2 questions related to vacuum and sand filter

[jenlop]

First off, I just want to say thank you for this forum!! A week and a half ago, I was ready to through in the towel with my pool. (LOL, no pun intended.) It is a yucky green mess and has been since the middle of last summer. (We only got it last July!) I came online to try to find a professional pool company to see if they could do anything about it, and somehow ended up here. I now feel confident that I CAN get the pool in better condition. So, thank you for that!!

Anyway, I have 2 questions...

1. When we bought our pool last year, it came with a curved, rectangular vacuum head. We also bought an automated Hayward Diver Dave vacuum too. My question though, when it comes to the manual heads, are they all pretty much the same? (I have a vinyl pool liner, so I know 'no' to the wheel vacuums.) Guess I'm just wondering if I'm wasting my time with the manual vacuum and if there's better ones out there?

2. I was at the pool store over the weekend and was talking to a couple of the sales people there (who I quickly found out know less than I do already LOL). But one recommended Sand Revitalizer to clean out any organic matter in our sand filter. (We have algae that keeps coming back. My guess now is that I haven't actually been completing my shock treatment. I thought shocking the pool consisted of dumping in the shock, period. I'm now making sure that the levels get high enough and will do an overnight chlorine loss test tonight). Is there any benefit to using this stuff? Or should I just wait and see how things go? I ordered a good test kit, should be here mid-week, I hope.

Oh...one other question. I have to take the chlorine floaters out of the pool when I do the overnight test, right? Is it ok to just leave them out in the air? Or stick them in a closed plastic bag? The pool isn't THAT close to the house, so we won't smell it from the house. I just don't want to send more toxic fumes into the air than I should.

Thanks again!

 

[JasonLion]

Manual vacuum heads come in two styles, plaster and vinyl. Within a category there are some minor variations, but they are all essentially the same.

There is almost never any point to using sand revitalizer. The problem that it is designed to solve is incredibly rare, and has nothing to do with algae coming back over and over.

Yes, you need to remove the floaters to do an overnight test. It is fine to leave them in the air. A little high chlorine water will drip off of them at first, so I would put them in a plastic bucket so nothing is stained/damaged, a bag will also work.

There are instructions on shocking in Pool School. If you want help with shocking you should start by posting a complete set of test results.

 

[jenlop]

Awesome, thanks for your reply!

Once I get my good test kit, I'll definitely post my test results. (Unless I run into any problems with the overnight test.) I could post what I have so far, but I think it'll be much more accurate once I can get a good test. My dip stick test results are a bit weird (total chlorine higher than free chlorine?), so I think they're just not giving me accurate results. I'm looking forward to playing chemist with the good test kit! :lol:

 

[TulsaMary]

I hope my test kit comes today! I am new to TFP also, but since Friday my green swamp is light blue, a little cloudy but improvements everyday... This is just my second year as well and I was to my wits end, but I have faith in the BBB method. Keep reading and exploring the site. I learned more in a few days then I did in two years... Good Luck!