Sunbaby
LifeTime Supporter
- Feb 27, 2015
- 1,402
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Truclear / Ei
Tips and Tricks
- Thread starter JohnT
- Start date
The one tip I have is just a slight variation of the siphoning water tips others have added. I use the vacuum hose and submerge it at one end with the weighted vacuum attachment. Then feed the rest of the hose into the pool until the entire hose is submerged and full of water. Then grab the hose in the center and drag it back out of the pool leaving the vacuum in and as long as you get the end below the water level, gravity will pull the water out for you. The vacuum hose drains it MUCH faster than a garden hose so make sure you pay attention so you don't over drain it.
Someone suggested using hair nets in the skimmer basket in place of pool socks and I thought it was worth a try because I could buy 100 hair nets for about $6.00 on Amazon. That's really cheap compared to the cost of pool sock$. Yesterday my order of hairnets arrived and since we already have a sock in the skimmer I suggested to my husband he put one on the skimmer net. He has a thing about the tiny bits of debris that float on surface of the water. I can live with the tiny debris but I can't live with him complaining about it every day! The holes in the skimmer net are too large to catch the tiny bits that float on the surface of our pool.
Because everyone always wants to know where are the pictures, I have included pictures showing how he put the hair net onto the skimmer net and the results.
The hair nets work beautifully! The pool was looking good but it now looks great!Even better, a marriage has been saved!
Here is the link to my hair net purchase. Brand name hair nets are also for sale in a dispenser box but at about twice the price. Don't know if they are better.
Disposable Hair Net, Spun-Bonded Polypropylene, White, 100 per Bag: Science Lab Hairnets: Amazon.com: Industrial Scientific
Here are the pictures. The drain by the cat's chest in the last picture is 8' deep.
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...p.jpg~original
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...s.jpg~original
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...q.jpg~original
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...e.jpg~original
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...g.jpg~original
http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/...q.jpg~original
Any chance you can re-post these picture please?
I'd like to see how the hairnets are installed.
Marty D
0
This only works on round pools. When you have all the kids in the pool have them all walk around and around. In 5 min you will have all the dirt in center of pool. Have the vacuum ready.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,392
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
My vacuum plate tends to get stuck in place after vacuuming, and it's impossible to remove by hand. I used to insert a piece of wood into the hole in the plate and pry it out that way, until one time it was stuck so badly it cracked the wood! Now maybe this is common knowledge, but I "discovered" that the tapered rubber/plastic cap at the end of the vacuum pole fits perfectly into the vacuum plate hole, and the pole easily prys the plate out no matter how stuck it is.
Yes, this is a much better solution if it is the suction holding the plate and not that the plate has somehow been jammed in (which would indicate the wrong plate being used I think).
Was looking for an underwater video camera like a GoPro. Decided to use an old iPhone 5 in a waterproof case. Prices for odd color otter box cases for older generation phones are very reasonable. That coupled with an old phone that was collecting dust make for a budget camera/video camera that takes nice pictures/videos.
I am a bit of a newcomer here, but I have been using a flat skimming net with a watertight container attached to it by a hairband...it freefloats in my pool all the time and picks up easily 95% of bugs and crud that is on the top of my water...I try to keep it in one corner of the net so that it floats a bit at an angle down into the water so that it gathers more stuff 
View attachment 53116
View attachment 53116
Use a hairnet. You can buy a package of 100 for about $6.00 on Amazon, and yes put it inside the basket and put elastic around outside edge! works great... Almost no backwashing, saves tons of water!
kywildcats
Bronze Supporter
To drain the water off my winter cover, I use one of those milk containers that hold 4 gallon of milk, and set the pump inside it. I wrap it with cheese cloth so the leaves and debris can't get to the pump and clog it up.
The Two-Cent Trickle-ator
So many cool tips in this thread - here's mine!
I'm an impatient person, and if something tedious can be automated, I'm all for it. But, I'm also a bit of a miser. Some might say I'm a more of a cheap-skate. Or even a tight-wad (what ever that is?). In anycase, my latest innovation of automation is what I've dubbed the "Two-Cent Trickle-Chlorinator".
Or the...
Or the Trickl-ator. Or the T-C T-C. Or just the T-CC...
Anyway, it's basciaclly an empty milk jug with an opening cut open (how else to say that??) at the top for the addition of chlorine, and a tiny hole cut in the edge of the bottom for dispensing into the pool. Finally, with a rock in the bottom and it left sitting just ever so slightly over the edge above a return jet, it will slowly release it's dose of chlorine over a specified period of time. I don't know that that period of time is, 'cause that would take time & effort to determine. And, the important part is - I don't care, 'cause I'm not there!
Now, I did test it first with water to see how fast the flow rate was, and it seemed slow enough that the chlorine should mix in sufficiently with the pool water without getting to concentrated around the point of application. Hopefully...
Anway, now to go bask in the glory of my inventivness, and watch my jug do it's thing...
And for some reason I feel the need to keep an eye out for Hobbs...
PS: Ignore the tarp in the pic above - that's part of another experiment and is coming off tomorrow. Specifically, it was the "Try out a pool cover for the first time" test run. So far that's been a success. Next up is the "How to dry out the freakin' huge tarp!" experiment...
So many cool tips in this thread - here's mine!
I'm an impatient person, and if something tedious can be automated, I'm all for it. But, I'm also a bit of a miser. Some might say I'm a more of a cheap-skate. Or even a tight-wad (what ever that is?). In anycase, my latest innovation of automation is what I've dubbed the "Two-Cent Trickle-Chlorinator".
Or the...
Or the Trickl-ator. Or the T-C T-C. Or just the T-CC...
Anyway, it's basciaclly an empty milk jug with an opening cut open (how else to say that??
) at the top for the addition of chlorine, and a tiny hole cut in the edge of the bottom for dispensing into the pool. Finally, with a rock in the bottom and it left sitting just ever so slightly over the edge above a return jet, it will slowly release it's dose of chlorine over a specified period of time. I don't know that that period of time is, 'cause that would take time & effort to determine. And, the important part is - I don't care, 'cause I'm not there! Now, I did test it first with water to see how fast the flow rate was, and it seemed slow enough that the chlorine should mix in sufficiently with the pool water without getting to concentrated around the point of application. Hopefully...
Anway, now to go bask in the glory of my inventivness, and watch my jug do it's thing...
And for some reason I feel the need to keep an eye out for Hobbs...
PS: Ignore the tarp in the pic above - that's part of another experiment and is coming off tomorrow. Specifically, it was the "Try out a pool cover for the first time" test run. So far that's been a success. Next up is the "How to dry out the freakin' huge tarp!" experiment...
Water Sample Bottle
Inspired by posts 39, 40, and 41, for water sample bottles:
They works great! However, the plastic used for these bottles (PETE) is kind of stiff, but the bottle on the right is easy enough to squeeze. An empty hair dye or condiment bottle, or a laboratory wash bottle, made from a softer plastic may be even easier to use.
Inspired by posts 39, 40, and 41, for water sample bottles:
They works great! However, the plastic used for these bottles (PETE) is kind of stiff, but the bottle on the right is easy enough to squeeze. An empty hair dye or condiment bottle, or a laboratory wash bottle, made from a softer plastic may be even easier to use.
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I wash out large plastic apple sauce containers after we have finished them and store chlorine in them. They have measurement marks on the side so you can measure out how much chlorine you need. Since I have to let my dog out every morning when I get home I grab an applesauce container and dump it in every morning at the return jet. I also check my skimmer while I'm there. I have enough containers that I only have to fill them every 2 weeks.
Keep DPD powder fresh longer - 2 jars
DPD powder (R-0870) will darken over time, reportedly due to exposure to moisture in the air each time it is opened. Over one or two swim seasons, and the number of tests per 10g jar, this should not be an issue. However, here's a simple tip if you live in a really humid local, or otherwise just want to maximize the powder's useful shelf-life:
When you get some new DPD powder, keep the old jar, and add only a small amount to it from the new jar from time to time.
That way, the bulk in the new jar is rarely exposed, and the small portion in the old jar is only exposed a few more times until it needs "refilled" with another small amount from the new jar.
I have no idea if this technique actually helps, but it makes me feel good like it does.
DPD powder (R-0870) will darken over time, reportedly due to exposure to moisture in the air each time it is opened. Over one or two swim seasons, and the number of tests per 10g jar, this should not be an issue. However, here's a simple tip if you live in a really humid local, or otherwise just want to maximize the powder's useful shelf-life:
When you get some new DPD powder, keep the old jar, and add only a small amount to it from the new jar from time to time.
That way, the bulk in the new jar is rarely exposed, and the small portion in the old jar is only exposed a few more times until it needs "refilled" with another small amount from the new jar.
I have no idea if this technique actually helps, but it makes me feel good like it does.
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- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,392
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
I love that tip! Supplies are expensive down here Thanks, Self Evident.
I got caught with an empty DPD bottle when I was out doing my daughter's pool. I put the dirty black spoon in the sample and swirled until it was the usual pink colour. I also took a sample of water home to be sure the test was correct and it was. So finally I get to offer a tip on TFP. That led me to also try putting the 10 ml of sample into the DPD bottle to soak up the dregs, and then into the comparator block.
TIP: If you run out of DPD powder... swirl the dirty black spoon for one or two correct tests. For another, put 10 mls pool water in the DPD bottle to soak up the dregs, then into the comparator block.
I scrounged three extra tests this way How's that for tight? (aka cheap, moths flying out of his wallet, penny-pincher)
Thanks, Self Evident.I got caught with an empty DPD bottle when I was out doing my daughter's pool. I put the dirty black spoon in the sample and swirled until it was the usual pink colour. I also took a sample of water home to be sure the test was correct and it was. So finally I get to offer a tip on TFP. That led me to also try putting the 10 ml of sample into the DPD bottle to soak up the dregs, and then into the comparator block.
TIP: If you run out of DPD powder... swirl the dirty black spoon for one or two correct tests. For another, put 10 mls pool water in the DPD bottle to soak up the dregs, then into the comparator block.
I scrounged three extra tests this way
How's that for tight? (aka cheap, moths flying out of his wallet, penny-pincher)Re: A couple of tips I thought everybody knew. Anybody got some
Next time your at the store buy a PVC cap for 50 cents and drill a 3/16 hole in it. Glue it to the end. Makes a cool whistling sound when filling and sealing the end can be done by a 4 year old.
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Next time your at the store buy a PVC cap for 50 cents and drill a 3/16 hole in it. Glue it to the end. Makes a cool whistling sound when filling and sealing the end can be done by a 4 year old.
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Are there any tips for keeping leaves out of the pool for in-ground pool? Love the hairnet in skimmer one BTW.