Newbie Here! Just Installed My Intex 16' X 48" Ag Pool!

[MrsNoPlea]

Hello All!!!!

I have LOTS OF QUESTIONS! Thanks for all of your posts, I have learned so much so far just be reading. I am a new pool owner and I chose the Intex Ultra Metal Frame above ground after lots of research. I was able to get it delivered free shipping from Target. The selling price was much more than the regular Intex Metal Frame....this is their newer, stronger model and I really think the extra money was worth it. This pool, for a soft-sided, is really good looking and sturdy and my husband and I really did have it up in 45 minutes and had water running in to fill it. I have added chlorine from a "start-up kit" and I have tested the water every day and everything seems to be in order......BUT.....I know nothing about taking care of a pool and I think I'd like to convert to the salt water generator. So far the water is crystal clear.....I am running my filter 24 hours a day, at least for now until I learn exactly how to take care of this pool. I think running the filter is a big step in keeping it clean....NOW.....another issue is this 800 GPH filter pump.....I'm considering upgrading but I know I have to get an adapter...haven't decided for sure about that....filters really aren't that expensive to upgrade.......I purchased a Wanda the Whale automatic cleaner that is built the same as the Aqua Critter.......but I should have done my homework on that because the hose won't fit the skimmer........I purchased an adapter today that might enable it to work...but it may not work still because the pump may not be big enough....I am determined to find an automatic vacuum cleaner that I can run in this pool......I have done a little bit of research and there is an "EZ Vac" by Pentair that supposedly will fit...and the "Lil Shark" will supposedly fit....I'd love any advice on this, too!!!!

Chlorine floater??? If I decide to stay with the chlorine, how do I know which floater to purchase? I saw lots of "cute" ones at the pool store but wouldn't know which size to purchase if I needed to get one.

The ladder is so flimsy that I'm afraid I'll fall off when climbing it....I'm going to get a different ladder, one with fold up, lockable, stairs so that it will meet county codes for safety. I'd welcome advice on ladder brands!

Now.....landscaping around my pool? I am having a load of pea gravel delivered tomorrow that I plan to put around the pool and then I'll place a few plants and some nice lights.......I want to dress it up and make it look nice but want to use materials that won't hurt the pool....that is the reason for the pea gravel, it is soft and round stones so they won't puncture the pool walls, although this upgraded version has VERY STRONG sidewalls. Any other landscape advice?

I forgot to mention....we paid a landscaper to level a 19" area for us to put our pool.....it was worth the cost to have the guy do this professionally with a bobcat....now we have a level pool and it looks beautiful! I learned this the hard way because I originally tried to put up the Intex Easy Set 15' x 36" with the blow up ring and it was so lopsided and bowed out to one side that it wasn't even funny.....after about one foot full it started spilling out the side and I thought our yard was fairly level!!!! I decided then and there to do it right.

Thanks again for any and all advice!!!! I appreciate you and your wisdom! I'm clueless about pools with the exception that I've always wanted one of my own!!!!!!!

[hatetoskim!]

As I am new here also I can only answer one of your questions. We picked up a 15x42 last month and have a good experience with it. I too made the mistake of thinking that close was good enough on level DOH!.

But on to your question on the pump. I went up to a 1500gph (model 635) for a few reasons.

Almost %50 increase in capacity.

On/off switch (trivial, but much nicer than having to unplug/plug.)

Plunger valves! (this was a HUGE improvement over those black plugs, checking the filter take no time now)

The only downsides are you are still limited by the 1 1/4 fittings on the pool so you can't use the big strainers that came with the 1500 gph pump. Not a big deal, but I would have like to be able to go to the 1 1/2 fittings.

The adapters are part#10722 and are <$2.00

I see that you already have the automatic skimmer. What a huge difference this made for us. Our pool did not come with it and my wife had been hand skimming. We liked that vacuum that came with the Intex Deluxe maint set so we order one at the same time we got the 635 pump. When I first installed it (before I turned it on) my wife was poking fun at it, that is until I turned it on and it started sucking all that junk that she spent a ton of time everyday on hand skimming was being sucked away. That alone was worth the money for the kit! The main reason we got the kit was the vacuum. This is a true filtered vacuum, not one of those water swirl/leave deals. Worked great and only took about 20 minutes to do a pretty nasty bottom. I have not ever used the automatics as my previous experience pool maintenance was as a kid in FL forced to do pool duty on a big inground for years. The automatic costs in those years made it a pipe dream for me But then again that was how many decades ago. It looks like the costs have come down a great deal, but I have not had a chance to look into them yet.

On the floater. We had used a floater when we lived in another state without a problem. We just had to run the filter whenever the floater was in the pool. Since we have moved to TN we have not been able to get the Triclor tablets to dissolve. I even drill the floater to look like swiss cheese to get more flow, but nothing. I did not know about the different types of chlorine and blindly pciked up the only granular they I could find at the time. Turned out to be Calcium Hypochlorite. A couple of weeks later I had a pool full of milk. Took me a couple of days of research to figure out by trying to shock the murkiness out of the water we were through more and more calcium into the water making the cloudiness worse. Once we shifted to the Dichlor things got better. Well better after $25 in filters to finally get the slimy white goo out of the water. Morale of my long winded story, know what kind of chlorine you want to use. Someone with the need to added Ca might go with the Calcium Hypochlorite. But for most the Triclor might be best ( I just cant seem to get it to dissolve). Also the different types have different effects on ph levels.

Oh well, that pretty much a brain dump of what we have learned in this last month of dealing with this over the first month with the pool. It has definitely been worth the time and money as the kids spend almost every waking moment in the thing.

Enjoy your new pool!

[Farmwife]

I am interested in purchasing a similiar pool. Is it your intention to leave the pool up all year round or just for the summer months? I am looking for a pool that I can easily set up now and pack up for the fall and winter months. Do you anticipate this pool would be that easy to take down and store? I'd love to hear your feedback and would love to see pictures. Thanks, Kate

[CrazyPoolMom]

MsNoPlea,

I bought this same pool this year, we had a blow up ring pool last year that was 18X48, and I thought this pool would be easier to keep clean because the walls go straight down.

I was disappointed in this pool kit. I was upset that the filter pump capacity was so low at 800GPH, and that the plungers with on/off valves were not included. I already have a 2000GPH filter/pump that I was able to pick up at a garage sale, you can get one for around 100 bucks on the online auction services, and it has been my experience that the plungers with on/off valves tend to freeze up anyway, but I was sure hoping to resell these things on an online auction service! The frame, and liner seem to be of good quality, and I was happy that a large bubblewrap circle was included for under the pool:)

As for a floating chlorinator, I have with great success, just always poked some holes in a plastic soda bottle and stuck a chlorine tablet inside. Another thing I do is to put a chlorine tablet or small hunk of chlorine into the strainer basket where the clean water from the filter/pump is rushing back into the pool. Remeber though that direct sunlight depletes chlorine levels unless you have stablizer in the water, and I had such a bad experience with trying to use stabilizer that I gave up completely on that.

I have ordered an Aqua Critter, a relative of Wanda:), and I could not find a site that gave specifications for Filter/Pump capacity and fittings, but am ever hopeful that I can make the thing work.

Farmwife,

I am thinking this pool will be very easy to get cleaned and dried for storage, because unlike the blow up ring pools, the whole entire liner will be exposed to air after draining, whereas the blow up ring pools just collapse without water and are very difficult to completely drain and dry. You really have to wrestle with them. I had to turn mine upside down on the trampoline and keep moving the blow up ring around, it was a mess, hopefully this one will be much easier. Just be sure to pick a time when it is not going to rain to drain the pool.

Another thing, if you are on well water, there are special considerations for chemicals. You really need to let a pool dealer test the water and advise you on what to do. And of course, when you are buying the kit, make sure to get the largest capacity filter/pump possible with the kit:)

[CrazyPoolMom]

MrsNoPlea:

Well I got my Hayward aqua critter today, and it would not fit with my skimmer either, but we did seem to have a lot of success with running it directly from the inflow of the filter pump, it was getting dark, and the mosquitos were about to carry us off, so we have disconnected it and headed in for the night. (I am running the Krystal Klear Model 51 Pump, 2000gph.) We did have sacrifice a strainer basket from our smaller pool to get the hose to fit onto the inflow hole however. I will try to add pictures tomorrow. There is some trouble with the outflow from the filter blowing the aqua critter hose around in the water, but I think I can rob a part off of the shop vac to act as a deflector:) It did move around well though and left a clear line where it had been. I washed out the paper filter, (size after it ran for a little while, and it could have stood a lot more vacuuming. I made sure to get the big leaves out as I did not purchase the optional leaf basket. You sure have to be sure to get all of the air out of the hoses and the Aqua Critter or you will have to re prime the pump.

So do not get rid of Wanda if you are planning to get a larger pump, and make sure to get one that is atleast 2000GPH:)

[MaxAcceleration]

But on to your question on the pump. I went up to a 1500gph (model 635) for a few reasons.

Almost %50 increase in capacity.

On/off switch (trivial, but much nicer than having to unplug/plug.)

Plunger valves! (this was a HUGE improvement over those black plugs, checking the filter take no time now)

The only downsides are you are still limited by the 1 1/4 fittings on the pool so you can't use the big strainers that came with the 1500 gph pump. Not a big deal, but I would have like to be able to go to the 1 1/2 fittings.

The adapters are part#10722 and are <$2.00

I also have a 15' by 42" frame pool. The pump really stunk so I bought the 4000gph, only to discover the fittings (with the pluger valves) would not go through the existing holes.

So I went and bought the conversion adapter kit (part#10722): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013LTXI0?smid=A...mp;linkCode=asn

...but I can't seem to figure out how to hook the conversion kit up. It doesn't come with any instructions. Do I leave the existing inlet/outlet valves in the pool or do I still use the plunger type that came with the 4000gph pump? What exactly hook up to the conversion kit?

Thanks in advance.

[imnay]

I wouldn't want to try to do a pump power and capacity upgrade - I would pay someone. Our contractor installed an in-ground super pump with 220volt power and it cycles water approx every 4 hours. I've never seen a gallon-per-hour pump rating but we have approx. 20k gallons so I guess pump does about 5k gallons per hour.

It shouldn't be hard to drain down your water level and have someone re-cut your outlet holes to larger size and then install larger diameter fittings but you may also need to up size your support structure - flexible hose or pvc.

Chlorine - we have an in-line auto chlorinator. It holds about 10 to 12 three inch tabs and is easy to fill and easy to use and with adjustable output it makes it easy to keep chlorine level stable - each load lasts about a week.

Chlorinator relatively simple to install in outlet pipe on outward flow side of your filter.

You could also install salt system at this same location if you decide to sanitize with that instead of cholrine.

[Ronald]

i us e the salt water generator from intex.

My pool is the same, a metal frame ultra pool 16x48.

You don't have to worry about the water ,once a week i test teh water and everything is fine.

It runs for 2 til 3 hours a day depending on the tempreture.

For cleaning the surface i use the deluxe set from intex and it takes about 20 min. to clean the pool.

This is much better than the thing that came with the pool.

It uses the pump filter as the filter.

[betherindiana]

We have an Intex Metal Frame pool, 24x52, just put it up tonight and we leveled the ground and put down sand. It is perfectly level, got all the wrinkles out and we did put blocks under the legs. Hopefully that is a good decision. We are not planning on taking it down, but winterizing and leaving it up. Has anyone done that and is it okay? Also, we have sand around the pool but want to landscape on top of that. What recommendations do you have that will not hurt the liner? We had the pool last year and did not get it level, so we did take it down and it is perfectly level this year. Looking for some good ideas.......

[tabbikat86]

<!--quoteo(post=28905:date=Jun 17 2007, 10:45 AM:name=hatetoskim!)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hatetoskim! @ Jun 17 2007, 10:45 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=28905"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->But on to your question on the pump. I went up to a 1500gph (model 635) for a few reasons.

Almost %50 increase in capacity.

On/off switch (trivial, but much nicer than having to unplug/plug.)

Plunger valves! (this was a HUGE improvement over those black plugs, checking the filter take no time now)

The only downsides are you are still limited by the 1 1/4 fittings on the pool so you can't use the big strainers that came with the 1500 gph pump. Not a big deal, but I would have like to be able to go to the 1 1/2 fittings.

The adapters are part#10722 and are <$2.00<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I also have a 15' by 42" frame pool. The pump really stunk so I bought the 4000gph, only to discover the fittings (with the pluger valves) would not go through the existing holes.

So I went and bought the conversion adapter kit (part#10722): <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013LTXI0?smid=A2D89EMAULJSOO&tag=dealtime-toys-20&linkCode=asn" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013LTXI0?smid=A...mp;linkCode=asn</a>

...but I can't seem to figure out how to hook the conversion kit up. It doesn't come with any instructions. Do I leave the existing inlet/outlet valves in the pool or do I still use the plunger type that came with the 4000gph pump? What exactly hook up to the conversion kit?

Thanks in advance.

Although I do not know why Intex does not suggest that their 4000 gph pump be used on pools smaller than either 16 or 18 feet, I can't remember. I would check into it. I figured it was because the suction was so strong it was too much for the smaller pools, but i would call intex.