Is it time to ditch my pool cleaning maintenance company?

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Z

zagoren

0
Jun 29, 2016
32
North Adams, MA
Hello everyone-

I have a SWG 24000 vinyl pool here in NW Connecticut. It's a weekend house. We are here every weekend and often 4-5 days/week.

I currently pay 70 bucks/week for a kid to come by to "Vacuum pool, check chemistry, backwash sand/D.E. filter, re-charge D.E filter, clean baskets, and add necessary chemicals (chemicals extra charge)."

The kid that comes by definately doesn't do any significant testing. He does some basic tests and then calls the "Service Guys" to come over for anything I always get expensive charges for chemicals.

For instance, this week, after the kid came AND the service guys came because the kid saw something on the AquaRite panel he didn't understand. I headed them off and added my own bags of salt. I still got a 90 buck charge for the service call ON TOP OF the $70 for the weekly vacuum (dirt on the bottom of the pool 1 day after).

I don't think they deal with many SWG because they haven't cleaned the cell in 4 years. I was having all sorts of salt problems and chlorine gen problems. I cleaned the cell of the blue scale and everything is great. Tested the chem with my Taylor K-2006 and its all good (need some cyanuric acid tho).

I don't need a commercial-grade or Olympic-grade swimming environment. Just a place to jump in once in a while. No kiddies. Just adults.

I know maintaining a pool for a weekend house can be tricky. But I'm planning on buying a Dolphin robotic cleaner

https://www.amazon.com/Dolphin-9999...8&qid=1472313855&sr=1-2&keywords=polaris+9450

Do you guys think with my schedule of coming up Thursday - Monday is enough to DIY?

I'd like to have a service company take care of my pool but it seems apparent to me that they will never take the time to get the chemistry correct if they just send a kid over AND they don't ever clean the Turbo Cell. They are just setting me up for expensive and uneccesary replacements with this tactic, right?

(I do think the company is good people. I just think their business model works for large estates where people don't care too much about shelling out a $5000/season to keep their pool going.

Thanks all in advance!

poolc.jpg
 
Closing my pool in one month. Should I add CYA?

Hello all-

I just did the test for my SWG pool

FC: 3.0
CC: 0.0
PH: 7.5
TA: 90
Hardness: 180
Salinity: 3000ppm
CYA: 0

Should I buy a bottle today and add some? BTW I just cleaned my Turbo Cell after 4 years of no cleaning. Tons of blue scale. I guess my pool maintenance company doesn't ever check the cell.

Thanks!
 
That is a pretty area!

How are you testing the pool?

Pool service=fired....you can do just fine with a SWG when everything is balanced and clean :rolleyes: (thinking about the cell they did not care for). As you have found no one else cares for your pool like you do.

CYA I really need to know how you are testing before I answer about it.

Looking forward to seeing what we can come up with for your pool.

:kim:
 
If you checked the CYA right, K-2006 test kit, then you need to add some so the SWG doesn't have to work so much. You will need 500 ounces of liquid or 200 ounces of granular CYA to raise it up to 60ppm. Buy the granular form to save money or the liquid form for ease.

You can easily get by without a service company and then you can invest that money into a good robot which can clean the pool in 2-3 hours. As you have learned, your service company is not treating your pool nearly as well as you would.

If you have questions on how to fix things, people are right here to answer most questions right away.
 
Hey kimkats-

I tested the pool with the TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-1766 DROP TEST CHLORIDE SALT WATER and the TAYLOR-K2006 TEST KIT.

I have some stuff in my shed that I believe is some salt of salt treatment. Its from Phoenix supplies and is called Saline 7. I went to a local pool company and I think its Salt enhancer. It probably has cyanuric acid and perhaps bromine. I tossed 2 scoops in.

- - - Updated - - -

It was just like this:


hqdefault.jpg
 
Zagoren,

For the money you are spending, you should just fly me up there every week to take care of your pool... :cool:

With a SWG and robot, you should be able to take care of the pool yourself on your weekend trips, without any issues.

With a CYA of 0 I'm surprised your FC is 3 and not zero. Assuming zero CYA is correct, I show you will need to add 15 lbs of Dry CYA to bring your level up to 75.. about what it should be for a salt pool. (Although you should do this in stages so you don't overshoot.)

I've had real good luck with the 25 bucket of CYA that I have been buying from Pool Supply World. it is made in Canada and seems to mix with the water in about 50% of the time that it takes the stuff from Home Depot.. and it is much cheaper.

Worst case, you can always go back to using your pool service, but my money is on you never needing them again.

Jim R.
 
Thanks! So what brand/model robot would you advise getting? Do I need something that climbs walls? If you have any suggestions I would be very glad to hear them. Reliability is my #1 concern. I will pay more if the unit is reliable.

Grass clippings would be the main thing in the pool during the summer. Sometimes the lawn people come on Tuesdays and I don't get to the house until Friday.
 
zagoren said:
Thanks! So what brand/model robot would you advise getting? Do I need something that climbs walls? If you have any suggestions I would be very glad to hear them. Reliability is my #1 concern. I will pay more if the unit is reliable.

Grass clippings would be the main thing in the pool during the summer. Sometimes the lawn people come on Tuesdays and I don't get to the house until Friday.
Click to expand...

Yes, you want a robot that climbs walls and cleans the tile/water line. I like the Dolphin line. I have a couple of really olds ones at rent houses and a two year old one at my house. My Premier is leaps and bounds better than my older Diagnostics, but the newer Dolphins are leaps and bounds better than my Premier. They have a completely different design. Top loading, large two-filter baskets, and a lot lighter. Dolphin sells their products under different names for basically the same unit. One version is the Active 30 and 30i, but there are others like the S300i. Just make sure, if you buy on line, that the unit will be warrantied by Maytronics/Dolphin.

For me, the ability to schedule ahead is something that I don't use. But in your case it would make sense to get a unit that has the ability to come on using a built in schedule. A lot of users have some concern about leaving them in a pool for an extended period of time, but I am not one of them. Mine stay in the pool overnight, at least every other day. I only take them out because I just don't visually like to see them in my pool if not in use.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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I'll recommend this one:
Doheny's Discovery Powered by Dolphin | Doheny's Pool Supplies Fast

You'll get the full warranty coverage and it's a good cleaner at a good price. In the comments of the one you linked to on Amazon there were comments stating that you only get a one year warranty if buying through Amazon.

The Doheny's Discovery is equivalent to an S200 or Active 20. The added features of an S300 or Active 30 are fast mode (which cleans only the pool floor) and delayed start time. The S300i and Active 30i add on robot control via a smartphone app. All three variants allow you to set the robot to clean once a day, once every four days, or once every three days. I really like mine.
 
Hey guys. So I spent a lot of time researching robots and last night took your reco's and added them to the mix. After much consideration, I went ahead and bought the Polaris 9450 Sport.

Based on:

1. Programmability
2. Wide intake
3. Large capacity (though we don't get much debris and close our pool before the leaves get bad)
4. Reliability (hope and pray)
5. Weight (~ 20 lbs. my wife can use it)
6. Looks (its cute....and I gotta keep things purty)

Should arrive before Labor Day!
 
Those are great! Thanks for posting that information.

Here are my latest readings as of 8AM this morning:
FC: 6.2
CC: 0.2 (maybe....the pink is so faint in this test im never sure i have any CC)
PH: 7.5
TA:80
Hardness: 180
CYA: 0

I was able to find a hardware store with HTF Stabilizer. I'm wondering if I should wait for the afternoon after the sun burns off some of the chlorine (not exactly sure why its up to 6 from 3).

Also the bottle says to add directly to the skimmer. Others say to add it in stages and to not add to skimmer. Can you please advise? I will be leaving the house this evening and returning on Friday.

stabilizer.ashx
 
2 options, put it in a sock (like that goes on your feet :) ) and hang it in front of a return. Option 2, put the sock in a skimmer. Squeeze the sock from time to time to make it dissolve faster.

The reason we don't put it directly in the skimmer is if you backwash you lose it. Plus, with a sock you can tell when it's dissolved.

edit: No reason to wait for FC to fall.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Zagoren,

For the money you are spending, you should just fly me up there every week to take care of your pool... :cool:

With a SWG and robot, you should be able to take care of the pool yourself on your weekend trips, without any issues.

With a CYA of 0 I'm surprised your FC is 3 and not zero. Assuming zero CYA is correct, I show you will need to add 15 lbs of Dry CYA to bring your level up to 75.. about what it should be for a salt pool. (Although you should do this in stages so you don't overshoot.)

I've had real good luck with the 25 bucket of CYA that I have been buying from Pool Supply World. it is made in Canada and seems to mix with the water in about 50% of the time that it takes the stuff from Home Depot.. and it is much cheaper.

Worst case, you can always go back to using your pool service, but my money is on you never needing them again.

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Hey Jim-
Thanks for your advice! As I told kimkats, I currently have FC of 6.2 this morning. I bought a 4lb bottle of powdered CYA. Wondering if I should wait until the chlorine burns to 4.0 (if it does) before I add. The instructions say add to the skimmer. I know I will need more but it was avail locally and I'm leaving this eve.

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

The slimmer is fine to add stabilizer but you than cannot backwash/clean for a few days (2-3) while it dissolves in your filter. That's usually no big deal but there is that restriction to think about.
 
$70.00 a week for pool service sounds like highway robbery. Where I live it is roughly $20/$25 per week. I do mine myself and rely on this site. So many great people here so there is no need to pay someone.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
eostrike said:
$70.00 a week for pool service sounds like highway robbery. Where I live it is roughly $20/$25 per week. I do mine myself and rely on this site. So many great people here so there is no need to pay someone.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah...i do live in the boonies. i have a small place among many large estates (50+ acres). Not a lot of density of pools + few pools/sq mile + weekenders (more than 50% of the homes) = $$$$
 
$70 is reasonable in New England, for top shelf professional service. It sounds you were not receiving such service.

"Kids" doing weeklies give this industry a black eye.

State of CT requires weekly service pros to take prerequisite training before they are issued the registration card by the State & must work under an SP1, licensed contractor.
Unfortunately non-compliance is rampant (as most licensed trades)

I see many posters here with superior mastery of basic chemical application than most "kids" being tossed in a truck with a route list. It's not fair to the pool owner & dangerous for the "kid."
 

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