You guys are killing me with these opening threads!

[V___25]

I want to wait a few more weeks since I don't trust our night time temperatures and we don't have a heater so we can't swim until late May/early June anyway but I'm itching to get this cover off! I cracked open a corner and things are looking pretty good! A ton of worms and dirt on the bottom, which is an every year thing, but I can clearly see the bottom. The cover makes a weird green shadow but you can see the main drain at 8' down . Water temp is 54*

 

[PoolStored]

I want to wait a few more weeks since I don't trust our night time temperatures and we don't have a heater so we can't swim until late May/early June anyway but I'm itching to get this cover off! I cracked open a corner and things are looking pretty good! A ton of worms and dirt on the bottom, which is an every year thing, but I can clearly see the bottom. The cover makes a weird green shadow but you can see the main drain at 8' down . Water temp is 54*

I'm in Ohio. I open in a few phases.
1) Two weeks ago, I started running the dolphin 2-5x per day by lifting corner of mesh safety cover and throwing the dolphin in.
2) Yesterday I started the plumbing. I will leave mesh cover on until May 15. Continue to run the dolphin and dose LC to raise and maintain FC for my CYA.
3) At some point near May 15, when water is warmer, I will add CYA, and peel back shallow end, add salt.
3) May 15 or so, remove the cover and start the SWCG and heater.

This process allows me to get it cleaned out early, chems in to avoid algae, confirm/deny any pool equipment related items with enough time to fix them before the heat really causes an algae problem, and I open in May to clean, clear, ready to swim (for the most part) pool.

 

[Newdude]

Welcome back V !!!!

I LOVE this time of year when everybody returns.

 

[V___25]

I'm in Ohio. I open in a few phases.
1) Two weeks ago, I started running the dolphin 2-5x per day by lifting corner of mesh safety cover and throwing the dolphin in.
2) Yesterday I started the plumbing. I will leave mesh cover on until May 15. Continue to run the dolphin and dose LC to raise and maintain FC for my CYA.
3) At some point near May 15, when water is warmer, I will add CYA, and peel back shallow end, add salt.
3) May 15 or so, remove the cover and start the SWCG and heater.

This process allows me to get it cleaned out early, chems in to avoid algae, confirm/deny any pool equipment related items with enough time to fix them before the heat really causes an algae problem, and I open in May to clean, clear, ready to swim (for the most part) pool.

If the hubs wasn't going away this weekend, I'd make him help me pull the cover off and then start the plumbing later. I may steal your idea #1 and leave the cover on and stuff the robot under it to run to start gathering those worms. I normally pull the cover early, run the robot and stir in chlorine manually but we have a new puppy who is fascinated with the pool so I'm leaving that cover on for now!

 

[PoolStored]

stuff the robot under it to run to start gathering those worms

I remove the two corner tie downs that are facing 90 degrees from each other. Robot goes in easy.

 

[dw9000]

84 degrees, I couldn't help myself. Pulled the cover off and dumped in 4 gal of Menards pool shock and running the pump over night. tomorrow hand vac the floor, get some sun and get in the pool mood

 

[Spitdog]

I just hooked up the pump today. Cover is still on, I will leave it on until the oak trees quit blossoming. Water temp was 59.5. I added a little chlorine and ran the pump for a couple of hrs. It was clear with a few leaves on the bottom and the pump worked good. Put a new gaskets and seal on this winter when I was board. Also lubed the multi port rubber wagon wheel gasket . Since I have a sand filter , after all the pollen gets through I will take off the top and deep clean the sand.

 

[mariane]

. . . . Since I have a sand filter , after all the pollen gets through I will take off the top and deep clean the sand.

Using hairnets/skimmer socks would help keep a lot of the pollen out of the pool. You might have to change them out a couple times during the day.
They help keep out dust, small stuff that usually gets past the skimmer basket and pollen from getting into the sand filter. We use them all swim season and rarely need to backwash.

 

[IceShadow]

Using hairnets/skimmer socks would help keep a lot of the pollen out of the pool. You might have to change them out a couple times during the day.
They help keep out dust, small stuff that usually gets past the skimmer basket and pollen from getting into the sand filter. We use them all swim season and rarely need to backwash.

Skimmer socks (though we use hairnets) are a must in our pool due to pine needles. The 1" long skinny ones from the pines here get through the skimmer AND the pump basket, then get themselves caught in the pump between the body of the and the impeller housing / seal plate, making the pump less effective and probably shortening its life. I catch so many pine needles due to the hairnets...

 

[fields_g]

I'm in Ohio. I open in a few phases.
1) Two weeks ago, I started running the dolphin 2-5x per day by lifting corner of mesh safety cover and throwing the dolphin in.
2) Yesterday I started the plumbing. I will leave mesh cover on until May 15. Continue to run the dolphin and dose LC to raise and maintain FC for my CYA.
3) At some point near May 15, when water is warmer, I will add CYA, and peel back shallow end, add salt.
3) May 15 or so, remove the cover and start the SWCG and heater.

This process allows me to get it cleaned out early, chems in to avoid algae, confirm/deny any pool equipment related items with enough time to fix them before the heat really causes an algae problem, and I open in May to clean, clear, ready to swim (for the most part) pool.

This is my method as well. Variable speed pump really cuts down on the electric cost of "opening early" or "closing late".
1) Robot to early clean
2) When water is close to crossing the 60 degree mark, plumbing and chem balance with cover in place (SWG or tabs... what ever I feel like)
3) Cover comes off after the maple helicopters are done falling... which probably means this weekend around here!

At startup... first pump to "Waste" because dead earthworms still find their way into the Main Drain lines and that water is putrid. Then I pump to "Rinse", just in case there's some stagnent water in the filter, then finally set to "Filter". I also close after the water temp drops below 60 degrees. 8 years and I've never had an algae problem.

 

[MadameMagenta]

This is my method as well. Variable speed pump really cuts down on the electric cost of "opening early" or "closing late".
1) Robot to early clean
2) When water is close to crossing the 60 degree mark, plumbing and chem balance with cover in place (SWG or tabs... what ever I feel like)
3) Cover comes off after the maple helicopters are done falling... which probably means this weekend around here!

At startup... first pump to "Waste" because dead earthworms still find their way into the Main Drain lines and that water is putrid. Then I pump to "Rinse", just in case there's some stagnent water in the filter, then finally set to "Filter". I also close after the water temp drops below 60 degrees. 8 years and I've never had an algae problem.

I’ve never heard a truer statement. I have a couple maple trees in my yard and you said it perfectly, maple helicopters. I don’t know how many baby maple trees I have growing throughout the summer.

 

[IceShadow]

I’ve never heard a truer statement. I have a couple maple trees in my yard and you said it perfectly, maple helicopters. I don’t know how many baby maple trees I have growing throughout the summer.

We always had little maple trees growing in our garage gutters every spring even with them being cleaned out in the fall at our last house where we had a big maple that overhung the garage...