Need Pool maintenance info? YouTube

[Cropduster172]

Have had our beach house with its pool for 15 years now. Had it completely replastered, new coping, new waterfall feature 3 years ago. New Hayward pump last year.
The Pentair 60sf filter is original...going on 25 years is my guess but grids and valves have been replaced over the years.
I never knew how to backwash it because I never had to, until Sunday. Pool got opened on Friday and they removed the plugs and cover, fired up the pump and added DE.
I vacuumed it Saturday and the pressure increased to where the suction and discharge were weak...tons of pollen floating on the surface plus the other junk and grit that makes it's way in over Fall and Winter. Don't have a multi port valve, it's a push/pull valve and it is stiff. I found a 3 minute YouTube video where the guy explained it in super simple terms.
Soaked the push/pull valve with PB blaster, went inside for an espresso, came back out and climbed on the equipment deck and had my son kill the power. Yanked the valve up, it was still very stiff(0 rings)but opened completely. Son powered it up and bingo...let it run for 1-2 minutes until clear. Worked great. Added 5 lbs of DE through both skimmers and it's looking and running great.

YouTube is great

 

[Tom NJ]

I have a sand filter with a multiport valve. Backwashing is a breeze and I do it when the pressure rises about 4-5 pounds. Since I have an automatic cover, the pool is covered 95% of the time and so I get very little blown in debris, critters, dust, or pollen.

 

[Cropduster172]

I have a sand filter with a multiport valve. Backwashing is a breeze and I do it when the pressure rises about 4-5 pounds. Since I have an automatic cover, the pool is covered 95% of the time and so I get very little blown in debris, critters, dust, or pollen.

I've only had the problem last year and again this year... immediately after opening. Last year the pump failed so the pool service guys backwashed it after installing the new pump. I was on my own this year. Only use the pool service for opening and closing and repairs as needed. I maintain it otherwise. Bought one of those cordless robotic cleaners on Amazon. Does just as good a job as the Polaris with far less maintenance.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I ask myself a lot, what did we do before YT! It sure is handy on almost everything and there are videos to watch as you go along.

 

[Tom NJ]

I let the pool service guys close my pool because they have the equipment tp blow out the underground pipes and winterize everything, albeit @ $200. I open it in April myself and do all routine maintenance, mostly water chemistry.

The pool came with a Zodiac MX 8 Elite water powered robotic vacuum which I used exactly once (anyone want to buy it - cheap?). Since I have an automatic pool cover I only need to vacuum it every three weeks or so, and just manually scoop the little debris that makes it to the bottom between vacuums. The robotic vacuum takes as much time to set up as the manual vacuum, and then takes hours to cover the pool at a high pump setting. I can manually vacuum it in 20 minutes.

As an aside, pump speed has a cost. A single speed pump runs at 3,450 RPMs which is the speed recommended for vacuuming. My variable speed pump is adjustable continuously from 600 to 3,450 RPMs. Per the law of affinity, a pump power consumption is proportional to the cube of the speed. So I run my pump at 1,100 RPMs all day, at which it draws 1/30th of the electrical power compared to full speed. Even running it three times as long still saves 90% of the electric draw and keeps the water always moving. I only crank up the pump speed to full for the 20 minutes needed for vacuuming, and the few minutes for back washing. I use 1/2 speed (1,700 RPMs) for heating which uses 1/8 electricity. In addition to the power savings, variable speed pumps are very quiet and have three times the life compared to a single speed pump, easily covering the higher initial cost.

 

[Cropduster172]

I pay for the pool service for opening and closing. It's a 2 man process with the cover. We have a single speed pump. But I calculated the electric cost to be about $170/ season... May -October. Got a 40lb bucket of 3" chlorine pucks at Costco on sale for $120 about 2 weeks ago.
I ditched the heater after the third one failed.

 

[KrisZ]

For the single stage pumps, you can close one of the diverter valves about 80%-90% and the pump will draw around 30% of its power.

Tested it with my variable speed pump that showed wattage usage on the control panel. I could get it down to 150W-200W, running full speed by simply limiting water flow with the diverter valve.

 

[Foreman04]

I like the idea of saving $600-$700 a year by opening and closing my pool myself. A shop vac to blow out the lines, a couple gallons of nontoxic antifreeze from Home Depot, a pool winterizing kit. It’s really not a big deal and I do it completely myself. With any issues pertaining to your pool, YouTube will provide the answers.

 

[Cropduster172]

I like the idea of saving $600-$700 a year by opening and closing my pool myself. A shop vac to blow out the lines, a couple gallons of nontoxic antifreeze from Home Depot, a pool winterizing kit. It’s really not a big deal and I do it completely myself. With any issues pertaining to your pool, YouTube will provide the answers.

It doesn't seem like a complicated process... opening or closing. But wrestling with the cover... especially after opening...no thanks.