We used to have weekly pool service, but have stopped it in November and begun doing everything DIY. We make weekly visits to local Pinch-A-Penny with our pool water sample to have it tested, and buy whatever is recommended.
Tried opening up our filter system to do the annual cleaning but to no avail - just could not open it up because some of the knobs around side would not loosen no matter how hard I try to loosen them.
Hired pool service for one-time visit to assist and educate me a bit more about cleaning our filter system. Had to use big monkey wrench to loosen up some of the knobs around the filter system, and finally got it opened. The set of filter grids were very dirty (thick with dirt/stuff), we hosed it off. However, there is a hole in one of the filter grids, and the guy said we will have problems in coming weeks because of that hole, and he was right.
He also could not even, with a monkey wrench, loosen the filter grid set to remove it. He mentioned that a new filter-grid set would cost me somewhere around $180, and because the filter system is old, and difficult to maintain, that I probably should consider buying a new filter system that is easier to maintain for a DIYer - he mentioned "Clean and Clear 150" for $525. Unless advice from this forum tells us otherwise, we are definitely are considering buying a new filter system as long as it is the right choice.
However we have an immediate problem - there are regions around pool that has sand-like collection, and for some reason they don't go away, even with our automatic pool cleaner doing it works. I suspect that the debris is simply returning back to our pool back from the filter system, because of that hole in one of the filter grids. Just did not expect it to happen as quickly or bad as it did.
What would be the best/easiest way to remove sand-like dirt from our pool? A new pool canister with filter bag with low micron rating (can catch fine particles), or buy a wand cleaner and do some spot-cleanups? We live in Florida, and our pool is inside a lanai ("florida room"), so most of the time when debris enters our pool, it is simply just a bit of dirt or sand off the sides of our pool (we have patio around our pool).
We are in process of replacing our filter system very soon (with a month), we want to make sure we do diligent research before making our decision on whether our filter system truly need replacing and with what new system.
Tried opening up our filter system to do the annual cleaning but to no avail - just could not open it up because some of the knobs around side would not loosen no matter how hard I try to loosen them.
Hired pool service for one-time visit to assist and educate me a bit more about cleaning our filter system. Had to use big monkey wrench to loosen up some of the knobs around the filter system, and finally got it opened. The set of filter grids were very dirty (thick with dirt/stuff), we hosed it off. However, there is a hole in one of the filter grids, and the guy said we will have problems in coming weeks because of that hole, and he was right.
He also could not even, with a monkey wrench, loosen the filter grid set to remove it. He mentioned that a new filter-grid set would cost me somewhere around $180, and because the filter system is old, and difficult to maintain, that I probably should consider buying a new filter system that is easier to maintain for a DIYer - he mentioned "Clean and Clear 150" for $525. Unless advice from this forum tells us otherwise, we are definitely are considering buying a new filter system as long as it is the right choice.
However we have an immediate problem - there are regions around pool that has sand-like collection, and for some reason they don't go away, even with our automatic pool cleaner doing it works. I suspect that the debris is simply returning back to our pool back from the filter system, because of that hole in one of the filter grids. Just did not expect it to happen as quickly or bad as it did.
What would be the best/easiest way to remove sand-like dirt from our pool? A new pool canister with filter bag with low micron rating (can catch fine particles), or buy a wand cleaner and do some spot-cleanups? We live in Florida, and our pool is inside a lanai ("florida room"), so most of the time when debris enters our pool, it is simply just a bit of dirt or sand off the sides of our pool (we have patio around our pool).
We are in process of replacing our filter system very soon (with a month), we want to make sure we do diligent research before making our decision on whether our filter system truly need replacing and with what new system.