When closing the pool for the winter do I have to get the water out of the skimmer itself or just out of the suction and return pipes? Thanks
Lowering water for pool closing
- Thread starter timothy918
- Start date
Shirker
0
- Jul 2, 2014
- 749
- Pool Size
- 19000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
A hard freeze could crack the skimmer box. I would drain below the skimmer or you can get a water tight lid to close off the skimmer from the inside of the pool.
Tim,
I lower the water a few inches below the skimmer. The thing is, unless you have a solid cover, the water level will come back up into the skimmer anyway with fall and winter precipitation, so I always keep an eye on it it and use a small pump to drain the water level back down below the skimmer. At some point, of course, with a really cold winter the pool freezes and so then there's not much you can do about the level until spring thaw. I might also suggest that you add an empty gallon container to the skimmer just as an expansion device so that when the skimmer box does get full of ice, it prevents any damage. I've noticed that the ice completely fills in the area around the container, but it's great peace of mind knowing that you don't have to worry about any cracks developing. For closing, even though I blow out all the lines, I also add a gallon of antifreeze in both the return and skimmer lines - more peace of mind. Do you have some sort of plug for your skimmer pipe? I use a double plug that takes care of both the skimmer line coming into the skimmer and also the lower plug takes care of the line going down to the drain.
I lower the water a few inches below the skimmer. The thing is, unless you have a solid cover, the water level will come back up into the skimmer anyway with fall and winter precipitation, so I always keep an eye on it it and use a small pump to drain the water level back down below the skimmer. At some point, of course, with a really cold winter the pool freezes and so then there's not much you can do about the level until spring thaw. I might also suggest that you add an empty gallon container to the skimmer just as an expansion device so that when the skimmer box does get full of ice, it prevents any damage. I've noticed that the ice completely fills in the area around the container, but it's great peace of mind knowing that you don't have to worry about any cracks developing. For closing, even though I blow out all the lines, I also add a gallon of antifreeze in both the return and skimmer lines - more peace of mind. Do you have some sort of plug for your skimmer pipe? I use a double plug that takes care of both the skimmer line coming into the skimmer and also the lower plug takes care of the line going down to the drain.
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