Attempting Pool Closing

[Spyrus]

Hi All,

It's that time of year and I'm sure I am one of the many people asking questions about this but I am tired of paying $400 dollar each year for what seems like a quick job for the pool company to do. I open my pool each year and I am hoping to close it this year with some help from all of you. I am used to doing all the chemicals that lead up to the close (pool company didn't do any of that).

I have a fiberglass pool so I can't drain too low but I planned to try and drain below my skimmer (this is higher than my jets and 2 vacuum holes though). I have a few choices for blowing out the lines but don't know which to use, what I use to connect to my pool equipment and finally where to do it all. I do own a couple of those gizmos I read about for my skimmer and have rubber seals for all my other locations.

This is what my pool looks like:


This is the rest of the setup:


My blowout options:

• 3 HP Shop Vac
• Pancake Porter Cable Compressor
• 30 Gallon Air compressor (5.3 SCFM @ 90 PSI, 6.2 scfm @ 40PSI, 155PSI max) 1.6 running HP

Are any of those adequate to blow out all the lines? Then I don't know what order to make sure I blow out the fountains, vac lines, jet/return lines, and the 2 skimmer lines. If someone could point me in the right direction, I'm happy to start reading up. Or any other help would be greatly appreciated in which way to turn these pipes when I go to blow out each line, etc. I've always been a bit lost on which pipes go where other than what I've tried to add labels to.

Thank you!

 

[PoolGate]

I open my pool myself but have the pool store winterize it. They do it properly and guarantee against freeze damage. It is worth it to me to pay the $350 rather than risk the potential thousands in damage.

 

[ajw22]

Read...

The concept of closing an in ground swimming pool

I wanted to place a generic post that people can refer to when closing an IG Pool with a sand filter. The information in this thread is based on my experience, how I prefer to close a pool, and extremely valuable information from some of the many talented forum members. Most of the credit...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

I open my pool myself but have the pool store winterize it. They do it properly and guarantee against freeze damage. It is worth it to me to pay the $350 rather than risk the potential thousands in damage.

My PB charges similar. I got the first one for free with the safety cover install. I was happy about the blowing out the lines but not happy with the hefty bag covers put over all my equipment that cost a small fortune. Yes it can all stand the weather but why would I leave it out buried in a snow drift for a month when my garage is 75 ft away and the basement is 15 ft away for the pump/SWG ? The diving board and ladder go in the garage too. It’s all just too expensive not to try to get some extra life out of it for me. So once I had to take everything apart anyway I figured just blowing out the lines wasn’t worth $350.

 

[Neto]

I will be closing the pool myself for the first time this year, I would suggest you add a water hose spout right after the pump, so it would be between the pump and filter.. Then you can buy a winterize sprinkler system air hose coupler like this so you can add pressure to the entire system,, or something like this that you can attach to your pump .

Purchase the following:
- Attachment to add air pressure
- Winterizing Plugs for all you returns and skimmers
- 1-2 gallons of RV antifreeze per skimmer


Here is a good tutorial

 

[Catanzaro]

Please read the thread as it goes through all the options and almost anything you can possibly think of. There is nothing wrong with using a professional if you are not comfortable. You do not need a lot of pressure, but air. A compressor will work, but you have to keep it running (under 20 psi) and you will be fine. Vacuum the water with shop vac while clearing the lines with the air compressor (this is for the skimmers), and then install the Gizzmo's.

The return winter plugs can be installed under water. If you have issues, then place plugs in the last few returns and do not over tighten them, just enough so they leak a little air, then turn on the compressor and you can burp the system, or the first few plugs until most of the water is out of the lines, you will see as you close off the first few returns, the others follow sequence.

Have a helper to make your life easier. If I was able to have the main drain bubble with a small air compressor, you will be fine. I am a big fan of the blow-thru plugs in the pump basket for both the suction and return lines, unless you are working with the Cyclone.

Blow-thru plug experiment

https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/174703-Blow-Thru-Valve-Winter-Pool-Plugs?p=1541383#post1541383