Recent content by gkw4815

It's possible that your underground gas line is leaking. Do you smell gas anywhere along the buried run from the gas meter to the pool heater? I ran into this issue. When we bought our house, it had a rusted out Teledyne Laars pool heater that hadn't worked in nearly a decade. Gas line to the...

JJ_Tex, I've witnessed most of those behaviors on my last few flying trips. Along with a passenger who showed up so sloshed that she had to be escorted off the plane before takeoff, and another one who burned a cigarette in the gate area just before boarding. These behaviors seem to be more...

I should probably mention that I've only flown Spirit twice, and that our kids are younger. I think they generally try to seat parties on one reservation together, even if you don't purchase assigned seats, but I'm not sure if they take kids' ages into account. Still, if you're some of the last...

Congratulations! My vote is for the direct Spirit Airlines flight if it is price-competitive. Dealing with the add-on fees, limited legroom, etc is all worth it IMO to save the hassles, risk, and extra time that an airport transfer entails. Plus you get an assigned seat in Spirit*, and there...

Well, I've been pretty happy with my Pureline SWG until this week...it has just started shutting down on Low Salt (after running for a few minutes once switched on and presumably generating chlorine, based on the appearance of bubbles at the pool jets prior to shutdown). I checked salt levels...

Also in the Houston area. My neighbor and I both vacation frequently and take turns watching each other's pools. He uses liquid chlorine, I use a SWG (another vote for getting one BTW - as Newdude demonstrated, it pays for itself quickly with today's chlorine prices!) If gone for a week or...

They're still widely available on Amazon and various online pool equipment retailers. When the new DOE standards went into effect last year which (on paper at least) outlawed the sale of high-wattage incandescent pool light bulbs and associated fixtures, I panicked and bought a spare Pentair...

Ah, looks like a Hayward fixture, not a PacFab. May still be a similar issue. I'd recommend replacing the whole fixture.

Can't tell for sure, but that looks like it might be a PacFab Hatteras fixture. If so, those are notorious for melting the potting compound at the back of the fixture, around the bulb socket. It melts into a sticky goo and runs to the front of the fixture. Eventually, the fixture starts to...

In the Houston area. We just had a cold snap blow through (overnight lows in the upper 50s), which brought my water temperature down to the upper 70s, but prior to this the water was getting into the low 80s on its own with daily air temp highs in the mid to upper 80s. I'll happily swim with...

Yep, I was surprised too! I'm well-stocked on MA at the moment. but I'll pick up a few jugs on my way back to Houston after our next ranch visit.

I recently visited my first True Value hardware store (in Bandera, TX, while helping my parents get their newly-purchased ranch in order). Not sure how typical/representative this branch is of True Value locations in general - but among its other positives (great selection, helpful staff), it...

I only turn on my lights when I'm actually using the pool, as mine are the old-school 500 watt electricity-swilling type. I have lots of other LED landscaping and exterior lighting that runs on timers throughout the week, but the pool lights are an exception. Waterfalls run automatically for 15...

I'm in the Houston area, Zone 9. We generally have long, hot summers and mild winters, but we've had more than our share of hard freezes recently (the infamous February 2021 winter storm, along with cold snaps in December 2022 and January 2024 that saw our overnight lows dip into the upper...