Hello! New happy pool owner, a few pics, and questions..

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Polar_Bus

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May 30, 2008
41
southern New Hampshire
Hi everyone, my name is Rich and I just purchased a 18X33 oval. I am very pleased with the install, with only a few minor issues that have been corrected by the installers. I am currently involved in having my pump wired per code. I had to move my whole pump/filter assemble farther away than initially placed. Needless to say, I am now very versed at how a Pentair sand filter operates !
My first question is about springtime tree debris that keeps blowing into my pool. I have a TON of flying debris getting into my pool, especially on a windy day. I keep my solar cover on, and this is helping out a LOT, but some debris still gets into the water. How often should I skim the debris out of the pool. My kids are not really swimming in the water yet as it's only 65F (but slowly rising!).
I purchsed pre-treated pool water, and so far everything tests in the "ideal" range. I did however purchase the suggested TF100 test kit, as the cheapo "see through" style kit my pool company gave me is vague and difficult to draw an accurate conclusion.
My second question/concern is with my filter's Pool Frog sanitizer. I am observing a slight amount of physicall "bouncing" stemming from the Pool Frog unit hanging off the top valve assembly. I think this occurance is going to cause issues, possibly breaking the top valve assembly if I don't do something to support the Pool Frog unit? Your thoughts would be great! Thanks for all the info this site is absolutely the BERRIES as far as knowledge! Heres a few pics of my new pool:
(sorry for the lack of landscaping, thats getting done in about 2 weeks...)




 
Good morning Rich and welcome to TFP!

That picture of your pool makes me want to dive right in.

'Tis the season for tree flowers and pollen to fly and be magically attracted to water. Much of it will wind up in your skimmer basket and hence, your filter. The rest will precipitate on the bottom and look like clumps and streaks of sand or silt and can, under the right light conditions, be mistaken for algae.

With as many trees as you have you may consider a PoolSkim. I have a pictorial writeup of it on my Website; click on the Pool Issues link in my signature. Another real aid are the skimmer basket socks available at the pool store. You put one over (inside) the skimmer basket and it catches much of the fine debris before it can slip into the filter. It needs to be changed out at least daily, more during heavy pollen/bug season.

Use your skimmer net and/or a leaf net as often as you can, it takes but a few minutes and saves on vacuuming.

Is the Pool Frog the inline chlorinator I see in the photo? We have one but I haven't noticed any bouncing. Our piping is PVC, not flexible tubing, maybe that's why. I probably would support it by propping a 2x4 under it, or something.

I was glad to read you ordered the TF-100 test kit. Good decision! Post your numbers when you're done playing with it :)
 
Hi Rich, welcome to TFP, your pool looks really nice! Everything AnnaK said is right on. This spring my sand filter was not able to catch all the pollen etc. so I put a knee high (stocking) around the filter basket and it caught most of the stuff, must check it often and as AnnaK said you can also use a skimmer sock. I vacuum (to waist) the bottom of the pool to get the stuff that settled there. If you do that you will have to refill the pool to replace the water lost ( probably several inches) and the new water may change your water chemistry, be sure to retest. Have a fun summer.
 
Thanks for all the quick replies and compliments! I'll post up severall more pics when the landscaping and deck addition are both finished. It should look fantastic!

I have been pretty much emptying the skimmer baskets every few days. I run my filter every night for about 4 hours. I like the nylon idea, I will do that for some added "pre filtering" protection

I've been watching my filter pressure, and I initially started at 10 psi, and I am currently observing about 15 psi. The pump installers said perform a backwash after the pressure rises 8-10 psi from when it was clean. This sound like correct advice?
 
My pump manuel says the same thing, I backwash when it goes up 8. I put my hand in front of the return and when I feel the water pressure rather low I backwash and that is about at the 8 increase. I also learned at the Hayward web site that the smaller particles are best filtered in the higher psi. For the past 3 years I had been backwashing at only 3 psi increase and could not figure out why it was not picking up the smaller stuff. Live and learn.
 
Hey Rich, congrats on the new pool! If you're worried about the pool frog autochlorinator where it's mounted now, you could always disconnect it, mount it to some type of base, and use some flex hose to go from the pump to the unit.

Just FYI, the pool frog is not all it's cracked up to be. The bacpac's are nothing more than trichlor tabs, and the mineral insert adds unnecessary things like silver to your water. Trichlor tabs will eventually cause your pool to become overstabilized. It's good to have in case you go on vacation, so you can throw either a bacpac or just some trichlor tabs in it to chlorinate while you're gone, but other than that.....nah. Just my .02.
 
Hi Rich,
You're pool looks fantastic!

I also have a Pool Frog and while I'm not an expert, here's what I can offer after three years.

1. I looked at my Frog manual and your's can be attached that way. Mine is screwed to a base next to my filter. Mike is correct, if the bouncing concerns you, you might think about changing the set-up if you're comfortable doing that.

2. The BacPac's are convenient, but they can drive your CYA through the roof. The first season mine went well over 100. Thank goodness for a cold winter and a mesh cover. Now I only use two a year. One at the beginning of the season to raise my CYA (if needed) and one when I go on vacation. Once my case runs out, I'll probably keep one BacPac on hand for vacations.

3. One more thing with the Frog you need to keep an eye on is your PH. I guess it's the chlorine in the BacPac from what I've been told, but it's a fight to get my PH above 7.2. Once I go back to strictly bleach, my PH is must easier to raise with BORAX.

The people on this forum are great so they can help you out if you run into any major issues. Good luck and enjoy the new pool!
 
thelma said:
Hi Rich,
You're pool looks fantastic!

I also have a Pool Frog and while I'm not an expert, here's what I can offer after three years.

1. I looked at my Frog manual and your's can be attached that way. Mine is screwed to a base next to my filter. Mike is correct, if the bouncing concerns you, you might think about changing the set-up if you're comfortable doing that.

2. The BacPac's are convenient, but they can drive your CYA through the roof. The first season mine went well over 100. Thank goodness for a cold winter and a mesh cover. Now I only use two a year. One at the beginning of the season to raise my CYA (if needed) and one when I go on vacation. Once my case runs out, I'll probably keep one BacPac on hand for vacations.

3. One more thing with the Frog you need to keep an eye on is your PH. I guess it's the chlorine in the BacPac from what I've been told, but it's a fight to get my PH above 7.2. Once I go back to strictly bleach, my PH is must easier to raise with BORAX.

The people on this forum are great so they can help you out if you run into any major issues. Good luck and enjoy the new pool!
Click to expand...

Hey Thelma,

Good info on the frog, especially about the pH wanting to drop (I'd forgotten that). Did want to mention though that the trichlor tabs in the bacpac are acidic, which is why your pH wants to drop. Gee, causes your pH to go down, and your CYA to go up. That's two things the pool store can sell you more chemicals for! :lol: Not to mention the bacpac's and the mineral insert! No wonder they basically give you the pool frog system.
 
I am about ready to throw this alleged useless pool frog in the trash after reading much of the educated input here. And of course, my chlorine levels have dropped, and so has my PH. My PH dropped to high 6's and it tested perfect last week.
My water is also getting cloudy now.

I can also tell you today I am so discouraged and pi$$ed off at all the CONSTANT onslought of tree debris (specifiically those friggin whirlybird things) that keeps getting into my pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was another typicall warm windy day in new england, and I honestly spent 1/2 the day skimming, vacumming, skimming, then skimming and hour later again.........
I just got so frustrated, I said screw it, and dragged the solar cover back on at thats it.
Sorry kids, from now on, if its early spring and windy the pool os CLOSED !!
 

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Polar_Bus said:
I am about ready to throw this alleged useless pool frog in the trash after reading much of the educated input here. And of course, my chlorine levels have dropped, and so has my PH. My PH dropped to high 6's and it tested perfect last week.
My water is also getting cloudy now.

I can also tell you today I am so discouraged and pi$$ed off at all the CONSTANT onslought of tree debris (specifiically those friggin whirlybird things) that keeps getting into my pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was another typicall warm windy day in new england, and I honestly spent 1/2 the day skimming, vacumming, skimming, then skimming and hour later again.........
I just got so frustrated, I said screw it, and dragged the solar cover back on at thats it.
Sorry kids, from now on, if its early spring and windy the pool os CLOSED !!
Click to expand...


Don't get discouraged Rich. I'm in Upstate NY and go through the same excitement every Spring. This morning, I ran my Pool Rover for about four hours. The bottom was spotless and the surface was neatly skimmed. By this afternoon (during my first float and swim!) I had some leaves and lots of little things that looked like cloves floating around. Then when I put the solar cover back on, even more stuff that was left on there got back in. Spring in the Northeast is is a hoot isn't it?

I won't encourage you to dump the Frog all-together. It's a learning experience. Once I got the hang of testing and keeping an eye on my PH and CYA, I've made it work for me along with the three B's.
 
Thanks for the encouragment folks. I am in a more positive mood today. I am just so excited about my new pool, and all's I did Sunday was clean it, and as fast as I got it clean, it was disgusting again within 20 min.

I am going to bring a water sample to my LPS, and get some input on my water until my TF100 kit gets here later in the week.

I will post up my in depth test #, later this week. Thanks again for all your help!

Rich
 
Polar_Bus said:
I am about ready to throw this alleged useless pool frog in the trash after reading much of the educated input here. And of course, my chlorine levels have dropped, and so has my PH. My PH dropped to high 6's and it tested perfect last week.
My water is also getting cloudy now.

I can also tell you today I am so discouraged and pi$$ed off at all the CONSTANT onslought of tree debris (specifiically those friggin whirlybird things) that keeps getting into my pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was another typicall warm windy day in new england, and I honestly spent 1/2 the day skimming, vacumming, skimming, then skimming and hour later again.........
I just got so frustrated, I said screw it, and dragged the solar cover back on at thats it.
Sorry kids, from now on, if its early spring and windy the pool os CLOSED !!
Click to expand...

I understand your frustration. I have a yard surrounded by maple trees. I am fighting pollen, leaves and green "helicopters". As the summer continues, it will be leaves and brown "helicopters". The brown ones stain everything.

I purchased a poolskim and it was one of the best investments I have made for the pool. It catches everything except the pollen. I can guarantee you that you won't regret spending the money for it.

Here is the link:

http://www.poolskimusa.com/

It was $89.99, free shipping, and arrived very fast. It is easy to hook up also. I had it done in about 15 minutes. AnnaK has a nice webpage that shows her poolskim setup. Here's the link:

http://ellerbach.com/Pool/PoolSkim/
 
OK, you people talked me into a poolskim! I just ordered one. Considering the $7 large I just dropped on my pool alone (not including the new add on deck, and the needed landscaping), when the heck is another $90 spent ??

Sounds like very unbiased positive feedback on the poolskim, and after all my tiresome cleaning this past weekend, I would have payed $200 for that Poolskim! LOL
 
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