1st attempt with opening

Hi all, I have had my vin pool for a few years. I am going to open it up myself next month :eek: and I need a quick brief on the pitfalls and chemicals to get. I use the bleach and other "store" products. I have a heatpump and a DE filter. Do I need to get some polyquat or just use bleach? Also, I have a solid cover. The pool company wanted to charge $37.00 to wash and put some stow away preservative on the cover. Does anyone know what that stuff is and where would/should you use it? Any and all advice would be gr8:) . I can not wait to get the cover off.

Clueless in NJ:rolleyes:
Bergerman

I only add polyquat in the fall during closing. My spring start up is usaully turn on the filter, shock and vac the pool, then after a few days of filter running test the water and start adjusting pH, Alkalinity, hardness. With your solid cover you may not have to do much, my mesh cover lets in the rain over the winter and I always open to low hardness. I open early to avoid algea problems as the water is cold.

thanks for the info;)

Also see Ben's post much more detailed than mine
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=190

If you run your chlorine levels correctly for the CYA in your pool you should not need polyquat, except as noted by MarkC, at fall close up. There are lots of people on this forum that don't use it without problems, and there are those that like suspenders and a belt and put it in anyway.

As for the polyquat, it's your choice - the old forum had some threads that advocated both ways - I'll try to sum up the oppinions from (failing?) memory.
* Con - it's a waste of $ if you keep your cl in check and sufficient
- why add an extra chem to the pool if you don't need it?
- never used it, never needed to
- tried it once but it foamed up the pool (that was a cheep algicide, which are notorious for foaming)

* Pro - It's an insurance policy against algae (sometimes you forget to add or check the cl )
- the amount you add is small (for a maint. dose) so a quart or two lasts the whole season.
- ' I just feel better knowing that it's there'
- 'I use it but I only buy it when it's on sale at "X" (store)'

In short, it's a matter of choice - if you're sure that you can and will keep up with the pool using bleach, you don't need to use it - if you're unsure, add a few oz. every other week :)

Now we know where the old posts disappeared to....Waste got 'em!!:D :D

Waste, that's a perfect synopsis of the polyquat posts...The "Brown" at Woodstock obviously had some beneficial side effects:D :D

Dave S.

Thank you all for the replies. I used the polyquat the first season but have not used it again. I will stick with the bleach. The cover comes off the end of the month.

Take care all
Ed:rolleyes:

I'm all for preventative here- but make sure the ingredients has poly...anything 60%, or don't use it at all. I just purchased some called Pooltrine from Lesliespool.com for $7.73/qt- CHEAP! Granted there's a small handling charge - but it stores and keeps well. Read the label, though- must say poly... 60%! I use it once a week - just a small maintenance dose- small price for assurance.

Thanks to all for the info

When you turn on the pump for the first time, should you pump to waste to get the anti-freeze out of the lines or is that a waste of time:confused: ?

Clueless in NJ
Ed

Bergerman, as far as I know, the relatively small amounts of 'propoline glycol' (sp?) - i.e. pool and rv antifreeze- added to a pool as the result of winterizing, have no ill effects on the water. To the best of my knowledge, it does not effect the normal testing perameters - pH, alk, etc.. I can't recall reading any negative or disparaging posts here on letting it just mix with the pool at the opening of the season.
However, if you are reluctent to let it mix, by all means waste out what's in the skimmers when you start the pool - any in the return lines would be harder to keep out of the pool.


So in short, as with all things you may want to do with your pool - it's your pool, your money and (if you do something wrong) your problem to fix - and if you don't feel comfortable letting antifreeze mix with the water, then by all means dump it.

Waste,
Thanks for the quick response. I didn't think a gal. or two of the anti-freeze would hurt the pool water(25k) but I had to ask. Thanks for the confirming my first guess. The info given by the folks(U2 Ben:) ) on this forum has helped me(and others) keep my pool running gr8 for 4 years. Thanks to you and all who help.

Ed