I bought a bank-owned 1977 property in Tucson, AZ. Has been vacant a year plus, which means the pool was "winterized" (drained and allowed to fill w/ rainwater and trash). I have about 2' of green water in the deep end. The plaster will eventually need to be replaced, but I'm hoping I can limp through 3-4 seasons before it is a necessity. I estimate 22,000 gallons, with a spillover hot tub (which I probably won't heat; just use as a kiddy pool). There are 12 black solar coils on the carport roof (single story)
Checking out the equipment, I have a sand filter of some sort, and two pumps. Larger one is 2 HP single-speed AO Smith, circa 1988. Smaller one is a Century 1081 3/4 HP unit. Not sure if the smaller one is for hot tub jets, or vacuum system, or ?
So my plan is to clean it out next weekend and fill er up, then start turning stuff on and see what I got. I plan to replace the main pump since the energy savings alone could be major. Not sure if I should look to replace smaller pump as well.
I have the recommended Taylor K-2006 testing kit so I'm armed and ready to do battle with chemistry.
questions:
1. how long can the pool sit full while I figure out my game plan and order/install pumps? Daytime highs are ~70, nighttime lows ~40, The old pump may work and allow me to circulate some bleach and start testing, but it might not start at all. I guess there is already algae on the deep end, so I will have to shock it to start anyway, and we're not in a great hurry to start swimming.
2. any possibility or advantage of replacing both pumps with a single unit? There are a lot of plumbing runs and I haven't figured out inlets and outlets yet.
3. what should I be looking for in a new pump? AZ banned single-speed retrofits, so it's two-speed or variable-speed. Electric rates are about $0.10 kWh. I have read some people saying to run low speed nearly round-the-clock rather than 8hrs on/16 hrs off to keep the algae at bay and improve filtering. The old pump was 2 HP, but I have no idea if it was sized correctly. I found some online calculations indicating I need 40 GPM for a 24 hr turnover. No idea how to estimate the pressure head, especially with the elevated solar coils and who-knows-what pipe diameter in all he various runs and connections. Do the variable speed pumps require new controller? I have mechanical timers now
Checking out the equipment, I have a sand filter of some sort, and two pumps. Larger one is 2 HP single-speed AO Smith, circa 1988. Smaller one is a Century 1081 3/4 HP unit. Not sure if the smaller one is for hot tub jets, or vacuum system, or ?
So my plan is to clean it out next weekend and fill er up, then start turning stuff on and see what I got. I plan to replace the main pump since the energy savings alone could be major. Not sure if I should look to replace smaller pump as well.
I have the recommended Taylor K-2006 testing kit so I'm armed and ready to do battle with chemistry.
questions:
1. how long can the pool sit full while I figure out my game plan and order/install pumps? Daytime highs are ~70, nighttime lows ~40, The old pump may work and allow me to circulate some bleach and start testing, but it might not start at all. I guess there is already algae on the deep end, so I will have to shock it to start anyway, and we're not in a great hurry to start swimming.
2. any possibility or advantage of replacing both pumps with a single unit? There are a lot of plumbing runs and I haven't figured out inlets and outlets yet.
3. what should I be looking for in a new pump? AZ banned single-speed retrofits, so it's two-speed or variable-speed. Electric rates are about $0.10 kWh. I have read some people saying to run low speed nearly round-the-clock rather than 8hrs on/16 hrs off to keep the algae at bay and improve filtering. The old pump was 2 HP, but I have no idea if it was sized correctly. I found some online calculations indicating I need 40 GPM for a 24 hr turnover. No idea how to estimate the pressure head, especially with the elevated solar coils and who-knows-what pipe diameter in all he various runs and connections. Do the variable speed pumps require new controller? I have mechanical timers now