going on vacation for 13 days

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cubbybeave08

cubbybeave08

0
Feb 2, 2008
908
Northwest Indiana
We are leaving to go on vacation for 13 days soon. I am wondering what should I do to prepare my pool to keep it fairly clean while we are gone. Should i put on the solar blanket. Temps are supposed to be in the upper 80s while gone...will that cause more problems by heating up the water??? How much Chlorine should I put in the pool. I have a 14000 gallon pool. How often should I run my pump for while I am gone...I can set it for 24 hours, 18 hours 12 hours or 6 hours. I worry about things going wrong with the pump...I don't have anyone to clean skimmer basket out...It gets dumpe out once or twice per day. Do I run it or leave it off until I come home? What can I expect when I get back? I know I should not worry about it...because I know I can clean it up with lots of Chlorine, but does anyone have any advice?
 
Two weeks tends to be a little marginal for leaving the pool alone. If there is anyone you can get to come and check on the pool that would be much better. In general, I would use the solar blanket, raise to shock level, use a tablet floater, and 12 hour pump run time. If you have a main drain, make sure it is turned on.

If you don't have a main drain and don't have prime protection and can't get anyone to check on the pool, there is a risk to the pump. If the skimmer(s) clogs completely the pump could overheat and damage it's self. In that case you might want to leave the pump off.
 
cubbybeave08 said:
I know I should not worry about it...because I know I can clean it up with lots of Chlorine, but does anyone have any advice?
Click to expand...


That's your answer :)

Have a good vacation and don't worry about the pool because you do know how to clean it up. We went away for 6 weeks last year, temps were in the 80s. We shocked it to 20 ppm, left the pump off and put the solar cover on. There's nobody around we could ask to pool sit and we were worried about pump damage due to any number of possible malfunctions.

Yes, the pool was green when we got back but we have the resources here to walk us through swamp recovery. Our vacation was great! Instead of worrying about all that could be going wrong we enjoyed the trip and each other.

In an ideal world we'd have Ted or Evan or Jason move in to be our pool boys, that'd be perfect!
 
I'll do it, but you'll have to pay me :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Just so there's no confusion over my cryptic post up above, Beave and I have been friends for over 18 years....

Beave, follow Anna's advice. I like it. After you get back if you have trouble clearing it, I'll come over and help.

Or, leave the cover off, set the timer, use a floater (your CYA's not that high yet, right?) have someone add water (if needed), clean the baskets and check the pump, and if there's a problem, give them my number and I'll come out and check things out. A friend can pour in a jug of bleach while your gone, can't they?

If Tony can build a Kegerator, he can look after your pool :mrgreen: he seems capable enough, he's just lousy at the "bags" LOL
 
If I were leaving that long, I wouldn't run the pump, either. I wouldn't think that leaving the cover on would cause any problems. As long as your CYA isn't too high, I don't see a problem with sticking a few tablets in a floater. Keep the chlorine level up, and hopefully you won't come back to a swamp! :-D
 
Poolmom...
I will give you a call tonight...I have some other issues to discuss...As far as the other advice...I am most worried about leaving the pump on. and having someone clean out the skimmer basket. I am not quite sure that it is a good idea to leave it on...T and K are on vacation and i am not sure when they will be back...I also am not to sure about asking people to look after pool and then swimming in it while I am not here. you know liability and everything. I think I might try just shutting down the pump, shocking the heck out of it and then floating some pucks. If it is swampy when I get back then I will just have to work at it. I am not too concerned about it going green...I have a two horsepower pump and brand new filter to clean it up for me.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone...
 
Just returned from being away from pool for 13 days...It was CRYSTAL CLEAR. Other than needing to be vacuumed (leaves at the bottom). I left 2 pucks in the floater, and then had my sister in law clean skimmer basket each night and put two pucks in last Friday. When we got home last night I checked the water last night and Chlorine was between 1 and 2 and pH might have been a little low but still within the normal range. I left pump on timer to run from 6 pm to 1 am. We had quite a lot of heavy storms while away and the pool is in great shape...Thanks for all of the advice.
 

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I am such a pool geek...ok turning into an expert...I was so impressed with myself to see when I went home at lunch today that there was just a small pile of leaves in the center of the pool...The autocleaner is busy at work, and I hope to be able to swim tonight...Pool Mom...cool vid of JW and the snake!!!

He was sooooo cooooool :super: :super:
 
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