DIY woes!

[sjkader]

alrighty. Update time. When I got home i had two inches in the shallow end. Had to put the flanges on the stairs. Oh man did that suck. that water is cold!! my toes are pretty pissed at me. Took forever to get all those screws in. Im telling you all right now. I will never do this again.

on a side note. shop vacs do not like to run for extended periods.
would not bother me if it was mine

[sjkader]

ok where to start this update?

Well we started plumbing in the pump, sand filter, and heater. Sent the little lady into town for some sand and a propane regulator. Told her no matter wat dont buy anything from the pool store but the sand.

While she was getting the regulator she saw that bleach was on sale for 89 cents a 3 quart jug. She could not pass that up. she bought 36 jugs
then she heads over to the pool store and as they are loading the sand they see all this bleach and freak out on her. the salesman starts telling her it will destroy her pipes and liner. That in no way could she use bleach. It took me over two weeks to convince her bleach was safe for our pool and 3 mins for him to tell her it was not.

Needless to say she calls me on her way home to tell me all this and that she bought $50 dollars worth of shock and algacide. Of course I was not the least bit amused by this. I dont blame her, she is just worried about the investment we have put into this project. As soon as she got home I made the call to the salesman. Asked him what gave him the right to tell her it would ruin her pool. he goes on and on how it is not the same ingrediants as pool chlorine. I told him he better read the bottles on both. Then he tells me that i will have so many problems with my ph and that it will cost me lots to keep it balanced.
I told him that i will worry about my pool. I also told him that we were planning on getting a hot tub next but after this crap that the only time i will ever go to his store is to return this stuff. I also told him that I liked how he did not give her a reciept. Nice try on not letting her bring it back. I informed him that i will bring it back myself. He said that was ok and if I want to destroy my pool that was my choice.

he sold her some bioguard burnout 35. its active ingredient is lithium hypochlorite. the little lady wants to know if this would be ok for a one time deal?
also he sold her some bioguard algicide 28-40. active ingredient alkyl(c14 58%, c16 28%, c12 14%) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride 40%. what is this?

now for my other problem. we have a hayward 300lb sand filter. the winter drain leaks. I figuired that maybe something got inbetween the seal. so i went to pull it off and reseat it. well come to find out the cross insert in the drain was put in wrong so it is not flush. now i have a leak and am not sure how to stop it. It is clearly a manufactures defect. the problem is that it is all hard piped in. does anyone know away to stop this leak without sending the tank back in without delaying this project any more?

Steve

[Poconos]

Steve,
Similar issue here with the 300# Hayward installed in 97. Only in my case they left out the short lateral that keeps the sand from dumping out when you drain. What a surprise on the first winterization drain. I'd recommend draining the thing, clean the threads with a scrub brush so no sand is in the threads, then goop the cap with silicone seal and put it back on. Make sure the soft seal, whatever the material is, is inside the cap. Oh, and on my problem, I made a short lateral from a piece of PVC pipe and cut slits in the thing. Quicker and a lot less hassle than dealing with Hayward or the company that redid my pool after I inherited the thing with the house. Don't interpret this as a knock against Hayward...I just did an easier fix that worked.
Al

[sjkader]

ok everything is now at a stand still. The pump is running. I have a temporary return line in. Here is the problem. I cant finish filling till i can cut out the light and have that wired in. the problem is that our electrician can not track down a junction box rated for pools. (wet locations) The state inspector says this is one of the things South Dakota will not budge on. Oh fricken great. so here is how this all works. I cant swim because the water is to cold because the heater is not wired. the heater is not wired because the light wont pass inspection. the light is not wired because my electrician cant find a junction box and some seal crap for the niche. my returns are not running because of the light. And to top it off. WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF NICE DAYS!!!

Would anyone know where i can get this crap from shipped overnight?

Steve

[sjkader]

Never mind! Found one

oh and I did manage to get that drain plug sealed with a bunch of thread tape.

and one other thing. they set the propane tank for the heater. The little lady decided it was cheaper to have me bury the line. all 35 feet of it! Her words were " you have a shovel"

Break out the beer!! should only take me..lets see.... forever

[sjkader]

OK folks, I know your on the edge of your seats wondering what kind of progress was made this weekend!! Here it is.

Buried the propane line and then it rained. Oh and it rained. And then it rained some more.

Monday it did not rain, but for some reason the little lady thought the jungle should be mowed. Cracked out the mower and got right on that. half way through mowing I found a kid in the jungle. Heck! I knew we were supposed to have three. no wonder it has been so quite in the house this last week!

[mbar]

So glad you have a sense of humer Hope all goes well with the rest of your install, we are rooting for you all the way

[sjkader]

Update!!! WOO! WOO!

pool light installed so i could finish filling the pool. the water is almost to where it needs to be. Returns all in now so i can remove the temp line.

Pool Heater installed

Now for the fun part. DECKING!!! Might as well call the hospital and have a ER Doc on standby. The little lady says we are doing the decking ourselves.

NEED MORE BEER!!

[RavenNS]

Steve,
you really crack me up!

Thanks so much for these terrific updates & keep 'em comming

[sjkader]

update!
The saga for a pool continues.

Where to start? OH yeah, the heater. We fired up the heater. All 300k BTU's of it and it ran for ten mins and then shut off. It shut off everything. the display, the propane. Just dead!. Had the electrician come check it out. Still getting power so he dont know whats wrong. Called the plumber and he is not sure. Then it fired back up for five mins and shut down again. HMMMM.
Call Hayward tech support and they say sounds like a propane problem.

Ok Ill check into that. Start following the lines back and I find that the line is ice could at the tank. HMMM! this cant be right. Called the plumber and he says check your manual for a two stage high pressure propane system. Ah HA! there is the problem.

Seems the propane company ( who has installed pool heaters before) dropped a 3/8 inch line from the first regulator to the second. It should have been a 1/2 inch line. Call the propane company and of course the installer is on vacation. talk to the general manager and he does not even know how to install the lines. I'm telling you guys. This general manger is one heck of a winner. Im pretty sure his family tree dont branch. I got so fed up talking to him that i decided to unleash the bulldog on him. Oh thats right! He will regret this! I'm having the little lady call today! he is the walking dead right now and doesnt even know it!

Update later after the brawl