Opening above ground pool

[germaine58]

Morning, I live in southern NH which barely has a spring; we are going from 40's to upper 60's and my water is still around 52 degrees. I was hoping to be pro-active and wondered, can I bring out my motor and hook up all the tubes, fill the water to mid-skimmer and be more prepared when the temperature of the H2O gets around 60? Also don't want to open too early so as to avoid the pollen and little flying things that fall off trees. One last question, this is my first time hooking up the motor, filter and tubes myself; how do I get the sand filter filled with H2O? Does it fill automatically when the H2O is at the correct level? Just imagining turning on the motor and everything blowing up!

 

[Mdragger88]

There’s no harm in doing it in stages. Be sure to check the weather for freezing temps & plan to be able to circulate if that occurs.
Hook everything thing up then as it fills check for leaks etc. When you move the multi port valve to filter or backwash (w/the pump off) the water should fill the filter. Be sure to let the air out of the pump basket before tuning on the pump.
I would suggest backwashing & rinsing before running it on filter for the first time.
You can then run the pool w/ the cover on & test the water etc. You will also need to be sure u keep the cover pumped off if it rains as it will displace the water in the pool. I often do it this way so “opening weekend” isn’t so daunting as it’s split up.

 

[CrystalRiver]

Even if the sand filter was still filled with air when you turned on the pump, the pump would just push that air into the pool via the returns.

Don't forget to open the valves. When you turn on the pump, put a hand in the pool in front of a return to make sure water is flowing.

 

[BTJR]

That's how I did it about a month ago here in North Jersey. End of March I pulled the cover back and clean up some leaves that gotten in the pool due to a tear in the cover and started to bring up the water level, inspected equipment, ordered a few parts that i could not find replaced the cover. Next weekend topped off the water made all the connections, ran the pump and filter for an hour and tested the water. Water was clear but had no liquid chlorine on hand so i put the cover back on. The next weekend fully opened the pool, cleaned again. Added a gallon of bleach which was a little overkill, put the pump on the timer. In hindsight I would have left the cover a few more weeks, new home and did not anticipate the amount of pollen and debris from the trees.

 

[Newdude]

Ask away as any questions / thoughts arise. Folks will be falling over themselves to guide you as seen above. Well done all !!!