Jim's AGP Journey

[kne]

I have the ambient weather station (love it btw) and they sell a $30 submergeable sensor I would recommend over the floating one. It's cheaper and you can use pool patches to adhere it to the side wall of your pool so it stays out of the way. Only downside is the unit is not waterproof. I just used a ziplock bag and zip tied it inside.

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You of course get all the charts.

I'm reading your build thread, no where in this post did you say that it texts you! That is a totally unnecessary feature that I totally want!

 

[bkp22]

I'm reading your build thread, no where in this post did you say that it texts you! That is a totally unnecessary feature that I totally want!

Yeah it will do txt and email. At the start of the season I had it email me once the pool was warm enough to swim. Sadly I was out of town when that moment was reached :\

I am an _extremely_ satisfied customer of the Ambient weather hardware. Had the weather station for maybe two years now and I check in with it multiple times a day. IDK if I mentioned it but I have another of the same sensor on my chest freezer, so I get an email if my freezer goes above 0F. Very useful stuff! They also have a soil moisture sensor I'll probably be picking up at some point as well, both for gardening and to know when it's a good time to mow to not clog my mower up.

As far as I know it's all open APIs as well so you can add any sort of custom integrations you want also.

 

[bjmsam]

This looks like a great option, too!

I was able to find this on Amazon. It's called YoLink. Google it and you'll get the information you need... there's lot of it.

I keep the sensor in a ziplock bag (not sure if I need too as it's weatherproof) and keep it under my skimmer lid. The probe is waterproof and the sensor is long range. No worries about how far the pool is away from your house.

I can use my phone or check my pool temp. It works with all sorts of home automation too like Google and Alexa so you can even ask your speaker what the pool temp is.

 

[bjmsam]

Mine now looks like this and time to get a new one

Sadly, mine looks like that now, too, despite the interior remaining sealed and dry. Since it lasted only one year (about two months longer than the original AA batteries), and since Wi-Fi connectivity required my outdoor access point to be at max power (blasting neighbors in that direction), I may abandon InkBird and switch to YoLink with X3 connectivity for superior range. It looks like the "two year" version that @mcba2020 chose does not have a display, so I'm leaning toward the "five year" version to see the temperature at the pool without the app.


Meanwhile, I don't need a thermometer to tell me that the temperature is comfortable. Time for another dip!

 

[bjmsam]

The last swim of season 4 was on 15 September.

Last winter, we watched crows stand on the edge of the pool and tear through the original Intex 10757 Pool Cover, ruining it. I suppose three winters was a pretty good run, but it cost less than that $87 MSRP to cover it with 12-mil tarps, which went on today (retained by chlorine bottles saved throughout the season).

Additional maintenance items have been identified for season 5.

The solar cover is tearing and shedding bubbles. I suppose four summers was a pretty good run, but the bubbles float and are easy to skim, and attaching 1" PVC along the leading edge is managing the tear, so we'll see how it goes next year.

The pool leg of the ladder is rusting, so I may try to refinish it, but as chlorinated water is a hostile environment, I'll probably just swap the legs!

In late July, one of the Intex 11873 Pump Hoses split, leaked, and reduced the level by several inches before I caught it, so I ordered two new ones to install even though the duct tape works well. This design always seemed questionable considering how much both hoses bend at that point due to water weight (many posts about this issue here on TFP).

Finally, a few specks have appeared on the liner near the end with the cover reel. I assumed they were iron stains but was unable to remove them by scrubbing with crushed vitamin C tablets, so I hope whatever these are do not lead to perforations in the liner...