New unground Pool Owner with several 'startup' and cleaning questions

[FinallyGottaPool]

Hello,

I recently purchase a house with an inground gunite pool, which required significant repair to it prior to opening it up for the season. A pool guy opened up the pool after water was put into it, but did not add any chemicals. Not to happy with him, because he never calls back. Its been 10 days and I've been trying to maintain the pool on my own, until I can find a better person to help and educate me.

My primary concern now is to clean the pool. I now see that the leaves and pine needles that settled to the pool bottom are leaving stains on the cement, which I am really frustrated about. I see I have a simple vacuum (weighted flexible pool vac), and a polaris. I tried using the vacuum yesterday. I placed the entire device in the pool, got the air out of the hose, and placed the hose in a skimmer that contains a filter basket. However, there really wasn't any water in that basket; the water was rushing into the basket (vortex). And both skimmers made a gurgling sound every 30 sec/1 minute. Not sure if I was setting up the vacuum right to use it, but I assume that because I could not put the hose into water in the basket, I wasn't sucking anything up with it. Reading through the forums, it sounds like my pool may need more water and maybe slow down the water (how do I do that?). I will add water to the pool tonight. But how do I use this vacuum to clean the pool? And how can I clean the stains in the pool? I swam underwater and used a scrub brush on the stains, but that did nothing.

I also have a Polaris pressure side pool cleaner. How do I even setup and use this?

How often do I have to leave the pool running? I am told various things. Some people say I only need to run it every other day for a couple of hours, while others say to run it every day for 12 hrs/day. Since I am not living at the house yet, this is a big headache for me! I am driving early morning and late at night just to turn this pool on/off.

I also have a pool heater. But guess what? I have no clue how to turn that on and use it too (and when to turn it on, for how long, etc).

I very much hate feeling helpless about caring for this pool, as I am a pretty handy guy with most other things. Thanks in advance for any advice this forum can provide!

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to the forum! So about your questions:
- To vacuum, if you have a standard manual vacuum, one end of the hose goes to the vacuum head, the other end to the skimmer. As you noted, always prime the hose with water. If your skimmer is like mine, you can remove the skimmer basket and insert the hose directly down into the skimmer hole. Some skimmers have a vacuum plate that the hose connects to. Since you have two skimmers, if they are plumbed together you may find better results by closing one skimmer. If you have a main drain, you might also need to close that so that all suction is focused on that vacuum line. You'll have to experiment a bit with it to see what works best.
- For your Polaris, generally you have a separate vacuum port somewhere around the side of the pool that is designated just for that cleaner. You may have a dedicated pump for that cleaner, or perhaps the water flow is controlled by a 3-way valve back at the equipment pad. But again, a little experimenting and you should find it.
- Pump run time varies for each pool depending on the amount of debris and water movement. The pump simply needs to run long enough to vacuum, mix chemicals, and provide adequate surface movement to pickup debris. You might start at about 8 hours and work it up or down from there. You can also see our Pool School - Determine Pump Run Time page.
- For the heater, you might see if it has valves before/after to isolate it for the time being until you are ready to really get into it. Maybe start a new thread later just for that topic if you need to.
- Without a doubt, proper home testing will be #1 and you'll hear it from us often. If you don't have a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit (link below), please make that a priority as well. We'll want to see test results to help you in the future.

Make sure to update your signature with all of your equipment and pool info. We'll help any way we can.

 

[FinallyGottaPool]

Thanks for the reply and info Texas Splash!

So if I remove the basket and stick the hose directly into the skimmer, all the pine needles and leaves are going to go directly to the filter. Isn't that a bad thing? I just replaced the manifold/filter assembly in my FNS Plus 60 DE filter, so I just don't want to do anything to screw up that filter.

How do I close one skimmer?

Regarding drains, if I know what you are referring to, there are 5 drain covers at the bottom of my pool. I know because I had to pay that pool guy $50 for new drain covers to be up to code. 3 are located at the deep end of the pool. The one closest to the shallow end is the one I see a lot of bubbles coming from. So how would I close a drain?

I do see a threaded hole in the side of my pool, which is underwater. I assume I screw the polaris into that hole.

Will I break anything back at the equipment pad if I turn the pool on and start moving valves to identify what powers the polaris?

How do I ID my pool? I have heard people say I have an Anthony Sylvan Gunite Pool, but don't know the specs on it.

Thanks!

 

[Texas Splash]

Anything you vacuum in the pool should get caught by the pump basket (under the clear lid). That basket is designed for that purpose which allows the finer stuff to go to your filter itself. Closing a skimmer depends on your set-up. Some dual skimmers have separate plumbing lines, while others share a line. The farthest skimmer "may" be plumbed-up underneath to the closer skimmer. Sometimes the valves at the equipment pad will illustrate what they operate.

About those drain covers, are you sure they are drains and not just a floor cleaning system? Figured I better ask to make sure. Five drains sounds alike a lot. And yes, the Polaris (hose) should be able to connect to that side port in the pool. As for moving valves, generally it's okay to move them. Go slowly and perhaps have someone at the pool to help tell you what's happening. Most valves have what looks like a handle and flat (duckbill) end. They should be labeled (off or on) but sometimes it gets faded or rubbed off. Just remember the handle side of the valve means water is "open" to that pipe. If the flat/duckbill part is pointing towards something, it's closed.

For pool ID, the biggest thing about the pool itself is tell us if it's plaster, vinyl, fiberglass and how many gallons. Then you can also describe all the equipment as well.

You can add your pool info to your signature by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. Or you can click EDIT YOUR SIGNATURE. It will help us later. This link may also help you: Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post.

 

[FinallyGottaPool]

Ok will do. A lot of good info/advice given. Thanks again!