Day one of my pool closing please help...

[myrddin]

Hi guys... with it being 70 Deg. over this weekend I decided to try my first close... Please take a look and help me out... I am stuck and unsure if I should proceed.

My closing went like this...

1. Wait till the pool is at 60 Deg. and then clean and bring to shock level (39 for me with CYA at a high 100 mark)
2. After 3 days of 39 for FC I let the it drop some (3 more days)
3. I checked PH and TA (both spot on) then added a bottle of polyquat (well it was what the pool guy said was same thing)...
4. I super cleaned everything... to be honest I keep the pool pretty clean so this task was not a big one.
5. Removed the equipment and railing and the volleyball poles... also plugged the holes in the concrete for these items with a sacrificed pool noodle (need the real caps I think).
6. started the water drain... this took a long time (will not forget this for next time - start early). Dropped it 4 1/2 inches below my returns. Once below the skimmer I closed the valve and used the main drain only.
Note: while draining I found it wise to alternate the valve for the skimmer (off/on) to pull the water out of the skimmer line.
7. Removed all the eyeball fittings and robot fitting... (these end up in the pump basket at the end)
8. I have a 5 HP shop Vac... I also have a 5 foot long PVC pipe and a threaded end on it... I screwed the pipe into the bottom of my skimmer, then ran my exhaust to it... I put my filter in recirculate and then turned on the Shop Vac... and watched for the water to run out of the returns... a lot came out then not much... so I plugged the middle return and the robot port... more water came out of the farthest return I waited till hardly nothing came out then plugged that one and moved to the next return for the same concept and then the robot port to complete the returns... I also turned on the sliding board valve to get water out of that line (not sure if I should take it inside??)...

Note: this is where I was stuck and I may know why... after I blew out the returns, I thought if I left all 3 plugged up I should get bubbles out of my main drain... well I never did... my valve was open... I am wondering if I just didn't have the power to push air back out the main drain? Thoughts.... I am concerned about this part. Should I try my gas powered leaf blower? I can remove the pump and blow air back with the skimmer valve shut so all air will go to the main drain??

9. While still blowing air, and the returns still plugged I removed the 2 drain plugs at the pump, then the one drain plug at my Polaris helper pump, then one at my heater, and one on my chlorine feeder... once I had only air coming out I then removed my filter sight glass and pressure gauge.
10. I added 1 gallon of pool anti-freeze to each return with a bent funnel and then a gallon to the skimmer, and then I screwed in the skimmer thing for expansion and added another half-gallon to the skimmer bucket.
11. I put all 3 of my rubber plugs back in the returns... and put all my fittings in the pump basket as well as the drain plugs for the pump and such.

And I stopped to ask about the main drain???


What do you guys think? not sure what to do, I thought I could get some bubbles out of the main drain and I would close the valve to trap air (if it would hold). Please let me know... I will try to complete the job in the morning...

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

I would make sure skimmer and return valves are shut off. Then I would put the filter in closed valve position and open the main drain and then open the pump basket and blowout the main drain from there since you had trouble. This assumes the md is not daisy chained off the skimmer.

-sent with Tapatalk 2

 

[myrddin]

I went as far as pulling the PVC pipes off and blowing into the main drain line... No dice... I know its not clogged, I used it to drain the pool

I am going to try my leaf blower and if I dont get it that way I will rent a compressor (will buy one sometime soon for next time).

 

[PJ]

You have the right idea. Go ahead and rent a compressor. The pressure of the water over the main drain is too much for a blower. We use a pvc plumbing cap with a valve stem glued into it, attached to a rubber pipe connector (i'm not sure what the actual name of this part is ...but its black rubber with two hose clamps on each side). Just make sure one end fits the cap snugly and the other end fits into the line running to the drain snugly. Then begin to blow the line until massive air bubbles come out of the drain. Once this occurs turn off the valve (while still blowing) to create an air lock. Don't be surprised if it hisses a bit. But if it continues to leak air after a minute or so, repeat the process and plug the line with a rubber plug (quickly).

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

I went as far as pulling the PVC pipes off and blowing into the main drain line... No dice... I know its not clogged, I used it to drain the pool

I am going to try my leaf blower and if I dont get it that way I will rent a compressor (will buy one sometime soon for next time).

Surely the leaf blower will work! The downside to a compressor is that unless it is a huge one the air volume per minute is low.

 

[myrddin]

With me removing so much water and my equipment pad being 3-4 feet higher than the pool (water 5 inches below the returns) I dumped almost 2 gallons of antifreeze in the pad side of the main drain pipe and hooked me shopvac (tried leaf blower too) to the pipe and pushed the water back... I put itbacl together and wrapped it up for the season.

Question do I keep the pool cover pump on the cover all the time or do I kee it on the side and push it out when it rains?