Winter Closing First Time. Aquador question...

[jjherm7]

Hello,

This is my first year closing down my pool for winter. I purchased an Aquador seal for my skimmer. Am I correct that I do not have to drain any water from the pool if I use this? Or would it still be recommended that I still do drain below the return jet? We do get well below freezing up here in the winter usually...

Also, should I simply bring the chlorine to shock level and be done with it, or would an algaecide also be recommended? And are there any other chemical level checks/adjustments I should be doing before winter, besides chlorine?

Lastly, is there any during-Winter maintenance I should be doing after closing down? For instance, should I be periodically still checking chlorine levels during the winter, or can I just forget about it until Spring?

Thanks in advance for the help! Everyone on this board has been fantastic so far with the help provided! We had a great summer!

 

[JoeSelf]

I'm just going to adress the Aquadoor question, more senior members can follow up.

I have the Aquador and the Iluminator (return with light) and do not drain. I put on the door before taking off the hoses. The light comes out and I put in a big rubber plug. The door is hard to get on all the way. Make sure of a tight fit. You should not see any water outside in the skimmer afterwards.

I use algecide, but you have to let your FC drift down to half of SLAM level before adding with pump running. Once closed I do not test until cover comes off. I do check under once in a while.

Keeping water off the cover with 3/8 clear tube is all I do when not in freezing temps. If you keep the water off, leaves and debris will blow off.

 

[Texas Splash]

jjherm7, in regards to your chemical questions .... once the water temp stays below 60, (yes) bring that FC up to SLAM level and let it mix for 24 hours and you are in good shape. Algaecide (Polyquat 60) "may" be used, but is not mandatory. In fact, many folks do just fine without it since the FC drops very little in cold water. As JoeSelf accurately notes, those who do chose to use Polyquat 60 must let the FC sink back down about hallway before adding to the water. Yes, you could check FC every couple weeks, maybe even once a month may be fine, to see if the FC is still holding well. No need to do much else unless your pool is uncovered and you need to scoop something out of the pool (i.e. dead critter or something). Hope this helps. Have a nice day.

Pool School - Closing (Winterizing) Your Above Ground Pool

 

[Swampwoman]

Did you use one if these in the skimmer? Blowout Skimmer Guard - Winter Pool Closing Accessories for In-Ground Pools

If so, and if you have no tile or anything that the freeze cycle could affect, and if you've blown out all the lines using Duck plugs, you don't have to drop the water level.

Oops, just saw you're above ground. I can't confirm that the above is true in your case so disregard.

 

[layla2052]

When I close my AGP, I use a setup similar to what Swampwoman posted above, rather than an Aquadoor. I make sure the pool is clean, FC at SLAM level, install the guards (I don't lower the water level), disconnect the hoses, cover the pool, shrink wrap the edges, set the pool cover pump on top, put away equipment and done. In April when I open, it looks just like it did when I covered it in Oct. Couldn't be easier. Hope this helps.