I dont know if you realize this, but pictures of your pool are required. Especially a green pool. Because before and after pictures are just so much fun to follow your progress. So anytime now would be good....
Need help picking out new pool pump, filter and Salt chlorine ator
- Thread starter Randomguy81
- Start date
Oh oh oh you beat me to the punch with a picture! Oh this is gonna be fun!
haha I will get better pictures when I get to the house in the next couple of days along with the inhabitants of the pool
Looking forward to it. I love the pics where someone starts out with a groady pool and ends up with a beautiful sparkling clear water paradise. And these guys will get you there, believe me.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,148
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Rand,
Do check the pool service references on the drain/refill. We have a very shallow water table. There's a technique that pumps water out as you add. Takes more water but no structural risk. If it were me that's how I'd do it. Ask your pro if they are familiar with a water exchange method.
I hope this is helpful.
Chris
Do check the pool service references on the drain/refill. We have a very shallow water table. There's a technique that pumps water out as you add. Takes more water but no structural risk. If it were me that's how I'd do it. Ask your pro if they are familiar with a water exchange method.
I hope this is helpful.
Chris
OH we have helped clear a pool that was a TRUE pond to the point it had plants growing up and out of it with turtles, frogs, and fish!
You say you are going to pay someone to drain the pool. What written GUARANTY do you have the pool will not pop up out of the ground when all of the water is drained? With you living in FL the threat is very real due to our high water tables
He got all of the plants out to start with. He had some borrowed kiddie pools ready with some of the pond pool water in them. He handed out nets for everyone to go "fishing" for the critters. They got most of them out and transported them to a nearby creek to let free. He then started with the SLAM. It took awhile but he got it done!
Kim
You say you are going to pay someone to drain the pool. What written GUARANTY do you have the pool will not pop up out of the ground when all of the water is drained? With you living in FL the threat is very real due to our high water tables
He got all of the plants out to start with. He had some borrowed kiddie pools ready with some of the Kim
Good thing the OP has a cage around that pool...otherwise might have had something a little bigger swimming in there.
There has been some ewwwwwww things found in some green pools and some WHAT IN THE WORLD things as well.
All good points that I have taken on board when I get back and will use to talk to the pool people about the process of emptying and refilling so thank you for all the info
With my pool being under 15k gallons what do you suggest pump and chlorinator size wise?
1.5hp pump
30k chlorinator
Or should I increase my pump size
Such a great forum - thank you for being so responsive!
With my pool being under 15k gallons what do you suggest pump and chlorinator size wise?
1.5hp pump
30k chlorinator
Or should I increase my pump size
Such a great forum - thank you for being so responsive!
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If my pool needs resurfacing - how do people achieve that without the pool popping out?
81,
I have had two pools re-plastered and in both cases they just pumped the water out without an issue... In most cases there is no issue.. A fiberglass pool will pop up more often than a gunite pool... You just can't leave them empty for a long time.
The thing to know is what is your local water table line... As long as your local water table is not close to the surface, you should have nothing to worry about.
Thanks,
Jim R.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,148
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Rand,
As Jim points out the important thing is to know the water table in your area. There are a lot of areas in Martin and St Lucie County that have ground water less than 10' below the surface. I watched a lot of pools being built in my area and they used what they called an under drain. It was a pipe that went down to about 2' below where the lowest part of the pool and they kept a pump on it 'till the pool was filled. One of the supervisors told me to mark where the pipe was in case I need to have the pool drained so I guess that's what they do if needed. I'm not intimately familiar with pool construction techniques but we use very similar techniques when digging and forming deep foundations for industrial construction.
I think the point here is to just make sure you have somebody that knows about this potential issue before you hire them. Also as Jim pointed out this is more of an issue with fiberglass pools since they are so light. I drilled a water well right next to our house and we had ground water 8' or a little less below ground level. So I'm pretty conservative about it and is why I'd just do an exchange. Even in the case that I need to empty the pool for repair or resurface I'd make sure the contractor just knows what they're doing. Dealing with this isn't rocket science but if it's done wrong it can be very bad. If it were me I'd try to find out who built your pool and see what they think, maybe they'll even do the work for you. A&G built mine and they build a lot of pools in this area. There seems to be a couple of builders that do most of the pools for developers and they've all been in business a long time. At least two of them are second generation family businesses. I notice there are a few new pools going in around here and I'll try to talk to them about this issue. If I'm able to do this I'll report back with the findings.
I hope this helps.
Chris
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Well Chris
I am now on the terrified side of having this done so I class that as a good thing as it will make me double and triple check the company that ends up doing it.
I will say that the house / neighbours in Jensen are up on a hill ( I was amazed to find a hill in florida ) and our neighbors opposite the road are on the intracoastal but it is a sharp drop from their house to the water so I would estimate that just from the intracoastal I am at the least 40 ft higher and thats being jenerous. As close as we are to the intracoastal we are not in a flood zone (you could throw a stone in it from the road outside my house)
Does anyone have any view on my 1.5hp pump and 30k chlorinator I see by your signature that you have 12k pool and a 1hp pump so I would think 1.5 pump.
I am now on the terrified side of having this done so I class that as a good thing as it will make me double and triple check the company that ends up doing it.
I will say that the house / neighbours in Jensen are up on a hill ( I was amazed to find a hill in florida ) and our neighbors opposite the road are on the intracoastal but it is a sharp drop from their house to the water so I would estimate that just from the intracoastal I am at the least 40 ft higher and thats being jenerous. As close as we are to the intracoastal we are not in a flood zone (you could throw a stone in it from the road outside my house)
Does anyone have any view on my 1.5hp pump and 30k chlorinator
I see by your signature that you have 12k pool and a 1hp pump so I would think 1.5 pump.
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- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,148
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
'Well Chris
I am now on the terrified side of having this done so I class that as a good thing as it will make me double and triple check the company that ends up doing it.
I will say that the house / neighbours in Jensen are up on a hill ( I was amazed to find the only hill in florida ) and our neighbors opposite the road are on the intracoastal but it is a sharp drop from their house to the water so I would estimate that just from the intracoastal I am at the least 40 ft higher and thats being jenerous. As close as we are to the intracoastal we are not in a flood zone (you could throw a stone in it from the road outside my house)
Does anyone have any view on my 1.5hp pump and 30k chlorinator
Rand,
You are indeed very fortunate, hills are a rare thing around here! My slab is just under 18' above sea level so you're situation is most likely much less risk. I found some geological survey data that shows ground water level ranges 4-11' above sea level in much of the area and that's consistent with my well finding. At 40' you are in one of the best areas in either county.
I agree with Jim, you should be fine with your pump but the Cadillac is the 3 hp. I tried the " I fly coach but my pool equipment goes first class" argument with my wife and it didn't work... maybe my results will improve as I learn more about Jim's technique! For now I'm at the 1.65 HP VS motor retrofit pump level which is the absolute cheapest way I could finagle a VS pump.
Your RJ 30 system meets the TFP recommendation of 2x pool size so you should be fine. They have a great cell warranty and are extremely DIY friendly. Check discountsaltpool.com to see if they have any specials. When I bought mine they had a great deal on the maintenance kit that has a spool piece you can install when you remove the cell for cleaning. Don't think I'll use it a lot for cleaning since the thing doesn't seem to foul with TFP water balance methods. But it was invaluable for installation of the plumbing, much easier since the cell is pretty heavy.
I hope this helps.
Chris
Ok so I’ve ordered my new equipment
went for the 3hp pump
30k salt water chlorinator
150 filter
Pre filter (separator)
hopefully everything goes smoothly!
thankyoufor all the help so faR
went for the 3hp pump
30k salt water chlorinator
150 filter
Pre filter (separator)
hopefully everything goes smoothly!
thankyoufor all the help so faR
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,148
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Rand,
Looks like you took the risk of a few more cleanings per year on the filter to get the full 3 hp VS pump. Tough choice but based on Jim's and other expert's comments I think you made the right choice to stay within budget.
Good luck and please do keep us posted on the clean up.
Chris
Looks like you took the risk of a few more cleanings per year on the filter to get the full 3 hp VS pump. Tough choice but based on Jim's and other expert's comments I think you made the right choice to stay within budget.
Good luck and please do keep us posted on the clean up.
Chris
I thought the Pre filter would eliminate that issue - am I wrong?
I can always switch that option today
Rand,
Based on your photo your pool is not only screened-in but appears well shaded by vegetation and structures. For this reason I suspect your chlorine demand will be rather low compared to some other pools of similar size and location. I have a similarly sized pool in a screen with far more sun than you and my RJ30 is more than adequate, I only need to run it at 45% for 8 hours mid summer and much less in other seasons. I think your filter size should be adequate contamination wise, mine is only 100 square feet and hasn't required much maintenance. With such a large pump your back pressure may be high at highest flow but you shouldn't need to run it fast anyway.
I had a similar situation when I bought my foreclosed home with pool. Mine was even worse, the screens were torn and a number of critters has used the pool over a few years including I'm told an alligator at one point. My best advice is to clean and disinfect the patio area before or at the same time as cleaning and disinfecting the pool. Your photo shows a lot of things growing on the patio and those things will contaminate your pool.
Good luck.
Doug
Based on your photo your pool is not only screened-in but appears well shaded by vegetation and structures. For this reason I suspect your chlorine demand will be rather low compared to some other pools of similar size and location. I have a similarly sized pool in a screen with far more sun than you and my RJ30 is more than adequate, I only need to run it at 45% for 8 hours mid summer and much less in other seasons. I think your filter size should be adequate contamination wise, mine is only 100 square feet and hasn't required much maintenance. With such a large pump your back pressure may be high at highest flow but you shouldn't need to run it fast anyway.
I had a similar situation when I bought my foreclosed home with pool. Mine was even worse, the screens were torn and a number of critters has used the pool over a few years including I'm told an alligator at one point. My best advice is to clean and disinfect the patio area before or at the same time as cleaning and disinfecting the pool. Your photo shows a lot of things growing on the patio and those things will contaminate your pool.
Good luck.
Doug
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,148
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Rand,
I don't know anything about your pre-filter. Conceptually, it sounds good but they appear to be pretty expensive. If it were pretty cheap I'd probably try it because I like to try out new things. But it is another housing to fail and set of fittings to leak. Filter housings do fail eventually. Paint can help. If you're paying $300+ I'd probably just go for a larger cartridge filter. Eventually the technology may prove to be so good that you can use only the cyclone but I don't think we're there yet. Lastly, I have very high regard for Jim's recommendations since he's got several pools and years of experience so I feel I need to have a real good reason to do something other than his recommendation.
Here's a little more information on my filter performance. My filter seems to clog mostly with small particle dust. I also get some sand in it because I clean the wet suit after diving by just dropping it in the pool. Sand gets picked up and falls to the bottom of the housing. I can remove it easily by just opening the drain at the bottom without even removing the cartridge but I just do this when the filter needs to be cleaned. I think the fine particle dust is mostly from the landscaping crew that cuts the yard. We have small mesh screen on the enclosure to keep out bugs but after the grass is cue there's always a layer on the surface that eventually goes into the skimmer or picked up by the cleaner. Takes a long time but pressure slowly increases and when it gets 10% higher than clean starting pressure I clean it with the hose comb attachment. Looks like that's only about 1/2 plugged based on the element itself. Seems to plug from the bottom up. Longer I go the higher the soiled exterior on the element. Sometimes there is a slight greenish tint so I know I must be trapping algae at some times even though the pool is crystal clear 100% of the time. Pools in our area are exposed continuously to algae spore. Mine is even worse since I live on the edge of a wetland preserve. If you take reasonably good care of the filter with cleaning before pressure drop increases above TFP recommendation the elements last a LONG time. I get 2-3 years and could probably extend even further with an acid wash but they only cost ~$100 so it's not worth the effort for me.
I hope this is helpful.
Chris