Purchased a house a couple of months ago, found out from the previous owner that the pool had not been opened in at least 2 seasons. Pool had a mesh safety cover on it.
I then discovered an ECOSYSTEM! The frogs were loud in the back yard, now I know why, they were all living in/around my pool!
Did a check of all the mechanicals, to the best of my ability, sand was bone dry, had some clumps, broke those up as I could. Pump started right up, and I was good to start shocking Monday night (5-20-2013)
Here are a couple of shots from Monday night:
Here are the results after ~24 hours, thanks to my loving wife I was able to start shocking during the week, she checked levels, added chlorine, backwashed, and brushed during the day! I allowed myself 4 hours of sleep between chlorinations from 1-5am. Other than that, the FC/CC levels have been checked every 1-2 hours with brushing.
Here are shots of some of the equipment (which I had no experience with until this week)
Now for the questions:
1.) Any ideas on the model/size of the filter? I haven't been able to find any identifying markers on it yet.
2.) To those who know better than I, do the filter/pump seem to be a good size/fit for my pool?
3.) How high should the sand go in the filter? I have read a few "guidelines" but I am not 100% sure, it looks to be about 1/2 full, there is a line on the inside of the filter, and the sand is filled up to about that line.
4.) The black valve in the image of the plumbing is on the suction side, appears to have the 2 skimmers on one side(right I believe) and the main drain on the other. Any way to know how to adjust the thing? It doesn't seem that well labeled.
5.) When I pull water from the skimmers, I get a ton of air, any ideas on troubleshooting? I have read a few things on here, but am still not sure what to try? Due to this issue, I have the 3 way valve set to main drain only. I know that I asked how to use the valve, I don't 100% understand how the valve works, but I have found a position that seems to disable the skimmers.
6.) I am only getting suction from one of the skimmers, the one in the shallow end. The one on the deep end I get nothin'. I thought about snaking it with my plumbers helper, but when I started, I could feel that the pipe went from PVC to a flexible ribbed type plastic pipe, and I didn't want to puncture the pipe if the spiraled working end of the snake caught it. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? My idea was to drain the pool to the point that the skimmers were above the water line, then pour a drain cleaner in it?
7.) Normal clean operating pressure appears to be 8-10 psi, assuming my pressure gauge is to be trusted. When I started last night it would go up to 18-20 psi in about 1-2 hours. I have been backwashing every 1-4 hours. Is this to be expected in a pool this dirty? If I backwash, the pressure goes back down to 8-10, if I then brush, by the time I am done, I am between 15-20 psi and I backwash again. I purchased a nice leaf rake today, and wasn't finding a whole lot on the bottom.
8.) When I backwash, the water coming through the little glass bottle thingy sticking out of the side of the multi valve doesn't look THAT murky, is this because the filter is just clogging with algae? Can't really tell how long to backwash for, so I just go about 20-30 seconds. Any suggestions?
9.) The housing for the motor feels hot to the touch, I can stand to press my finger on it for 2-3 seconds, then I have to pull back. Is this OK? Normal? Is my pump going to explode and die? It seems hotter than it should be for someone who has no idea how hot it should be. I can see/feel air coming out of it at one end (I assume for cooling) and it seems to be the same temperature after 12 hours as it does after 1 hour of operation. Still, it seems hotter than I would have thought it would be. Any thoughts are appreciated.
I know that is a lot of questions, but last season I was taking care of a Wal-Mart Intex pool in a box, and the mechanicals were not only more simple, but they were all external and exposed, didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination.
Thanks in advance for any advice/answers, and if you made it this far down in the post, thank you for your diligence and determination to help a brother out!
I then discovered an ECOSYSTEM! The frogs were loud in the back yard, now I know why, they were all living in/around my pool!
Did a check of all the mechanicals, to the best of my ability, sand was bone dry, had some clumps, broke those up as I could. Pump started right up, and I was good to start shocking Monday night (5-20-2013)
Here are a couple of shots from Monday night:
Here are the results after ~24 hours, thanks to my loving wife I was able to start shocking during the week, she checked levels, added chlorine, backwashed, and brushed during the day! I allowed myself 4 hours of sleep between chlorinations from 1-5am. Other than that, the FC/CC levels have been checked every 1-2 hours with brushing.
Here are shots of some of the equipment (which I had no experience with until this week)
Now for the questions:
1.) Any ideas on the model/size of the filter? I haven't been able to find any identifying markers on it yet.
2.) To those who know better than I, do the filter/pump seem to be a good size/fit for my pool?
3.) How high should the sand go in the filter? I have read a few "guidelines" but I am not 100% sure, it looks to be about 1/2 full, there is a line on the inside of the filter, and the sand is filled up to about that line.
4.) The black valve in the image of the plumbing is on the suction side, appears to have the 2 skimmers on one side(right I believe) and the main drain on the other. Any way to know how to adjust the thing? It doesn't seem that well labeled.
5.) When I pull water from the skimmers, I get a ton of air, any ideas on troubleshooting? I have read a few things on here, but am still not sure what to try? Due to this issue, I have the 3 way valve set to main drain only. I know that I asked how to use the valve, I don't 100% understand how the valve works, but I have found a position that seems to disable the skimmers.
6.) I am only getting suction from one of the skimmers, the one in the shallow end. The one on the deep end I get nothin'. I thought about snaking it with my plumbers helper, but when I started, I could feel that the pipe went from PVC to a flexible ribbed type plastic pipe, and I didn't want to puncture the pipe if the spiraled working end of the snake caught it. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? My idea was to drain the pool to the point that the skimmers were above the water line, then pour a drain cleaner in it?
7.) Normal clean operating pressure appears to be 8-10 psi, assuming my pressure gauge is to be trusted. When I started last night it would go up to 18-20 psi in about 1-2 hours. I have been backwashing every 1-4 hours. Is this to be expected in a pool this dirty? If I backwash, the pressure goes back down to 8-10, if I then brush, by the time I am done, I am between 15-20 psi and I backwash again. I purchased a nice leaf rake today, and wasn't finding a whole lot on the bottom.
8.) When I backwash, the water coming through the little glass bottle thingy sticking out of the side of the multi valve doesn't look THAT murky, is this because the filter is just clogging with algae? Can't really tell how long to backwash for, so I just go about 20-30 seconds. Any suggestions?
9.) The housing for the motor feels hot to the touch, I can stand to press my finger on it for 2-3 seconds, then I have to pull back. Is this OK? Normal? Is my pump going to explode and die? It seems hotter than it should be for someone who has no idea how hot it should be. I can see/feel air coming out of it at one end (I assume for cooling) and it seems to be the same temperature after 12 hours as it does after 1 hour of operation. Still, it seems hotter than I would have thought it would be. Any thoughts are appreciated.
I know that is a lot of questions, but last season I was taking care of a Wal-Mart Intex pool in a box, and the mechanicals were not only more simple, but they were all external and exposed, didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination.
Thanks in advance for any advice/answers, and if you made it this far down in the post, thank you for your diligence and determination to help a brother out!