My frankenpool

[CaptinSpaulding]

Appreciate this site a lot. Has been very helpful in setting up and maintaining our first pool. Figured we would share our new little Frankenpool.

The pool alone with a tiny pump/filter and a little tiny people ladder cost $50 on Craigslist from a couple who had it setup for a little under 4 months but had to move.

Came with a little pump/filter combo that looked like it would be sub-par even for a bath tub. Being the anal/over-obsessive person that I am, I had to make it better, you know, for the kids . So I scoured the interwebs for the a past month finding a better setup.

Hard plumbed it all with 1.5". Excuse the messy PVC job, was my first time. We spent more on PVC and fittings than we did the entire pool lol... I have a digital Intermatic ET1125CR timer on the house running to the pump pad using 12/2 UF-B.

It may be overkill for now but we are enjoying having a pool so much that we will be upgrading to at least a 24' in the very near future so I wanted something that would work with a much larger pool (plus my turnover is only 1.5 hours lol)

The water feature is not glued or completed after the ball valve until we find a pattern and angle that we like (will eventually be a 3' section, just testing with a little piece of scrap for now to find the best angles to drill the holes and stuff). We started with holes and are also testing long slice cut sections (plunge cut with a table saw) for a waterfall effect which actually works pretty good and came out decent even on our first test.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Texas Splash]

Nice work Captain! Very resourceful. If you look at my pool pics in my signature, you'll see my pump station is basically identical to what you got. I hope your in-line chlorinator is empty. Good work. Enjoy the rest of your swimming season.

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

Nice work Captain! Very resourceful. If you look at my pool pics in my signature, you'll see my pump station is basically identical to what you got. I hope your in-line chlorinator is empty.

Good work. Enjoy the rest of your swimming season.

Thanks! Why does the chlorinator need to be empty? Is it not good to use? I run two 3" tablets in it. Figured it was better than the floater.

Wow you have a nice pool! One day... lol

 

[Texas Splash]

You'll find through our posts that the constant use of pucks/tablets increases the CYA level so high that it becomes unmanageable. Same goes for many of those pool store "bags-o-shock. Most of them have stabilizer as a prime ingredient. Before you know it, your FC can't keep-up with your CYA level as noted on the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart. They are fine for short term use, vacations, or locations where the pool isn't open very long. But when used over a long period, those little buggers can really cause a mess. That's something they don't tell you at the pool store when you buy a $99 bucket of tabs.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Wow.. great deal on the Frankenpool! Now, have ya got yo'self a good test kit to keep it clean and healthy too??

TFTestkits.net is where you can find one. You can find a comparison of the test kits to compare value and such under Pool School at the top right of this page.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP! That is a nice pool, ready for the heatwave!

Have look at this between swims, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

 

[Earl Cox]

Welcome to TFP very nice setup

 

[robertmee]

You have a small enough pool that once your Cya goes sky high from pucks it won't break the bank to drain and refill your pool. Water exchange is the only way to lower cya. But if you follow through with your plan to upsize you really need to embrace the TFP methodology and get rid of the chlorinator and only use liquid bleach to sanitize your pool.

 

[Bloomfield]

That looks like a nice setup. Good deal.

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

Picked up this security ladder today for 20 bux! Guy used it for two weeks while his deck was being built.

 

[MarianParoo]

You have a smoker station???

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

You have a smoker station???

the grill or the cigarette thing?

 

[MarianParoo]

Cigarettes! Like a hotel pool there! Lol!

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

Ya it's a bad habit lol. But we only smoke outside and I have those butt-traps all around to keep the yard clean.

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

Pool still sparkling and blue as ever. After taking some advice above and not running any tablets for the past 2 weeks, today I tested 0 TC and around 30 CYA. So I am going back to using tablets again to maintain my stabilizer and chlorine levels with the chlorinator dial set to 1.25 out of 5. I am guessing that everyone just has to find what works for them and stick with it. There is such a huge difference from pool to pool and location to location that sometimes what works and is good for some people may not work as well for others.

Side not, most say that pool store tests are no good. My store uses a computer ran testing system that looks like a mini laboratory setup. I trust the test results and have compared to my neighbors Taylor kit and they were spot on with the results.

 

[layla2052]

Just a reminder.... the pucks do not maintain CYA, they raise it. Over time, they will raise it to a level that it will make it harder to keep enough chlorine in the water to keep the algae at bay. Water replacement would be your only choice to lower it again. Good luck!

 

[Megsyperk]

What were you chlorinating with instead of pucks?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Agent99]

Love the pool and quite resourceful engineering all that together!!

Finding a good pool store is like finding a good mechanic...incredibly lucky and useful!

The pucks sound fine as a way to raise your CYA...just keep an eye on it the level and sell when it hits 50.

 

[domct203]

Pool still sparkling and blue as ever. After taking some advice above and not running any tablets for the past 2 weeks, today I tested 0 TC and around 30 CYA. So I am going back to using tablets again to maintain my stabilizer and chlorine levels with the chlorinator dial set to 1.25 out of 5. I am guessing that everyone just has to find what works for them and stick with it. There is such a huge difference from pool to pool and location to location that sometimes what works and is good for some people may not work as well for others.

Side not, most say that pool store tests are no good. My store uses a computer ran testing system that looks like a mini laboratory setup. I trust the test results and have compared to my neighbors Taylor kit and they were spot on with the results.

As mentioned, CYA does not dissipate. Those 3" tablets add almost as much CYA as FC.

You need to be able to test your water daily, and add chlorine as needed. How long was your FC @ 0ppm?

Dom

 

[CaptinSpaulding]

Hey thanks Agent99, much appreciated.

I have been chlorinating with 1/2 gallon of 12% from the pool store every Saturday. But with the amount of rain we have been getting I guess it just needs the pucks to keep up. My chlorinator has an adjustment and with as much testing as I do (its free at the pool place and I go there often lol) I will just have to maintain my balance by adjusting the chlorinator and or amount of tabs I keep in there along with liquid.

I just added my 1/2gal chlorine Saturday so it must have been only for the past day maybe that it went to 0. But with this much rain and overflow, I am sure it is just flowing right back out.

Thanks again guys.

Just sharing my experience thus far with anyone else who may have similar setups and or issues.