Frozen Pool Pics 🥶

[PaigeMark]

Good idea on ditching the feeder too.

OnView attachment 176975 your other point, I checked on the fill pipe on my pool. It uses a floater like this, so I think I am OK and don't even need the backflow device or the cheap backflow valve. This rig appears to fill like a toilet. I need to take it apart to be sure, but I think I lucked out with this setup. Does this look right to you?

That’s what I have, too. It works well but mine must be hooked into the supply line for my underground sprinkler system for the lawn and the lawn guys shut it off to winterize. I’ve been watching the water level in case I need to top it off but there must be a way to shut off the sprinklers and leave the pool fill line open.

 

[crusemm]

South of DFW Texas, Temps down to 0F and sustained temps below 20F for days. Water in suction piping caused pump to run for some period of time with no suction, so shut it down on the second day of sub 20 temps. Pool froze all the way across by the next day.

Damage so far, Pump casing cracked, failed joint on the suction header means that whole line needs to be replaced (I think an ice plug got on top of the valve and lifted the pipe). This is in addition to the existing issues of unidentified skimmer leak, pool light not working (I think a failed gasket) and various tiles coming off of the sides of the pool and spa.
Edit: Also just discovered today, I lost a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of plaster right below the tile line in some places. I don't think this is a major problem, the plaster still looks pretty continuous along there.
I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

 

[Dirk]

It uses a floater like this, so I think I am OK and don't even need the backflow device

Sorry, no. The opposite is true, and in fact a cheaper check valve won't do.

Unlike a toilet setup, your pool's float valve releases water under the surface. So it needs a backflow preventer (BFP) upstream. A toilet's float valve releases water though a set of tubes that creates an air gap between the supply water and the toilet water. No such air gap exists in your autofill vault. The white tube that kind'a looks like the tube you'd find in a toilet tank is your overflow outlet.

And because your autofill flow valve is under constant pressure, so too would be the backflow preventer. Which is why you can't use a cheap one, or a sprinkler valve. A cheap one can fail and because it's all sealed up, with no way to test it, you'll never know if it's working or not (well, not until pool water backflows into your drinking water). And a sprinkler valve won't do because they are not rated to have constant pressure on the outlet side, only on the inlet side, so it too will eventually fail and you might not notice that either.

You need a pressure vacuum breaker (a type of BFP), like the one I have. Pressure rated, solid brass, sturdy, reliable and testable:

Zurn 34-720A Wilkins Pressure Vacuum Breaker 3/4-Inch Assembly: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Zurn 34-720A Wilkins Pressure Vacuum Breaker 3/4-Inch Assembly: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

We've strayed more than a bit from the original topic of this thread. If you want to know more about this, you can PM me or start your own thread and then let me know where it is...

 

[mwemaxxowner]

South of DFW Texas, Temps down to 0F and sustained temps below 20F for days. Water in suction piping caused pump to run for some period of time with no suction, so shut it down on the second day of sub 20 temps. Pool froze all the way across by the next day.

Damage so far, Pump casing cracked, failed joint on the suction header means that whole line needs to be replaced (I think an ice plug got on top of the valve and lifted the pipe). This is in addition to the existing issues of unidentified skimmer leak, pool light not working (I think a failed gasket) and various tiles coming off of the sides of the pool and spa.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me.View attachment 176988View attachment 176989View attachment 176990View attachment 176991

Ouch!