Haywood Pool Pump - Trapped Air & bubbles in the leaf trap?

[Ashful]

I have problems with over-chlorination, anytime I leave my solar cover on too much. Even with santizer set at 0, the chlorine level slowly creeps up, to the point where I just installed a bypass valve around the sanitizer.

If I shocked mine, and then left the cover on for a week, I fear I'd come home to a pool with chlorine levels still too high to use.

 

[stoveliker]

If chlorine is going up, something is supplying it.
So your setting of 0 is suspect to me. Does the thing work properly?

My chlorine levels are constant or go slightly down when covered.

 

[Don2222]

same here. but just in case i shock it before i leave so in a week i come back to a clear pool

Hello
I always put in the closer kit in the fall so when I remove the cover in the spring there is a nice clear pool to start adding and balancing the chemicals. Works great as long as I am careful to get the cover off without dumping in any dirty water from the cover in it!!

 

[Ashful]

If chlorine is going up, something is supplying it.
So your setting of 0 is suspect to me. Does the thing work properly?

My chlorine levels are constant or go slightly down when covered.

I think this sanitizer is designed so that a "0" setting is still emitting a small amount of chlorine. It's a brand new unit, with no obvious signs of malfunction, I think it's just a quirk of its design. It's a Frog Leap, which is a pretty nice system, as it allows running less than half the usual chlorine ppm... and no one loves chlorine. So, when I say chlorine is running high, I mean it's above 2.0 ppm, which is still in the normal range for traditional systems.

Last year, I dealt with this by removing the chlorine cartridge from the sanitizer, anytime it was running high. But then I'd be stuck storing an open cartridge, and checking chlorine levels once or twice every day to know when to reinstall it, which was not ideal. This year, I installed a proportional bypass around it, so when it's set to 0 and still running high, I can just throttle a little bypass water around it, to knock chlorine injection down even farther.

Been sick as hell the last few days, but still managed to finish up all plumbing mod's yesterday. Cover has to come off today, since water is being delivered tomorrow.

Pull return and skimmer plugs today, or wait until after water delivery tomorrow? Lines have a bit of antifreeze in them, which I'll want to direct to waste port, and avoid that washing back into the pool.

 

[stoveliker]

Sorry, only back home now - parents from NL are over.

If all plugs are accessible when the pool is filled, I'd leave them in until the water is in. Otherwise the turbulence of filling might make some antifreeze get into the pool water.

Maybe I'm too late tho.

 

[Ashful]

Sorry, only back home now - parents from NL are over.

If all plugs are accessible when the pool is filled, I'd leave them in until the water is in. Otherwise the turbulence of filling might make some antifreeze get into the pool water.

Maybe I'm too late tho.

Sort of... I pulled the plugs and installed the return jets yesterday, but the water truck hasn't arrived yet this morning. I was thinking the same as you, but then realized there's about 4 feet of drop from returns or skimmer, directly down the outside wall of the pool, since the pool is set into a hillside and the side of the pool containing the lines and equipment is totally above ground. I already flushed the skimmer line out yesterday with a garden hose, which leaves the returns to flush, but the 4 feet of vertical standpipe off each return should be totally dry, with just a bit of antifreeze at the far end. I can just undo a coupling or get creative with my valve settings to flush that out (eg. back thru sanitizer with lid removed), and think I can keep the pool clean.

One thing that was a surprise to me is that all the plugs and jets stored in the pump basket had mold on them. Makes sense, since the basket was in the pump, which has a clear top (sun) and there's antifreeze in the lines. But it's bizarre everyone seems to recommend storing the stuff here. Seems it would make much more sense to put that basket in dry storage, rather than leaving all that stuff in the pump.

 

[stoveliker]

I leave the pump open for a few weeks to let it dry out. After that it's harder to get mold.
On the other hand, your sanitizing and filtering is well able to handle all that as likely each day the pool collects and produces more than all that.

 

[Ashful]

So, our forecast has gone from daily highs around 80F to daily lows around 30F. Several nights at or below freezing forecast for the next week.

So, what's the risk, and what's the mitigation plan? I imagine just keeping the pump running is the biggest factor, the water is presently at 62F, so no risk of freezing in any large volume. But do I need to worry about places where small volumes of water can be trapped and frozen, such as the pressure gauge port in the multifunction valve?

 

[EbS-P]

So, our forecast has gone from daily highs around 80F to daily lows around 30F. Several nights at or below freezing forecast for the next week.

So, what's the risk, and what's the mitigation plan? I imagine just keeping the pump running is the biggest factor, the water is presently at 62F, so no risk of freezing in any large volume. But do I need to worry about places where small volumes of water can be trapped and frozen, such as the pressure gauge port in the multifunction valve?

Our system has been fine down to the teens at night with pump running. As long as highs are above freezing we don’t worry. Just turn the pump on and connect a hose from the slide valve back into the pool and open it. I think we put a folded tarp over the the pump and filter when it was down to single digits.

 

[Ashful]

Thanks EbS-P. Figured as much.

But hose? Side valve? Mine returns to pool underground. No place to connect external hoses.