Let's keep Pool talk and maintenance in this thread and weather stuff in the other.

Question for push pull valve…I assume leave open? DE filter air valve as well? I think that is right but want to be sure

Keeping mine running this weekend, with an open air tent over the equipment and a heat lamp suspended 1-2' above it to keep it warm. Can someone tell me if this is a terrible idea?

Freeze protect has officially kicked on with 35* air temps detected. Should kick off at some point Tuesday??? Water temp 52.

Welp my motor has a shaft seal issue and it didn't even make it to 2am and I'm already losing prime. Heading to go drain the equipment now.

I've never drained the equipment before. Can anyone verify if I missed anything:

Filter plug
Opened the filter air valve
2x motor plug placed in basket
Heater plug placed in filter basket
Total of 4 plugs pulled
Left filter basket open w lid flipped on top
Chlorinator lid
Pulled skimmer baskets
Added pool noodle pieces into skimmer
Equipment is all covered and wrapped

Am I supposed to empty the sight glass?

Did you get the plug out of your cleaner booster pump?

Crap. Nope I didn't see that one. I use a cordless cleaner and have had my cleaner option thru the pool turned off for a year. Does that matter?

Probably not, but I'd watch for leaks when you turn everything back on. You can bypass the booster pump completely if need be since you're not using it anymore.

Golf Ag said:

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Keeping mine running this weekend, with an open air tent over the equipment and a heat lamp suspended 1-2' above it to keep it warm. Can someone tell me if this is a terrible idea?

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I do this minus the heat lamp, and as long as I have power I have never had an issue.

For those that shut down. Are you breaking up the ice in your spa or not worrying about it?

powerbelly said:

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Golf Ag said:

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Keeping mine running this weekend, with an open air tent over the equipment and a heat lamp suspended 1-2' above it to keep it warm. Can someone tell me if this is a terrible idea?

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I do this minus the heat lamp, and as long as I have power I have never had an issue.

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If you have a freeze guard I would think the heat lamp is a bad idea. If not then I guess it may be fine.

duck79 said:

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For those that shut down. Are you breaking up the ice in your spa or not worrying about it?

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Not breaking it up. Fortunately, haven't had a problem doing this in the past.

I have been keeping the middle broken up to keep it from layering to much, not sure if I should be, but in my eyes it seems like a reasonable move.
My question is, can I turn everything back on today? I don't want to deal with this again tonight.

Had to replace the pump a few months ago. Irritating at the time, but its been running like a champ all weekend. Knock on wood.

I have been breaking up the ice forming in the hot tub and pool and fishing some of the bigger chunks out with the net. Glad to have some sun on the pool today. Hopefully I can get the pump reprimed and running tomorrow.

mavsfan4ever said:

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powerbelly said:

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Golf Ag said:

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Keeping mine running this weekend, with an open air tent over the equipment and a heat lamp suspended 1-2' above it to keep it warm. Can someone tell me if this is a terrible idea?

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I do this minus the heat lamp, and as long as I have power I have never had an issue.

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If you have a freeze guard I would think the heat lamp is a bad idea. If not then I guess it may be fine.

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Heat lamp isn't going to hurt anything as long as you don't have it sitting directly on a piece of PVC pipe where it would start melting things, or aimed where it heats up the ambient temp sensor to make the controller think it's warmer outside than it really is to the point where it goes out of freeze protect mode. On my system it's always been the small lines and fittings that have had freezing issues in the past (the small tube and hard plastic connection into the inline chlorinator which I don't even use). A lamp just provides an extra layer of protection.

Dp

I checked on my equipment last night and was pretty proud of my tarp job. It held a lot of weight and didn't give.

So I thought it would be a good idea to put a canopy from Academy over my equipment so the ice wouldn't build up and I could partake of the hot tub in the frigid weather.
I kinda forgot about it and heard a large crash at 1130 Saturday night. I went out there and the canopy had collapsed under the weight of sleet. Just as you would suspect, a metal bar hit the elbow connecting the filter to the backwash valve and water was spewing everywhere.
In theory I got all the plugs out and got plastic bottles in the skimmers.

I broke up 1/2" of ice in the spa this morning and the pool is about 75% covered in ice.

My pool guy said it will be about $450 and I have to wait until it's above 40 degrees to fix it. Maybe Thursday afternoon, otherwise next week.

Fun times!

I have my equipment covered and shut down but I can't even get to it to see if I made it thru without damage. I tried clearing the ice off earlier but didn't want to chance breaking something. The sun is helping the ice in the pool and spa a ton and hopefully tomorrow the continued sun and temps will melt enough to get under the tarps.

I'm in the wrong business if that's just for a repair of some 2" PVC pipe and an elbow

This thread has been very helpful to me. I think I was getting ice inside my PVC by the pump when it was in pool mode and it wouldn't keep a prime. I'd never pulled plugs before and, with the help of my pool guy texting and some posts here, I've got the equipment drained.

Just need to keep the ice from forming in the pool and spa now. How thick do you guys let the ice get before breaking it up?

If you just pulled and shut down you prob don't need to worry a ton. Some say never worry about ice (except for skimmer). I am of the "break it up" camp but I think earlier today was my last breakup. Will let it ride from here. I usually just get the ice off the edge on one side not all the way around. Prob won't crank up pool for another week.

The housing of the diverted to the drain was broken as well. That's an $80ish dollar piece, but yes, I'm paying for their expertise.