plastic plate that fits over the skimmer basket with a hole for plugging in the vacuum hose. If you can't find a vacuum plate, you can remove the skimmer basket and plug the hose directly into the hole at the bottom of the skimmer.
Make sure that you fill the hose with water before connecting it to the skimmer. Otherwise the air in the hose will cause problems with the pump.
Ah, I see that you found the vacuum head.
Make sure that you fill the hose with water before connecting it to the skimmer. Otherwise the air in the hose will cause problems with the pump.
Ah, I see that you found the vacuum head.
I have found these 2 vacuums that the old owner use. Which one should I use and also are these any good?
The ray vac is a suction side automatic pool cleaner, the lower picture is a standard manual vacuum.
The ray vac needs a special hose with floats on it. The manual vacuum uses something that look more like a standard vacuum hose. The ray vac manual is here.
The ray vac needs a special hose with floats on it. The manual vacuum uses something that look more like a standard vacuum hose. The ray vac manual is here.
Which one would you recommend to use, the Ray VAC or the other one. And is the ray vac any good?
If you actually need to vacuum up something I'd get the manual vacuum working right away and vacuum up whatever it is. Then, over the next several days read the ray vac manual, see if you have all of the parts you need to get it working, try it out, and see if you like it.
Hey again 
I'd use the manual vac for the initial, and any heavy debris cleanings. I don't know about Ray-Vac, but I'll assume it's like the others and won't handle a total floor vacuuming as well as you could do manually.
I've got tomorrow off and will write up some manual vacuuming advice (which I hope will go into Pool School, since the question is now popping up more often. ) I'll post that stuff here tomorrow
I'd use the manual vac for the initial, and any heavy debris cleanings. I don't know about Ray-Vac, but I'll assume it's like the others and won't handle a total floor vacuuming as well as you could do manually.
I've got tomorrow off and will write up some manual vacuuming advice (which I hope will go into Pool School, since the question is now popping up more often. ) I'll post that stuff here tomorrow
waste said:Hey again
I'd use the manual vac for the initial, and any heavy debris cleanings. I don't know about Ray-Vac, but I'll assume it's like the others and won't handle a total floor vacuuming as well as you could do manually.
I've got tomorrow off and will write up some manual vacuuming advice (which I hope will go into Pool School, since the question is now popping up more often. ) I'll post that stuff here tomorrow
thanks a bunch!
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