Can anyone help me with this pool

[newpoolmomma]

Hello I have been reading over the forms and I am so lost.
My mother in law bought a new house which came with a pool. She does not want the pool so we got it. We are leaving it at her house this summer and going to break down and move and do new liner next year. But the thing is we have NO clue at all what we are doing.
I have looked up online and cannot even find the filter type for directions. We had a friend come with us and said we needed this and that and this and that. So we pulled off the cover and lo and behold we found about 10 billion tadpoles and only 10 frogs. So hubby and I spend the better part of 3 hours using the skimmer and scooped out all of the little buggers. Then tonight we went and hooked all the hoses up and then started adding water to the pool. The water itself is not green and yucky like I thought it was going to be. It is just a murky color.
So we filled for a bit and then had to turn it off and we will go back tomorrow and finish filling. Now onto the hard part. WHAT DO WE DO NEXT???????

I have no idea what size the pool is. It is an above ground pool hubby thinks about 25K gal but still not sure. What kind of chemicals do we need. Now I understand having a pool is not for the poor, but right now I am having to do all this on a budget so if we can cut some corners it would be great, but I want to have it safe for my little monsters (who by the way are dying to jump into a yucky pool lol).

I know I am going to need Shock and chlorine and tabs and a floater thing for the tabs and algae killer and test strips. I was praying I could get it started and pick up extra stuff we will need next payday.
It is above ground round pool that is about all I know and hubby knows less than I do about it.

thanks so much
cammie

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

The place to start is to do some reading in Pool School. There is a button that will take you there on the top right of every page.

 

[woodyp]

Our method doesn't "cut corners"...........we simply use most things you can buy at the grocery store vs. the pool store. Look for a bleach sale priority one. Buy some granular CYA in a jug from Wally World. You don't need so called "shock" from the pool store at the moment either----actually, never! Also, DON"T buy any algaecide! We do the shocking process with bleach. You can use the pool calculator to get a good grip on your # of gallons once you know the pool size and how much of what chemicals to add. A good test kit is your best friend-besides us!

 

[JohnN]

Test strips don't cut it. You need a good, top quality test kit which can be found in my signature.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[techguy]

Have you measured the pool? If you measure the diameter or length and width and wall hieght we can help yo confirm you capacity.

If you take photos of the pool, the filter, pump and other major equipment, people here can help you learn what you have. Photos of the labels on the equipment and valves will help also.

My suggested shopping list:

Here: TF-100 test kit, you will save more money spending money on this kit. With this, you never need to go into the pool store for testing and this will save you $100 the first month.

Wal-Mart or other box store:

5 boxes of liquid chlorinator (2 gallon each 10%, in hte pool or garden section) or 20 121 oz jugs of 8.25% bleach (great value or Chlorox are common brands)

12 pound bag Baking Soda

Borax

You might need:

but you can get this when you get your test kit.

 

[DebbieO]

Great shopping list, techguy!

Welcome newpoolmomma. Notice that the test kit is first on his list. The price of a good test kit will be less than your local pool store will charge for a bunch of stuff you probably don't need! Follow the advice you get here and you can't go wrong.

 

[newpoolmomma]

Thank you for your great responses? The pressure gauge cannot be read on our filter. Do I get one at a pool store or can I pick it up at Walmart? Today our plan is to finish filling up with water and then run the filter for 12 hours then we test the water. Does this sound about right? I love the idea of not using the expensive pool store and being able to pick up local. I will take pictures this morning and post them. Thanks again

 

[techguy]

You may be able to get a gauge at any large hardware store but I was able to get the one I needed at my LPS for about $10 so hunting around to save $3 is a waste of time, for me.

 

[techguy]

If you can, take old gauge with you. Close valves or join the suction and return hoses together to isolate the pump and take the dead garage with you. If the filter is isolated, the only water you can lose is that in filter and around here, my kids splash more than that amount every day.

 

[newpoolmomma]

Thank you everyone. I just wanted to let you know that the pool is a no go. We went out and plugged it in and started to run it and when we flipped the switch and the pump just hummmmmed. Makes me so upset that now we cannot have a good pool

 

[Smykowski]

Thank you everyone. I just wanted to let you know that the pool is a no go. We went out and plugged it in and started to run it and when we flipped the switch and the pump just hummmmmed. Makes me so upset that now we cannot have a good pool

That's not a deal breaker. Individual pump parts can be very inexpensive.

What kind of pump is it? Can you take a picture and post it?

Based on your description it sounds like a bad capacitor, which is $20 at most for the part and a little elbow grease to replace (don't worry, we'll help you). There are other things we can try too.

 

[techguy]

In some cases, the motor may have a slot in the end of the motor where the rotor shaft is visible. See if you can spin the shaft. It may simply be stuck. Some shafts have a slot where you can insert a screwdriver to turn the motor. If you can get the motor to spin manually, they turning it on and see if it runs.

Another method is to see of you can spin the impeller. You MUST ensure the motor is disconnected when you try this. Inside the pump filter you can see of you can get the impeller to spin. It should be OK to run the pump for a few seconds without water.