No poolguy this year to open pool, need help...

[VOLDADDY]

My poolguy won't be able to get to me until the 1st week of June this year and I am wanting to swim by 5/13. I have never opened my pool myself and have no idea what all needs to be done. They come open it while I am working and I give them the credit card and we are both happy.

I started on my own tonight. I drained the waterbags and removed the winter cover. Both the bags and cover were NASTY! I will deep clean them over the weekend. My pool is decent. There is some dirt and small amounts of algae on the bottom. I took the plugs out of the 2 returns and screwed the eyeball looking pieces in. There was remnants of pipe tape on them but I didn't put any more on them-should I have wrapped them with tape? Also, one of them screwed in pretty tightly but the other didn't seem to screw in as tight. Will it be ok or should I replace it? How tight should I screw them in?

In the skimmer basket, there was a big blue bubble looking plug that I removed. There is also another hole that looks to have a plug in it, but it is screwed down in and recessed. Do I need to remove it and have 2 holes open? I didn't see any other pieces laying around anywhere to put in them underneath my skimmer basket.

Lastly, what do I need to do to get the pump and filter running? I know I need to put water in the little basket beside it to prime it.

I have the hose in it filling it up now. This will be a lengthy process, about 1 day. Any and all info will be GREATLY appreciated! TIA.

[VOLDADDY]

Sorry, forgot to mention I have an 18 x 36 IG pool. Don't know if this will matter or not.

[JohnT]

The second plug in your skimmer stays there unless your drain is plumbed through the skimmer. You need to check the drain plugs for your filter and pump. Usually one in the filter, one in the strainer and one in the impeller housing. Reinstall all of the strainer baskets. I usually start on backwash so if there is antifreeze in the drain and skimmer lines it goes out the waste line.

[Poconos]

No need to replace the eyeball pieces. You probably didn't get all the teflon tape off the tight one. They're underwater anyhow so who cares if they leak around the threads a little. Don't use more tape. On the eyeballs there is a larger threaded piece that goes into the pipe. This has an outer thread for the eyeball retainer. I try and get the larger piece somewhat tight in the pipe just so it doesn't turn when I loosen or tighten the eyeball cover to allow moving the eyeballs. I made a tool from a piece of aluminum plate, maybe 1/8" to fit in the slots of the larger piece to screw it in and out of the pipe without buggering the threads.
Al

[VOLDADDY]

The second plug in your skimmer stays there unless your drain is plumbed through the skimmer. You need to check the drain plugs for your filter and pump. Usually one in the filter, one in the strainer and one in the impeller housing. Reinstall all of the strainer baskets. I usually start on backwash so if there is antifreeze in the drain and skimmer lines it goes out the waste line.

OK, I found 3 plugs in my strainer basket, 1 larger and 2 of the same size. I found where the larger one went in the bottom of the filter. I found where one of the smaller ones went, in the front of the strainer. Where does the last one go? Where is the impeller housing located? Don't you just hate all of these "extra" parts? Like when I put my kids Christmas stuff together...LOL.
Once I find where this last plug goes, I know I need to fill the strainer with water, then am I ready to turn the filter on? I don't use antifreeze in my lines, they blow them out. Should I backwash first?

Thanks for ALL of the help and I hope I am doing this right. If I am, I will do it myself every year. Sure beats paying $175 for them to come do it. I will still have them close it though.

TIA.

[VOLDADDY]

3rd plug hole found and plugged, although it was on the bottom left side of the housing and a pain to get tightened. I got my filter running and vac'd to waste. There is water leaking from around the top of my filter, just below the lever to switch from filter to waste, etc... Also, when I shut my filter off and changed the lever to waste, water sprayed out of the clear plastic lens while it was still under pressure, but only for a second or two. Any ideas on the leak and spraying of water? There is a clamp with screws around the top of the filter that appeared tight, although I didn't get a screwdriver and try to tighten them any more. Are these backed off any during closing and something that I should snug now?

Sorry for all the questions, but again, I usually have all of this done by my pool guy and have no idea what I am doing. I can see him being more and more useless to me, with the baquacil conversion completed last year and learning how to open it myself the hard way. I also see more and more money staying in my wallet as a result. :)