Finally Project Completed! Thanks from Afghanistan

[pzmotorsports]

Well the project is finally completed. I was able to go home on vacation from Afghanistan for 3 weeks during the end of May to mid June and are now back to the real deal, but the family is happy enjoying the pool. :-D
It was a major project, bigger than I had planned with weather of over 100 degrees, but with plenty of homework and great advice I was able to move forward with minor obstacles!

The pool is 18' x 36' vinyl lined with an 8' stamped deck, I also took advantage and added an extra 10' x 10' slab in combination to the current one which measures 10' x 10' as well. My wife is currently working on the landscaping and on a BBQ area with a table and sitting area made of stone.

I took care of the design, plot, assembly of kit and plumbing; everything else was subcontracted.

I currently have a person taking care of the pool maintenance but I believe he is not doing a good job, before my questions here are some pics of my project, enjoy!

[attachment=2:3uy55wdv]Picture 054.jpg[/attachment:3uy55wdv]
[attachment=1:3uy55wdv]Picture 055.jpg[/attachment:3uy55wdv]
[attachment=0:3uy55wdv]Picture 056.jpg[/attachment:3uy55wdv]

My wife contracted a person to handle our maintenance on 17 June, this person is going home once a week and the only thing he did the first day was shock the pool with 2 gallons of shock without taking a reading of the water. He then showed up the second week and pretended to clean the pool, I say this because my wife and son noticed the same dirt at the bottom when he left, he did not take a water reading either. He also visited us yesterday and started cleaning the pool but had to stop due to rain, he was not going to do a water test until my wife asked him about it, he then borrowed my brand new TF Kit because he had left his. :x He ended up adding two more gallons of shock and something called Clear Blue in liquid form without measuring, just pouring freely into the water, then stated “your water levels are good now”. He was with his son and the first words out of their mouth when they saw the pool were "the water is turning green" my wife asked him for the keys because she misplaced hers but it will be a good reason to tell him tomorrow when he goes back to finish cleaning, Don't need your services anymore! He does not show up as discussed and is not too worried about doing a good job, after all our hard work the last thing we need if green water. I will ensure my wife and I are more cautions about choosing a real professional until my arrival home. Advice will be greatly appreciated.

Question
Our pool kit has the standard cleaning kit with the brush, vacuum hose etc. when my son connects the skimmer adapter - hose and starts vacuuming the pool, suction pressure will work fine for a while and then it will stop and go again. It will also loose all pressure and he will have to wait for it to build up in order to continue.
He says the filter system sounds like is out of water and then gets filled again before suction starts again. Is this normal? What are we doing wrong?
I will be looking for a decent automatic or semi-automatic pool cleaner before I return home, it seems to be hard work trying to vacuum the pool with the basic cleaning kit!

Question
I will like to get guidance on the proper use of the plumbing valve selector.
When should I use the skimmer selector only, the main drain selector only and or leave the valve centered in between both selections?

Question
Currently the timer was adjusted by the pool cleaning person and he set it up for pump operation every 12hrs, from 8 am to 8 pm, according to wife and son equipment is not shutting off until 9:30pm. I believe 12 hrs of operation is a very long time and not energy efficient, is this correct? Any idea why the timer runs more than current adjustment?

Hope you enjoy my project and pics, again thanks for your great help!

18' x 36 Grecian Style Vinyl lined
Hayward Colorlogic light
Hayward 1 1/2 hp Superpump
Hayward 300lb sand filter
Inline Chlorinator

 

[waste]

Well the project is finally completed. I was able to go home on vacation from Afghanistan for 3 weeks during the end of May to mid June and are now back to the real deal, but the family is happy enjoying the pool. :-D
It was a major project, bigger than I had planned with weather of over 100 degrees, but with plenty of homework and great advice I was able to move forward with minor obstacles!

The pool is 18' x 36' vinyl lined with an 8' stamped deck, I also took advantage and added an extra 10' x 10' slab in combination to the current one which measures 10' x 10' as well. My wife is currently working on the landscaping and on a BBQ area with a table and sitting area made of stone.

I took care of the design, plot, assembly of kit and plumbing; everything else was subcontracted.

I currently have a person taking care of the pool maintenance but I believe he is not doing a good job, before my questions here are some pics of my project, enjoy!

[attachment=2:36s0uohq]Picture 054.jpg[/attachment:36s0uohq]
[attachment=1:36s0uohq]Picture 055.jpg[/attachment:36s0uohq]
[attachment=0:36s0uohq]Picture 056.jpg[/attachment:36s0uohq]

pizmo. GLAD the pool is up and running!! I hope all is well with you overseas :!:

My wife contracted a person to handle our maintenance on 17 June, this person is going home once a week and the only thing he did the first day was shock the pool with 2 gallons of shock without taking a reading of the water. He then showed up the second week and pretended to clean the pool, I say this because my wife and son noticed the same dirt at the bottom when he left, he did not take a water reading either. He also visited us yesterday and started cleaning the pool but had to stop due to rain, he was not going to do a water test until my wife asked him about it, he then borrowed my brand new TF Kit because he had left his. :x He ended up adding two more gallons of shock and something called Clear Blue in liquid form without measuring, just pouring freely into the water, then stated “your water levels are good now”. He was with his son and the first words out of their mouth when they saw the pool were "the water is turning green" my wife asked him for the keys because she misplaced hers but it will be a good reason to tell him tomorrow when he goes back to finish cleaning, Don't need your services anymore! He does not show up as discussed and is not too worried about doing a good job, after all our hard work the last thing we need if green water. I will ensure my wife and I are more cautions about choosing a real professional until my arrival home. Advice will be greatly appreciated.

Question
Our pool kit has the standard cleaning kit with the brush, vacuum hose etc. when my son connects the skimmer adapter - hose and starts vacuuming the pool, suction pressure will work fine for a while and then it will stop and go again. It will also loose all pressure and he will have to wait for it to build up in order to continue.
He says the filter system sounds like is out of water and then gets filled again before suction starts again. Is this normal? What are we doing wrong?
I will be looking for a decent automatic or semi-automatic pool cleaner before I return home, it seems to be hard work trying to vacuum the pool with the basic cleaning kit!

Tell your son to reverse the ends on the vacuum hose - one end has a 'swivel', if that end is attached to the skimmer it can suck air and kill the prime on the pump, it sounds like that is whats happening

Question
I will like to get guidance on the proper use of the plumbing valve selector.
When should I use the skimmer selector only, the main drain selector only and or leave the valve centered in between both selections?

Normal operation has the skimmer and drain both fully open. When you go to vacuum, hook up the vac (with the hose on correctly ) and turn the valve until you see a~1/2 psi drop on the gauge - this will give you optimal suction from the vac

Question
Currently the timer was adjusted by the pool cleaning person and he set it up for pump operation every 12hrs, from 8 am to 8 pm, according to wife and son equipment is not shutting off until 9:30pm. I believe 12 hrs of operation is a very long time and not energy efficient, is this correct? Any idea why the timer runs more than current adjustment?

I'd say that the timer isn't set to the actual time, there should be a pointer to show what the actual time is, sounds like it's just a little off -- as a check, does the timer come on ~ 1 1/2 hrs late in the morning?

The 'rule of thumb' that I've heard is to run the pump for 1 hour per 10 degrees (f) that the temp is averaging at the hottest part of the day (ie, 8 hours if the temps get into the 80s) - a slightly longer run time won't hurt, but you should be good with what I said

Hope you enjoy my project and pics, again thanks for your great help!

18' x 36 Grecian Style Vinyl lined
Hayward Colorlogic light
Hayward 1 1/2 hp Superpump
Hayward 300lb sand filter
Inline Chlorinator

Thank you for your service to us ! :super:

As I've said, we'll talk your wife and son through the pool maintenance, without having to rely on that yayhoo who was servicing the pool

Pool looks great! Forget the pool guy and let us help your family care for the pool in your absence

THANK YOU!! for your service to our country!!

Ted (waste)

 

[whoozer]

The only other suggestion I have to the vacuuming is to make sure you fill the hose for the vaccuum with water first. It helps with the over suction when vaccumming and the air can kill the prime on the pump also if there is enough of it. Good luck and enjoy your new pool.

Myself and my family you for all of your hard work for our freedom. Thank you. :-D

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The pool looks great. The neighbor behind you must be envious.

If your son is managing the vacume, and they are that observant with the pool boy, I do think your wife and son sound capable enough to manage things with the TF-100 and our help. Give that some consideration before looking out to hire another local yahoo.

Stay Safe!!!

 

[pzmotorsports]

I am glad you guys like it! We are really happy with the way everything came out, better than planned. I passed the advice to my son concerning the vacuum and priming the hose before using it. Now I wish I was home, I will try my best to be there before the hot weather is gone! I only had a chance to get in on fathers day because I left the next day.

Thanks again for the great help, I will continue learning from the forum and passing the knowledge to my family back home!

 

[pzmotorsports]

Waste, I saw your reply statement but did not notice that you had post answers to my questions. I will advice my son to ensure the hose is installed correctly, I believe it is currently backwards.
I will also explain to him that the valve selector in center position (fully open) operates main and skimmer and this is the correct way.
As far as operating the Vac, when you say move the valve, you mean to move it from the center position towards the skimmer selection and stop when you see a 1/2 psi drop on pressure, and not to move the selector all the way to the skimmer selection.
We will be re-setting the timer for 9 hr since our current temperatures are between 80's and 90's

Waste thanks for your help, you have been there for us since the first time we asked for help and we greatly appreciate it.

 

[waste]

My bad When I said to turn the valve to get the 1/2 psi drop, I neglected to say that what you want to do is partially turn off the drain line (leave the skimmer fully open)

Sorry for the confusion, both in my forgetting to say that it's the drains that are being shut down a little and for 'hiding' my answers in the quote (I just think it's a cool way to answer multiple questions - I must thank Joyce (jjparrish) for teaching me how to do that :bowdown: (maybe next time I try it I'll type in fusha so it'll really catch the eye :lol:

I hope all is well and that the vacuuming issue has been resolved!

 

[pzmotorsports]

Thanks Waste, I will pass this info to my son and get with you later on with the results.

 

[Casey]

You did a wonderful job on your pool pzmotorsports. I am actually gathering info on a DIY up in the pool building section. Maybe when you find time, you could pop in and offer some of your experience.

I also want to thank you for your service to our Country. You guys/gals are TRUE American Heroes!

8)