So this is my first year of pool ownership. I've actually enjoyed getting to learn about all of the chemistry and maintenance items for the pool. This forum has been extremely helpful in that regard.
But one thing is confusing the heck out of me with closing procedures for the cold winter months. It is how to winterize the main drain. I've read different methods for closing the main drain. Some say to pour antifreeze in it, others talk about blowing the line out. I’m really confused.
It would seem to me that you would not want any kind of liquid in the drain over the winter just in case, but I’m confused about how you would get the water out of the line.
Do you cover the drain at the bottom of the pool and suck the water out? That would seem to be difficult to swim down there and plug it up, not to mention extremely cold if you were doing it in 60 degree pool water.
I saw a plug at my local ace hardware this weekend that was just an end cap and had a Schrader valve (like a bike tire) on it. I’m assuming it works by pumping air into the line, thereby displacing and forcing the water out until it bubbles into the pool. But I don’t understand one thing. Is the drain pipe installed such that the drain in the center is deeper than where it emerges from the edge of your pool? If not, wouldn’t the air in the line just bubble out the center of the pool (maybe not all at once but slowly over time) and be replaced with water?
But one thing is confusing the heck out of me with closing procedures for the cold winter months. It is how to winterize the main drain. I've read different methods for closing the main drain. Some say to pour antifreeze in it, others talk about blowing the line out. I’m really confused.
It would seem to me that you would not want any kind of liquid in the drain over the winter just in case, but I’m confused about how you would get the water out of the line.
Do you cover the drain at the bottom of the pool and suck the water out? That would seem to be difficult to swim down there and plug it up, not to mention extremely cold if you were doing it in 60 degree pool water.
I saw a plug at my local ace hardware this weekend that was just an end cap and had a Schrader valve (like a bike tire) on it. I’m assuming it works by pumping air into the line, thereby displacing and forcing the water out until it bubbles into the pool. But I don’t understand one thing. Is the drain pipe installed such that the drain in the center is deeper than where it emerges from the edge of your pool? If not, wouldn’t the air in the line just bubble out the center of the pool (maybe not all at once but slowly over time) and be replaced with water?
