Recent content by b00k3

Another update. Good grief. The vac to waste helped things a bit, but never got all of it. There would always be a bit of gunk settling within a day of being kicked up. At some point it was clear enough to not mind swimming in, and a short time later it was too cold to swim anyway. It was...

an update... I figured out that if I unplugged my return and moved the whole pump over, I could just make the waste hose reach the waste. So I let it settle and vac'd to waste a couple times. The flocculant said it could also be used as a filter aid, so I just used it that way. I don't know...

I'm pretty sure I was using FAS-DPD correctly. I've used it lots before, and I was reading the instructions as I did it to be safe. Unless you've seen 2-3 year old FAS-DPD reagents work perfectly, I think we should just take my word that these reagents are bad. Yesterday, I caught a pool...

Thanks for all the replys, folks. Maybe I wasn't clear about why I don't trust my FAS-DPD. The reagents were bought beginning of summer 2009. One of those reagents is in an opaque bottle, and is rumored to be very light sensitive. The powder is also rumored not to age well. When I opened...

The sock on the return captured some green, but not all that much. It didn't solve the problem much. I caved and got an Intex 1600GPH sand filter & pump and installed it last night. I snagged one on Craigslist that was apparently a resale from the Walmart pricing error a month ago or so. The...

Can you add DE to an intex cartridge filter? I didn't think you could. I've put a sock on the return. It gathered some green. I even tried a sock within a sock... that seemed to collect some. I get the feeling it's not getting very much though. pretty cloudy still. I've seen lots of...

Hi all, I've been following this forum off and on for years. It's worked really well for us, for the most part. We've opened our pool three seasons now (skipping last season), and we've only ever had one algae problem, and the guidance here got it cleaned right up. That said, I have...

Here, some drain and some don't. It might freeze one or two nights a year, but not bad. I was considering leaving it up all winter, but now I think I'll drain it for a couple reasons: 1) try again with the TA rather than try to ratchet it down. 2) We've got wrinkles on the bottom, and the...

Thanks for the welcome, folks. I'm hearing "focus on Cl for this season, start fresh next season"... For Cl, I've been keeping it between 3 and 6... I thought that was right for a CYA of ~30 according to Ben's Best Guess. Pool store #2 said yesterday it was 3.3, and was not alarmed, so I...

Hi, I'm new here. I've really learned a lot reading some of the posts here, and love how people answer questions so nicely here. Awesome community. We opened a new AG ~4400 gallon Intex pool late this season -- around 8/14. I went to the closest pool store for help with free tests, and...