Pool Opening 2024, Part 1 - Removing The Leaf Nets And Cover

Рет қаралды 332

11 күн бұрын

Originally recorded May 18, 2024.
It has finally reached the time to open the pool for the season. The weather had reached the point where it had gotten warm enough out, and would stay warm enough out. Open it too soon, and you have a couple weeks that you have to run the pool, but it's too cold to go in. Open it too late, and you miss out. It really all depends on the weather.
The first step is to remove the cover. I have 2 covers. The blue one is simply a large tarp. On top of the tarps are two leaf nets, which do a great job keeping leaves out of the pool.
The best way to remove the cover is to remove all the water from on top of it using a pool cover pump, which I have. However, when the cover gets old, water gets through it so no matter how much water you pump off the top of the cover, you are actually draining the pool! This year, try as I might to get all the water off the cover, the last little bits of it I just couldn't do. That's because of all the stuff that falls from the tree, it clogs up the cover pump and it just won't pump out that really blackish-greenish disgusting water. That, and the tree stuff had to go in the pool. If you try to pull the tarp, not only will you need super strength, you'll probably rip the tarp and it will all go in the pool anyway.
The cover and nets are held down using water bags. These are vinyl bags that are filled with water, and the weight of the water holds down the cover. The first step is to remove the water bags, and then the leaf nets, and ultimately the cover can be removed.
Most of this video is simply brute force, there's no real skill involved here. This year, I pulled it off the closer end (to the house) of the pool. That way all the junk that's going to end up in the pool will be on the side where the skimmers are, making it easier to vacuum. Less work in the end.
This year, the pool was not quite as green as I have seen, but much better than previous years. It was certainly a nice shade of green, but not dark green or even black like in previous years. I think the cleanliness of the pool really all depends on the weather, if it stays cold for a long time, it's not as green. if it kind of warms up, but not enough, and stays there, it turns really green. This year I was surprised as we had some pretty warm days leading up to this, yet it still wasn't too bad.

Пікірлер: 17

@tallboyyyy 9 күн бұрын

Well it was a rather pretty shade of Kelly Green this year. Not almost black like it was a few years ago. Hope that sludge from the cover sort of stayed in the corner. That would help with vacuuming it out later.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

Yes, that junk did for the most part stay put. Indeed, it did help with the vacuuming.

@lexmarks567 9 күн бұрын

You can see the green line on the pool walls so when you were trying to drain the cover the pool water was leaking through the cover so you ended up draining the pool also.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

Yes, i figured as much. Those tarps aren't made like they used to. Apparently, Neal's working today. Monetization evaporated. EVEN THOUGH I did everything I was supposed to.

@nerdywolfi 9 күн бұрын

Maybe theres a way to suck the water off the top of the cover with a shop vac so it's not as hard to lift over the edge of the pool? Or put that small pump in again right before you rolled the water-filled bubble over the edge to make it less of a strain on the back

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

Tried that years ago, putting the pump in there. One time my friend Rob and I did it, and we ended up in the same predicament. Put the pump in, but it just can't handle that crap. So we just kept putting more and more muscle in it. That time, we lost--the tarp itself couldn't handle the pressure and burst open.

@nerdywolfi 9 күн бұрын

@@jaykay18 ah, maybe the shop vac idea might be a viable one then (as it can suck up more than just water). It would just need an attachment that prevents the tarp from getting sucked in too much

@EASandSevereWeatherAddict 9 күн бұрын

I have a pool in Michigan which was opened in April because of warm weather and it was crystal clear. I think the timing of the opening along with the closing may have something to do with the water being clear. I do all of the opening and closing all by myself and I open the pool with crystal clear water every year. I think that when the pool was opened in 2017, it may have been clear due to fall and winter being colder than usual which inhibited algae and microbial growth. I hope that you will one day attempt to close it yourself which involves adding chemicals, manual vacuuming, lowering the water level, blowing out the lines, installing the winterization plugs and the cover. When I add chemicals for closing the pool, I usually add chlorine shock before closing the pool and it's crystal clear every time I open it for the season. I also hope that you are able to purchase the tool the pool company uses for removing the stair jets. It's called a wing jet key in which a google search can find where you can get your own jet key.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

I had always thought about closing the pool myself. I'd need some sort of doohickey to interface the air hose with the system, the place I use has a Hayward cover they made that has an air inlet. The problem with closing the pool is it's always a tough time for me, after seeing all the work I put into it and being a nice oasis to this drab, dead cover. Plus the weather is getting cooler out and I don't like that time of year at all. So as much as I hate paying their high prices, I like not having to do that part. Opening it I learned after watching it being done. Then I did it after that. THANK YOU! No pool place has ever told me what that thing is, they can't tell me where they got it, or anything else about it. But sure enough a quick search and there they are. I'd love to have one, but by the same token, I've been getting by just fine without one.

@electricalsmokealarmsandmo1564 9 күн бұрын

@@jaykay18when blowing out the lines, you can use a 3/4 inch NPT fitting for an air compressor. Treat it like the sprinklers. Blow one line, let the compressor fill and do it again. As far as the return line. blow the solar out first, then the returns. You can use the multiport to switch whether the return lines are open or closed. Don’t have to bother with the other two valves that are hard to turn. The 3/4 inch NPT fitting screws in on the front of the pump where the drain plug goes.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

@@electricalsmokealarmsandmo1564 Interesting idea. I'd just as soon get an actual blower. But isn't that fun, it would be used once a year if I did. Prices for pool closings have gone insane with recent inflation, so it may get to the point soon where they really are charging way more than they should--and getting away with it. That's robbery, and that I simply will not stand for. So I'd probably end up doing it myself, then become too old and decrepit to still do it, and pay for it anyway. We all know prices go up, but this is beyond insanity pricing on everything, _and no one is doing anything about it._ It's too far gone and there's no fixing it now; at best, it can be maintained for a little while.

@electricalsmokealarmsandmo1564 9 күн бұрын

@@jaykay18 the prices are beyond belief. A pool I help take care of wanted to charge $150 to show up, see what’s going on and partly fix it.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

@@electricalsmokealarmsandmo1564 I have said that for years. I ought to start doing freelance computer repair again. 25 years ago I was charging insanity prices and people were happy to pay it. The difference is they know better now. I can still solve the most unsolvable of problems though.

@Sharkie626 9 күн бұрын

Where's the rest of it??? Yeah water looks not too bad honestly. I still wish we could find out why the water was CLEAR that one Spring. I know you mentioned the weather, but something else was different too. If only we knew. Only thing to note, whatever song was used for the second time was WAY too loud.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

How long you gotta wait?! The only other thing I could possibly think of when the water was clear was the liner had just been replaced. Perhaps the new vinyl is very slippery and doesn't have any micropores where algae can get hold of? Either which way, the stuff on the cover will completely negate any clear water. Didn't adjust the volume, I left it as is, so that's how it was recorded. It sounded only marginally louder through the headphones that I edit with. While they operate the same, we don't hear the same through speakers and headphones, since the soundstage is different. The headphones give me many more audible cues for editing than speakers do, which is why I use them. I find it actually difficult to edit without headphones now.

@electricalsmokealarmsandmo1564 9 күн бұрын

My thoughts were the pool would be disgusting black since back in the fall, you closed it earlier than usual to have Jesse close it. It seems his winterizing is doing the trick for you. I was also questioning on why you had to pound the corners of the pool but then realized that the pool water level is too low and was starting to pop out. The shallow end corner was the worst.

@jaykay18 9 күн бұрын

I don't know if his winterizing is what's doing it, he just does the job right and doesn't cut corners like the other morons. That end of the pool isn't really any more shallow, except the landing for the steps. I can tell you the liner is a lot older now, and a lot less pliable and flexible than it was when new, so it can't withstand stress as well. The old liner got to the point where the vinyl totally dried out and was no longer flexible, so it cracked, which produced a hole for everything to leak out of. The wind then got in there and was able to blow behind it and make it even worse. There was no saving it at that point.