I'm totally overwhelmed with the whole process my pool gal up and left the state leaving many of us in a panic and nobody to offer any help as it to late in the season as per two weeks of you tube videos we attempted to close or in gd pool ourselves bless the skimmer fine ,antifreeze and plugged but no air/water came out of the return jets then we tried the main drain opened that valve closed shim valvs only a trickle of wee bubbles for a few seconds and nothing from the second bottom suction drain ,some post said I had to put vac in another line not skimmer/main drain for all s o now the watter level is below skimmer not jet and it half done and were theroughly disgusted,some one also said use a compressor for more pressure but the the pump ,filter,are all empty and all draing stops removed and the timer pins off but that's still running .don't know where the breaker is for timer or all equip cause they never labled anything ..feel like filling the pool with dirt.. im so upset even the you tube videos don't explane where to put the vac hose after skimmer ..is it the shop vac to weaak,are we putting vac in wrong place do we really need to do all this or just pour antifreeze in the pipes but main drains cant be plugged wont antifreeze get back in to the pool via bottom drain ..yikes some guide me ..lin ugg cant even post in right place sorry
Need help closing my pool..
- Thread starter lin13
- Start date
anthonypool89
Gold Supporter
Your post is unfortunately a bit hard to understand. Can you post some pictures of your filter / plumbing set-up? That would undoubtedly help. So you're saying that the pump is still running (assumedly dry) being that you can't find a way to shut off the timer? It appears that you've used a shop vac but no air came out of either the return lines or the drain. Where was the shop vac hooked to?
Other than the "pool gal that up and left the state", Is there another local pool company you could call to get some help if you feel overwhelmed at this point?
Other than the "pool gal that up and left the state", Is there another local pool company you could call to get some help if you feel overwhelmed at this point?
Pictures and a some more info would help us be of better assistance. The more details you can provide the better like inground/above ground, filter, heater (if you have one), SWG, dimensions of the pool, volume, depth, general plumbing info, electrical info, etc. I feel your pain and sense of being overwhelmed as I found myself in a similar situation the guy I usually used would not return my calls, and I could never get a hold of him. He was far more reasonable than the pool stores or other pool guys. I decided to close the pool myself. I know it can be intimidating because you've never done it before. Is it just the timer still running or the pump? Hoping it's just the timer as the pump should off before even taking the lid off or pulling any plugs. You never ever ever want a pool pump to run dry. I know my manual lists the step of turning the pump on once its drained but only for a second or two because it can damage the motor to run it dry. So I skipped that step. But anyway the last thing you should use the pump for is to lower the poll water below the skimmer and return jets. Once the water is lowered shut the pump off and you're done running it for the season. The following is the procedure I used for my in-ground gunite pool with sand filter and Pentair variable speed pump. Some steps are generalized. But one thing I'm glad I did was I kept a detailed journal of what I did and in what order. Which will help me next fall. As for the power service I would think it should be on a breaker near your timer box. Pool pumps are usually on their own isolated circuit in the breaker. Mine is running on a 2 pole 20amp GFCI breaker in the garage in a box fed by a 40 amp breaker in my basement service panel. The other breakers in the box in the garage are for the lights, outlets, and garage door. What you can do is trace the line from your pump to the timer box and beyond till you get to a breaker box.
Prior to blowing out the lines
Vacuum and skim the surface of the pool. You want the pool clean as it can be. So brush those walls, run the vacuum (manual or robotic). Keep the surface skimmer handy to keep the surface clean. Test your water, and make sure the water is in good balanced shape, your future self will thank you. Next I added a winterizing chem kit, I don't know if this is necessary or not but I did so on recommendation from a co-worker who also has a gunite pool. After the water was cleaned/balanced/treated. I performed a backwash/rinse on my sand filter. Once that was done I then turned my pump off, and set my filter to waste. In my case I have a dedicated line that runs into the ground directly into the waste sewer line. Some people have to attach a hose and then divert the water, If you do be very sure to divert the water away from your yard, or your neighbor's yard. When we had our pool drained this past summer for repairs they ran the hose out to the street but that was also 26,000 gal of water. But anyway once you lower the water to the desired level (a little below the skimmer box, and below the return jets (if possible, not possible in my case) you will want to then shut off the pump for good, you could even at this point kill the power to the pump as you won't be using it anymore. While the water is draining take this time to remove any ladders, diving boards (if removable), floating thermometers, etc.
Blowing out the lines
Next step is to do as you did by removing the pump plugs some have one plug some have two. Mine has one at the pump basket, and the other one a little further back. pull your pump basket and put the plugs in there for easy storage so you don't lose them. Same with your filter plug. Let the water drain for a while. I used a 6 gallon, 150 PSI pancake style air compressor to blow out my lines. For my process I returned all but 1 plug to my pump, and also returned the plug to the filter (this may not be necessary). In the remaining hole in the filter I threaded a 1/4" NPT easy connect valve with some Teflon tape to get a good seal. returned the pump lid (pump basket removed of course). I then prepped my compressor by letting it fully charge. My plumbing setup has two lines coming in one from the skimmer and one from the main drain that is 9' down. Both of these lines have a pentair 2 way valve ahead of a T in the line that goes into the pump. Some people have a 3 way diverter type valve where you can turn it to either have 100% MD or 100% skimmer, or somewhere between (generally something like a 10% MD/90% skimmer ratio during season). My water then flows from there to the filter then back through to the return lines. Between the filter and the return line I have a 2 way valve. My older pool has the return jets very low in the pool so we use that to air lock the line rather than plug. Most jets are high and you'll want to plug those. Anyway back to blowing out the lines. What I did was set my sand filter to recirculate, picked a place to start (for me it was the returns) I closed the valves to the skimmer and the MD, then added air from the compressor. The key is starting the PSI low and slowly increasing the pressure. Now in my case it took longer fill the system with enough air to push air through the lines, and at first I thought it wasn't working since I'd seen videos and they make it look like it's instant. Once I had good good air blowing out my two returns I shut the valve going to the returns to air lock them and disconnected the air hose. Then I picked the Main Drain by opening that valve, reconnecting the air hose and waited for a good stream of bubbles coming from the MD. Closed that valve to air lock it and disconnected the air hose. Then I opened the skimmer valve and reconnected the air hose. The skimmer will look like a geyser or fountain as the water is pushed out. With the compressor still pushing air I took my shop vac and vacuumed up the water out of the skimmer. Once you get mostly air coming out of the skimmer I disconnected the air hose, and vacuumed any remaining water I could see. Then poured about 3/4 of a gallon of RV Marine antifreeze into the skimmer line. Note: VERY IMPORTANT, use only RV/Marine or Pool antifreeze. DO NOT USE AUTO ANTIFREEZE. It's important to use non toxic antifreeze that will be pool safe. After putting the antifreeze in the skimmer line, I plugged the hole with a Gizmo which threads right into the skimmer port. Now before you put it in be sure that you either use a good amount of teflon tape or better yet if your gizmo has o-rings, you want this to create a good seal as water will find it's way into the skimmer box. With the gizmo installed I then poured the remainder of the gallon of antifreeze into the skimmer. To me this is multi-purpose. For one it gives me a visual test to be sure the gizmo is sealing properly and two it's added insurance so that what water finds its way in there shouldn't freeze. Another layer of insurance that you often see is putting cut up pool noodles in there. The goal is that if water does freeze in there the gizmo and pool noodles will take the expansion rather than the skimmer box and keep the skimmer housing from cracking. With all the lines plugged or air locked I removed the NPT valve from the pump. Pulled the other drain plug from the pump, and the filter, along with the filter's sight glass, and pressure gauge and put them all into the pump's basket for storage. I opened the air relief valve on the filter, and set the filter to winterize. Then the final step was to turn off the breaker and store the basket with the plugs, sight glass, and pressure valve along with the skimmer basket in a dry place. For me it was the garage.
Covering the pool
I can only speak for my experience here as I have the canvas type cover (basically giant tarp). This is a two person job. We centered the cover over the pool as best we could. Note: how you fold the winter cover in the spring will either help or hurt this process. I wish I'd folded it properly last spring lol. With the cover on the pool, we started laying out the water bags around the surface (will replace with water blocks eventually). Took the garden hose and filled them up. Don't fill them completely as you need room for the water in them to expand. Aside from covering the pool I bought a solar cover protective cover that I installed. I'm hoping that will protect the solar cover over the winter eliminating the need to remove it from the reel and store it. And that's pretty much it.
It feels overwhelming and it took me far longer than I wanted it to as I was learning how. But it can be done and you'll save money doing it yourself. Just focus on one step at a time. This site has been so helpful for me and my wife since we moved into our house that happened to have a pool. This year was just our second season and neither of us had owned or operated a pool prior to this. We helped the previous owner close the pool at least part of the process, and I don't think his closing process was as thorough as what I'm doing. We hired a pool guy to open it for us the first season, and that's when we really got an idea of how much neglect the pool had had under the previous owners. They had allowed the waterline tile to fall off, and 4 of the coping stones were literally crumbling many more were cracked. That renovation cost us lots of money and most of the swimming season this last year. We hired the same pool guy to then close the pool last winter at which time he upgraded our plumbing by replacing the old leaking valves on the skimmer/MD lines and added the 2 way valve between the filter and the return line so we could air lock the return line. I don't think the previous owner even bothered to plug or lock the returns. And his version of the gizmo was a threaded pice of PVC pipe that he had cobbled together. No idea if he even plugged the skimmer as it was open on both ends (eye roll). I opened it myself this spring only a week or so before the contractor came to do the renovation.
Prior to blowing out the lines
Vacuum and skim the surface of the pool. You want the pool clean as it can be. So brush those walls, run the vacuum (manual or robotic). Keep the surface skimmer handy to keep the surface clean. Test your water, and make sure the water is in good balanced shape, your future self will thank you. Next I added a winterizing chem kit, I don't know if this is necessary or not but I did so on recommendation from a co-worker who also has a gunite pool. After the water was cleaned/balanced/treated. I performed a backwash/rinse on my sand filter. Once that was done I then turned my pump off, and set my filter to waste. In my case I have a dedicated line that runs into the ground directly into the waste sewer line. Some people have to attach a hose and then divert the water, If you do be very sure to divert the water away from your yard, or your neighbor's yard. When we had our pool drained this past summer for repairs they ran the hose out to the street but that was also 26,000 gal of water. But anyway once you lower the water to the desired level (a little below the skimmer box, and below the return jets (if possible, not possible in my case) you will want to then shut off the pump for good, you could even at this point kill the power to the pump as you won't be using it anymore. While the water is draining take this time to remove any ladders, diving boards (if removable), floating thermometers, etc.
Blowing out the lines
Next step is to do as you did by removing the pump plugs some have one plug some have two. Mine has one at the pump basket, and the other one a little further back. pull your pump basket and put the plugs in there for easy storage so you don't lose them. Same with your filter plug. Let the water drain for a while. I used a 6 gallon, 150 PSI pancake style air compressor to blow out my lines. For my process I returned all but 1 plug to my pump, and also returned the plug to the filter (this may not be necessary). In the remaining hole in the filter I threaded a 1/4" NPT easy connect valve with some Teflon tape to get a good seal. returned the pump lid (pump basket removed of course). I then prepped my compressor by letting it fully charge. My plumbing setup has two lines coming in one from the skimmer and one from the main drain that is 9' down. Both of these lines have a pentair 2 way valve ahead of a T in the line that goes into the pump. Some people have a 3 way diverter type valve where you can turn it to either have 100% MD or 100% skimmer, or somewhere between (generally something like a 10% MD/90% skimmer ratio during season). My water then flows from there to the filter then back through to the return lines. Between the filter and the return line I have a 2 way valve. My older pool has the return jets very low in the pool so we use that to air lock the line rather than plug. Most jets are high and you'll want to plug those. Anyway back to blowing out the lines. What I did was set my sand filter to recirculate, picked a place to start (for me it was the returns) I closed the valves to the skimmer and the MD, then added air from the compressor. The key is starting the PSI low and slowly increasing the pressure. Now in my case it took longer fill the system with enough air to push air through the lines, and at first I thought it wasn't working since I'd seen videos and they make it look like it's instant. Once I had good good air blowing out my two returns I shut the valve going to the returns to air lock them and disconnected the air hose. Then I picked the Main Drain by opening that valve, reconnecting the air hose and waited for a good stream of bubbles coming from the MD. Closed that valve to air lock it and disconnected the air hose. Then I opened the skimmer valve and reconnected the air hose. The skimmer will look like a geyser or fountain as the water is pushed out. With the compressor still pushing air I took my shop vac and vacuumed up the water out of the skimmer. Once you get mostly air coming out of the skimmer I disconnected the air hose, and vacuumed any remaining water I could see. Then poured about 3/4 of a gallon of RV Marine antifreeze into the skimmer line. Note: VERY IMPORTANT, use only RV/Marine or Pool antifreeze. DO NOT USE AUTO ANTIFREEZE. It's important to use non toxic antifreeze that will be pool safe. After putting the antifreeze in the skimmer line, I plugged the hole with a Gizmo which threads right into the skimmer port. Now before you put it in be sure that you either use a good amount of teflon tape or better yet if your gizmo has o-rings, you want this to create a good seal as water will find it's way into the skimmer box. With the gizmo installed I then poured the remainder of the gallon of antifreeze into the skimmer. To me this is multi-purpose. For one it gives me a visual test to be sure the gizmo is sealing properly and two it's added insurance so that what water finds its way in there shouldn't freeze. Another layer of insurance that you often see is putting cut up pool noodles in there. The goal is that if water does freeze in there the gizmo and pool noodles will take the expansion rather than the skimmer box and keep the skimmer housing from cracking. With all the lines plugged or air locked I removed the NPT valve from the pump. Pulled the other drain plug from the pump, and the filter, along with the filter's sight glass, and pressure gauge and put them all into the pump's basket for storage. I opened the air relief valve on the filter, and set the filter to winterize. Then the final step was to turn off the breaker and store the basket with the plugs, sight glass, and pressure valve along with the skimmer basket in a dry place. For me it was the garage.
Covering the pool
I can only speak for my experience here as I have the canvas type cover (basically giant tarp). This is a two person job. We centered the cover over the pool as best we could. Note: how you fold the winter cover in the spring will either help or hurt this process. I wish I'd folded it properly last spring lol. With the cover on the pool, we started laying out the water bags around the surface (will replace with water blocks eventually). Took the garden hose and filled them up. Don't fill them completely as you need room for the water in them to expand. Aside from covering the pool I bought a solar cover protective cover that I installed. I'm hoping that will protect the solar cover over the winter eliminating the need to remove it from the reel and store it. And that's pretty much it.
It feels overwhelming and it took me far longer than I wanted it to as I was learning how. But it can be done and you'll save money doing it yourself. Just focus on one step at a time. This site has been so helpful for me and my wife since we moved into our house that happened to have a pool. This year was just our second season and neither of us had owned or operated a pool prior to this. We helped the previous owner close the pool at least part of the process, and I don't think his closing process was as thorough as what I'm doing. We hired a pool guy to open it for us the first season, and that's when we really got an idea of how much neglect the pool had had under the previous owners. They had allowed the waterline tile to fall off, and 4 of the coping stones were literally crumbling many more were cracked. That renovation cost us lots of money and most of the swimming season this last year. We hired the same pool guy to then close the pool last winter at which time he upgraded our plumbing by replacing the old leaking valves on the skimmer/MD lines and added the 2 way valve between the filter and the return line so we could air lock the return line. I don't think the previous owner even bothered to plug or lock the returns. And his version of the gizmo was a threaded pice of PVC pipe that he had cobbled together. No idea if he even plugged the skimmer as it was open on both ends (eye roll). I opened it myself this spring only a week or so before the contractor came to do the renovation.
Last edited:
anthonypool89
Gold Supporter
M....well presented and thorough explanation! Hope it helps clear things up for the OP.