Tips and Tricks

[Rangerman]

Anybody have a tip on keeping your vac from getting stuck on the main drain? I know it's old equipment, however I use a Kreepy Krauly with the right skirt plate for an inground. If I shut the main drain off - there's too much suction on the skimmer the unit is attached to and is either way slow or doesn't move at all. Suggestions?

 

[Buggsw]

They do have main drain collars you can buy so things don't get caught. It's plastic and sits around your main drain. Darn, I wish I could find a link. I saw them when I was researching getting a robot cleaner. Was thinking I might still need one, but so far my Blue Diamond never gets stuck. My old Navigator always got stuck on the drain and all the popups.

 

[Beachnut_pa]

Adding CYA to a pool with a spillover spa

With our spillover spa, the throughput of my returns is pretty weak. When adding CYA, I used to hang a panty hose sock from our divider rope and it took about a week per pound to disolve. Then the light bulb came on and I put the panty hose sock in the skimmer, closed the skimmer lid to hold it in and one pound disolved in one to two days.

 

[giulietta1]

Speaking of panty hose. . . this has come up before on this forum and elsewhere, but I figured this would be a location newbies would visit.

Use a knee-hi stocking, or an old panty hose leg, as a skimmer sock.

 

[embellisher]

Speaking of panty hose. . . this has come up before on this forum and elsewhere, but I figured this would be a location newbies would visit.

Use a knee-hi stocking, or an old panty hose leg, as a skimmer sock.

How do you install the skimmer sock? Inside of the skimmer basket, and folded over the edges?

 

[txborn]

That's the correct way - in and over the edge.

 

[ric]

John T never thought to use the hose to clean the top of the solar cover it worked great thanks this thread is great
instead of the knee high sock in the skimmer try the ankle size it works best in mine.

 

[LadywithIron]

I put the knee high over the outside of the skimmer basket, and a large wad of bugs and acorns nearly stopped up the whole system HA.

 

[giulietta1]

I have to put the stocking over the outside of the skimmer basket b/c of the way mine is constructed. The top band on the stocking holds it in place nicely.

 

[jerry-nc]

A little thing i learned a few years back when every time a storm came in from 1 direction and turned my pool green had to flock it i use a triangle shaped vac. head and removing the front brush besides going verry slow helps to keep the fluffy stuff from scattering back into the water

 

[haybird]

As a new pool owner I have received countless tips from this site. I would like to give back
but my knowledge about pools is limited. So here is my(big) tip. After you purchase your test kit
from www.tftestkits.com The next time you go golfing or know somebody going, grab
a couple extra short scorecard pencils with the eraser on them. They fit in the kit like a glove.
It ain't much but I had to give back to all the kind people here.

 

[mbar]

Another tip for the kit is to make a copy of the "best guess chart", and any other numbers you want, and tape it to the lid of the case with clear tape. Then you always have the numbers at hand when you have a senior moment

 

[JohnT]

I took a 20oz drink bottle, cut the top off and filled it with CYA until it weighed whatever it took to add 5ppm to my pool. I made a mark, and then cut the bottle down at the mark so I have a measuring cup for CYA. Wrote "One scoop adds 5ppm" on the side so I never have to think about it.

Another thing I did was to write an "operator's manual" for my pool. Includes chemistry instructions and amounts normally needed, equipment instructions (valve settings for vacuuming etc.), cleaning instructions, where I keep things, where to buy stuff (like muriatic acid), things not to do and more. That way if I get sent away for work or when we go on vacation, whoever is taking care of the pool has a reference to fall back on if they can't get in touch with me.

 

[jcw74801]

O.K., I've got one...

This is for round pools. If you walk around the pool in a circle for a few laps you will generate a nice little current in the water. After the water settles you will find a nice little pile of debri in the center of the pool on the floor. You can scoop it up with a net or suck it up with the vacuum.

 

[NWMNMom]

We keep a "Pool-Tool" kit in a tote next to the pool. This includes all the correct screw drivers, wrenches, hose clamps, silicone lube, etc. we need so when there are problems someone isn't rumaging through the shop to find the right tools. We also color code (shot of neon spraypaint) on the bolts/nuts that match the sizes of tools (also painted with the color dot on the end of the handle) - very handy for emergencies when you blow a hose or something!

 

[sakedacat]

A friend taught me this one: Never take a water sample with your cell phone in your pocket. One little misstep and you'll be buying a new phone.

LOL! My Nextel i580 plopped into the deep end (@6.5 FT) & sat there for at least 15 seconds as I sprinted for the skimmer net. Had issues right away but removed sim card & memory card and dried with air compressor (phone & card slots) and phone is still working without a hitch. This is one bad to the bone phone! Nextel i580

 

[mikergibson]

I had that happen to me and I took the battery and sim card out and put the phone in the oven at 150 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours.. the phone worked great after that!

 

[MeSue]

I took a 20oz drink bottle, cut the top off and filled it with CYA until it weighed whatever it took to add 5ppm to my pool. I made a mark, and then cut the bottle down at the mark so I have a measuring cup for CYA. Wrote "One scoop adds 5ppm" on the side so I never have to think about it.

Kind of a spin off on JohnT's tip... I took a 32oz. cup which happens to be the perfect size to add 3ppm chlorine to my pool with the 10% chlorine. I can just eyeball 1/3 or 2/3 of the container if I need to add less than the full 3ppm. I also marked it off in 8oz increments for if/when I use bleach other than 10%.

For the geeky types... I use my PDA for all my pool chemistry testing/tracking. Poseidon's Excel poolcalc spreadsheet runs fine on Excel mobile, or I can open a locally saved copy of Jason's pool calc in the PDA browser. The spreadsheet is a little better for PDA use IMO because you can easily reformat it to fit a small screen better. I use ListPro on the PDA to keep track of all my test results, and I have another ListPro file with info about all the chemicals, the CYA chart, plus tons of tips I have collected from this forum.

I usually have my PDA pool-side already since it also functions as the remote control for my tunes (using a wireless speaker). If you are going to use a PDA or cell phone poolside, I think it's a good idea invest in one of these Dry-Paks: http://www.marine-products.com/gear/dry_paks.jsp

I have the 5x8 one and it has held up great through two seasons. I can still operate my PDA through the case. I have not dropped mine directly in the water yet, but come close a few times. It has protected the PDA many times when we get sudden rain here.

 

[MikeInTN]

Collect water for testing in a squirt bottle and then dispense into the various tests from there. A squirt bottle with a very narrow hole is ideal, something like a hair color applicator bottle, but even a mustard/ketchup dispensor bottle will make things simpler.

You can get clear squirt bottles like this @ Wallyworld for around a buck a piece. Look in the kitchen gadgets aisle. Btw, they also make excellent finishing sauce bottles for BBQ..

 

[duraleigh]

I use a "wash bottle"....found at laboratory supply sites. They're cool because they don't need to be inverted to dispense water.