Freezing weather

[DB-Cooper]

Ugh 148pm, just had to close the pool. What a nightmare. My fountain pump gave out first, the returns froze on the pad despite being covered. So I shut that down.

Then the water temp hit 32 on the main and I could see slush forming on the top. With power outages expected, I just figured I’d be better off draining. Not fun, cold, etc. I still have the tarp and light up but all that filter and pump water really had nowhere to go but around that pad and over to where the pipes are.

With more freezing temps, I don’t know what to expect now. I’m sure it’ll be frozen over by tomorrow. The skimmer covers are frozen shut and have 4” of snow on top of them

I hope my rebar holds up and hopefully my ice expansion goes up and not out.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I don't recall which post in this thread said something about "removing ice from a vinyl pool". DO NOT mess with ice in a liner pool unless you want to risk jagged broken ice tears, water loss and buying a new liner in the spring.
If its frozen leave it alone!

Maddie

 

[DB-Cooper]

I don't recall which post in this thread said something about "removing ice from a vinyl pool". DO NOT mess with ice in a liner pool unless you want to risk jagged broken ice tears, water loss and buying a new liner in the spring.
If its frozen leave it alone!

Maddie

Not a liner, gunite and concrete.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Not a liner, gunite and concrete.

No, sugar..... I don't think it was you. I'm just too lazy to go backwards to find it

Maddie

 

[PaigeMark]

Ugh 148pm, just had to close the pool. What a nightmare. My fountain pump gave out first, the returns froze on the pad despite being covered. So I shut that down.

Then the water temp hit 32 on the main and I could see slush forming on the top. With power outages expected, I just figured I’d be better off draining. Not fun, cold, etc. I still have the tarp and light up but all that filter and pump water really had nowhere to go but around that pad and over to where the pipes are.

With more freezing temps, I don’t know what to expect now. I’m sure it’ll be frozen over by tomorrow. The skimmer covers are frozen shut and have 4” of snow on top of them

I hope my rebar holds up and hopefully my ice expansion goes up and not out.

We called Uncle last night, too. It was miserable but we just got a Wind Chill Warning. Possible -30 through Tuesday at 9am. Booster pump started to freeze first (just a single loop to/from spa seat jets). Poured a jug of warm water to flush that one through the open drains. The fountain pump and main pump were not a problem to drain. Filter and heater were a pain but they’re done. Once the water temp hit 32, everything went south so fast. Within 20 min of shutting the equipment down, the whole pool was frozen over. It was just 3/4 full of slush when we made the decision. Learned a ton this week. Sure appreciate everyone here helping out. Finally got some sleep last night. Stay safe and warm everyone!

 

[DB-Cooper]

We called Uncle last night, too. It was miserable but we just got a Wind Chill Warning. Possible -30 through Tuesday at 9am. Booster pump started to freeze first (just a single loop to/from spa seat jets). Poured a jug of warm water to flush that one through the open drains. The fountain pump and main pump were not a problem to drain. Filter and heater were a pain but they’re done. Once the water temp hit 32, everything went south so fast. Within 20 min of shutting the equipment down, the whole pool was frozen over. It was just 3/4 full of slush when we made the decision. Learned a ton this week. Sure appreciate everyone here helping out. Finally got some sleep last night. Stay safe and warm everyone!

Your situation is basically identical to mine. I should’ve done the hot water on the booster though.

 

[PaigeMark]

Your situation is basically identical to mine. I should’ve done the hot water on the booster though.

You might still be able to do that. The water emptied out of the basket but nothing came out of the slushy pump so I put the basket drain plug back in and poured warm (I was afraid to pour super hot water so just fairly warm from the tap) water. It took a minute or two and all that drained out of the pump drain. Removed the basket plug and called it a night. A horrible, no good, very bad night. I still can’t believe you‘re having the same issues all the way in Austin. This weather is nuts.

 

[DB-Cooper]

You might still be able to do that. The water emptied out of the basket but nothing came out of the slushy pump so I put the basket drain plug back in and poured warm (I was afraid to pour super hot water so just fairly warm from the tap) water. It took a minute or two and all that drained out of the pump drain. Removed the basket plug and called it a night. A horrible, no good, very bad night. I still can’t believe you‘re having the same issues all the way in Austin. This weather is nuts.

Thanks, yeah I was curious how you'd get it high enough to flow, but putting the plug in helps. There was minimal slush on the drain/supply side, it appeared my valves were jammed on the returns. My returns go up vertical a ways, I think I'll remove the check valve and pour there?

 

[DB-Cooper]

So pivoting the convo to reopening, I assume we need to wait for a pure thaw? Any tips, obviously plugging everything up and repriming, then backwash+recharge the filter, but how do we know when. Also, what should I look for in terms of pipe damage? It'll warm up in Texas pretty quickly so would need to get something running. This is really nerve-wracking.

 

[Jandysaltazure]

Z

 

[ajw22]

So pivoting the convo to reopening, I assume we need to wait for a pure thaw? Any tips, obviously plugging everything up and repriming, then backwash+recharge the filter, but how do we know when. Also, what should I look for in terms of pipe damage? It'll warm up in Texas pretty quickly so would need to get something running. This is really nerve-wracking.

I would not be in any rush to get your pool operational. As long as the water temperature is below 60 the pool will sit dormant. I would think you have a few days or more after weather gets back to normal to get the pool going.

 

[ajw22]

So many convos, not sure where to post this, but it’s probably a rhetorical question at this point.

Time to pull the plug (literally)? Most of the pool is frozen over/slush. Tried foolishly to break some of it up this morning. Miraculously haven’t had power go out according to the oven. Pump is working ok currently, waterfall pump and main pump (both pool and spa mode). However, this cold ain’t going anywhere for a while.

Is it time to just drain everything and hope for the best like everyone else, or is there a way to actually ride this out (for 4 more days) as long as I keep breaking up the ice? I’m assuming the former is probably the safest thing to do at this point, but curious what others think.

thank you for all the help and patience with us Texans. So much for 2020.

All depends if you want to be pulling plugs and draining during daylight or possibly in the dark early AM.

 

[DB-Cooper]

I would not be in any rush to get your pool operational. As long as the water temperature is below 60 the pool will sit dormant. I would think you have a few days or more after weather gets back to normal to get the pool going.

Thanks!

 

[Jandysaltazure]

Z

 

[DB-Cooper]

Got a nice ice cap now, I was able to push my broom stick through, maybe it's 1/2-1" but water underneath.

 

[ajw22]

Does anyone have a Jandy heater that might know where the drain plugs are? Sorry for the newb question, I just haven’t been able to find any material or videos to save my life. Builder says it has 3 plugs. Are they behind panels? I can’t find any little thumb screws like the pump has. Thanks so much!

What model heater?

Look on the water header where the pipes connect to the heater for thumb screws or bolts to remove.

 

[Jandysaltazure]

Z

 

[ajw22]

jxi 400k

https://www.jandy.com/-/media/zodiac/global/downloads/h/h0574300.pdf?force=1

 

[Jandysaltazure]

Z

 

[PaigeMark]

Thanks, yeah I was curious how you'd get it high enough to flow, but putting the plug in helps. There was minimal slush on the drain/supply side, it appeared my valves were jammed on the returns. My returns go up vertical a ways, I think I'll remove the check valve and pour there?

I did remove some check valves earlier last week when we had a freezing issue. Last night, the ice was starting to form in the pump only. Hope you were able to thaw some of it.