Daily Maintenance
Pump time, 6am – 3pm
Morning
Cleaning off surface leaves, debris, dead insects;
Check chlorine level;
Add half spoon of the chlorine if necessary.
Evening
Cleaning off surface leaves, debris, dead insects;
Cleaning up collected leaves, debris, etc. in the skimmer.
Before kids playing in the pool
Check chlorine level, make sure it stays within 1-3 ppm.
Diary from 2018
6/15/2018
- Pool opened
- Asked the pool guys to leave the pool cover on the grass. Used water hose to clean the cover, and then rolled it up
- (NEXT TIME IMPROVEMENT – wait for the cover dry, and blow clean before roll it up)
- Power washed the edges of the pool.
6/16/2018
- Brushed the side of the pool
- Pumped out pool water to make the water line below the entrance to the skimmer. This will allow more effective removal of surface debris.
- Cleaned up the skimmer and the net in the pump a few times due to low water flow. It was difficult to open the pump cover the first time. Only needed to rotate the cover to the right direction. Fill with water, put the cover back on, and then turn the pump on. This didn’t really help to improve the water flow.
- Backwashed the filter. Turn off the pump, turn the valve to backwash, turn on the pump for 2 min, turn off the pump, turn the valve to release, turn on the pump for 1 min, turn off the pump, turn the value to filter, turn on the pump.
- After the backwash, the filter pressure reduced from 10 to 5.
- Then added 3 scoops DE powder through skimmer.
- Found out the pool chlorine level is still very low; added 3 bags pool chlorine.
- (NEXT TIME IMPROVEMENT – check water chlorine, pH, etc., right away the next day after the open)
- Used pool net to get out of as much as debris as possible.
6/17/2018
- Backwashed a few times. The pool filter seems to be “short cycled” since the water flow gets reduced in a very short period of time. This means the filter needs to be cleaned.
- Vacuumed the pool twice, got rid of a lot of dead algae. The water is still a bit cloudy due to the dead algae.
- The chlorine level, pH, alkaline level are all fine.
- Pool filter instruction website, including a video from Leslie: http://all-about-water-filters.com/how-to-clean-your-pool-filter-ultimate-guide/
- Cleaned pool filter. Leslie’s crystal clear ii, recommended amount DE 4.5 lbs, equivalent to 9 scoops of 24 oz (700 g) per scoop. Cleaning steps:
- Backwash
- Turn off the pump
- Release air from the top pressure gauge
- Open pump cover, clean up pump net
- Clean up skimmer
- unscrew filter belt
- Open up filter top
- NEXT TIME IMPROVEMENT – need to clear a drain path before opening up the drain
- Open filter bottom drain (screw cap)
- NEXT TIME IMPROVEMENT – need to find a way to lift up the filter core
- Use garden hose to clean up the filter
- Go back each step to reassemble the filter
- Turn on the pump
- Wearing a mask, put in 9 scoops of DE powder
- Poured 1 gallon Clorox Pool & Spa Algaecide and Clarifier 128-oz from Lowes.
6/21/2018
Installed filter pressure gauge 0-60 psi 1/4″ fitting 81060BU bought at Ebay. Since the air relief valve leaks a little, also ordered a replacement DEX2400S.
Wiped the stained areas with a sponge soaked with Chlorine liquid that bought at Lowe’s.