infloor cleaner jets in a vinyl liner pool

[bobsue4]

We are newbies, having bought a house in NH in December with a vinyl liner ig pool. When we opened it earlier this month we found that it had rips, holes, and was pulling away from the wall in places so we need to replace it. Question is whether or not to keep the infloor pool cleaner jets or cover over them and use some other wall ( I think) return for the water. The replacement liner guy said he's not keen on the infloor cleaner jets in a liner pool but a friend has them in her liner pool and loves them. Anybody have a recommendation? Pool guy doesn't put them in on his new installs and thinks they'd be prone to leaks and that they don't work that well anyway so is recommending we cover them up when we put the new liner in. He's doing a new filter as well as the new liner and needs a decision from us in order to do whatever it is he needs to do with the filter. Any advice?
Thanks in advance!

 

[JasonLion]

In-floor jets can be really nice, cleaning the pool without any effort on your part. However they are prone to requiring expensive repairs. Also, every hole through the liner is a potential leak. The odds of there being any kind of problem aren't really all that high, but if you do have a problem it will tend to be a fairly annoying one. In areas of the country where there is lots of wind borne dust, in-floor cleaning systems are extremely popular, but in much of the rest of the country they are relatively rare because of the potential problems.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

bobsue, where are you located? What kind of debris gets in the pool?

 

[bobsue4]

We are in NH- I have no idea what we'll have for debris since we have never used it. There are not many trees around- mostly grassy fields that the farmers cut hay from one or twice a summer.
I was given a Hayward Navigator cleaner that hooks up to the skimmer and goes around cleaning the floor. I was told it works perfectly but the people closed their pool and gave it to us. So at this point I figured we could close up the bottom cleaner jets and use that instead. Sound like a good? bad? idea??? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I was thinking that winterizing an in-floor system would be a pain.

Honestly, if it were me I would cover them up and use something else to clean the pool. I presume you have normal wall returns as well? It would help if you could post some pictures!

 

[bk406]

I wouldnt do an in-floor cleaning system in a vinyl pool. Too much of a leak chance. In NH, you are going to have to blow the lines for the winter as well. Might be a bit of a pain as well.

My 2 cents

 

[bobsue4]

Thanks everyone. We decided to cover them over- the liner replacement guys put some sort of this layer of foam over them I think. But get this...when they got to the deep end of fitting the new liner in- they realized that it is 4 feet too long and need to reorder a new one in the right size. I could cry!
More pool troubles. I think we're jinxed!

 

[Txmat]

bobsue4, Your not jinxed - hang in there. It is just a setback in getting to a great pool experience. Either the measurements were wrong or the manufacturer didn't cut the liner correctly. It happens. In the meantime, since you seem to be new to this pool stuff, you can use the time to learn how to properly care for the pool and not do like a lot of us - make mistakes first. For example, you can study the Pool School information (click on button at right top of page); you can get a good test kit (most of us use one of the kits listed in Pool School) you will probably have to order it, because the pool stores don't carry the right kind; you can read posts on this board and learn tons; and finally you will be prepared to not follow the bad advice you are likely to get from the pool store. Good luck, have fun, and come back here with any questions or problems.

Larry

 

[bobsue4]

Thanks for your words of encouragement Larry. I will check out the pool school as yes we are brand new to the pool thing.
Does the blue layer of foam on the floor of the pool sound right to you all? We do have some high water issues and seems to me that that layer will just float if water gets below the pool from draining off the hill. I seem to recall reading that that isn't good to put on the bottom if there's water. More to worry about. I'll go to the pool school to keep my mind off all the other possible things that can go wrong!
Thanks all.