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Pool Maint

Posted on 8/30/24 at 11:31 pm
Posted by Farmtiger
West "By God" Monroe
Member since Dec 2003
2966 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 11:31 pm
My pool guy just closed his maint business.

Anyone have a DIY portable vacuum setup they would recommend? We have a dolphin but it’s a pain at times. I noticed he used a portable one and I’ve seen others as well. Thx
Posted by LanierSpots
Sarasota, Florida
Member since Sep 2010
69348 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 5:36 am to
Salt water? Chlorine?


I am a new pool guy. Doing my own chemicals and cleaning. About 8 months now. It took me a few months to get on top of things but honeslty, its not that hard and does not take a lot of work. Mine is easy because its Salt and I have a cage over it. Limited cleaning. I just have a basic vaccum head and hose from Amazon that I plug into my skimmer. Vaccum about once every two weeks. Scrub the sides each time.


There are some very good forums out there that teach you everything and have some very rabid members who sift their water daily for anything. Trouble Free Pool is the most popular one.

Just make your adjuments with chemicals a little at a time and work your way up. Stay away from the pool shops if you can. All the chemicals you need are available at Walmart/Home Depot/Amazon. Saves you a ton of money


Posted by PoorOtis
Marietta,GA
Member since Sep 2007
214 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 7:30 am to
Pool Blaster Max cordless vacuum. Amazon $199.00
Posted by TNtrash
The Cotton Fields
Member since Jun 2021
367 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 10:53 am to
I love my dolphin. What’s yours doing that makes it a PIA?
Posted by Kapitan
Belle Chasse
Member since Mar 2021
175 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 2:58 pm to
I just ordered a dolphin 30 minutes ago because my suction cleaner is awful. I hope it’s an improvement!
Posted by Python
Member since May 2008
6594 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 6:04 pm to
I’ve had a dolphin for years. Couldn’t be happier with it. Very simple to use/clean and does a great job.
Posted by xBirdx
Member since Sep 2018
2246 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 10:26 pm to
Dolphin owner here as well. Throw it in every few days, take it out and rinse the filter.

Pretty simple
Posted by Dallaswho
Texas
Member since Dec 2023
3373 posts
Posted on 8/31/24 at 10:47 pm to
So you don’t have a full time pressure side cleaner like a Polaris 360/280/etc?
Those are so important just for circulation more than anything else.
Vacuum is best manual but I use a mx8xx robot I got cheap used. Use maybe 3x/year and I have 12x trees over my pool.
Posted by Farmtiger
West "By God" Monroe
Member since Dec 2003
2966 posts
Posted on 9/1/24 at 6:59 am to
It’s not necessarily a PIA, Its my first pool to take care of and gave up after two years of constant trips to the store, buying endless chemicals and still having algae. We hired a local guy this year and he kept it crystal clear and only showed up about every two weeks. I don’t have many trees so it’s usually just a little dirt and a few leaves after a big storm. He just dumped a bunch or chlorine in it and left typically.

He used some type of pump that he carried around on a dolly and it didn’t pump a ton of water out. I hate using my skimmer and hose because it sucks so much water out of my pool. Most likely user error but, I’m not sure what else to do. Also, I have a couple dogs that love to jump in on the lounge deck with red dirt all over them and it gets everywhere. I have plans to fix that. I do have a dolphin, we just weren’t that impressed by it.

Thanks all for the replies
Posted by tigerfoot
Alexandria
Member since Sep 2006
60601 posts
Posted on 9/1/24 at 10:20 am to
quote:

I hate using my skimmer and hose because it sucks so much water out of my pool
Really? Why? Doesnt it just send it thru to the filter? I have kept my pool for three years and cant imagine anything easier. Two trips a year to the pool store for a total of three cases of acid, three cases of liquid chlorine and two four pound bags of stabilizer. I do keep three or four of those little bags of shock on hand for times when we get huge amounts of rain or my boys have a bunch of kids over that stay in the pool all day.
Posted by indytiger
baton rouge/indy
Member since Oct 2004
10211 posts
Posted on 9/1/24 at 11:54 am to
10K Gallon pool here. I add about a quart of liquid chlorine every night or two, and turn on my dolphin once every couple days, and the pool stays beautiful. Check the other chemicals about once a month, and usually only have to add some CH+ granules and maybe a little acid.

quote:

I hate using my skimmer and hose because it sucks so much water out of my pool.


Are you vacuuming to waste, and all the water is going out in the yard or something?

Posted by Farmtiger
West "By God" Monroe
Member since Dec 2003
2966 posts
Posted on 9/1/24 at 10:22 pm to
Vacuuming to waste. I was told not to vacuum to filter. I don’t know crap about pools and wouldn’t have one if the wife didn’t insist. I dislike dealing with them. I’d rather have a boat. None the less, my original question was about a portable water pump that people use to vacuum their pools.

I appreciate all the replies. I think I need something like AA for pool maintenance. Everyone I talk to says different things and for someone that doesn’t know it’s a PITA to figure out.

Thanks again
Posted by mtcheral
BR
Member since Oct 2008
2078 posts
Posted on 9/2/24 at 8:29 am to
If you don’t have much to vacuum up then vacuuming to filter is perfectly fine. You just need to backwash it and then rinse after to clear out what you picked up. Wastes much less water. The ONLY time I vacuumed to waste was when I was clearing out a bunch of dead algae because things got out of hand and I had to Slam it.
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