100 dollars for 5 min (blowing out the lines)

[stevenpi]

Hello all,
Anyone have any thoughts how to make this home-made air pump to blow out the lines?
Last fall, I failed at my attempt to blow out my lines with my air compressor (I used all the TFP tips), so I gave in and called the local pool company.
5 minutes and 100 dollars later, the lines were blown out.
I was very mad.
see the pics below and tell me what you think
thank you,
Steven

 

[Poolbreh]

I made my own out of a co2 tank from a welding store, I removed the regulator and got some high pressure tubing clamps and hose bib and attached a bladder. I always used it as a last resort because you can blow lines.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

They are called Cyclone air blowers. They run about $300 and you can easily create your own fittings for the hose by parts you can pickup at a hardware store. The cyclone blowers move very large volumes of air at low pressure which is what you want when blowing out lines so as to not damage glue joints. Some shopvacs have air exhaust connectors that can do somewhat the same thing albeit at lower flow rates.

If you plan to close your pool yourself and you want to blow out your lines, you can get a Cyclone and just consider it an investment. As you found out, after 3 years of doing it yourself, the cyclone will be paid for.

 

[Poolbreh]

Sorry thought you were talking about a clog

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

I bought a Cyclone back when I closed my pool every year and it made the job doable. I paid the pool company to close the pool one year and shadowed the guy while he did it. He employed a heavy-duty shop vac, that was all I was missing. The Cyclone is a step up from that.

 

[Pool_Medic]

Companies need to make profits

 

[JamesW]

5 minutes and 100 dollars later, the lines were blown out.
I was very mad.

Does that 5 minutes include travel to and from the job?

Did you add up the cost to buy the vehicle, keep it filled with gas and keep it maintained?

Did you add up the cost to rent a place for people to work out of, pay for 5 different types of insurance, taxes, pay for someone to answer the phone when you call, software for scheduling, time to stock parts, tools, supplies, uniforms etc?

You’re talking about highly trained professional experts with probably several degrees in pool service from Pool Service University and probably multiple licenses for working with compressed air and highly complex pool equipment.

 

[JamesW]

Get a spare pump lid and cut a hole for the adapter.

Hayward Hose Adapter, Hayward GM/S140T, 2 Pack | SPX1091Z7PAK2

Hayward SPX1091Z7PAK2 Hose Adapter, Hayward GM/S140T, 2 Pack

www.wildwestpoolsupplies.com

Hayward SP1023 1.5-inch locknut fitting replacement part

Inlet return fitting comes with gasket and locknut

1.5-inch female threads on the front for use with the eyeball fitting

https://www.amazon.com/Hayward-SP1023-2-Inch-Fitting-Locknut/dp/B003ZTM0O2/

https://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/IS1023.pdf

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I’ll charge $85 for 5mins since I’m a completely untrained professional who got his pool license off the internet … thanks Facebook! I also bike to all my jobs and carry one of those emergency boo-boo kits you can get at the pharmacy stores so I don’t have to pay any insurance. I’m very familiar with compressed gas physics but only because we regularly have Taco night each week … oh, and if I could get paid in cash (small denominations, non-sequential serial numbers please) that helps with the complex accounting I do each year …

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

I’m very familiar with compressed gas physics but only because we regularly have Taco night each week …

A Taco every week is a hard requirement in Tucson! They'll evict you otherwise!

Just be careful on Baked Beans night, you will blow the lines the next day for sure!

I saw some cyclone-ish looking fans at Harbor Freight this weekend... if you are only going to use it once a year, $150 versus $300 seems like a good risk. They had two models with two different CFM ratings, but even the big one was well less than $300.

Their tools are great for that type of usage. Good to know. I almost bought one on sale recently, but I couldn't figure what I'd use it for except for drying up a disaster. I use "blow" mode on my many Shop-Vacs more than I ever use "suck" as it is.... (Spaceballs joke intended, after the Blazing Saddles one) So that gives me some ideas next time they have 'em on sale....

 

[Poolbreh]

You aren’t paying for the 5 mins, your paying me for the years of messing people’s pools up so I can learn to do it in 5 mins

 

[stevenpi]

Thank you all for the help and wisdom here. Much appreciated.

 

[Pool_Medic]

Let’s see all the tongue in cheek ppl post what they do for a living and what they charge.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Let’s see all the tongue in cheek ppl post what they do for a living and what they charge.

Stay-at-home dad with 4 kids ranging in ages from 6 to 17. I work for beer and donuts but, according to the most recent research, I should be paid $178,201 per year. Assuming I get 8 hours of sleep per night (yeah, right …) with no days off and no vacations, that means I ought to make about $30/hr …

But I throw in my weekly pool service for free …

 

[Newdude]

And here I am seriously considering an $800 compressor because my sprinkler guys charge me $185 each fall to blow out my lines. (Fair enough with a $5k tow behind compressor) The one i found to DIY will easily do the same for the pool which would be a similar bill each year. The compressor would be free halfway through the 3rd season in the house we plan on staying on forever. With the national gas average at $5.50 a gallon and every business expense from equipment to insurance going through the roof, the charges for my sprinklers and pool blowouts will probably go up again this year. So when I was walking around TSC while the Mrs washed a dog, I had a hard stop when I passed this bad boy.

 

[Pool_Medic]

Fuel is up, vehicle prices are up, parts are up, salaries are up (if you can find competent people, wear and tear on equipment, then DIY‘ers wonder why companies charge what they think is exorbitant pricing for a service.

People are online for a reason, To seek help and knowledge on how to do it yourself. When you can’t, you pay someone.

 

[JamesW]

It’s important to remember that not all hours are billable hours.

Small business owners might work 60 to 80 hours per week.

Out of the 60 to 80 hours, probably at least half is time spent other than at a jobsite earning billable hours.

Besides travel to and from the job, there are many errands to get parts, tools, supplies etc.

There is a ton of paperwork from proposals, planning, scheduling, inventory management, taxes, paying bills, writing bills, trying to collect bills, administrative, clerical etc.

The business owner might spend 12 hours working outside and then another 4 to 6 hours working on paperwork.

A small business owner might work 80 hours a week and bring in only $50,000.00 per year, which is only $9.62 per hour.

 

[JamesW]

If you have employees, you pay them from the time they clock in until they clock out.

If you have a two person crew, the total labor cost for both people can easily be $50.00 per hour and that is not just time onsite but total clocked in time.

If they are clocked in for 10 hours that day, it costs the business owner $500.00.

If they are onsite for 6 hours at different jobs, then that might be only $600.00 in labor charges.

Out of the $100.00 in labor “profit” you have to cover all overhead expenses.

Things like business license, contractor’s license, trade specific license, liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance, commercial auto, worker’s compensation, bond, rent, 10 different types of software, professional services, utilities, buying vehicles, repairing vehicles, maintaining vehicles, gas, tires, tools, supplies, equipment, uniforms, cell phone services etc.

When your employees call and say that their van broke down, you keep paying them the entire time even though they are not generating income.

Then, you pay for a tow truck and then for whatever repairs are needed, which is always at least $1,000.00 for some reason.

By the time you get the employees back to work, you have lost at least two hours that are not billable.

If anyone thinks that working 80 hours a week to make $9.62 per hour is a great deal, start your own small business and enjoy the ride.

 

[Poolbreh]

We are just poking fun, I’m a pool guy so I do the cleaning, repairs, book keeping. I’ve worked 7 days a week for god knows how long. So I know the struggles. My time is worth whatever someone is willing to pay me. Electricians make $200/hr down here and the time starts when they leave their previous jobs more often than not it’s to flip a tripped breaker or gfci.

 

[JamesW]

If they are clocked in for 10 hours that day, it costs the business owner $500.00.

If they are onsite for 6 hours at different jobs, then that might be only $600.00 in labor charges.

Where does the lost 4 hours go?

The employees clock in and they might spend 30 to 60 minutes at the shop calling customers, looking for parts, going over paperwork and getting their assignments, cleaning the van, loading parts, tools and supplies for the day.

Calling the Pentair, Hayward or Jandy technical helpline and spending 40 minutes trying to figure out why some piece of equipment is not working.

Calling parts supply places looking for parts.

When they finally leave the shop, the first stop is McDonald’s for some breakfast 10 minutes, stop to get gas 12 minutes, go to Home Depot to get supplies 35 minutes, go to the pool wholesale supply place to get parts 45 minutes, drive to the first job 20 minutes, find out that they need more parts, so drive back to the shop or the wholesale place and then back to the customer 45 minutes, drive to the next customer 25 minutes, take a call from a customer to help them with a problem 25 minutes x 5 per day = 125 minutes, get stuck in rush hour traffic 35 minutes etc.

You also have to account for overtime.

That $50.00 per hour becomes $75.00 per hour once the employees hit 40 hours.

In a seasonal business, you work 60 to 80 hours a week during the busy times and then you have to deal with the off-season, which might be less than 20 hours per week.

What do you do with employees who need to pay their bills in the off-season when work is slow?