Above ground pool advice (on components/pool/liners/etc)

[apenney]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago I tried to buy a pool package here in MA but with the time of year I can't get anyone to take my money. I've tried over and over to give people but they don't want it! Given that, I've decided to order all of the pool pieces myself and then hire a professional to actually install it (I like to be realistic given my attempts to level ground for a 16' intex pool previously.

I'm looking for some advice on my choices, as well as potential advice on missing things, things I don't need, replacement/better items, anything really. I made my choices by looking at existing packages and then shopping around based on what seemed to make sense to me.

Pool: 24' Paragon (http://www.sears.com/swim-n-play-paragon-40yr-warranty-24ft-round/p-SPM5883569301?prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6)

Seems to be a relatively nice Steel pool. I'm willing to spend up to $2k on the pool for something significantly better, but from all my research it seems that there's not much here that's drastically better.

Liner: Not really decided here. I simply went to a liner site and noted that a 25gauge beaded liner was about $400.

Filter: Hayward CC15093S Xstream Full-Flo 150-Square-Foo​t 1-1/2-Horsepow​er Filtration Filter.

I went for what I saw as a really high end cartridge filter. I like the idea of just hosing off and eventually replacing cartridges once in a while. I'm open to being told this is dumb! :)

Ladder: Confer Plastics A-Frame 7200 Above Ground Adjustable Pool Roll-Guard Safety Ladder

It's a ladder, I can roll the guard down to stop my kids being dumb, not much else to say here.

Other bits:

Skimmer: Hayward SP1091WM Dyna-Skim Above-Ground Pool Skimmer Kit
Pool Vac: Polaris Vac-Sweep 65 6-130-00 Pressure Side Automatic Pool Cleaner for Above Ground Vinyl Pools
Minerals: Pool Frog 6100 Cycler Kit for Above Ground Pools
A pole: Poolmaster 18616 Basic Ribbed 16-Feet Telescopic Pole with Posi-Lock
Padding: Poolmaster 32184 Medium Rubber Ladder Pad, 9-Inch by 24-Inch
Some things for the pole: Swimline Hydro Tools 8610 Premium Pool Maintenance Kit

And last, ball valves. I saw packages have two of these. I assume for the filter. I added two of:

Hayward QTA1020CSEG 2-Inch Gray QTA Series True Union PVC Compact Ball Valve with EPDM O-Rings

My major questions are:

1/ Am I missing anything critical here?
2/ Anything under or over powered?
3/ What question don't I even know to ask? :)

[apenney]

A link I found here to http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/above-ground-pool-problems.html gave me some hints and tips and I got rid of the filter system and replaced it with:

Hayward SP0714T Pro Series Vari-Flo Top-Mount Control Valve, Black, 1-1/2-Inch-FIP
Hayward SP2600X5 Super Pump 1/2-Horsepower Max Rated Single Speed
Hayward S220T Pro-Series 22-Inch 1-1/2-Inch Vari-Flo Valve Top-Mount Pool Sand Filter for In-ground Pool

This leads me to difficulty in figuring out what hoses and clamps and connectors I need to buy. It looks like the filter connector is 1.5", but that's all I've determined so far. Can anyone suggest exactly what I need in terms of hosing and connectors to connect all that up to a pool?

[apenney]

In my endless updating of my own thread (naughty) I also discovered an Embassy Century pool for $1265. Given that this is basically a cut rate Doughboy pool I'm thinking it might be a better choice than the Paragon.

[CarlD]

Hi.
First off, the pool frog is a waste of money. Most of the other equip seems reasonable.

HOWEVER--anyone who tells you all you gotta do to clean a cartridge filter is just hose it off is....LYING! They are much trickier to clean but those of us who have them and have mastered them love them. The rest of us use either DE filters, or, more commonly, sand filters, many of whom switched from carts. I'm a sand filter guy and have been for 12 seasons. Before that, I had a small cart.

[apenney]

This is probably a dumb question but, given the century pool I listed above and the liner that they suggest... Do I need to buy bead receivers seperately? It linked to "people who bought X also bought http://www.poolstore.com/p/3709/bead-receivers-for-above-ground-pool-liners" and I was suddenly unsure if I need to buy those or not. I see why people just buy packages now.

[CarlD]

I'm sorry but I don't know the answer to that question.