Hydrotools pool cover pump - submersible?

I need to pump some water out of my AG pool before it freezes. I had lowered the water level when we closed it at the end of October but then it rained and rained. And rained. If we get snow come January/February we'll overflow.

I bought an electric pump which is intended to pump water off the cover and is said to move 500 gal/hr. I told the pool store guy that I needed to pump some water out of the pool and he said, "No problem. Just attach the garden hose here and toss it in." That's fine, but when I got it home and read the instructions I came across this bit: "If pump falls inside pool heedlessly, unplug and remove."

My intention was to heedlessly throw pump inside pool.

If I do that, will it blow the circuits? Will I get electrocuted? Don't laugh, please. Electricity scares me silly. I gather it's made to get wet, but does that mean it's safely submersible?

AnnaK

With a quick search I couldn't find any info on Hydrotools. That statement that disturbs you could mean if the cord, plug, and everything falls into the pool but we don't know that yet. Can't imagine a cover pump that wouldn't be submersible but you have to make sure. Any other info on this thing? Can't really describe in words but just looking at it, specifically the cord penetration and sealing can be a telltale indication if it is submersible.


Looking further....did you mean 'HYDROPOOL' ?? If so Hydropool.com has a bunch listed. Which one?
Al

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Originally Posted by Poconos

Looking further....did you mean 'HYDROPOOL' ?? If so Hydropool.com has a bunch listed. Which one?
Al

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Hi Al,

The box says SWIMLINE HYDROTOOLS COVER PUMP STYLE 5440. Below that is "Hydrotools by ILP/Swimline". There's a big WARNING on the pump housing: "This pump is not to be used to drain the pool cover if there are people in the pool." Um . . . ya. ILP stands for International Leisure Products of Edgewood, NY. I just saw that on the carton.

The device is a black box 4" x 3.5" x 2.5". One of the narrow sides has a hole and inside I see a white impeller. The hole is what one connects the garden hose adaptor to, it just slides in. It has to be somehat submersible, doesn't it, just to suck water off a cover?

I just found a photo of it, here: http://www.swimline.com/PgLinks%5CPg-134135.htm .

There is sort of a grid on the pump behind which there appears to be a mesh screen. That part goes in the water and would be the inlet, I guess. I do not know how to describe the cord penetration and sealing. The cord is black and thick like an orange outdoor cord, and it has a bunch of writing on it. Three prong plug.

Does any of this help?

AnnaK, Ijust requested info from them on their A/G pumps, I think that you'd be safe in submerging the unit to lower the pool, but I'll let you know what they say (please note that I don't link well,, but I'll try and if it doesn't post - I'll type the info out for you)

Great, thanks.

In the meantime, I'll go up on the hill and begin hacking a hole into the ice. It's been below freezing for about 48 hrs here and there's a good layer of ice now.

The ice kept getting thicker and thicker and I could see that one serious snow come January would overflow the pool when it thaws. So I put an auger blade on the electric drill and cut a hole in the ice. Lots of small holes really close together until I had a perforated circle and after one good whack with the mallet I had a nice hole.

Then I put the little pump in. Hey, what could happen? If it wasn't submersible it would blow the breaker or the fuse or trip something on the outlet. I stayed well away from the water and the metal parts of the pool in case electricity leaked out. See how much I know about this stuff?

It worked great! Several hours later it had actually taken 3" of water out. By then it was getting dark and I unhooked everything. I'm going to shoot for another 2 or 3" which will get the level below the light fixture which is the lowest opening in my pool.

Maybe none of this is necessary but in all honesty, I miss my pool so much that I'm inventing busywork just to be involved. Silly, isn't it?

When we empty our frame pool each fall we just use a piece of hose and get some suction on it and throw the other end over the side and let gravity remove the water. I can usually get most of the water out using this method. I don't know why it works, it just does, must be physics someplace. But I do know that if you loose the suction you loose the drawing power. Maybe in cold weather it would freeze up too fast? We have had lots of rain here in lower Michigan, the snow is gone and the yards are muddy and gross. I'd almost prefer the snow back. Kimrst

That is known as a siphon. It's the same way your toilet empties. The bigger the height difference between the water level and the discharge end of the hose the faster it drains, up to a certain point. You can start the siphon effect even without suction by slowly imersing one end of the hose into the pool and then keep feeding in the rest of the hose slowly until the other end is also under water, you have to make sure that you allowed all the air to get out of the hose. Put your thumb over one end making sure that the other end remains under water. Lift it over the side of the pool and get the hose end below the surface of the water before take your thumb off. The water should start to flow and will do so until either your pool water level is even with your discharge end in elevation or you drain so much out that it sucks air at the hose end in the pool. I use this method and weight the end down on a step so that it drains to that level and goes no further.