Few days of below freezing temp. What to do?

[gocubs418]

Part 7 is drain plug for PB4 pump.

Depends the way your SWG is mounted. Usually it will not hold water. You can loosen the unions.

View attachment 176400

Killed the power. Pulled plug on pump, heater, booster, filter. All the pieces spit water out when I pulled the plug.

Aquapure doesn't seem like it would hold water in the way it is positioned.

I should have known better and checked my equipment sooner. I think it popped yesterday but I only put my water level high enough to keep running. Definitely good amount of water by the pad and my house foundation.

Thank you very much.

 

[MCF50]

All good in Houston..power and water. Manually brushed pool today and ran robot. Added about 1" of water. Waiting till tomorrow to start her back up. One thing I did learn (or confirm) - you don't have to keep water circulating to keep water clean. My pool looks crystal clean I will adjust pump run times to make enough Chlorine....

 

[MCF50]

Well...pool up and running. Did have minor equipment damage....have a Zurn backflow preventer for sprinkler and a cheap Rear Apollo for pool autofill (installed by PB of course). Both drained, wrapped in towels and covered with trash bags. Apollo split wide open. Will replace with a Zurn. Love when you pay a premium and get sub-par components.

 

[eric99gt]

At these temps it would take a long time for algae to grow lol.

Just got around to starting my equipment back up after the great freeze of 2021. After we lost power I pulled all drain plugs and covered everything up best I could. 3 days no power with lows near 12 degrees. Everything came out unharmed. Minor drip on the spa check valve cover that I pulled off to drain but nothing a little magic lube won’t take care of.

 

[eric99gt]

Well...pool up and running. Did have minor equipment damage....have a Zurn backflow preventer for sprinkler and a cheap Rear Apollo for pool autofill (installed by PB of course). Both drained, wrapped in towels and covered with trash bags. Apollo split wide open. Will replace with a Zurn. Love when you pay a premium and get sub-par components.

I’ve had this problem in past years even when draining. There’s still water upstream of the drained backflow device and this is what was splitting my valves. Solution. Found inlet line underground and tied in a ball valve there with a union I can drain. Now I drain it below ground where the upstream side of the valve that is still full of water is now buried. No issues since

 

[MCF50]

I’ve had this problem in past years even when draining. There’s still water upstream of the drained backflow device and this is what was splitting my valves. Solution. Found inlet line underground and tied in a ball valve there with a union I can drain. Now I drain it below ground where the upstream side of the valve that is still full of water is now buried. No issues since

I agree 100% with what you have stated and it was the block valve upstream so that is a simple replacement. But the fact a much more robust set up right next to it didn't fail says a lot. I ordered a better block valve with sample port for draining. I like the idea of putting another further upstream to drain.

 

[Bketchum5]

What heater do you have? Please add that to your signature.
If you are uncomfortable working on it, just leave the gas off and call a professional to reset it up.

Will do. Pentair mastertemp 400

 

[Bketchum5]

Starting to thaw out in Oklahoma. Gonna wait a week or so before I put plugs back in and fire things up.
How do I know if any pipes busted? Will water drain quickly? Could it be multiple ones? Can it be fixed without busting up my entire deck? I read about pressure testing each line so I’m sure I’ll look in to this.

My skimmer is cracked around the top but it’s so high water never gets that high at normal levels. Probably going to have to replace that as well.

ive also noticed that the decking that is close to my stone coping has lifted some. Is this ground swelling?

im thinking of starting a go fund me!!

 

[Slpoolowner]

Turned on the pool after replacing all the drain plugs, no damage. Covering with canvases and tarps seems to have gone a long ways in preventing ice damage. Even the pump that was encased in ice seems to be working just fine

Whats done is done. The small pump is most likely a booster pump for your cleaner, right? Might be the time to get a robot if that is damaged. The filter, you do not say what you have, but will see when things thaw what damage was done.

 

[MCF50]

Starting to thaw out in Oklahoma. Gonna wait a week or so before I put plugs back in and fire things up.
How do I know if any pipes busted? Will water drain quickly? Could it be multiple ones? Can it be fixed without busting up my entire deck? I read about pressure testing each line so I’m sure I’ll look in to this.

My skimmer is cracked around the top but it’s so high water never gets that high at normal levels. Probably going to have to replace that as well.

ive also noticed that the decking that is close to my stone coping has lifted some. Is this ground swelling?

im thinking of starting a go fund me!!

Once it gets above freezing and any ice has thawed why wait any longer? Take the basket strainer cover off each pump and pour a couple buckets of water in each to prime them (AFTER you put the drain plugs back in). Put covers back on. Leave the vent on the filter open when starting and leave it open until water starts to spray out. Once it does, close it. If you have a water leak you will know. And yes, it is possible to have numerous leaks in above ground plumbing. But if you drained they it you should be fine. VERY unlikely below ground plumbing froze. It is buried at least 3'-4' below grade.

 

[Newdude]

Once it gets above freezing and any ice has thawed why wait any longer?

Because there are alot of places you can't see to inspect. Like the first few inches below ground. They were the last to freeze solid and being out of the sun, will be the last to thaw. Getting a 2 inch mortar moving at pump priming speeds of 2800-3450 rpms probably wouldn't end well.

Nobody's water will be anywhere near where algae can grow for weeks. The big ice chunks still floating in the pools are actually helping keep the water cold the first few days that its warm. After that the ground will insulate the pool for a while, even when the highs are 60s +.

 

[MCF50]

I guess I will stay with this thread. Now that pump is up and running I have noticed micro bubbles at night while the lights are on and the pool is running. Now I have reduced pump run time during day and have increased SWCG output. Checked chemicals and they look fine. Thoughts? Also, still getting a couple bubbles out of one of my return jets. Checked all the piping, etc. etc. and no apparant leaks and I haven't lost more than usual amount of water per day so I don't believe I have a leak anwhere. Maybe still just pushing out some air pockets from shutting down and draining the equipment.

 

[mknauss]

If it is operating, the SWCG creates bubbles of chlorine and hydrogen gas. The chlorine gas goes into the water quickly, but the hydrogen never does. So you will see bubbles out of the returns when the SWCG is generating.

 

[MCF50]

If it is operating, the SWCG creates bubbles of chlorine and hydrogen gas. The chlorine gas goes into the water quickly, but the hydrogen never does. So you will see bubbles out of the returns when the SWCG is generating.

Yes...checked. The SWCG is running....warm in Houston already. Have just never noticed the microbubbles before...and they are no where near the return jets. Well they may be but I can only see them under the pool lights that are on sides near skimmers where returns on on ends.

 

[mknauss]

Every spring there are reports about microbubbles from SWCG's. It has something to do with water temperature, etc.

 

[Bketchum5]

Well finally thawed out here in Oklahoma as well. Took my pool forever to melt all the ice. Water level seems to have held last two nights right at tile line.
Definitely lost a bit of plaster in spots. Shoudl i be concerned? Or is just spalling? Deepest one seems to be about 1/2 deep.

havent started up the pump yet but since water hasn’t seemed to drop is this a good sign or will I not know until I get plugs put back in and fire it up?

 

[Bketchum5]

Here’s a few pics of some tile line and plaster that popped off

also, top of the skimmer. Doesn’t seem cracked so not sure if this is just the rim around the the top of the skimmer or not.

thoughts?

 

[joepaiii]

Here’s a few pics of some tile line and plaster that popped off

also, top of the skimmer. Doesn’t seem cracked so not sure if this is just the rim around the the top of the skimmer or not.

thoughts?

They both look like cosmetic damage to me. I can't see either impacting the pool right now. Down the road maybe but not something I would worry too much about now.