need some input reopening drained pool after season off

[nickest]

Hello all you beautiful people!! Have to say first off this site is GREAT! Usually open forums on the Internet are..... Let's just say , not as helpful hahaha. Ok so opening inground pool back up after missing a full season because of , let's just call it , "poor customer service" from pentair warranty department. First off I have a 10k inground salt water pool . Pebble tec finish with an intelliflo vsf, the clean&clear 320 and master temp 250. Now my question is since pentair stalled so hard replacing my low voltage mother board I was out a whole season and have decided to drain and start new. It was surprisingly clean but still wanted to scrub the algae off at eye level and I prefer to gently shovel or grab leaves than try and scoop the slippery ******** out for hours with a screen on a pole lol. Now got new water coming soon and wanted to know if there is a way to run/test the pump Without having to fill the pool? Obviously would love to get water through the pump / filter side of plumbing before getting the new water and blasting anything hiding in the plumbing into the freshly filled and scrubbed pool! Any way that's it look forward to the input / suggestions. Oh and was wondering would it be possible to fill the skimmer return line up and keep the hose running in it and run the pump without damaging it? Or does that pump prime to fast for the hose to keep up? Again thanks in advance and I apologize if any of my questions are noob level it's my first solo opening

 

[CrystalRiver]

Your pump primes much faster than a garden hose can supply water. I wouldn't worry about what's in your plumbing. That will be minimal at worst (no sunlight means no algae) and you're going to have to start out with a SLAM anyway.

Remember that emptying the pool and then shoveling means you have to lift the full weight of all the debris, instead of letting the water do most of the work.

 

[nickest]

Got ya it's more for scrubbing the stains than debri removal. More so worried about the same equipment side of stuff . Are there any special steps or techniques to test and check the plumbing ,pump ,filter , and heater to make sure everything is in order before having everything ready to go before finding out there's a kink in the hose so to speak?

 

[CrystalRiver]

Visual check for anything obvious is about all you can do. Then make sure the valves are open on both supply and return side, prime the basket, and turn it on and see what happens. Basically you're just looking to see the pad stay dry (no leaks) and feel water re-entering the pool at the returns.

 

[BassPlayingDude]

If your water level is down, just use your vacuum hose. Fill up your pump with a garden hose until no more water will go into the piping, stick your vacuum hose into your skimmer suction port, stick the other end underwater and run it for a few minutes. If your pool is totally empty, you could use one of those keg tubs they sell for a few bucks or even a kiddie pool, but it won't take long for the pump to suck it dry.

 

[nickest]

Check and check everything is draining fine and no discernible leaks on pad or problems with where water is ending up. Got the pool getting filled tomorrow for moment of truth with everything fixed and unused. Mostly worried about easytouch automation headaches and heater malfunctions, seems like I read the most about those two after unusually long pause in use. But knowing there's no weird air movement in plumbing definitely HUGE relief

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Make sure you take the heater front panel off and check the gas valve. I had someone else close my pool and they had switched it to "OFF" which is evidently something you are supposed to do, but I didn't remember that and I thought that my heater was malfunctioning. Also check / clean the burner and igniter area as sometimes spiders get in there and block the gas with their webs. I was able to clean it out pretty well using the brush end of a windshield scraper, but compressed air would be even better if you have it.

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Do you have a mesh safety cover?

 

[nickest]

Do you have a mesh safety cover?

Awesome thanks man will check heater tomorrow!! Exactly the type of lesser known info I was lookin for. And no went with the old tarp and water bag weights with surface pump which I will NEVER be doing again. Gonna put anchors in this season when paver comes back for repairs/upkeep from initial settling and such. The 2 foot wall rise for water falls made your everyday loop and loc and covers a little tough to find but plan on solving that this season. What do you suggest mesh or safety?

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Mesh covers let more off-season Crud come through, and the anchors need to be removed, cleaned and greased every time you open to keep them from seizing, but they are much safer for children and wildlife. The solid covers from what I hear require a pump to periodically drain them. It's a trade-off just like everything in life. I am glad that I have mesh. I am willing to add a little CL during the winter to minimize SLAM'ing when I open. With my mesh cover, at the end of the season when closing I shut my float valve and pump down with the main drain until the water is about a foot below the return and I still open to a nearly full pool every spring, depending on the amount of snowfall. I think "mesh" and "safety cover" mean the same thing.

 

[nickest]

Neither yet used a tarp and water weights with cover pump last 2 seasons and am really trying to figure a way around it this year as its a HUGE pain. Having trouble finding mesh or safety for raised wall shape that isn't custom. Gonna try and figure a anchor solution with mesh I hope

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Custom job might be expensive ...

 

[nickest]

Custom job might be expensive ...

"True-er words..." Yeah trying to think of a way around it without installed tracks along wall. Should have done it during build but didn't think of it and now track would be external and I think permanent so I was thinking of trying something out of box or "pool" ha (excuse bad joke"). But the raised wall is roughly 27 feet long out of the 29-30 foot pool so like 85-90%. Added dark pic haha sorry nightime but any pic makes it easier to explain. Was thinking of trying something rigid on either side of wall to try and close huge gap as much as possible. Then since I have the solid stone steps trying to run something along them to edge of pool then down length. Like maybe npc black pipe for plumbing or something just to have someth to keep it tight against wall at pool level. I know at that length middle will bow so just putting one anchor in wall at middle and then go with anchors on top and two smaller mesh covers for each half and go from top down wall behind piping and across to paver anchors again. Only other thing I can think of is maybe inverted "Z" brackets anchored to top pavers and have them cover the dip to pool level and anchor from them across. Maybe combo of the two to keep pole from bowing. I know that having 5 or 6 custom steel "Z" brackets made is way cheaper than custom cover. And best I've seen from loop and loc for cover solutions made after pool is already built weren't that impressive without a track bolted. Second pic was literally they're answe for raised wall solution hahaha

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Looks like that might work.