wrabon

We need to shut down our pool pump for the winter. What steps do we need to take as far as draining any lines, etc. in case of a freeze?

Okay, after posting previously I think I've decided that I can shut my pump and swg off for the winter, but leave my pool uncovered. I live in SC and it doesn't get too cold during the winter. There are also no trees near my pool, and I never cover it for the winter. We do, however usually run the pump on low all winter and keep the swg running. I don't want to that this year for fear of the constant running wearing down my equipment, especially when it's really not needed during the winter. When I get my pool ready for the summer, I generally only have to add a couple bags of salt, some CYA, and vaccuum some leaves out of the bottom. Now, we want to shut our pump and swg down for the winter, but leave the pool full and uncovered. What do I need to do to the pumps as far as draining for the winter before shutting them down to avoid water freezing in the lines when the temperature does drop? We have a Pentair Challenger High Performance Pump with sand filter, as well as a Polaris Booster Pump. We have Polaris AutoClear Plus SWG system. I can provide pictures if necessary. Thanks!

If we opt to just shut down the pump and swg, what steps would we need to take as far as draining any lines, etc. in case of a freeze? Also, what would be the likelyhood of it turning green over the winter with the swg and pump shut down??

I have a 25,000 gallon gunite with vinyl liner pool and a salt water generator. My pool is 3 yeras old, and I've never winterized it. We've always maintained it throughout the winter months by keeping the swg running at a minimum and keeping the pump running on low 24/7 (b/c we don't have it on a timer). At the beginning of the season our water is always crystal clear and we just have to vaccuum a few times to get out leaves, trash, etc. When we check our chemistry we ususally have to add a couple bags of salt and some cya. Other than that, nothing. We live in S. Carolina where it doesn't get terribly cold during the winter. I'm just worried about running our pump and swg 24/7 year round. Would it be cheaper for us to buy a cover and shut everything down for the winter, or are we better off keeping up with what we've been doing? If we decide to winterize and buy a cover, what's the best one to buy, and what would we need to do chemical wise before covering it, since it is an swg pool and we don't use any chemicals on a regular basis? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I have a Polaris Autoclear Plus and mine started giving off weird salt levels this year too. I know mine is a different brand, but I'll tell you what was wrong with mine, just in case it's a place you could look. Mine had a fuse built in the control box that had gone bad, which caused it to give invalid salt levels and no amp reading. I fixed it and was still getting some weird readings and was told my data board needed to be replaced. So I replaced it, too, and now all is well. Luckily, all of this stuff was still under warranty. So even though yours is a different brand, this may be something you could question before replacing the entire cell. Not sure, but thought I'd give my two cents.

From what I understand calcium hardness is an issue with plaster/concrete pools. I have a vinyl pool and have been told that calcium hardness doesn't need to be calculated for vinyl lined pools; however, I could be wrong.

Yes - run the booster pump while the main pump is running in filter mode. I have a Polaris 380 and that's all I use to clean my pool - couldn't imgine having to hand vac! The place to plug in the pool cleaner is actually inside the pool beneath the water line.

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No, I'm certainly not saying keep it on superchlorinate forever and my post actually said to do that for only a few days. Mine has a 24-hour boost option which will only superchorinate for a 24-hour period, which I have used in the past to deal with a minor slime issue and it worked without me having to shock it with bleach. However, if it is a full algae breakout, you will need to use regular unscented chlorox bleach to shock it. However, if you don't get your CYA up to 80 ppm, your SWG is not going to be as effective as it's supposed to be. Like I said, this was the first year I had to supplement/shock with bleach, but it's also the first year my CYA got down below 80 due to some heavy rain and having to backwash.

In SC, my most recent bill was about $350 (3600 sq. ft., 2 story, brick home). It's been very hot here, and we keep our AC on 76 during the day when no one's at home. (Two AC units - one 3 1/2 ton and one 4 ton). Our pump runs 24/7 (on low) year round, because we have an SWG and we didn't install a timer when we put the pump in. However, we're considering having a time installed so that we can cut our run time in half to ensure that it's running the same time our SWG is generating, which is about 8 hrs/day right now due to the pool water temp. Does anyone have any thoughts on installing a pump timer and cutting the pump run time? I'm just worried about poor circulation with doing this, but right now my pump never stops and I'm worried about that, too.

I have an SWG and up until this year (my pool is 3 yrs. old) never had to shock with chlorine. However, this year in SC it got really hot really quick. Although my FC level was around 4ppm, I still developed an algae outbreak, and my pool turned very green. My CYA had gotten down to around 60, which is a little low for an SWG pool and probably contributed to my chlroine to lowering some and the algae catching quick. I had to learn a lot really quick about shocking with plain old bleach and was able to solve my problem with the help of this forum (especially chem geek). Get a Taylor test kit so that you can test higher levels of FC and get better results on all other tests, too. The green hasn't shown up yet. So if you get your CYA up and keep your SWG running on superchlorinate for a few days, you may be able to get rid fo the sliminess. I wasn't that lucky this year and had to shock. But considering my pool is 3 year old, I think I've had a great results and have not regretted my SWG at all. Get that Taylor test kit, get that CYA up to 80, and keep the SWG running on superchlorinate. But if you don't get the CYA up, the SWG won't be able to keep the chlorine levels up enough to get rid of the slime or to keep an algae outbreak from happening. Good luck!

Does it sound like this will fix my problem?? Is this common? My Polaris is 3 years old, and I run it often. Is it a matter of wearing out the groves of where the plug goes in and locks? Just wondering for future reference. Thanks a lot!

I replaced the quick disconnect (whole part). Now when I plug it in, it's not even catching into the plug that's mounted inside the pool. Usually when I plug it in and twist it, it locks. Now it doesn't even lock-just keeps turning. So my question is, was my problem likely the universal wall fitting itself? If so, how do we get that thing out of the pool? Will it just unscrew or do we have to completely remove the whole part from the wall? (It seems that would require removing water from the pool.) Anyone know?? If it's the wall fitting and it will unscrew (which we've tried and it didn't want to move) we'll do it ourselves. If it's going to require draining, we're going to contact a professional. Let me know what you think???

I have a Polaris AutoClear Plus and have had great results over the last 3 years. I had one broken part this year, which was still under warranty (5 year warranty). But it was a very inexpensive fuse device, had it not been under warranty. I had my first algae problem this eyar (after three years of crystal clear pool water.) I got really hot here in SC really quick, but it's clear again and my SWG is doing it's job. This is my first pool and I wouldn't have it any other way. I started out with an SWG but my borth-in0law converted his several years ago and went with something called the Water Thing. He's had great results, too. Hope this helps !

Okay - my parts came in. Now my question is. . . . what's teh easiest way to ge the quick disconnect back onto the hose. I mean we can get it in the hose, but the hose nut is just too difficult to get back over the lip of the quick disconnect. Is there a trick to this or do we just need to keep trying to work it in? It's part 47 on the diagram. We just can't get the darn thing to screw back on - tight fit!