Temporary closing

[jca001]

Bought a house in November with a pool and had the liner changed, sand in the filter changed and switched to SWCG in March. This is the first pool I have owned, so I am new to all the things that have to be done. Because the liner was changed in March, there really was not a pool opening per say.

We are going out of town for 3 weeks in June and I plan to put the safety cover on to keep leave and such out and turn off the pump off because I don't think it would be a good idea to have it running in case there was a problem with it.

Is there anything else I should do as far as adding any chemicals before putting the cover on and turning the pump off?

Is there anything I need to do when we return and remove the cover other than run the pump and take a water sample to the pool store to be checked?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

You could do what you are saying and then just deal with the pool when you get back, likely needing to follow the SLAM process (you have one of the Recommended Test Kits right? .... oops just got to the last sentence. NO!!! do not take the water to a pool store for testing, we do not trust their testing. Invest in your own kit and take control. )

If you do that, I would raise the FC up to shock level (function of your stabilizer (CYA) level, see the FC/CYA Chart), let the water circulate for at least and hour and then shut it all down.

I might be tempted to just put the cover on and leave the pump and SWG running a little bit each day.

 

[jca001]

Thanks for the quick reply and I am sorry for my delay in replying.

I ordered a Test Kit the same day, but it has not arrived yet.

My concern with leaving the pump running was it use to loose primp and I did not want the pump to come on and not really do anything burn it up. I think I have fixed the loosing prime problem by replacing the Multiport Valve on the Sand Filter because the spider gasket was bad and replacing the o-ring on the pump basket housing. I know I could have just replaced the spider gasket instead of the complete Multiport Valve, but I would only saved about $40 and it would have been a lot more work and a bigger possibility of me doing something wrong.

Currently the pump runs between 11:00 AM and 08:00 PM, 9 hours each day.

So with the safety cover on and not changing the FC level, would it be sufficient to run the pump about 2 - 4 hours each day?

Should I do anything to the water level, raise it an inch or so?

 

[JoeSelf]

Pump is self priming right? Solid Cover?

 

[jca001]

Yes the pumps is self priming. Before I replaced the o-ring in the pump basket cover and the mulyiport valve all the water would drain back to the pool from the pump and it would take a minute or so before water would get back to the pump. This was because it was also sucking air. Now the pump basket stay full of water and when he pump starts water start flowing immediately. The cover is a Coverstar lite solid.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I say give it a shot - if the pump doesn't seem to be losing prime anymore, go for ti. I would up the water level a bit - can a neighbor or someone just peek in every so often to make sure the system is working?

 

[jca001]

I have meet several of the neighbors, but they do not have pools and would not know what to check without me showing them everything. I think I am going to increase the % for the SWCG the week before and then lower it a little the day I cover it, but keep it a little higher then I have been using. I am going to change the pump time to about 2 hours each day just to circulate the water and let the SWCG work a little.

 

[Richard320]

Yours is one of the very few cases where I'd recommend algaecide or phosphate remover. They won't do any damage or cause weird problems in an already well-balanced pool, and it's a cheap way to buy some peace of mind.

The algaecide you want, if you go that route, is Polyquat 60. Avoid any with copper in them.