Does it have to be below 60 degrees? and other newbie questions

[tcasto]

Hi all! Thanks again for being here. Hubby and I are trying to avoid paying 375 (plus 43 for winterizing chemicals) to the pool guy for closing the pool. We thoroughly cleaned the pool and put the safety cover on it. We have been reading the how-to info on here and watching youtube videos on how to use a compressor to blow out the lines. We located the plugs and supergizmo. I tested the pool - the numbers look great - and brought the FC up to shock level one last time. The filter is still running and I am turning down the SWG to 20 percent until we can close the pool officially next weekend.
The pool guy, who installed our pool and has closed it the past two years, used the gizmo and kept the water level as it was. We are planning to do the same.
My question-
1. Is it ok to close the pool when the water temperature is above 60? Can you use polyquat60 in water that is above 60? I know it is not ideal - but is it better to put the polyquat in when the water is above 60 then not at all?

2. Antifreeze- Should we use it? And how do you put it in when you use a gizmo? I am pretty darn sure the pool guy did not use antifreeze when he closed our pool. We live in Southeastern PA about an hour north of Philly. My brother lives in Dutchess County New York and he uses antifreeze.

We plan to close it this weekend because my brother will be visiting and he has the same pool as we do and has maintained it himself for years. We wanted him to walk us through our first time closing the pool. But the current pool temperature is hovering around 70 degrees and the air temperature will be fluctuating between 50 and 75 this week - not much chance for a cool down especially with the safety cover on.
BTW I have lots of pretty leaves for the taking if there are any collectors out there lol.

 

[JohnT]

Like any things with pool care, there are no absolutes. You will have less algae if you close at or below 60, but it's not really a big deal if it is a little warmer. A fall warm spell could raise the water temperature after you close anyway. The polyquat will work fine, regardless of your water temperature. When you have a daily fight to keep the pool clear of leaves, a little earlier closing with warmer water is probably a better idea.

Antifreeze is a backup for the areas you blow the water out of. With antifreeze in the pipes, a small water leak may not damage the pipes. You blow the lines out, then add antifreeze by pouring it into the pipe. If you don't drop your water level, you'll need to add it from the pump end. I use a funnel with a flexible extension to add the antifreeze to my return lines and drain line at the pump. Since I drain below my skimmer, I add antifreeze to the skimmer line through the skimmer.

A compressor isn't necessarily the best choice for blowing the lines. A shop vac with a blower port works better for your skimmer and return lines.

 

[tcasto]

Like any things with pool care, there are no absolutes. You will have less algae if you close at or below 60, but it's not really a big deal if it is a little warmer. A fall warm spell could raise the water temperature after you close anyway. The polyquat will work fine, regardless of your water temperature. When you have a daily fight to keep the pool clear of leaves, a little earlier closing with warmer water is probably a better idea.

Antifreeze is a backup for the areas you blow the water out of. With antifreeze in the pipes, a small water leak may not damage the pipes. You blow the lines out, then add antifreeze by pouring it into the pipe. If you don't drop your water level, you'll need to add it from the pump end. I use a funnel with a flexible extension to add the antifreeze to my return lines and drain line at the pump. Since I drain below my skimmer, I add antifreeze to the skimmer line through the skimmer.

A compressor isn't necessarily the best choice for blowing the lines. A shop vac with a blower port works better for your skimmer and return lines.

THanks so much for your reply! I will get a funnel this week and pick up the polyquat. I was looking to use the compressor because of the videos we watched on the winterizing process. This one was very helpful in that the guy was very specific on how to put the plugs in, but he seemed to have trouble with the shopvac and used a waterbottle taped to the shop vac hose to blow out the lines It was also quite entertaining! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9YPVrWHx5M

 

[JohnT]

My Shopvac has a cone shaped nozzle for the blower. I wrapped about three layers of duct tape around the middle of the cone, and it works well to both seal the blower in the pipe opening and to hold it there. The duct tape is soft enough that it deforms a little and when you push on the nozzle it holds the pipe.

The difference is that the vacuum blows a large volume of air. When I blow out my skimmer, I get a fine mist and droplets blowing out for several minutes after the bubbling and churning is over. Likely from water trapped in low spots in the pipe. The vacuum won't have enough pressure to do anything to the main drain though.