Recent content by Rob

One issue I've had with covering is the small pockets of water that you often get on the cover, which don't circulate. I ended up with an algae bloom after taking off the cover, and not having sufficient chlorine in the rest of the pool (was only FC of 3, CYA 60, which isn't TOO bad). My...

They are probably out enjoying their trouble free pool instead!

Is there a skimmer basket between your suction side pump and your cleaner? Up until this year, we ran ours directly connected to the pump, relying on only the pump basket to stop anything. However, this year I've been using the vacuum plate adapter for the skimmer, which allows you to keep...

This is fairly common. While there is the chance that DE is ending up in your pool if your filter is leaking it in, that is very unlikely. More likely, is this is the fine dust that tends to collect in most peoples pools that reappears faster than we would all like :) It is usually stuff not...

Just to add to the original question, there is a cheaper alternative. While I wouldn't recommend you use Vaseline or any other petroleum based lubrication, you should be able to use most silicon based lubricants, which you will probably find much cheaper in your local hardware store vs...

Do you have smart meters where you live? They are fairly big in Canada, not sure about the US. They basically allow you to be charged different electrical rates depending on the time of the day the power is being used. We get a significant energy savings by running ours at night vs. the day.

We had a tent blow in ours last year, luckily none of the pole ends were too sharp, it was just a kids dome type one. I had a fair amount of irresponsible fun swimming in and out of it in the pool though (yes, yes, I was aware of all the risks :))

I also have a two speed pump with no timer. Ironically, we got it when we bought the house, and thought it was a one speed pump, then opened up the switch box to it and saw that it had been hardwired to one speed. I added a switch, and now our electric bills have dropped dramatically.

Yeah, been a cold spring all over most places. The good news (maybe?) is they are predicting a hotter than normal summer at least in my neck of the woods (Southern Ontario)

Got this figured out easily and cheaply thank goodness. Turns out the Oring on the basket looked ok, but on closer inspection had a number of cracks forming, figured out it was the basket lid by watching through the clear panel and moving it slightly. If I positioned it just right, no more air...

I buy most of my pool chemicals at Canadian Tire. One of the things I like is that my local store puts a bunch of bleach out in the pool section as well, and at a reasonable price. That isn't what you want. You want something called "Stabilizer" though, but not that one. It's usually in...

I think I know the answer to this one, but I'm really hoping I'm wrong. Have an inground pool, single skimmer, no main drain. 2 speed pump (not sure on make/model) that came with the pool when we bought the house. For 2 years, everything has been working well for the most part at least with...

I also have no main drain, and don't really notice the difference. I'm sure I'm getting less optimized water turn over, and I try and make sure I give it a good brushing in the deep end more regularly to keep things stirred up if I'm not swimming often, but seems to be working ok for me.

What about a 2 speed pump? Our pool doesn't have such a drastic height difference, but it wont prime on low, I put it on high, prime it, then switch. Also, maybe you could move the pump closer?

Can't help you much with whether or not your pool will pop, but I can tell you I just ripped out a previous paver deck that the last homeowner put in in favour of poured concrete. The pavers were a bit of a pain to be honest. The sand would always get all over your feet, had problems with...