First time closing pool myself

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pgershon

Gold Supporter
Jul 15, 2012
636
East Hampton NY
Pool Size
30
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I am going to buy a shop vac for the job. I have a main drain oil the pool that can bring down water level to 4 inches below skimmers, but I am less sure how I drain the spa - need I buy a pump to do this? The spa can drain down to the skimmer with a hose diverting the return, but then it sucks air.

Second question - I understand blowing out the skimmer lines and capping wit gizmo or other plug. But what about the main drain. Do I just ignore and leave with water on top? Obviously more difficult to access with cold water in pool.

Thanks in advance
 
How deep is the pool where the main drains are? How long of a run is it from the equipment pad to the main drains? You might not get enough pressure from a shop vac if the deep end of the pool is 8' deep. A cyclone blower is the best for this application. They are expensive and almost single purposed but they do a great job. I bought one this year on amazon. $350!! To have a pool company close my pool its typically $350. So it will pay for itself next year. Can't wait
 
Thanks for responses. Deep end is 8 feet and its probably close to 75 feet from drain to equipment pad. Assume I blow out the main drain line from equipment pad. How do I keep water from getting back into it without plugging the drain from the pool? Never mind removing the cover - the pool water is below 50 degrees now. Hopefully I am missing something. I can buy a cyclone blower, but how do I finish the job?
 
You should have a diverter valve to select main drains or skimmers. You open valve to blow out the drain and then move the handle to the skimmer side and it locks the air in the drain pipe. Then you blow out the skimmers. You only need enough air in the pipe that the water stays below the frost line (about 3 feet for us). It’s easiest to know for sure with a cyclone or compressor when bubbles come out of the drain, but a big shop vac would probably push it far enough.
 
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Yup. Then you just need to MacGuyver it to the pool plumbing. The hose attachment may fit you skimmer, or the reducer that’s also listed. If not you can piece it together at the plumbing supply or hardware store.
 
I plumbed a 3 way valve in to my spa air blower line this year. I adapted my shop vac hose to fit the port on the valve, and use the valve to divert air from the blower to the shop vac hose, so that I could blow out all of my water features, and the main drain line that feeds my water features pump.

Figured I had a blower there that was not doing as much as it should, so why not make use of it.

--Jeff
 
A few other questions:

1) the pool people who have closed the pool the last decade used to include mouse poison (15 bait blocks for $90). Assuming I want to keep mice away from equipment, PVC pipes, pumps, pool heaters etc, mouse bait sounds like a good idea. Are the suggested places to put it or not put it.

2) I have gizmos leftover from last year - can I re-use? Same for PVC plugs. Seems like pool company charged for new ones each year.

3) Should I disassemble DE filter and clean as part of the process?
 

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1). It certainly won’t hurt. The only real concern is the heater. Everything else is sealed So maybe get a brick or two in the bottom of the heater.

2) gizzmos and threaded plugs are good for a decade. Maybe more. Use fresh Teflon tape on the gizzmo and fresh lube on the plug.

3) if it’s not too cold to get wet, it’s better to do it now than to wait for the spring.
 
One more question. What is the best way to pump down water in the spa. Unlike the pool, it does not have a DE filter with drain mode. I should probably buy a pump
 
The pump is one of the things that everyone should have. It won’t be used a lot, but really comes in handy at times.

Splurge on the 1/3 HP pump. It’s only a few bucks more than the 1/4 and 1/8s and will save you a good chunk of time. Most of the times you’ll use it, it’s gonna be cold and you’ll appreciate being done sooner. (y)
 
*exactly* that one (y)

At the hardware store or home center you can get a 3/4 hose adapter fitting to use 1 inch sprinkler pipe. I hacked mine for way more flow seen here. A garden hose (and it’s length) will be the weak link slowing it down.

Submersible pump hack.

Hey all !! I’ve been doing this for years but finally got good pics to show the difference. I have a standard 1/3 HP submersible pump withshown here Flow from 100ft 3/4 inch hose. Here comes the fun part : In the sprinkler section of the home centers / hardware store they have 3/4...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
One more thing. I am about to start the closing process and the steps seems contradictory - add chlorine to SLAM level, let it come down to half of that (but still high) and add polyquat. Don't the chlorine and polyquat essentially neutralize each other? I assume I am missing something.
 
^^^^^^ that above is the ongoing debate.

The FC nuetralizes the polyquat so you dont want full SLAM FC to eat more PQ. So you go with half Slam to hopefully have some PQ leftover.

But if you just left it at full Slam, (no PQ) you'd stay above minimum until the spring if covered.

We are pretty much split 50/50 here.
 
I am not covered, but my pool gets minimal sun in winter. Yea think I’ll just maintain chlorine levels periodically. I just spent 90 minutes netting leaves and bright FC to slam. Will drain tomorrow or Monday
 

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