First time closing questions

[Andimix]

I am closing my 24' above ground doughboy for the first time.

I have the chemicals balance and shocked.
I drained the pool below the skimmer and return.
I have the winter cover on and the hoses disconnected from the bottom of the skimmer and the return from the filter.

Here are where my questions lie..
1. Do I just leave the ports out the bottom of the skimmer and the return eyeball open? or should I seal them. Leaving them open to drain makes more sense to me, but I head some plug them off somehow.
2. I may not have dropped the water low enough. Right now, no water spills out the skimmer or return, but it's not too much lower than the openings. is it low enough as long as I don't have any hoses hooked up and any water will simply spill to the ground anyway?
3. I tried to drain the filter and a TON of sand was pouring out the drain. It filtered fine thru the year, (maintaining 10psi or so and no sand in the pool) so I don't believe I have any breaks inside, but maybe I loaded it wrong in the spring. I only drained it for about 3-5 seconds and lost about 4cups of sand. I think i could in theory empty all the sand if not careful. How does one drain the water without loosing all the sand? That's a lot of bolts to take off again to refill. lol

Anything else I am missing? (once i have the filter drained and the pump emptied, I have been told they are ok outside. I live in mid-MIchigan, so we get the deep freeze. should I move them to a basement...? thats a HEAVY filter full of sand)

Thanks for your help,
Aundrea

 

[Catanzaro]

1. Do I just leave the ports out the bottom of the skimmer and the return eyeball open? or should I seal them. Leaving them open to drain makes more sense to me, but I head some plug them off somehow.

............ Leave it open, but place a skimmer Gizmo or something to help with expansion in the event of water and freezing. If you can take a picture, this would be more helpful to see what you are working with.


2. I may not have dropped the water low enough. Right now, no water spills out the skimmer or return, but it's not too much lower than the openings. is it low enough as long as I don't have any hoses hooked up and any water will simply spill to the ground anyway?

.............. Please take pictures so I can see what you are working with. Hard to follow. Thanks!


3. I tried to drain the filter and a TON of sand was pouring out the drain. It filtered fine thru the year, (maintaining 10psi or so and no sand in the pool) so I don't believe I have any breaks inside, but maybe I loaded it wrong in the spring. I only drained it for about 3-5 seconds and lost about 4cups of sand. I think i could in theory empty all the sand if not careful. How does one drain the water without loosing all the sand? That's a lot of bolts to take off again to refill. lol

.............. Take some pantyhose and cut into larger circles or squares. Double up or even add more layers. Place on drain with a rubber band and allow all the water to drain. There is something missing that is allowing the sand to come out. I have seen this before, but have never taken the filter apart. Best to call customer service and ask them for the drain filter is and what it looks like. Maybe it was removed by accident. Remember, when sealed no sand can come out. What do you mean that you "loaded it wrong in the spring"? Did you change the sand?

- - - Updated - - -

If anything is taken apart, it is best to store inside than outside. Equipment is designed to be left outside, but I would take inside if already apart.

 

[parrym]

Inside my (Intex) sand filter, connected to the drain hole, there is a plastic 'stand-off' that the water drains through. This keeps the sand from coming out of the hole when draining.
My guess is that type of feature is broken or missing in your filter. If you have the time / desire, you could remove the sand and see what is on the other side of the drain hole.

 

[Catanzaro]

 

[Andimix]

1. Do I just leave the ports out the bottom of the skimmer and the return eyeball open? or should I seal them. Leaving them open to drain makes more sense to me, but I head some plug them off somehow.

............ Leave it open, but place a skimmer Gizmo or something to help with expansion in the event of water and freezing. If you can take a picture, this would be more helpful to see what you are working with.


2. I may not have dropped the water low enough. Right now, no water spills out the skimmer or return, but it's not too much lower than the openings. is it low enough as long as I don't have any hoses hooked up and any water will simply spill to the ground anyway?

.............. Please take pictures so I can see what you are working with. Hard to follow. Thanks!


3. I tried to drain the filter and a TON of sand was pouring out the drain. It filtered fine thru the year, (maintaining 10psi or so and no sand in the pool) so I don't believe I have any breaks inside, but maybe I loaded it wrong in the spring. I only drained it for about 3-5 seconds and lost about 4cups of sand. I think i could in theory empty all the sand if not careful. How does one drain the water without loosing all the sand? That's a lot of bolts to take off again to refill. lol

.............. Take some pantyhose and cut into larger circles or squares. Double up or even add more layers. Place on drain with a rubber band and allow all the water to drain. There is something missing that is allowing the sand to come out. I have seen this before, but have never taken the filter apart. Best to call customer service and ask them for the drain filter is and what it looks like. Maybe it was removed by accident. Remember, when sealed no sand can come out. What do you mean that you "loaded it wrong in the spring"? Did you change the sand?

- - - Updated - - -

If anything is taken apart, it is best to store inside than outside. Equipment is designed to be left outside, but I would take inside if already apart.

Attached is a picture of the inside of the skimmer. Also a picture of the setup. I have the hoses disconnected from the bottom of the skimmer and the return. the pump and filter are still attached to each other, but only because I haven't drained the filter yet. Also pictured is the sand that poured out immediately when attempting to drain the filter. I just set up the pool this year, so the filter was just loaded with frest sand.

Because the cover is on, it is nearly impossible to get a picture of the water level, but it is only about an inch below the vacuum hole on the skimmer. I imagine as water builds on top of the cover, it will displace the pool water, spilling more thru the skimmer and return ports. But this should drain straight to the ground.

Lastly... the cover. sheesh. It is whipping in the wind. I just bought it, its been in place about 3 weeks and the cover is starting to tear at the grommets. Is there a cheaper alternative to water bags? I hear they don't hold water half the time. Where I live is VERY windy, and I need to better secure it. I thought about tethering the cable for the cover to the ground, keeping the slack out, but then as water sit on it, I fear it will rip with tension. I am also considering the plastic wrap along the perimeter.

Thoughts?
Aundrea

 

[Catanzaro]

It appears you have taken everything apart. You might as well bring everything out from the cold. Regarding the skimmer, I can not see if you have threads to install a Gizmo. The Gizmo is highly recommended in the skimmer. If not, place a black rubber plug, and add a few small bottles of pool anti-freeze for expansion as water can still enter the skimmer during the winter. Your return jet is sealed from the inside, so this will be fine.

 

[Andimix]

I don't believe there are threads, I'll pull the basket and look. the return is not sealed. it''s poem to freely spill, but there isn't really much room to hold water to freeze.