Where do I blow lines from using a shop vac?

[pisstol27]

I've seen videos of people doing it either from the skimmer or from the valves near the pump if you do it from the skimmer, what so you set the valve at? If you do it from the pump, where do you attach the hose to? Any help would be appreciated. Also, is a shop vac or compressed preferred?

 

[uloset]

If you have unions on your skimmer and return lines at the pad you can try blowing the lines out from there, by sticking the shop vac tube into the open unions, you might need an adapter of some sort to create a decent seal between the pools pipes and the vac tube. Also for the skimmer you can also blow them out by sticking the shop vac tube right into the opening on the bottom of the skimmer, this would blow the water out at the pad side.

 

[weird_tolkienish_f]

I detach the pump and filter, and duct tape a leaf blower to the pipe leading to the skimmer and returns. I don't blow the main line, if I've lowered the water level enough, if I pour antifreeze in the main line it will "drain" by itself. Weird but true. Then I cap the main line and put a gizzmo in the skimmer to pump line in the skimmer.

Plugging the returns after they're blown will usual require two people depending on how low the water level is.

 

[Durk]

There are lots of ways to skin this cat. No one way is necessarily better than any other. A compressor works just fine, but it needs to be pretty big to keep up. You need a big Shop-Vac, too (5hp+). Since 2006, I have successfully winterized using my 5hp 50 gal. compressor. I rigged up an adapter to connect the compressor through a regulator to a regular garden hose that I attach to the hose bibb thoughtfully installed by my pool builder (AnthonySylvan) between the pump and the filter. First, I drop the water level below the returns. Then, with the regulator set at 20lb and the MPV set to recirc., I blow the skimmers, main drain, and returns one-by-one, using the various Jandy valves to select each run. I use the hose valve to start and stop the air flow so I get most of the water out of the skimmers and returns. The main drain explodes with air and then I shut the valve on that. I have never used any anti-freeze, but I would if I lived in Michigan or Massachusetts.

 

[pisstol27]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I wound blowing the lines out from the skimmer. Since I was alone, I put a bucket at the end of the pipes to see how much water came out. It wound up taking almost an hour to get all the water out. I dropped the water below the returns jets and blew those out from the unions.