modifying an Intex AGP

[aylad]

Hey, that IS a real pool--I bet you get just as wet in yours as we do in ours!

Janet

[BigDave]

I agree with aylad, everything about your intex is real; the wetness and the responsibilities. Some people seem to think these pools are toys (I bought my first one in a toy store) which never works well. FWIW I found my Intex donuts harder to maintain than my traditional AGP. With less water and poor filtration, things can go south in a hurry.

You seem to be heading in the right direction (and you're in the right place to learn) as far as maintenance and chemistry but I haven't seen yet where you've ordered the K-2006 aylad recommended. My opinion: it is the single most important start-up chemical for a new pool.

I've never see a through-the-wall skimmer for soft side pools and can't imagine how it would work. As far as additional returns: I wouldn't want to cut the pool and the one should be OK for a 15' pool. If you have the time and don't mind the back-breaking work, I supppose putting it in a hole could work, I just don't see why. You'd need to modify the ladder. Does your pool have the rope that goes around the bottom of the legs to hold them upright?

There are pump / filter choices in the Intex world (all cost more than a K-2006), sand and cartridge. Ben has made some recommendations for filter cartridge upgrades that you may want ot consider in the Construction, Equipment, Operations, Seasonal Care (P)Intex-type Pool Setup & Operations section of the forum. There's probably a lot of stuff in there you want to read anyway.

Good luck and have fun!

[Charlie_R]

I guess you are right, it's just a cheap model of one. When we have to replace the liner in a few years, I am wanting to get the extra poles, tees, and bars to be able to use an 18'x48" liner.

The pool:



Picked up a cheap wally world 6 way test kit this morning, here are the results:

Chlorine .75 needs to come up a bit...
pH 7.6
total alkalinity 260 a little high, maybe?
total hardness 250 ditto here?
CYA (not tested) I haven't bought that yet.

Also purchased a large bag of baking soda, borax, bleach, and muratic acid. To be bought this afternoon: CYA

diChloro doesn't seem to be available here in podunkville, will have to wait for amazon order time.

Except for the Chlorine, do those numbers seem way out of whack? From reading here, I got the impression that I need to have the total alkalinity around 100, and the total hardness likewise.

Charlie

[aylad]

Alk and hardness are a little high, but not a big deal. Alk should be in the 100's range, but if your pH stays stable, it'll be okay to stay on the high side. You can lower the alk using acid, but if your fill water is 250, then you're just going to raise it again once you top off, so you might find yourself fighting a losing battle. As long as you don't have metals in the pool, and do not chlorinate with cal-hypo, then you should be fine and can leave those two alone .

You don't want to chlorinate with cal-hypo though, because your calcium level is already high, and because the high calcium, combined with the high TA, will cause milky water if you add more calcium product. Your chlorine does need to come up a bit--you want to keep 1-3 ppm at all times, until you get stabilizer in the pool. On sunny days, that may mean adding more chlorine a couple of times a day so it never gets down to zero.

You can return the baking soda (or start cooking!) because it's used to raise alk, and yours doesn't need to come up any higher. Your pH is fine--Borax is used to raise it, but if you start using dichlor, you might actually need to to keep your pH up. Don't need it for now, but you might later. The muriatic acid you'l use if/when you decide to lower your TA, or if your pH creeps too high.

If you plan to use dichlor to chlorinate, then go easy on the CYA dose, because once you get it up to your target level, you'll need to switch purely to bleach. If you hit the CYA target just adding CYA alone, then you won't be able to use your dichlor without raising it too high. I wouldn't put more than about a 20 ppm dose of CYA in the pool, and just let the dichor do the rest.

Lookin' good so far!

Janet

[Charlie_R]

Update: I have just been informed by she who holds the financial keys that we will NOT be purchasing a new liner for this pool.

She wants a larger OVAL! Probably something close to 18' x 24' x 52". Sure, this is a few years before it happens, so I have time to re-arrange our back yard and do some of the dirt work needed -- retaining wall and all that, because our yard slopes about 2' in 12' back to front. She wants it along our back fence.

Unfortunately, that is where the slope is worst. So I will have my work cut out for me.....

[BigDave]

Dig we must!

[PoolDoc]

thread moved to correct location. Ben

[SafetyBob]

Charlie, just some quick comments.....the tube-sided Intex pools are OK to flex and move about. That's why that rope or I can't remember if your pool has the continous heavy vinyl strap around the bottom area about a foot off the ground. They flex, don't worry about it.

The upgraded cartridges for your pool that PoolDoc recommends from Amazon are worth the money and you can clean them by soaking them.....Unicell.....they are worth the money (and money savings). I upgraded my pump/filter to the big Intex unit (didn't need to) but for me, it was worth it to get to the big cartridge filters instead of the small ones. I now change filters about every 3 weeks now, versus once a week or earlier for the Intex filters.

For safety reasons (search on this site for the pictures), I would not use anything but an Intex pump on an Intex pool.....to many dangers to swimmers if you put on the wrong pump. Put a cover on it if you have alot of trees around when there are no swimmers.

If you go with the oval, you might consider getting a nice metal sided one so you can get a new liner every few years as needed. You can then think about the deck and patio you need to upgrade for the "money lady" in the mean time.

Good luck,

Bob E.