What to do for Vacation

[MaryS]

I am about to take my first vacation since we got our pool. We will be away for 9 days. Does anyone have any tips about what I should do to make sure things are in good shape when I get back? I have a SWCG, Polaris Vac and DE filter on a timer. The Vac has been getting tangles up lately. I am concerned about leaving it running while we are away.

Thanks for the help
Mary

[ChuckD]

I am about to take my first vacation since we got our pool. We will be away for 9 days. Does anyone have any tips about what I should do to make sure things are in good shape when I get back? I have a SWCG, Polaris Vac and DE filter on a timer. The Vac has been getting tangles up lately. I am concerned about leaving it running while we are away.

Thanks for the help
Mary

Mary, my pool is 200 miles away at our 'weekend' home and I get to use it one or two weekends a month. One thing I've learned is to cover it with a solar cover, or similar, to cut down on evaporative losses and turn off the skimmer in case the water level drops.

Get your chemistry in line before you leave and shock to whatever the CYA level dictates. One other thing I'd do that may ruffle some feathers, is to give it a maintenance dose of polyquat 60 just to CYA (the other kind).

Of course it helps to have someone pool-aware stop by to check on things and to give them a number you can be reached at.

I also have a DE on a timer and have found running it a couple hours the latter part of the day (1pm to 6 pm) when sun stress is the highest, and then again early morning (2am to 6am) works for me.

Have fun!

C.

[Poconos]

Chuck, you're definitely not ruffling feathers with the quat. That's been recommended before. I'm a very paranoid person and even having the pump on a timer bothers me sometimes. Your comment about shutting off the skimmer assumes there is a main drain. I'd be worried about that. If a line blows you could drain the pool, and lose both the pump and the pool. Using just the skimmer the most you could lose is the pump. These scenarios are highly unlikely and just my paranoia kicking in. I'd fill the pool to the top of the skimmer, cover the pool as suggested, leave the Polaris off, and set the timer for only a couple hours a day, in addition to the chemistry Chuck suggested. I also wouldn't use a floater for tabs under a cover if that gets suggested. May I suggest a fridge full of beer and have someone come over every couple days to imbibe and run the pump? I'd volunteer if I was a little closer to Downingtown.
Enjoy the vacation.
Al
Paranoia, PA 18431

[ChuckD]

True enough, Al. Gotta have a maindrain to disable the skimmer and expect anything good to come of it. Thanks.

And also good point about filling the pool to the top of the skimmer, something I also do but neglected to mention. In fact I fill over the skimmer. With a cover on there usually isn't much that'll be sitting on the surface anyway tp be skimmed. Lately I've been filling to just enough to keep the cover just below the coping so the wind doesn't get under it and send it into the next town.

One other thing to mention would be a thorough backwash before you go and if you do have a main drain, and you do turn off your skimmer, a good vacuum to avoid debris clogging your drain.

Just a couple gotcha's I've encountered.

C.