I assume an inground pool.
For proper advices I'd strongly recommend more infos as:
How cold a winter you have where you live?
-This might affect how low you should drain your pool and/or whatever other accessories you might/might not need.
What is the gizmo's appearance. Can you post a pic?
Is your water level higher than the skimmer/water returns?
- Having it lower greatly facilitate blowing the lines.
Is there a, hum, not sure how it translates to english, High Groundwater level?
- This might cause damage to your pool if you empty part of it.
Disconnect Pump, Sand Filter, Heater beforehand. Your shopvac will work wonders to empty the sand filter, from that plug on its underbelly. after it is emptied, lean it SLIGHTLY on the side using a wood plank or something similar so that water naturally comes out of that hole... put your sand filter on ''Winterize''.
A trick is to keep all the small part in the pump's basket. losing them won't cost you much to replace, but I am sure you have better to do than chase for Gasket A or O-Ring B next spring... Don't forget to bring your pump inside for the cold season (depends on how cold it is).
As for the Heater, the ShopVac will empty it efficiently. You might want to hook it back to the system once the waterlines are blown... makes a nice home for rodents otherwise.
Have a few plugs at hand, Trick is to blow line per line, but as water is being blown out, where it did will be the path of least resistance. That's where the plug comes into play. By plugging these exits as they're emptyed of water, air will force water of another exit, and so on and so on until every single one of them is plugged.
filix said:
Sorry for being such a sad case.
No need to be. Hope it helps. Hope you warn fellow consumers about EcoSmarte's misleading marketing.
I can't stand theses guys!
Have a good 'un