Time to get the pool ready for the summer again. The small humans in my house keep asking questions. "When can we swim? How come we can't swim? Are you gonna let us go swimming?" Well, when are they gonna let me take a nap?
A few years ago wife and I bought out first house with a pool. We didn't really want a pool, but the house already had one and the previous owners didn't really want to take it with them. Which I think was in an 80s movie, right?
Anyway, I knew nothing about pools and now I know even less, so lets do this together.
My pump had been leaking behind the seal plate for some time so I decided to deal with it. Last November I ordered a new set of seals and a wear ring from Amazon. A few weekends ago, I got around to taking the pump apart. I fought like heck to get the impeller off (strap wrench, cheap 11mm Stanley wrench, much summoning of chi) and then I went to look for the seals from Amazon. I'll give you a box of seals from Amazon if you can find them. Ordered some new seals from Amazon. Then I ordered an "impeller upgrade kit." Don't do that. It's dumb. It's for a 3hp motor and I only have a 2.5hp. Story of my life really. I did notice that the wrong impeller/diffuser kit didn't come with a wear ring though, so I also ordered the wrong one of those. In the mean time, I dumped a couple gallons of bleach in the pool and hoped for the best. Then I cleaned the calcium off the motor and seal plate.
Filled a spray bottle with the same acid mixture I use to clean the salt cell and grabbed a kid's toothbrush. Why a kid's toothbrush? I'm not using mine. Took a while to clean the shaft up and the housing never really got as good as I wanted, but a little primer, a little paint and it was as good as a motor that was twice as old but had half the leaks.
Then I ordered the correct impeller/diffuser kit, the correct wear ring kit and a well deserved case of apple cider and waited until the next weekend. That week it was in the high 90s, but the 2 gallons of bleach did the job. When I got back to working on it the next weekend, the water was still pretty clear. The walls had a pretty solid layer of dirt/slime/grime, but nothing worse than the cattle ponds out in the desert. With the correct parts in hand, a tube of pool seal lube, a jar of anti-seize (which of course I forgot to put on the impeller) and a fresh outlook on life, it all went back together pretty easy.
The Arizona sun did a number on the wires over the last few years, so I had to cut, splice, solder and shrink tube a couple wires. Honestly, I was dreading that part more than any and it went really easy. I guess years of hating wiring and buying the right stuff finally paid off. 20 minutes of wiring and it was good to go. I still need to pick up some loom and zip tie it all out of the way, but there are more pressing matters to deal with. Like properly installing the SandShark cleaner I've been using wrong for 6 years.
A few years ago wife and I bought out first house with a pool. We didn't really want a pool, but the house already had one and the previous owners didn't really want to take it with them. Which I think was in an 80s movie, right?
Anyway, I knew nothing about pools and now I know even less, so lets do this together.
My pump had been leaking behind the seal plate for some time so I decided to deal with it. Last November I ordered a new set of seals and a wear ring from Amazon. A few weekends ago, I got around to taking the pump apart. I fought like heck to get the impeller off (strap wrench, cheap 11mm Stanley wrench, much summoning of chi) and then I went to look for the seals from Amazon. I'll give you a box of seals from Amazon if you can find them. Ordered some new seals from Amazon. Then I ordered an "impeller upgrade kit." Don't do that. It's dumb. It's for a 3hp motor and I only have a 2.5hp. Story of my life really. I did notice that the wrong impeller/diffuser kit didn't come with a wear ring though, so I also ordered the wrong one of those. In the mean time, I dumped a couple gallons of bleach in the pool and hoped for the best. Then I cleaned the calcium off the motor and seal plate.
Filled a spray bottle with the same acid mixture I use to clean the salt cell and grabbed a kid's toothbrush. Why a kid's toothbrush? I'm not using mine. Took a while to clean the shaft up and the housing never really got as good as I wanted, but a little primer, a little paint and it was as good as a motor that was twice as old but had half the leaks.
Then I ordered the correct impeller/diffuser kit, the correct wear ring kit and a well deserved case of apple cider and waited until the next weekend. That week it was in the high 90s, but the 2 gallons of bleach did the job. When I got back to working on it the next weekend, the water was still pretty clear. The walls had a pretty solid layer of dirt/slime/grime, but nothing worse than the cattle ponds out in the desert. With the correct parts in hand, a tube of pool seal lube, a jar of anti-seize (which of course I forgot to put on the impeller) and a fresh outlook on life, it all went back together pretty easy.
The Arizona sun did a number on the wires over the last few years, so I had to cut, splice, solder and shrink tube a couple wires. Honestly, I was dreading that part more than any and it went really easy. I guess years of hating wiring and buying the right stuff finally paid off. 20 minutes of wiring and it was good to go. I still need to pick up some loom and zip tie it all out of the way, but there are more pressing matters to deal with. Like properly installing the SandShark cleaner I've been using wrong for 6 years.
LOL
