My pool installer's winter closing scares me...Aqua Genie

[jessenmacher]

In-ground pool. Ohio (single digit F temps). Aqua Genie skimmer. Auto cover (winter water level needs to be high for support).

Pool was installed last year so the closing was part of the package. Water was tested and adjusted as needed. The guys came out and drained the pump, the sand filter, and the heater, and closed the auto cover.

Next they wedged some foam board pieces into the skimmer (I mean like pieces of home center wall insulation foam), and...THAT WAS IT!!

"Are you kidding me? That's it?"

"We haven't had one burst on us yet."

We'll last years closing was on them and I figured if there was a problem that was on them too.

Flash forward...no problems this season.

So now it's my turn to close and I'm worried. I've read some posts and many are talking about blowing out the lines and adding antifreeze, drain plugs, and skimmer covers.

So, the pool is largely winterized. I back flushed and sanitized the filter. I drained the pump, filter, and blew out the heater. I removed the baskets and the pressure gauge.

Is foam in the skimmer all I need to do? Again, that's all the installer did, and if I paid him to do it that's all they'd do again.

One more note...the water lines to the skimmer are double walled. They are standard PVC, but they fed them through what looked like 3" black corrugated pipe. This they tell me provides the insulation to keep them from freezing.

If it was this simple why isn't everyone doing it this way?

Jerry

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: My pool installer's winter closing scares me...Aqua Geni

Welcome to TFP.

In all reality what they did is probably fine. I've seen water ran into hoses ran in a secondary pipe and it helps the freezing a little, but i wouldn't trust it too much. I've never seen a pool don'e that way however. It's actually a good idea, just a lot of people don't want to go through the problem of doing it.

Foam in the skimmer should work but a gizmo would work better.

Do you know how deep the frost line is there?

 

[jessenmacher]

Re: My pool installer's winter closing scares me...Aqua Geni

Thanks for the reply.

The frost line is 32 inches. I'm pretty sure the horizontal lines are below 32 inches, but since I don't lower the pool level or blow out the lines, the vertical pipes to the skimmer and pump will come to the same water level as the pool.

I have considered the Aqua Genie winter cover, but from what I read they want you to drain the pool below the skimmer, and/or blow out the lines.

I have looked at pictures of the Gizmo, but that looks like it screws into the skimmer return. Might that then give the freezing pipes no place to expand? Or does it also allow for expansion up the pipes?

The foam the dealer used doesn't block the pipes so if the vertical ones do freeze solid, the path of least resistance is up the pipe into the skimmer where the foam is.

The dealer has been doing it this way 20 years he says. Maybe I should just trust his expertise. It is just so contrary to what everyone else in the industry does.

Thanks again,

Jerry

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: My pool installer's winter closing scares me...Aqua Geni

If your frost line is 32" I'd be a lot more comfortable using a blowout gizmo and blowing all the lines and plugging them.