Continuation of an odyssey

[Rattus Suffocatus]

My mother bought me some high quality solar lights to put around the pool last year when it was being built. I spent most of the time building a two tiered stand for a container garden for my wife and daughter today, so I didn't get much done on the pool except to actually swim in it for a change after we painted the stand. But I at least wanted to do something work related on the pool. I couldn't for the life of me get that plastic spike into the ground here, but then I realized I had a pointy tool for the AZ Handyman's secret weapon. Dropped those plastic pointy things into the jackhammered hole and backfilled with gravel.

Hopefully TOMORROW I will finish the plumbing for the SWCG. It's all ready to go. I did promise that I would help them with it. I also have a few plants to plant so that jackhammer will be out again tomorrow as well. It's stupid useful here.

I am going to also build another fence wall for half of the front instead of using the Coolaroo. My wife seems to have a sun allergy so I am going to save that for her.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Cool lights! Can you give me the brand, etc on them?

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Now understand my mother is 86 and refuses to pay for TV and internet (making her smarter than us but pretty bored now).

These are "Energizer Solar Recharge" lights from Home Shopping Network. I send her Amazon Prime stuff when she needs it and she sends me stuff like this from HSN. She sent me another set when we moved here that are in the front of the house, and I am just now changing the AA NiMH batteries on them after two years. They are holding up really well, actually.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

We've gone thru a mess of cheap solar landscape lights as they seem to only last a year or two. I'd be willing to pay more for one that lasted and was brighter.

 

[kimkats]

Those are some pretty lights right there! I love the pattern they put out! Good job Mom!

I had a pointy tool for the AZ Handyman's secret weapon. Dropped those plastic pointy things into the jackhammered hole and backfilled with gravel.

Glad you have it but.....................you have to jackhammer to dig a hole OUCH! LOL

fence wall for half of the front instead of using the Coolaroo.

Why did you decide this? (just wanted to see your thought process).

Kim

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

The batteries will only last maybe two years in a hot climate no matter what. I have had the set in the front yard for a little over two years.. I suspect that I will get two more out of the set. They average out to about $7 each if you buy them on sale, and the lenses are thick glass. So they are the best ones we have. I have a bunch of the dollar ones and they last about 6-9 months tops. I will take a couple of pictures and add them to this post.

New, anodized bronze:



Old, refurbished by me today, copper:


As for the Coolaroo, I think I am going to use both of them for the pool. Building a removable panel will make the UV shielding nearly 100% and if I do it correctly it will actually be less in my way when I need to work on the equipment pad.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Those lights take standard AA NiMH batteries as replacements as well, about a buck each.

I finally got the courage to do the plumbing... I am going let it all dry for a couple of hours before the leak check... And maybe run the dummy until the weekend because I still have about eight gallons of Pool strength liquid chlorine left...

Here is a couple pictures....






I ended up painting the dummy cell and flow switch to match because I accidentally spilled that purple primer crud on them. I won't paint the actual real cell...

 

[mguzzy]

The batteries will only last maybe two years in a hot climate no matter what. I have had the set in the front yard for a little over two years.. I suspect that I will get two more out of the set. They average out to about $7 each if you buy them on sale, and the lenses are thick glass. So they are the best ones we have. I have a bunch of the dollar ones and they last about 6-9 months tops. I will take a couple of pictures and add them to this post.
...
As for the Coolaroo, I think I am going to use both of them for the pool. Building a removable panel will make the UV shielding nearly 100% and if I do it correctly it will actually be less in my way when I need to work on the equipment pad.

I bought a set of those several years ago.. Yes I think it was 3years. I had purchased the cheaper plastic ones in the past and they lasted a season at best... these are still going strong. I put new higher amperage bats in them.. and they are all perked up and glowing anew. I had two go out because the kids like to hit baseballs (real ones) in the back yard, and I combined the parts of the two dead ones into one good one. Between these and my Modelo-Tov Tiki torches I have plenty of mood lighting in the backyard.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

I fired it up. O-ring on top leaked, fixed that and I quickly found that I forgot to glue one joint. Fixed that, waited about forty minutes and all is good. Now all I have to do is screw in the cell to the plumbing, screw the controller to the wall., set the pump timer and the timer I added, plug it in and set it to the percentage that pool math recommends.

But I do have a bit of bleach to use up first. So I think I will.



This is what took my whole day up yesterday. Wife's project that I did most of... We will see if it works here in the desert.

I still have to plant two plants in the ground, so it's off to get the AZ handyman's secret weapon again...

 

[mguzzy]

So slap your cell in there and make sure that seals are good.. you don't have to turn it on until you use up your LC. I would hold one jug in reserve... just for whatever. I like to keep a jug around in case I have to add a quick shot of CL, like after a swim party. LC will bring the FC up faster than using the pokey but dependable SWG.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Yeah the dummy cell is in there and it's holding pressure well. I have no doubt the real cell will fit fine too. I have about nine gallons left and I do use it also in the detached hot tub, also but a gallon in that thing lasts like six weeks... Or more... So I will stop when I get down to two or so. I had other things to get done that used up the rest of the day.

I will fire it up before the end of next week for sure. I had to add a little more salt... So I am still working on getting the level up to appropriate too. I calculated that I needed a whole bag more, so I threw in a little more than half. I will test again in a couple of days.

I only got one of the plants into the ground. Even with a jackhammer it's really hard to dig a tree root ball sized hole here. I am exhausted.

Here is my second attempt at a little orange tree..

 

[johnm160]

Wow I just read all 26 pages of this. What a saga. Glad it all worked out in the end

 

[mguzzy]

I will fire it up before the end of next week for sure. I had to add a little more salt... So I am still working on getting the level up to appropriate too. I calculated that I needed a whole bag more, so I threw in a little more than half. I will test again in a couple of days.

I hate having partial bags of salt laying around. Just .. ugh. And the operational salinity range is pretty wide on every cell I have seen.. so I calculate where I can use a whole bag and call it a day. Once I get it dialed in I'm good for the summer. If I need more I head to Wally World, they always seem to have it in stock.. even during the zombie apocalypse buying sprees.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Wow I just read all 26 pages of this. What a saga. Glad it all worked out in the end

I set out to do a detailed, complete documentation of building a pool from scratch. It really has been a lot of work, and I am looking forward to finally getting it done and the way I want it. The six months of no activity was winter here.. We picked up where we left off... But with the exception of maybe adding solar heat to the pool in the future (not this year), we are finally running out of stuff to do. Thankfully.

 

[johnm160]

I set out to do a detailed, complete documentation of building a pool from scratch. It really has been a lot of work, and I am looking forward to finally getting it done and the way I want it. The six months of no activity was winter here.. We picked up where we left off... But with the exception of maybe adding solar heat to the pool in the future (not this year), we are finally running out of stuff to do. Thankfully.

I am doing an owner/builder in ground pool kit I started the beginning of February and I am just finished with plumbing and started laying the conduit for the LED lights so I can get the first electrical inspection so I can back fill and put in the paver base. To say I am doing a poor job of documenting this is a huge understatement after reading this.

 

[RoyR]

Interesting...I thought you need a longer straight run for a SWG, but not familiar with that model.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Interesting...I thought you need a longer straight run for a SWG, but not familiar with that model.

I guess I don't completely know what you mean with this comment, but DSP does sell a vertical install kit for all of their models. It's basically what I built here, but I also added those two 45 angle pieces to clear the filter inlet pipe. The requirement is that the flow switch has to have at least 12" of pipe before it to eliminate issues with turbulence (it can be after the cell as well). I decided to make the flow switch operate upwards so I don't ever risk gravity turning it on if it's broken-- mandating it go before the cell. This means there is literally 12" of pipe before the switch and after the angles from the filter. This is why the switch isn't in the middle like the DSP pictured kits. It should work just fine from my e-mail discussions with them and the manuals. It's the way to jam 24" of pipe in 8.5" of space.

The Universal 40 is basically a clone of the Hayward T-cell series units (specifically the T-Cell-15).. I think the RJ+ cells are the same dimension, but I can't be 100% sure of it. For me based on about 100 different factors it made the most sense. 13.5K pool m/l, desert hard water, variable speed pump, UV to the point I didn't want a clear cell... The bang for the buck on this unit is high, but I do know I will need to replace the cell more often than with a RJ+ or Edge.. but the cell itself is less expensive. But if I am replacing it every 3-5 years, then maybe I don't have to be quite as obsessed with the water? We will see... It's a wash in the end as are most of their units if you calculate them out. It was the right one in my very specific case.

I'll find out next weekend how well the "Vertical kit" works, I suppose. I ran out of time on Sunday to complete it, but literally it's screw the controller to the wall, plug it in, set up the timers and percentage of chlorine and then monitor it for a couple of days. This is why I am going to wait until Friday to do it, so I can closely monitor it the first couple of days.

In the meantime I hope I can burn off at least four of the eight gallons of pool strength chlorine I have....

The dummy cell is secure and nothing is leaking so I am probably in good shape now. We will see.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

I am doing an owner/builder in ground pool kit I started the beginning of February and I am just finished with plumbing and started laying the conduit for the LED lights so I can get the first electrical inspection so I can back fill and put in the paver base. To say I am doing a poor job of documenting this is a huge understatement after reading this.

You certainly don't have to document like I did. I wanted to and it made sense to do it here. In a year what I posted in my Facebook feed will be impossible to find. Hopefully not here.

 

[Pv2]

I fired it up. O-ring on top leaked, fixed that and I quickly found that I forgot to glue one joint. Fixed that, waited about forty minutes and all is good. Now all I have to do is screw in the cell to the plumbing, screw the controller to the wall., set the pump timer and the timer I added, plug it in and set it to the percentage that pool math recommends.

But I do have a bit of bleach to use up first. So I think I will.

View attachment 136553

This is what took my whole day up yesterday. Wife's project that I did most of... We will see if it works here in the desert.

I still have to plant two plants in the ground, so it's off to get the AZ handyman's secret weapon again...

my experience at a higher altitude and slightly more rainfall about 50 miles east is you will be watering 2ce per day or installing a drip line. you may even need shade, but possibly not. is that a west facing wall? if so yes on the shade if it doesn't happen from other structures.

otherwise that is pretty cool, if you get tired of gardening you possibly have a buyer for it nearby.

 

[Arizonarob]

And with tomatoes, blossom end rot is huge here!! Calcium, calcium, and more calcium!!