SOOOO frustrated - involuntary draining

[NWMNMom]

I have had nothing but headaches with my fittings since we put the SWG on - none of the fittings are getting tight enough and with any vibration, they loosen more and hoses have blown off. This is the 4th time now. The first time we lost nearly a foot of water in the pool and refilled/topped off. Twice since fittings on either side of the SWG have blown off and we lost water - 2" only then 4", both times we topped off, tightened up and moved on. Today while I was running my cleaner the hose blew again while we ate lunch (figured I could clean the pool safety for 30-45 mins!) Ha, lost over a foot of water into the yard.

Now I am topping off again and, just my luck, its not going to be very warm again for a while - only in the upper 70s so I don't suppose I'll get warm water again before I HAVE to drain below the skimmer to close. I was cussing a blue streak and cursing my pool, my husband, my kids, the swg, the gravel around the pool, EVERYTHING. I guess it was bad enough for all 4 parrots to start screaming in the house so I got my self cooled off and replaced the hoses and fittings AGAIN with newer ones that have longer collars on the ends. GRRRR. I don't suppose I'll get to swim again before I close for the year. Its hot and humid outside right now and my pool water temp is down to 78F with all the new fill/top off water - I'm mad!!

BTW, the vibration I'm talking about is storms and big winds, which we have had our share of for the past 2 weeks. Really strong - move the deck type winds. My pool was filled with tree branches and debris as the winds lifted the edge of the solar blanket on one side so the Crud got underneath and sank.

Edit: I am going to hard plumb it all with pvc next spring - DH is concerned we won't be able to get all of the water blown out and will have problems. Our solar is hard plumbed to a certain extent (the nearly verticle parts) then to flex hosing to the diverter and so forth. We have an air compressor - I'm thinking we pvc plumb to threaded fittings, remove hardware at closing by unscrewing threaded parts, blow everything else out and go - any thoughts? I am starting to hate hoses.....

 

[waste]

NW(da)MNMom , you sound like you're having a really BAD day :!: It's sad because I know you from here and PF, and that seems out of character If you see this as being a continuing problem, by all means (!), hard pipe the system - or at least the vulnerable parts I've b**ched about soft hose and clamps in other places and how I just don't think they are as good as a glued connection! If you need any help with how to do the 'hard plumbing', please ask and I'll walk you through it

I'm sorry that you are having this trouble, and if there is anything I can do or help with, simply ask of me and I'll be there as quickly as I can!!!! You've offered so much help to so many people here, this problem is a poor payback for what you've done for all the people here

A thought - can you drive some stakes into the ground and tether the pipes to them? - until you get around to running the hard plumbing? If you want info on winterizing the 'modified' system, I'll help - but I think it belongs in the winterizing section.

Please take care and enjoy the pool while you can! (and don't scare the birds anymore - you know the places to find the help )

 

[NWMNMom]

Oh my gosh you guys, I am so sorry I flipped out!!! You are right, bad day. I try to keep a cool head when these things go wrong because I am the one that really wanted the pool, I do all the maintenance happily and never complain - I actually find my "zen" when just sitting out there cleaning or maintaining. It is frustrating though because then you get to second guessing all you do and worrying if its gonna blow a hose or something in the middle of the night. Oh well, I've got it for tonight and, well at this point if it blows a hose the pump is off for the night and it won't go any lower than the return - the water can't get any colder than it is right now by adding more tomorrow!

I was being a bad pool owner and complaining about those things you just can't always control - nothings perfect, and I wanted to go swimming. I'll have to settle for my bathtub tonight! Thanks for not banning me for being a whiner Sean.

Yep - thank you for the offer, I WILL be asking for help this spring when I hard plumb the whole dang thing! I love PVC, its my friend....(I make PVC parrot playstands for sale, lol)

 

[Poolsean]

Not sure if your concern with ridgid pipe is draining your poo, but you can use unions to make winterizing easy to drain down your pool. Not quite a hose and clamps, but darn near close to it, with a more secure connection.

 

[AnnaK]

LOL!

Poolsean, we can only hope that your cute typo is putting a smile on NWMNMOM's face today

 

[NWMNMom]

It did, I had to take a second look to catch that. BTW, no water drainage last night - things are looking up. But, it got really COLD overnight and remains pretty darn cool with no sun today so no swimming in the near future unless I rent someone's pool heater for a day! (hmmm wonder if you CAN rent those?? Not...)

 

[gonefishin]

Hi NWmnMom...hope things are going better



I was wondering how things have been? We're thinking about getting the Intex salt system...I hope it's still working out well for you.

One thing that I've noticed with SS hose clamps is that ALL of them that I've seen at my local Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's have been a thin gauge and I had problems with them tightening enough. I went to a Sears Hardware store and they had two levels of quality. The better clamps were a much thicker gauge which allowed me to properly tighten the hoses (this was for an outdoor full sized sump pump/pit). So if you need some in the future you may want to look at Sears Hardware stores for the clamps.

good luck!
dan