Need Help!

[Charity1981]

Update!
I went ahead and tested all levels this morning for practice
FC -10
pH- 7.2
CC- 0.5
CH- 275
TA- 150
CYA- 40

ive been vacuuming and scrubbing walls twice daily, rinsing filter every evening. Chlorine about 4 times a day. Yesterday seemed like it looked the best that it has in awhile, more of a mint/aqua shade. But every morning I come out and it seems the “dust” has settled
I ordered the vac and hose. Hose will be here tomorrow, vac was back ordered and expected to ship tomorrow.
Pics attached from this morn. Heading out to add chlorine and vacuum again.

 

[Newdude]

But every morning I come out and it seems the “dust” has settled

It’s good. It’s probably dead algae which is half the battle. (The other half is removing) It’s demoralizing and I get that, but totally part of the progress.

 

[Charity1981]

Def a battle! Almost feels like I’m wasting time and then vac dies maybe after a 1/3 is done and I once again have to recharge. I checked locally before ordering but no one had anything in stock. Around here, they like to put school stuff out mid July and not carry anything new for pools. I just hope I can figure out hooking the thing up while hubby is working.

 

[Newdude]

Around here, they like to put school stuff out mid July and not carry anything new for pools. I

My BJs has the Halloween costumes out. In another week or two they will skip right overThanksgiving and have Xmas trees up.

 

[red-beard]

Def a battle! Almost feels like I’m wasting time and then vac dies maybe after a 1/3 is done and I once again have to recharge. I checked locally before ordering but no one had anything in stock. Around here, they like to put school stuff out mid July and not carry anything new for pools. I just hope I can figure out hooking the thing up while hubby is working.

The hardest part is trying to keep air from getting into the hose. And maybe knowing which valve controls the split from the main drain and the skimmer.

You'll never run out of battery...

 

[Charity1981]

The hardest part is trying to keep air from getting into the hose. And maybe knowing which valve controls the split from the main drain and the skimmer.

You'll never run out of battery...

Will this work? I got the hose today but the vac head is still showing back ordered and has yet to ship. My local store has similar in stock

 

[Newdude]

Will this work?

It should. It has the stepped fitting on the head to accept the 2 common sized hoses.

 

[Charity1981]

You need a pool vacuum hose:

Inground Commercial Grade Flexible Hose 1-1/2 in Diameter, 40 ft

Doheny's Inground Commercial Grade Flexible Hose 1-1/2 in Diameter, 40 ft. Hurry and purchase today at Doheny's Pool Supplies Fast

www.doheny.com

And a Vacuum Head

Flex Vacuum Head-Doheny's Pool Supplies Fast

Flex Vacuum Head-Doheny's Pool Supplies Fast - Purchase today from Doheny's Pool Supplies Fast.

www.doheny.com

You should be able to get these at your local pool store. Measure the distance from your skimmer to the furthest part of the pool, add 5-10 feet and that is the length of hose you need.

You pull the skimmer and close the valve to the pool main drain (100% skimmer). Attach the head to a pool pole and the vacuum hose to the vacuum head. Put the pole/head in the pool and now starting from the head end, push the hose under water to fill it up. While under water, put your hand on the open hose end and pull it out of the pool, making sure as little air goes into the hose as possible. Move it down into the open skimmer and push the end of the hose into the skimmer suction. You now have a "Standard - Old Skool" pool vacuum.

I used to clean apartment complex pools in the 1980's this way, as a lifeguard. It is work, but it sucks everything to filter.

Okay, so we got it hooked up to our sand pump, other one wasn’t strong enough. Wish I had a video of it, we about killed each other trying to keep the air out of the hose
Am I supposed to go very slow with this? Is it possible for one person to hook it up everyday? We only get about 6 hrs of sun on the pool and by the time he gets home from work, it’s almost shaded over and it makes it difficult to see with the shadows of trees. I’m standing in the pool writing this with my glass of wine and I can’t tell if I’m stirring up the dust or what is going on lol!

 

[CuckooChris]

Noticed in your updated test results from this morning that your CYA is at 40. Slam for 40 CYA is 16, so that may be why you're not moving along faster. Haven't read the whole thread but assuming you had a CYA of 30 somewhere and that's why you were using twelve as your FC target.

 

[Newdude]

Am I supposed to go very slow with this? Is it possible for one person to hook it up everyday?

Easy peasy. Attach the hose to the head and pole and stick it in the pool with the vac head upside down. Push the rest of the hose into the pool ‘hand over hand’. When you get to the end, hold it close to water level and pool water will flow out of it. With the best fell swoop you can manage, smack it into the skimmer. Then go about vacuuming. Go slow and gentle. You’ll get a feel for it after a few tries. Hopping in the pool with goggles makes it 100 times easier to see what’s going on and what you’ve missed. Using a snorkel you won’t even have to come up for air.

 

[Charity1981]

Noticed in your updated test results from this morning that your CYA is at 40. Slam for 40 CYA is 16, so that may be why you're not moving along faster. Haven't read the whole thread but assuming you had a CYA of 30 somewhere and that's why you were using twelve as your FC target.

Yes it is 12. I am new to all of this so I just did all of the other tests to practice the other day.

Easy peasy. Attach the hose to the head and pole and stick it in the pool with the vac head upside down. Push the rest of the hose into the pool ‘hand over hand’. When you get to the end, hold it close to water level and pool water will flow out of it. With the best fell swoop you can manage, smack it into the skimmer. Then go about vacuuming. Go slow and gentle. You’ll get a feel for it after a few tries. Hopping in the pool with goggles makes it 100 times easier to see what’s going on and what you’ve missed. Using a snorkel you won’t even have to come up for air.

so I have failed to mention we have no skimmer! Our sand pump is on the ground. We’ve had a pool in the past with a skimmer but this one is different. It really took both of us to do. I may just have to do it in the evenings, just makes it tough when it’s not sunny.

 

[Newdude]

so I have failed to mention we have no skimmer

Ok. Another way is to hold the hose in front of the return and let the jet clear the air. Hold you hand over the now full hose the best you can and it will stay mostly full of water while you attach it.

 

[mknauss]

If you put the vac in the center of the pool, get it running, and then get in and start a large whirlpool in the pool, then get out and let it slowly settle. The solids will go to the center of the pool, where the vac head is. It will at least help, and you get to be in the pool!!

 

[Charity1981]

Easy peasy. Attach the hose to the head and pole and stick it in the pool with the vac head upside down. Push the rest of the hose into the pool ‘hand over hand’. When you get to the end, hold it close to water level and pool water will flow out of it. With the best fell swoop you can manage, smack it into the skimmer. Then go about vacuuming. Go slow and gentle. You’ll get a feel for it after a few tries. Hopping in the pool with goggles makes it 100 times easier to see what’s going on and what you’ve missed. Using a snorkel you won’t even have to come up for air.

This is the pool we have. We’ve debated buying an actual steel frame pool but haven’t made the leap. The past 2 years our kids haven’t used as much so we aren’t sure if we want to invest. And the pumps have always had crappy power so we did buy the sand pump this spring.

 

[Charity1981]

Ok. Another way is to hold the hose in front of the return and let the jet clear the air. Hold you hand over the now full hose the best you can and it will stay mostly full of water while you attach it.

I will try. I was just looking at videos about this.

 

[bover907]

Charity, You're doing great! One note about Coleman/Intex style pools. I have the same pool as you, and I measured the actual water depth with a tape measure, and it turned out to be only 42" deep! Using a pool volume calculator, that made my water volume only 5500 gallons. So, that's the number for pool volume I used in the pool math app. Just a heads up.

Next spring, when you open the pool, Have hubby install a skimmer. You won't be sorry!

 

[Charity1981]

Charity, You're doing great! One note about Coleman/Intex style pools. I have the same pool as you, and I measured the actual water depth with a tape measure, and it turned out to be only 42" deep! Using a pool volume calculator, that made my water volume only 5500 gallons. So, that's the number for pool volume I used in the pool math app. Just a heads up.

Next spring, when you open the pool, Have hubby install a skimmer. You won't be sorry!
View attachment 361667 View attachment 361668

Thank you! I feel like I’m getting nowhere with this thing! It does look better but it is still very cloudy! And aqua! I never thought about the height of water, I wonder if that’s where some of my issue is. I have found multiple YouTube videos (on our pool) showing how to hookup without a skimmer and I’ve been sending them to him left and right! He probably isn’t too happy right now I will pass on the skimmer info to him as well. Did you just order it? I wouldn’t have the first clue what to look for!

 

[Charity1981]

If you put the vac in the center of the pool, get it running, and then get in and start a large whirlpool in the pool, then get out and let it slowly settle. The solids will go to the center of the pool, where the vac head is. It will at least help, and you get to be in the pool!!

The post from Bover...should I do this as well and adjust my volume size of pool?

 

[bover907]

Yours may be closer to 48". I lost one inch of depth due to the skimmer box being in there, and another 1.5" probably from not putting the legs on pavers, which I'm lucky I have really hard packed soil, since my legs didn't sink so far in 16 months with a TON of rainfall. If you do decide to measure the depth, DRY the tape measure BEFORE pressing the button to retract the tape, LOL.

 

[bover907]

Oh, and if Hubby decides to do the skimmer next year, Just order one from Amazon, and not one brand named hayward or pentair. It'll literally be 1/4 the price for the same quality skimmer.

EDIT: Not brand named.