First time winterizing question

[sjagannath]

Hi guys,

I know I'm late to the game, but I am winterizing my pool this weekend. Had some family emergencies keeping me from the pool.

My winterizing plan is to bring FC to shock levels, possibly add some polyquat 60, drain water, pull pump and hoses and cover.

If I drain my water level to 6" below my return, do I need to plug the return and/or the skimmer? If the hoses are pulled, what would that do? I'm not seeing the need for that, or am I missing something?

Thanks guys

 

[phonedave]

Yes and no

Don't plug the skimmer at all - if water collects in it, it could freeze and crack the plastic.

If you get more than 6" of rain (or the equivalent in snow / ice) on your cover, then it will start pushing pool water out of the return. You can either.

a - keep after the cover and not let 6 inches of water collect on it.
b - say "who cares" and let any water drain out of the return hole onto whatever is underneath it. (makes a skating rink - really not a good idea)
c. Stick a plug in the return.

Really, a plug is about $3, just to avoid the mess of ice it can make if it overflows, I would stick one in the return.

If you leave a hose on the return, it can freeze and crack it.


-dave

 

[msgtdan]

I plug the return but not the skimmer, if water rises above the return while there is still a chance of a hard freeze I'll drain some more (hasn't happened yet). Once winter is pretty much over and before opening I plug the skimmer and let rain water help fill the pool back up. I have high TA and CH water so all the rain water I can get helps counter that. With spring rains I don't usually have to add much if any water at opening. I also close late and open early, after reading a thread on freezing here I don't worry about an overnight freeze as my timer runs about an hour in the middle of the night, keeping the plumbing open.