Tips and Tricks

[rickfaile]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

One that I used recently. You can lower the water level using just a garden hose. Fill the hose with water and place one end in the pool and the other end somewhere in the yard lower than the end of the hose in the pool. It will siphon out the water. Be sure to keep the discharge end of the hose closed off until you are ready to start. Otherwise you will lose your prime.

I used to use a garden hose to drain too (until I broke down and bought a submersible pump).

I found that the easiest way to get the siphon going was to get the hose all laid out first and hold the end of the hose up to the return. There is enough pressure to get the water up and over the edge of the pool and get the flow started. Much easier than filling the hose with water and trying to maintain the prime while you get it situated. (probably less of an issue for AG, but for my IG I have to get the end of the hose way down the driveway to get below the water level).

Great suggestion. I hate lowering the pool level after a big rain because I gotta drag the pump and garden hose out or pump out all of my DE using the main pump. And I also have to set a timer to remind myself that I'm draining water. Too many times I've forgotten and gone too far and then I need to refill it, etc.

Last night, I used my vaccuum hose instead of a garden hose. From the pool into the drain near the pool.

Another tip - set the pool-end of the hose into the water only to the level you wish to drain to - then forget about it. I used my vaccuum pole to trap the tube at the correct level. When the water gets to the level you want the tube will start to siphon air and turn itself off, so to speak. Set it and forget it.

Recently we had several rain storms and my pump was broken. I used the vacuum hose as you describe but I attached the vacuum head (since it's weighted) to the hose and hung it into the water at the level I wanted the draining to stop. It would stop if I forgot about it but I also didn't have to go back into the monsoon to stop it.

Thanks for this topic and this site. I've learned a LOT!

 

[britinusa]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

To drain my winter cover I put the end of my garden hose in then turn on the water when the hose is running I take it off the faucet using a quick connect then I just drop the hose on the ground and it siphons the water out.

 

[Durk]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

Here's a tip I read elsewhere on this forum a few years ago that I don't think is in here and deserves to be. Kudos to the original author.

To help keep your cover pump clear of leaf crud, put it inside one of those mesh bags they sell for camping. Just run the hose and power cord out the top and cinch up the drawstring.. If it does plug up, you can usually get it going just by moving it with your tele-pole, Most years I don't have to. It's also a lot easier to clean as opposed to dismantling the pump.

 

[JohnT]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

If you get a rust spot on your liner from a screw or something in the pool, it can be tough to get the Vitamin C tablet to stay in place. Take a PVC coupling large enough to cover the spot and set it down there. Then just drop the tablets inside of it. Works way better than trying to keep them on the spot while you swim away.

 

[johnsjets]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

If you hate vacuuming as much as I do, you'll do almost anything to avoid it. Since I would rather rake and sweep, I first would rake up any large pieces of debris from the bottom of the pool. Then I would brush the pool entirely, getting the fine particles into circulation and allowing the skimmer and intake ports to gather them in. Using a skimmer sock and cleaning it daily will also help reduce the amount of backwashing you'll have to do in a season. Using these methods I find I only backwash my sand filter three times in a four month season...twice on opening and once on closing.

 

[dianne]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

the screw on lid to our chlorinator was too tight and wouldn't budge. i used a blowdryer to heat up the threads in the lid and they expanded enough to turn.

 

[anonapersona]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some

the screw on lid to our chlorinator was too tight and wouldn't budge. i used a blowdryer to heat up the threads in the lid and they expanded enough to turn.

Wow, THAT is clever!

 

[alfspop]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

I forget where, Lowe's or Home Depot, but I got a hose timer. It's like an egg timer you attach in line to the hose. Then when I fill, I set the time, 1 hour or so, and it turns itself off.

Brilliant they're cheap as chips, I'm off to get one tomorrow, I don't know how much water I have wasted over filling in the psat.

 

[Candi]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

Before you vacumm get everyone in the pool to go in a circle and make a whirlpool. Then you only have a small pile of dirt in the middle to clean.

 

[JamesW]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

When vacuuming during windy conditions, throw a little bit of Pool Perfect onto the surface of the water. It will form a temporary film on the surface, and you will be able to see much better.

 

[PVille]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

Dissolving Pool Salt...

I discovered a new trick this year to dissolve the Solar Salt I get form the hardware store. I use a portable submersible pump (e.g. sump pump) to pump my pool water into a five gallon bucket setting on my pool steps. I keep the bucket filled with salt and other startup chemicals and let this run while I continue the rest of the pool opening tasks like filling, vacuuming etc. I think I dissolved 3 50lb. bags in a couple of hours. By the time I finished brushing/vacuuming the pool my salt level was high enough (low end) to turn on the SWG and I slowly added salt over the next couple of days to get to my final level.

 

[rcy]

Re:

When starting to vacuum, put the bottom of the vacuum up to the return to fill the hose, with the vacuum cap in the skimmer. As soon as the air bubbles stop and water runs out, put the cap on the skimmer to start to vacuum. When finished, lift of the vacuum head to let air in and suck all water out, holding on to the cap - as soon as you can feel the cap move, remove it - you will have hardly any water left in the hose .

Similar to this, but for those pools where the return is not close to the skimmer -

Put hose on vacuum, place vacuum in pool and feed out hose. Now take the end of the hose (that will eventually go on vacuum cap and in skimmer) and hold it over a return. When all the bubbles stop coming out of the vacuum head (it will float up and then sink as all the air is expelled), take the hose out of the water and place your hand over it. This will prevent the water from siphoning into the pool. Now walk over to your skimmer, place vacuum cap on end of hose and drop into skimmer.

 

[JamesW]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

I keep the bucket filled with salt and other startup chemicals...

I hope that you're not adding multiple chemicals at once.

 

[8lbcalico]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

Wow that was a long and worthwhile read! I ran out to the pool and tried a few out LOL. These may help someone out.

1. Want to make skimming the surface of small debris and bugs easy? Mix a small (as little as possible) amount of dish soap with water in the soap container, squirt solution right down the middle of the pool length wise and viola all particles move to the side for one easy round about the pool with the net and DONE! Swim more work less!

2. Have trouble priming your pump? Need an easy way to drain off water? Install a threaded PVC "T" above the Diffuser housing before it goes down to the filter housing inlet. Put a threaded end cap on the top end of the "T". Finally install a hose bib into the end cap. Typically all I need to do to prime is open the hose bib, turn pump on and the pump primes within 10 to 15 seconds. Once there is a strong steam of water and no more air visible through the strainer lid I close the bib and bleed off any excess air from the top of the filter housing. I also have a female to female section of hose that I can put water into the pump in the event there is absolutely no water in there and I don't risk running it dry. The hose also helps to direct the water away from me as I prime the pump.

See image for primer "T" bib:

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/29366692/1/primerT?h=4f0e2b

Not sure if these were covered or if some of the stalwart pros would think I'm nuts but see if it works for you.

 

[accidentalpoolowner]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

8lbcalico, your tip #2 above saved my life! I've been struggling with priming my pool pump all day long. I tried everything else suggested (fill bucket with water, put garden hose in the skimmer with water on, drain jet etc) and nothing worked. I just happened to remember seeing "Hose Bib" in my pump system and I never knew what it was for. So I decided to bing it and after scanning through several useless posts, I stumpled upon your tip. I immediately gave it a try and it worked like a champ! My pump sits much higher than the pool and is about 50 feet away so it has never been easy to get my pump primed. Now I just need to leave the hose bib open until water comes out - this, I believe, gets the air out of the suction side of the pump. Then just close it and open the top pressure release valve. This is awesome and now I can go to sleep and have a nice dream! Thank you so much!

 

[scoreboard]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

To keep the acid splash to a minimum and reduced strength as it goes into the pool, I dip my Home Depot bucket into the pool and collect about 2/3 full. The bucket is large enough to contain the whole acid jug and allows me to pure inside of the bucket without splashing. Then I pour the content into the pool, gather up several buckets full of pool water as a chaser to pour over the first load to help distribute.

Thanks for all the create tips!

 

[macgulley]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

I have a cheap kitty litter scoop http://s.petco.com/assets/product_images/8/800443124093C.jpg that I use to remove things (spiders, snakes, frogs, mice, etc.) from the skimmer before sticking my hand in.

 

[exbcmc]

Re:

A friend taught me this one: Never take a water sample with your cell phone in your pocket. One little misstep and you'll be buying a new phone.

been there, done that.

 

[exbcmc]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

I forget where, Lowe's or Home Depot, but I got a hose timer. It's like an egg timer you attach in line to the hose. Then when I fill, I set the time, 1 hour or so, and it turns itself off.

Brilliant they're cheap as chips, I'm off to get one tomorrow, I don't know how much water I have wasted over filling in the psat.

Before we remodeled the pool and installed an auto fill, I purchased a hose bib time that ran off of batteries. Unlike the egg timer type, this one you can set like your sprikler timers. In the summer, when we'd be out of town for a week, or so, I place the hose in the pool and have the timer set to "water" everyday for 5 min. Then I would not have to worry about burning up my pump due to low water. Worked great.

 

[exbcmc]

Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got

Take your water sample from 2 feet under without getting your arm wet or bending over.

Using a 3/4" pvc pipe, about 4' long, hold your hand on the top of the pipe to prevent water from entering (air from escaping), sink the pipe about 2' down and then remove your hand (pipe fills up). Replace your hand and remove the pipe and put over your water sample cup that you have placed on the coping. Slowly let air enter and dispense the water into the cup.

I started using this method this winter when I no longer wanted to stick my arm in the cold pool. Now I continue doing it so I don't have to bend over.

I love science!