Beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences.....Glowbuoy

[heatmisr]

I have a complaint. My complaint is that the Glowbuoy works too well!!

Let me give you some background. I put a nice size hole at the end of last season, so in April, we had our liner replaced. It was the only week in April when the temperature was above 60. It took 3 days to fill up the pool (awful water pressure). I noticed when vacuuming with my pool buster that the bottom had a couple dips in it and some wrinkles had formed. DH said the bottom was perfectly smooth when they dropped the liner in. It finally got warm enough last week for me to get in. I noticed after getting in that there were more dips than I first realized.

Fast forward to last night..........

Excitedly, I threw the Glowbuoy into the pool last night. Finally, the water was warm enough to take a dip a night. It lit the pool up like a champ! :-D Then I saw the bottom of my pool in all its "splendor". I think the surface of the moon is smoother! :x I don't think there is one smooth spot! I know I am stuck with it because there is no way I am emptying and refilling again. (Sure wish I spent the money for that happy bottom...sigh..)

Any idea what could have happened to make it so bad? I know one thing is for sure, I know not to waste my money on an automatic vac.

 

[waste]

I can't speak for any other PB, but we carefully inspect the floor before dropping a new liner - we sweep it 3X and patch any areas that aren't level (the patching costs the customer $85 per mix, but you can testify that it would be money well spent). Sorry that on a starry night in the pool you feel that you're standing on the moon looking at the heavens !

As for what may have happened, the pool may have always been that way and without the light, you just didn't realize it (when troweling a bottom, we fear the light that will show the small inperfections )

On the bright side, your pool is swimable now --- float or swim, don't walk on the bottom and it won't be a problem :lol:

 

[jjdurrant]

Funny... I also never noticed the imperfections on the bottom until using the glowbuoy. The product is awesome!

 

[stevenbrla]

Ain't it a bummer to learn bad stuff about your stuff? Ignorance can be soooo bliss.

But hey, I wouldn't rule out the automatic vacuum yet.

Surely a smoother bottom would make it more effective, but I wouldn't trade mine for anything... and the way it works I'm pretty darn sure it would still be mostly effective even with an imperfect bottom.

There very well could be better vacuums, but my Pentair Legend works like this... (and works darn good.) It's a pressure side cleaner (hooked to the pressure side of a pump, not the suction side)... the two jets "inside" it, shooting up, create the vacuum, which pickup the debris, and shoots it into its top-mounted vacuum bag... which it would eventually get the debris... flat bottom or not (I think!).... BUT... it does more.... the excess pressure is 1) shot right out the back, which propels the machine, AND stirs the water/debris, AND 2) shoots out it's 2' long "tail" which stirs the water, especially in places that it doesn't get.

It's not perfect... it falls off my steps and sundeck too quickly, so they need to be manually brushed too often... but the bottom stays clean.

I can't imagine my pool without this device... so don't quit on this idea yet!!

Good luck,
Steve

 

[lulupalooza]

We have some very rough areas on the bottom of ours as well. Heck I even got a couple perfect footprints! I will most definately be putting happy bottom on the floor and the sides of the wall when we get a new liner.

My main concern though is around the edge, where the liner and the wall meet. Where the cove is suppose to be. A few spots look "caved" in like the sand is gone. So it looks like a bad rut along the edge. With the service I got from the idiot installers. There is no way I am ever calling them back for anything. I will do it myself! (sorry didn't mean to hyjack)

 

[heatmisr]

Not a hijack at all, lulu. I understand about the coving, too. Mine seems to be "missing" in some spots. If for no other reason, this is why I would recommend to spend the extra money on happy bottom. The light works beautifully, but the dips and craters are a distraction.

 

[MrcTag]

I had something similar happen to me when I had my above ground pool. I live near a nature protected area and have quite a few little creatures running around and after the pool went up I started to notice little dents and channels on the floor of the pool, mostly near the edge where the floor and wall meet. Then it happened! Middle of summer came and so did the moles! It seems that I put my pool right on top of the mole super highway! Well after 2 seasons the floor of my pool looked like a spagetti of mole tracks. Cleaner wouldn't work, algae loved the little channels etc... Anyway had to take out the liner, fix the mole problem and have the liner reinstalled. it was fine for a few years but eventually the moles returned but not as bad....