Freeze in North Texas

Jump to latest Follow Reply
waterwhole

waterwhole

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2023
153
DFW
Pool Size
16000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Had a fun time worrying about my pool freezing. Backyard doesn't get enough sun but water was barely flowing. I carefully used a soil tamper to break the glaciers and used a 100 foot hose from tankless water heater to melt away the ice from my water features and spillway.
Before:
20240116_094114.jpg20240116_094111.jpg
After:
Screenshot_20240116_173920_Arlo Secure.jpg
 
  • Wow
Reactions: pjt
Looks like Antarctica. Ha.

Shining Jack Nicholson GIF
 
When you said water was barely flowing, is that because the ice was getting too deep or that the water temp in the pump was so low it was starting to freeze?

What was the reported temp of the water by the automation?
 
The ice on my water features were restricted by the icebergs. The pool and spa pump was working just fine.

I have a pentair intellicenter and would like to over ride the freeze protection to set it on all the time but cam the pool and spa valves to keep them running. Is there a pump speed and cam setting that any of you would recommend? Is there an article that goes through this?
 
WW,

I don't have a spa and my 3 HP IntelliFlo pump runs 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM..

I also live in the DFW area (Bedford) and have never had any ice in my pool, even during the big freeze a couple of years ago..

I have a waterfall wall with three falls.. In the winter I shut the whole thing down, and partially drain the line, so that any water is just below the ground level. Running them in a freeze, makes zero sense to me? :mrgreen:

If I had a spa, during any freeze period, I would shut off the spa spillover and let the automation automatically switch between the pool and the spa modes. Having the spillover run during a freeze, makes zero sense to me! :mrgreen:

I do not have a heater, so running at 1200 RPM is plenty of flow for me.. I assume you have a heater and I see you have a SWCG.. What speed is required to turn on your SWCG?? I assume 1500 to 1800 RPM.. I believe that running at the same speed that turns on your SWCG should keep your pool ice free..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Texas Splash
waterwhole said:
The ice on my water features were restricted by the icebergs. The pool and spa pump was working just fine.

I have a pentair intellicenter and would like to over ride the freeze protection to set it on all the time but cam the pool and spa valves to keep them running. Is there a pump speed and cam setting that any of you would recommend? Is there an article that goes through this?
Click to expand...
I did exactly this yesterday as my water temperatures were getting nervously too low. I didn't want water sitting in pipes for 15 minutes at a time. For me, I just put both my 2-way valves into service and manually put them in the middle. I then monitored my spa, and I saw that it was slowly draining, so I adjusted the valve to about 1/3 spa suction, 2/3 pool suction. I also have a manual close valve on my main four pool returns. I manually closed that to maybe 80% open.

I then monitored and saw good flow coming out of all the spa returns and a decent spillover maintaining. I haven't touched it in 24 hours and all is good. My water temp is now reporting 33F, and in a corner of the pool furthest away from the wake from my water features, the smallest glaze of sheet ice is apparent, very small.
 
PdInc said:
Me too. Unfortunately, my back flow valve cracked and I've got a frozen solid pool. Hopefully I drained the heater and pump in time.
Click to expand...
Backflow for your auto-fill?

I shut mine off, leave the plunger in my pool open and then drain the RPZ/Backflow (takes 30 seconds).
 
Jimrahbe said:
WW,

I don't have a spa and my 3 HP IntelliFlo pump runs 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM..

I also live in the DFW area (Bedford) and have never had any ice in my pool, even during the big freeze a couple of years ago..

I have a waterfall wall with three falls.. In the winter I shut the whole thing down, and partially drain the line, so that any water is just below the ground level. Running them in a freeze, makes zero sense to me? :mrgreen:

If I had a spa, during any freeze period, I would shut off the spa spillover and let the automation automatically switch between the pool and the spa modes. Having the spillover run during a freeze, makes zero sense to me! :mrgreen:

I do not have a heater, so running at 1200 RPM is plenty of flow for me.. I assume you have a heater and I see you have a SWCG.. What speed is required to turn on your SWCG?? I assume 1500 to 1800 RPM.. I believe that running at the same speed that turns on your SWCG should keep your pool ice free..

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim, my pump is connected to both the pool and spa, the pool jets are also connected to spillover so water pushes out of my spa and into the pool. When in spa mode then it stops and circulates the water in the spa.

I have a swcg but doesn't that shut off when cold water is detected?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
waterwhole said:
Thanks Jim, my pump is connected to both the pool and spa, the pool jets are also connected to spillover so water pushes out of my spa and into the pool. When in spa mode then it stops and circulates the water in the spa.

I have a swcg but doesn't that shut off when cold water is detected?
Click to expand...
So does Jim's. Unless your system is a unicorn, it was plumbed the same way.

Two sides to your intake, two sides to your return.

You can either recam your return actuator to complete a proper 180 each rotation, or close your make-up line. Your builder would have used one of these two methods to create the constant spillover. Stopping the spillover would allow the system to juggle each body as if the other didn't exist.

And then after the freeze temps are fully gone, you'd benefit from scheduling a spillover period in your automation rather than using the constant physical diversions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply