This is the third year of living in our new home that came with this AGP, and this year appears to be something special as I'm not sure what to do.
This is also the first year that I discovered TFP.com and have been successfully saving money using bleach instead of pool store products.
So lets start with some things from years past.
1. The house I moved into came with the pool, and a Barracuda 1500, no manuals on how to operate. The pool has 3 cartridges (1 in the filter and two extras).
2. In years past the pressure gauge would read anywhere between 10 - 15 on all three filters
3. In years past the barracuda when in use would make a loud flapping noise to the point that it would echo in my backyard when it was on.
4. Last year the pool store told me to clean my cartridge filter I should use "Kleen-IT" from Bio Guard.
5. The pool hardly sucked air from the skimmer when the water level was at the 2nd screw level.
Things from this year
1. The pressure gauge reads roughly 12 - 15 on all three filters
2. My barracuda does still makes a noise, but its not very loud, does not echo in the yard anymore (even my neighbor was wondering if something is ok because she didn't year it anymore). The barracuda also sometimes seems to stop.
3. The hose from the skimmer to the pump at times seems to crush in on it self, I've replaced it when a spare hose I have laying around but it seems to happen anytime I hook up the barracuda or the manual pool vac.
4. I'm sucking air left and right from my skimmer, even when the water level is a tad too high. (I was wondering if the lack of a flapper on my skimmer could be a problem, It broke off last year and I haven't been able to find a replacement part.
5. the smallest amount of debris that gets sucked in the strainer basket that covers just the whole (does not fill up the entire basket) causes the hose to collapse
6. This year the pool store told me it was a 2 part process to clean my cartridge filter, first needing strip-kwik THEN Kleen-IT, so I did that this year for pool start up
7. Since reading this site, I've had my cartridges in a garbage can soaking with dishwashing detergent to clean them, rinsed them throughly afterwards and then followed the acid bath (no bubbles whatsoever)
8. I've tried removing the cartridge and just "circulating" the water the gauge reads 15 with no filter, and when I attache the barracuda it drops to about 10-12
Things I'm now concerned about.
1. After researching online the manual for the barracuda I seem to actually be missing some parts (once I read the book I vaguely remember the parts from when I was a kid with the parents pool) Said parts are roughly $100 almost better to just buy a new barracuda. I think the new one was about $124.
2. I'm wondering if the filter cartridges are bad (one is a unicel the other 2 seem to be hayward, and all seem to be losing some their bindings) Cheapest replacement I've found from a local store seems to be $108.95 for a CX1750RE
3. Financially this year has not been the best, hence how I found this site and started doing bleach so I'm afraid of buying a new cartridge and finding out the problem is the barracuda or vice versa
Does anyone have any thoughts on what my problems might be and possible solutions?
This is also the first year that I discovered TFP.com and have been successfully saving money using bleach instead of pool store products.
So lets start with some things from years past.
1. The house I moved into came with the pool, and a Barracuda 1500, no manuals on how to operate. The pool has 3 cartridges (1 in the filter and two extras).
2. In years past the pressure gauge would read anywhere between 10 - 15 on all three filters
3. In years past the barracuda when in use would make a loud flapping noise to the point that it would echo in my backyard when it was on.
4. Last year the pool store told me to clean my cartridge filter I should use "Kleen-IT" from Bio Guard.
5. The pool hardly sucked air from the skimmer when the water level was at the 2nd screw level.
Things from this year
1. The pressure gauge reads roughly 12 - 15 on all three filters
2. My barracuda does still makes a noise, but its not very loud, does not echo in the yard anymore (even my neighbor was wondering if something is ok because she didn't year it anymore). The barracuda also sometimes seems to stop.
3. The hose from the skimmer to the pump at times seems to crush in on it self, I've replaced it when a spare hose I have laying around but it seems to happen anytime I hook up the barracuda or the manual pool vac.
4. I'm sucking air left and right from my skimmer, even when the water level is a tad too high. (I was wondering if the lack of a flapper on my skimmer could be a problem, It broke off last year and I haven't been able to find a replacement part.
5. the smallest amount of debris that gets sucked in the strainer basket that covers just the whole (does not fill up the entire basket) causes the hose to collapse
6. This year the pool store told me it was a 2 part process to clean my cartridge filter, first needing strip-kwik THEN Kleen-IT, so I did that this year for pool start up
7. Since reading this site, I've had my cartridges in a garbage can soaking with dishwashing detergent to clean them, rinsed them throughly afterwards and then followed the acid bath (no bubbles whatsoever)
8. I've tried removing the cartridge and just "circulating" the water the gauge reads 15 with no filter, and when I attache the barracuda it drops to about 10-12
Things I'm now concerned about.
1. After researching online the manual for the barracuda I seem to actually be missing some parts (once I read the book I vaguely remember the parts from when I was a kid with the parents pool) Said parts are roughly $100 almost better to just buy a new barracuda. I think the new one was about $124.
2. I'm wondering if the filter cartridges are bad (one is a unicel the other 2 seem to be hayward, and all seem to be losing some their bindings) Cheapest replacement I've found from a local store seems to be $108.95 for a CX1750RE
3. Financially this year has not been the best, hence how I found this site and started doing bleach so I'm afraid of buying a new cartridge and finding out the problem is the barracuda or vice versa
Does anyone have any thoughts on what my problems might be and possible solutions?