Hi TFP,
Last fall we bought a house with an old concrete pool in the back yard. We estimate it's around 30,000 gallons. We hired a guy to close it with the intent of fixing it up in the spring. I spent the winter reading about pool chemicals and maintenance. So now we've taken off the "cover" (a tarp that wasn't big enough so another tarp was added which let in tons of leaves and debris) and I'm trying to learn how it all works (if it works).
There is a huge Sta-Rite D.E. filter, a Max Flo XL 1.5 HP pump, and a natural gas heater that looks like it last ran during the Clinton administration.
The pump seems to work fine, but I suspect an air leak in the pipes on the suction side, and I can see a water leak on the pressure side.
I disassembled the filter, scooped out all the foul slimy gunk, cleaned each of the filter panels, put it back together, and then started the pump and added a D.E. slurry to the skimmer. I have also purchased a new Triton II sand filter, since the D.E. filter is clearly on its last legs. I also bought a new multi-port valve for the sand filter and 600 lbs of sand, but have not installed any of it yet.
I am slowly figuring out which of the ports in the pool go to which places. The skimmer has two holes in the side of the... skimmer box? The lower one pulls water to the pump, and the upper hole is connected to a port near the water level kind of in the middle of the pool (is this for a vacuum?). There are two return jets opposite the skimmer. There is also a main drain that I am pretty sure connects to one of the skimmer holes, because when they were closing it, they blew a bunch of debris out of the main drain by hooking up a big orange machine to one of the holes in the skimmer. But I think the main drain is pretty well jammed up again.
Over by the equipment pad, there are two pipes coming out of the ground. One of them goes into the pump suction; that must be connected to the skimmer's bottom hole. The other pipe just ends. No cap or plug, just a 90 degree fitting and then wide open. Could this be a line from the main drain? What are the odds it hasn't collapsed, and how would I find out?
Last fall we bought a house with an old concrete pool in the back yard. We estimate it's around 30,000 gallons. We hired a guy to close it with the intent of fixing it up in the spring. I spent the winter reading about pool chemicals and maintenance. So now we've taken off the "cover" (a tarp that wasn't big enough so another tarp was added which let in tons of leaves and debris) and I'm trying to learn how it all works (if it works).
There is a huge Sta-Rite D.E. filter, a Max Flo XL 1.5 HP pump, and a natural gas heater that looks like it last ran during the Clinton administration.
The pump seems to work fine, but I suspect an air leak in the pipes on the suction side, and I can see a water leak on the pressure side.
I disassembled the filter, scooped out all the foul slimy gunk, cleaned each of the filter panels, put it back together, and then started the pump and added a D.E. slurry to the skimmer. I have also purchased a new Triton II sand filter, since the D.E. filter is clearly on its last legs. I also bought a new multi-port valve for the sand filter and 600 lbs of sand, but have not installed any of it yet.
I am slowly figuring out which of the ports in the pool go to which places. The skimmer has two holes in the side of the... skimmer box? The lower one pulls water to the pump, and the upper hole is connected to a port near the water level kind of in the middle of the pool (is this for a vacuum?). There are two return jets opposite the skimmer. There is also a main drain that I am pretty sure connects to one of the skimmer holes, because when they were closing it, they blew a bunch of debris out of the main drain by hooking up a big orange machine to one of the holes in the skimmer. But I think the main drain is pretty well jammed up again.
Over by the equipment pad, there are two pipes coming out of the ground. One of them goes into the pump suction; that must be connected to the skimmer's bottom hole. The other pipe just ends. No cap or plug, just a 90 degree fitting and then wide open. Could this be a line from the main drain? What are the odds it hasn't collapsed, and how would I find out?
