Freeze Preparations (TX, LA, GA, AL, FL, etc)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Martinhd28 said:
Opted to heat our vs risk total freeze….made for a fun Christmas! Not looking forward to the Gas bill! View attachment 466442
Click to expand...
I am in Atlanta and heated mine a few years ago and it wasn’t bad. It ran wide open for 2 days.
I think I calculated it cost me $25 on natural gas but worth it.
You will have to add water as it evaporates:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Martinhd28
Good Morning fellow TFP members. I hope everyone had a festive Christmas.

To those members in TX/Houston area it would appear that based on weather reports we're returning to some normal temps for this time of year. I am considering removing everything I used to protect and cover the pool equipment and placing my "on" and "off" trips back on to run my pump for the 8/10 hours I would usually run during winter. Anyone think I should hold off a bit longer before removing the protection?

Thanks,
 
  • Like
Reactions: GMTK
Silva1181 said:
Good Morning fellow TFP members. I hope everyone had a festive Christmas.

To those members in TX/Houston area it would appear that based on weather reports we're returning to some normal temps for this time of year. I am considering removing everything I used to protect and cover the pool equipment and placing my "on" and "off" trips back on to run my pump for the 8/10 hours I would usually run during winter. Anyone think I should hold off a bit longer before removing the protection?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I am removing my tarp and also all the plant coverings today. The forecast is for 70 deg F by end of week.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GMTK and markayash
Since my pump for the bubblers was running at 85% during freeze protection, it caused the water of the pool to be really wavy and spill out the sides. This caused ice to form around the coping all around the pool.

Now that the temperature is getting above freezing during the day, I noticed at least one spot (the rest is still covered in ice) where the travertine coping is a bit loose and the grout cracked. Is this a minor issue that can be easily repaired if there are several spots where this happened? What other concerns should I have? Construction was completed in August so this is the first winter as well as any settling from construction.
 
Just a heads up for those that have damage - some home warranty companies will cover broken valves and pumps, so it might be worth your time to call if you have damage to those areas. My home warranty does cap the repair at $500.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mdragger88

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Also everybody who shut their sytems down, be patient. The same ground insulation that delayed the underground pipes freezing will delay their thawing. You could be nice and thawed above ground and suck a slug of ice through the system if you fire it up too soon.
 
pudisgreat said:
I live in NC and we just let the pump keep running with freeze protection. I'm thinking I should have done more. We haven't lost power but I woke up this morning to bubbles coming from my pool return. I'm a light sleeper so I think it might have just started bubbling. I went outside and noticed that there is air in the pool pump bowl. But with the weather at 18 degrees currently, I don't know what to do.

I pulled leaves out of the skimmers. My pump is set at 35 gpm and running at 1850 rpm currently. I came in to research and haven't found anything other than an air suction leak. People suggested pouring hot water to find the leak, but I'm not sure that is a good option in these temps. Thoughts? The weather is supposed to get above freezing today at noon and my water is 39 degrees currently.

Do the bubbles mean I need to turn off and drain everything? I don't want to kill my pump because there isn't enough water. But I also don't want to do more harm by leaving it running. Any advice would be helpful.

I'm planning to try the water suction leak locater once we get above 32 degrees which is supposed to happen today at noon. (3 hours from now). I don't think it is a good idea to try to locate a leak with water when it is 18 degrees outside. Any advice would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Update on my bubble issue that developed Christmas morning following temperatures as low as 9.

Tried locating the the leak. Total newbie to finding leaks so this is totally redneck I know. I used Plastic wrap on the suction side pipes. It was way too cold outside (teens) when I did this but I got it to improve. Not fix but less bubbles so I think the air leak is above ground in one of my 3 elbows into the pump. I should have done them one at a time, but it was too cold. The air in the pump lessened and the amount of bubbles coming out of the pool went down. In less than 15 minutes the pump started sounding normal. We knew it was going to get warmer on the 26th so we surrounded our pump with an old solar bubble sheet that I had in the shed and put a 75 watt bulb under the solar tent.

That night the temperature got low again, but I think 13 was the lowest. When I checked on it the evening of the 25th, the bubbles were holding in the improved state. We knew we couldn't fix until it was warm enough so the goal was to make it easier on the pump and to lessen the chance of ruining anything. So we left everything as is.

I woke up the morning of the 26th expecting to hear bubbles but there were none. They were completely gone. There was a small pocket of air in the pump but it was working as normal. I've left it tented over the past few nights because it has consistently gotten below freezing. Now we have past the bad cold snap and overnight for the next few days will be above freezing.

I plan to remove the plastic wrap one at a time to see if I can produce the bubbles again. But since the temperatures aren't as cold doesn't that mean that the constriction that caused the air suction could have gone away. Obviously I want to fix the issue but if I continue to tent it, would it be better to wait until temperatures are warmer to fix the elbow with the leak?

Is there a better PVC glue that can withstand these colder temperatures? I worry that in fixing the piping my husband or I will damage other joints.

I will update after I remove the plastic wrap. Hoping to find the leak that way but will attempt other methods listed on trouble free pool as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HermanTX
Rhonda_M said:
Just an update. Everything is toasty warm beneath the tent and is completely thawed. The issue now is that I cannot get the pump to prime. It fills halfway with water, but that is it. I have zero suction coming from the skimmers. I do have about 9 pounds of pressure in the filter (normal is 15). When I tried it yesterday, the skimmers were not frozen and there was no ice (that I could see or feel with my fingers in the pipe) blocking the pipes leaving the skimmers. Of course, all the hose pipes are frozen so I could get water into the pump or the skimmer to try to prime it. We are keeping all exposed pipes and equipment warm with the tent, but now the top probably 2 inches of pool water is frozen. The skimmers have bottles in them and only have a thin ice top on them. We will get above freezing tomorrow (36 degrees for a high w/sun) so, I should be able to try to prime again. Assuming the pool was built correctly I should not have any frozen pipes below ground (fingers crossed). If it will not prime, then I'm assuming I have a pressure side leak somewhere, which I have never dealt with before. Do I start with the O-ring on the pump? After that, where do I check for a pressure side leak?
Click to expand...
I primed the pump and discovered we have leaks going into the filter on the pump side and coming out of the filter on the return side. It's a drip on the pump side and a stream (but not a spray) on the return side. ...sigh...
 
pudisgreat said:
But since the temperatures aren't as cold doesn't that mean that the constriction that caused the air suction could have gone away. Obviously I want to fix the issue but if I continue to tent it, would it be better to wait until temperatures are warmer to fix the elbow with the leak?
Click to expand...
At this point I would take what you have done so far as a victory. I wouldn't try to do too much because we still have plenty of cold weeks ahead and you might find yourself prepping for another freeze. But you made progress and that's great. :goodjob:
 
  • Like
Reactions: HermanTX and pudisgreat
Rhonda_M said:
we have leaks going into the filter on the pump side and coming out of the filter on the return side. It's a drip on the pump side and a stream (but not a spray) on the return side. ...sigh...
Click to expand...
That is a bummer. :( Watch those closely as they may try to get worse or perhaps even rupture. On the pressure side, obviously that would be a bad thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: markayash
There is a video on how to use a water hose but I can never find it.
Basically you run water over each connection until you find the joint/valve that’s leaking. Can’t do it in freezing temp but might help when it gets warmer.
I used it once to find a tiny air leak in the bottom side of a coupler.
 
Texas Splash said:
That is a bummer. :( Watch those closely as they may try to get worse or perhaps even rupture. On the pressure side, obviously that would be a bad thing.
Click to expand...
We tightened the fittings, which apparently came loose after the changes in temp, and it -appears- right now to be leak-free. The backwash pipe is loose and leaks when I backwash. It will need to be replaced, but no issues as long as I'm not backwashing.

I have a Jandy Pro Series Variable Speed pump that uses the IQpump01, iAqualink interface to control it. All I have is an app on my phone. There is nowhere that I can find to set a temp for the freeze protection to come on. Do you (or anyone else) know anything about this type of system?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: markayash
Hey Rhonda, if you hit the web button in the upper right hand corner of your app, it should take you to the blue screen. At the bottom of this screen, hit the Menu button, then the system setup button, this should take you to a series of options, one of which is freeze protection, this allows you to change the temp from 34 to 42 F. Hope this helps, I can take some screen shots if this doesn’t work for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: markayash
heffnejp said:
Hey Rhonda, if you hit the web button in the upper right hand corner of your app, it should take you to the blue screen. At the bottom of this screen, hit the Menu button, then the system setup button, this should take you to a series of options, one of which is freeze protection, this allows you to change the temp from 34 to 42 F. Hope this helps, I can take some screen shots if this doesn’t work for you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I don't have the classic "Aqualink." I have an IQpump01. Link below will show you a picture of my equipment. The small black box is mounted on the side of my house next to my pool equipment. The app on my phone does not have a "web" option. I can change the RPM pump speed, the times when it comes on and goes off and that's pretty much it.
I found the freeze protection setting, but the only thing it allows me to set is the RPM Speed of the pump during freeze and the duration of the freeze protection. I don't know if that means freeze protection will only run for x amount of hours or if it rechecks for temp change after x amount of hours. Either way, we woke up to a frozen pool on the morning after the deep freeze.
Here is what I have: Jandy iQpump01 with iaqualink app
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
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