Looking for advice on 1st Above Ground pool

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JoCoSteve

Bronze Supporter
Mar 2, 2024
20
Clayton, NC
Pool Size
10200
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
I posted yesterday, but can no longer find my post. Did it get deleted for some reason?

I have zero knowledge about pools and I'm ready to have an above-ground pool installed. I wanted an in-ground, but my septic layout won't allow it. I had Rising Sun Pools in Raleigh, NC give me a quote for a pool, which I have attached. It's a 15x26x54 oval all-resin pool, with a sand filter, 2 speed pump, and a Aquatrol saltwater generator. From what I can determine the SWG is rated for 18,000 gals. Can you please look over my quote and give me any advice? Thank you, Steve
 

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Hey there, I estimate your pool to be ~12,000 gallons. We normally suggest a salt water cell be at least 2x the pool's volume. In warmer climates that is even more important as the sun is hot, and the season longer. You'll use every bit of that produced chlorine in summer. I recommend upsizing to a slightly larger cell. Check this site out to compare: www.discountsaltpool.com

I also have a 12,000 gallon pool but have a larger sand filter than the one which means I can longer than you will when it comes to time for cleaning out the filter. If your budget can swing it I'd recommend this too.

Otherwise a two speed pump run on low 24/7 is a good idea.

Keep us posted and when its time to learn the water chemistry we're here to help!

Maddie :flower:
 
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The pool company that I got the quote from isn’t really flexible on modifying their package. There are only a handful of upgrades available. A multi-speed pump, zeosand, and ladder options. Other than that…you get what you get. So I don’t have an option of getting a SWG with a higher rating. They also seem pretty expensive to me. Should I go another route, or buy a pool online?
 
JoCoSteve said:
The pool company that I got the quote from isn’t really flexible on modifying their package.
Click to expand...
Many are locked in with limited supplies from their supplier and/or have incentives to push a certain package.

Some will allow you to source your own equipment. The price credit may, or may not, fairly reflect that if so. PBs need X amount of profit to stay in business and generally upcharge equiplment by double their cost. They may have used the equipment to account for more than a proportionate amount of profit, so taking away their sale, may just add the profit to another part of the build that didn't have much to start.

It up to you if you can live with that (when applicable) or if you want to move on to somebody else. I had to take it on the chin because I wanted my PB, but not his equipment.
 
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It shows the installer is an independent contractor-
if you can find someone to install for you then buying online may be your cheapest option & would allow you to get what you want also.
Many here have had great experiences with the pool factory.com. They have well known models for decent prices.
I couldn’t find someone so I had to go with a local place for the whole thing.
Hard to say if that’s a good price or not- every area varies.
You’ll just need to shop around & compare & decide if you want to play general contractor.
One note- just get regular pool filter sand whatever you choose. Its more than sufficient.
Also with a 54” wall your water depth will be about 4’
This makes your volume closer to 10200 gallons.
IMG_9216.jpeg
This makes the aquatrol t5 cell somewhat sufficient.
running it somewhere between 25% - 50% 24 hours a day to create 2-4ppm each day. (Alternatively 50-100% for 12 hours- how ever you wanna slice it)
This is doable with a 2 speed pump on low without breaking the bank on electricity.
A Bigger swcg is always better of course but the aquatrol isn’t terrible for your volume. So I wouldn’t consider that a deal breaker if all the other stars lined up.
There is also a simple way to make the aquatrol accept a t15 cell (25k gal) so you can always upgrade to that later when your original cell goes kaput.

Hayward AquaTrol SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Keeping an eye here, as we are moving (migrating) to Raleigh from Las Vegas this summer. I have had 3 pools here, built 2, but all in ground. Looking at doing a partial in ground in Raleigh, so need to learn a lot.

JoCoSteve, worst case if the SWG cant keep up on heavy use days you can add sanitizer. My first pool was chlorine and very small so bather load made it difficult to keep chems in balance. I suspect with your pool you could see how it does for a summer or two and see how it keeps up. I agree with the 2-speed pump which allows you to cost effectively run for longer hours to get more from the SWG.
But, I am not familiar with summers there, yet, and know how to manage SWG based on what I have owned here in the hot Vegas summers and kids using it almost daily.
 
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@Dalancas Summers in Raleigh are hot in July/August. Most days in the mid-90s, with normally just a handful of days over 100. I’m sure nothing compared to Las Vegas. The big thing here is humidity. It can be brutal during the dog days of summer. Not sure if that has any impact on pool maintenance.
 
Consider adding
- Foam Cove
- A bottom pad (either Gorilla Pad or something else)

I don't think wall foam is that great.

I bought mine through The Pool Factory and had a local person install it. It was a lot cheaper and I could put together my own package
 
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I just received HOA approval to install a 15x26 AGP, and now I have a thousand questions running through my head. I use to work as an electrician many years ago, so I’ll probably do my own electrical work. I plan on setting up a sub-panel near the pool and pulling 220 so I can install a heat pump in the future. I like to keep things nice and neat, and make everything weather proof. I would love to see how some of you have setup your electric panels, with plugs for the pump, SWG, timers, and anything else that I need to consider.
 

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I have a boring 4x4 post with a switch, AC duplex outlet on one side along with timer on top with SWG and a twist lock plug for the pump mounted below that ... nothing fancy but it works!
 
I just received HOA approval this week for my pool installation. Now it’s getting real and I feel like I have a hundred decisions to make. The pool package that I was quoted comes standard with a 2-speed 1.5 HP pump, but I have an option to upgrade to a variable speed 1.5 HP pump for $450. I plan on running a SWG. Is the extra cost worth it? My local PB doesn’t sell Gorilla / Armor Shield pads, so I’m going to order one elsewhere and have the PB install it.
 
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Definitely go with the VS pump. Some 2 speeds (1.5 HP) don't have enough flow for the SWG on low speed so you end up running it on high speed all the time anyway.

Unfortunately there is no way to know ahead of time if the 2 speed will work or not. The VS allows you the ability to add a couple hundred RPMs if need be.
 
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I want to order a Gorilla or Armor Shield pad (I understand they are pretty much the same), for my soon-to-be 15x26 AGP. What are the best online vendors for these pads?
 
Many People here have had good experiences with the pool factory & inyo pools so you may see if either one has what you need.
Some folks just order on amazon.
 
I'm placing an order for a 15'x26'x54" Oval SW AGP tomorrow. I'm trying to get my head wrapped around how much of each chemical I'll need to start, and of course that requires knowing the volume in gallons (I'll also be ordering the TF-Pro Salt test kit).

The PB said the pool is 9,204 gallons and I also used the pool factory calculator and it came up with the same number. Someone on this site said they estimated it at 10,200 gallons, so I decided to break out some old high school math (and I mean OLD!) to confirm for myself.

An oval AGP is basically two 1/2 circles at each end and a rectangle in the middle, so I'll combine the two 1/2 circles in my calculation into one cylinder. I also understand that the water depth in a 54" pool is 4'.

Volume of a cylinder:
Volume=(3.14)(Radius^2)(Depth)
Volume=(3.14)(7.5^2)(4)
Volume=(3.14)(56.25)(4)
Volume=706.5 cubic ft

Volume of rectangle:
Volume=LengthxWidthxDepth
Volume=11x15x4
Volume=660 cubic ft

Total cubic ft = 706.5+660=1366.5

Gallons of water in 1 cubic ft = 7.481

Volume in gallons = 1366.5x7.481=10222.8 gallons

That's approx. 1,000 gallons more than the number provided by the PB and the pool factory calculator, but matches what a member of this site estimated :).

So what figure is correct? 9,204 or 10,222 gallons?
 
To be honest, does not matter much. I would pick the average of the two numbers and call it good. For pool water chemistry purposes, +/- a few percent is truly not worth worrying about.
 
The pool package that I'm ordering comes standard with a Hayward 1.5 HP Matrix 2-speed pump. I had planned on upgrading to a Hayward 1.5 HP PowerFlow VS 300 Variable speed pump. One of the primary reasons is that I understand some 2-speed pumps can't run the SWG at low speed. I mentioned this to the PB manager, and she told me that this VS pump is not like an in-ground pool pump where you can set the RPM. She said that you basically get a low and high speed, and that the pump can't be run at high speed for more than a couple of hours or it will burn up. Does anyone have experience with this VS pump? Is this true?
 

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