pump and light

[poolhelp101]

i have a couple questions as i am just starting to open my pool
one is when i turned the pump on it just hums, any suggestions as to what the cause of that would be?
second, my pool light inside the pool is out. how do you change it?
Thanks.
i am going to move this question to the correct thread

[waste]

PH101,
The humming of the motor is caused by oxidation of either the shaft or the starting switches. It's possible that a quick rap or 2 with a 2X4 on the motor housing with the pump on will free it up. If the shaft is seized up you can remove the basket and try to turn the impeller with a screwdriver through the back hole (WITH THE PUMP OFF!), if you can get it to turn it will usually fire up after you reinstall the basket and put on the lid.

As for the light, most of them are secured by 1 screw at the top of the ring, unscrew that and the light housing should be removable - most installers leave enough cord in the niche to allow you to pull the housing up onto the deck so you can replace the bulb. There are a few different ways that the different manufacturers 'seal off' the bulb, but it should be fairly obvious how to remove the lense once you've got the housing up onto the deck. Please make sure that no water is in the unit and that you lubricate the sealing ring with silicon or teflon based lube, also - get the same type bulb - they make different voltage and wattage bulbs, you've got to use the same type as was origionally there.

Theres a lot more I could say about the different pumps and lights, but this is the basics - if you need a little more help with this, please repost with the pump and light manufacturers and (if you can find them) the model #s.

[Poconos]

Here's a couple threads that may be of help with the pump motor issue.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4800

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=6641

Al

[poolhelp101]

got the pump working by doing as you suggested with the impeller. thank you. that saved me alot of money. haven't worked on the pool light yet. need to clean up the pool first. it's a little green. which brings me to another question on how to begin to add the bleach or how to get started... after i get it vacuumed, do i add the bleach and get the chlorine adjusted? should i add the polquat at the same time as the bleach? thank you

[waste]

PH101, sorry to have missed this for a week . If it's not too late; hold off on the algicide until after the water is clear and CC free.

Algicide is slightly mis-named, it's more of a preventive measure than an algae killer, for killing, you want chlorine, and lots of it. Keep the free cl level up to 'shock' level consistantly until the algae goes away (as shown by having no CC) and then let it drop back down to normal - at that point you can add the recommended dose of poly60 to help keep the algae from getting a 'foothold' if the chlorine level isn't kept up for a while.