Fanta Sea Pool

[J_Palmer_Cass]

First post, so this is just a test.

I own a Fanta Sea Pool, and it appears that there are few who post here own the same pool.

[CarlD]

Hi! I, too, am a FantaSea pool owner, now in my 12th season. I have what was called an "Add-A-Deck" pool, custom-sized at 16'x40' with a 5 1/2' hopper deep end. It is built into my deck and we love it! The "Add-A-Deck" is simply the structure of the pool, with the 2' foot solar panels, no other deck, railing, stairs, etc.

It is, however, a high-maintenance pool, as I have to replace a solar panel or two nearly every year. I made the solar system far more efficient several years ago by building a manifold with two valves, splitting the solar deck into 2 halves (North-West and South-East), and cutting new returns at the far end of the pool. The old warm-water return, near the main return, was converted to an automatic over-flow drain. This way, I can turn on the panels in the sun, and turn off the panels out of it, and when both sets are on, with each having the same flow rate as the whole together, it heats the pool faster.

This year will be the last of the liner. I have the "Space-Age" walls and they haven't held up as well as I had hoped, developing corrosion that threatens to penetrate the liner. So when I close the pool this fall, I'm going to drain it, pull out the liner and remove the "Space-Age" walls. I plan on then scraping lots of rust of and treating the metal with anti-rust spray, putting in a new set of plywood waterwalls (the standard, to reduce cost and they don't bow as much), and then, in the spring, leveling the sand and installing the new liner, complete with new returns, and new gaskets for the lights and skimmer. I also need to replace at least 3 of the liner copings, damaged by the weird, crazy winter we had. Hopefully, the pool will be good for at least another dozen or so years!

Unfortunately, while Leisure Living, aka Island Pools, isn't selling the Fanta Sea pools any more, they are still selling new Kayak pools, which are similar but do not have the solar deck. I gather they had a fire about 5 years ago that destroyed many of their one-off templates they used for the Fanta Seas and haven't recreated them (not sure why). But they still are able to supply most of the parts for the pools.

So I am pretty up on Fanta Sea pools and their issues.

[PoolDoc]

Welcome.

. . . membership updated.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

Hi Carl.

Full FantaSea build about 1984. 16' X 32' X 46" deep flat bottom. Solar panel decking around perimeter of the pool. FantaSea 16' X 12' add on deck. First rebuild about 1998. Second rebuild (major) in 2013.

When I have some more time, we can discuss some details on my rebuilds. You may find my experience useful since your first rebuild is coming up soon.

This site seems a bit hard to use in that I can not edit my postings nor can I apply attachments. Kind of hard to make detailed postings with no errors. I also like to have my pictures saved as attachments rather than use an external web site. I clear out my external photo hosting pictures every few years, so when I do that my pictures will no longer be shown on this site.

[Watermom]

You should be able to edit your post. There is a button in the lower right corner.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

You should be able to edit your post. There is a button in the lower right corner.

I can not edit my posting at this point in time. I am not sure if that edit permission is granted to me.

Way down the bottom this is what I see under permissions:

Posting Permissions
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

[PoolDoc]

@Watermom: moderated (ie, anonymous) users can't edit their posts.

Spammers have been able to enter as moderated users, get a post approved, and then edit that post to contain their spam. The forum does not have any sort of alert on edits, so I can't detect that until a user sees it and contacts me.

@J_Palmer,etc: Regarding photos, we archive them for precisely that reason. The vBulletin attachment system has a history of 'eating' photos at each major upgrade; I've lost all photos 2x now. Over the winter, we mostly move user photos into the PoolForum Picasa account.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

FantaSea upper rail failure.

[CarlD]

That kind of rail failure is my fear. The long rail is about 900 lbs and required a bobcat to install it. That is why I want to arrest rust damage now.
Your original wood walls lasted 14 years. My "Space Age" wall have been failing for years and now, at year 12, are about to puncture the liner. It is a beaded liner, not an overlap.

If I go ahead with the vinyl plywood walls, I would only screw them in, but I will consider PT 3/4" A-C ply. What did you use between the plywood and the liner?

[J_Palmer_Cass]

That kind of rail failure is my fear. The long rail is about 900 lbs and required a bobcat to install it. That is why I want to arrest rust damage now.

To gain access to the metal rail system, you have to remove the solar panels, the outer 2" x 4" panel supports, as well as the 1" X 6" outside vertical that your rails screw into. There is no way to get at the rails if you do not do that. I have pictures if you need to see what I am talking about.

Your original wood walls lasted 14 years. My "Space Age" wall have been failing for years and now, at year 12, are about to puncture the liner. It is a beaded liner, not an overlap.

If I go ahead with the vinyl plywood walls, I would only screw them in, but I will consider PT 3/4" A-C ply. What did you use between the plywood and the liner?

I guess we are into semantics here. The factory 4' X 8" plywood panels start to fail near the 10 year mark. It was not realistic to replace them until the liner was shot. The liner was replaced after 14 years. Just as a note, they do not use marine grade plywood. Just exterior grade with a vinyl coating on both sides. I recommend that you stay clear of that product.

I bought a full new coping kit for this 2013 rebuild, and purchased the beaded liner. Leisure Living gave me a discount on the package.


Some details here. Screw in 15 year old pressure treated (PT) plywood sidewalls at pool year 30 (2013). Plywood is still in great shape after 15 years of use. Top 2" X 6" PT are all new due to warping and some rot.





Apply duct tape (or similar) over seams and all screws, spray on swimming pool adhesive, and then apply pool wall foam. The wall foam can be purchased at any pool supply store including Leisure Living.






Note: One of my postings is missing.