Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

The all NEW Kreepy Krauly by Pentair (360040) I will be the first to admit that I never thought Pentair would get around to updating their Kreepy Krauly cleaner. It looked outdated and kinda "old school" but worked like a beast so you could overlook the fact that it would never win a beauty contest, kind of "a cleaner only a Mother could love." So I was a bit shocked when I saw the NEW Kreepy Krauly at my pool supply store. The redesign is so striking that if the box didn't say "New Kreepy Krauly" I wouldn't have recognized it. So let me go over in detail all the  great improvements Pentair has made on a cleaner that was already excellent. UPDATED PLASTIC BODY: 10 out of 10  The first thing you will notice is the plastic used is much stronger and durable. Other manufacturers have been using this plastic for a few years and I can vouch for it. It is very durable, chemical resistant and strong. The Kreepy Krauly already was a cleaner tha

An old Brass Pump Here is a question I get a lot on my YouTube Channel and one that can't be answered by just stating that one company is the best. The truth is they all make pretty comparable products with a few distinctions. First, they don't make pool equipment like they used to. If you are in the industry you will find a lot of old American Product filters and pumps still working fine in customers backyards along with old Purex/ Triton pumps. I hate to say it but the newer equipment is not made nearly as well. Pretty obvious when a 20 year old pump is outlasting a newly installed 5 year old pump. But I think that is a problem across the board as manufacturer switch to cheaper regions to make products which is a grip for another Blog.  Suffice to say that there is only a small distinction now between the companies. Here is a real world review of each brand from working off and on in the Pool Industry since 1988. NUMBER ONE: PENTAIR/ STA-RITE Pentair doesn't openl

It was on of those typical California Mornings. Already hot enough to cook an egg and make you sweat for just breathing. I couldn't afford to sweat today or any day at that. So I sat inside smoking and turned the air on to a crisp 60 degrees. I sat and waited which I am good at. The doorbell rang 10 minutes ahead of schedule. This could be good or bad and I was about to find out which. I opened the door and there stood the first mark. He wasn't much to look at. I could have picked him up and tossed him across the room without breaking a sweat. He was dressed fine like afterwards he was going to his sister's Wedding. We shook hands, as I expected he tried too hard to grip me and it felt like A Butterfly kissing my hand. He introduced himself in a squeaky voice, "Hi, I'm Eugene Stanton from Sky Blue Pools. Nice to meet you." "Same to you" I said. Eugene, huh? Too bad. I didn't like anyone named Eugene so that was strike one against Mr. Stanton

Woman in Texas got a $1.3 Million Dollar Electric Bill There is no question about it, your pool pump will raise your electricity bill and sometimes it will raise it into the stratosphere. Maybe not $1.3 million but it can feel like it.  I have a 2 hp Wisperflow at my house and I am pretty conservative with my power usage. I even get $50.00 back every month in the Summer from my local electric company (SCE) by not using my A/C during peak hours and my bill is still over $130 a month. It got as high as $180 this Summer. So how much of this is my pool pump? My electric company Edison prepared a report for 2011 and the cost breakdown for my pool pump was as follows: $272.00 a year and 25% of my total electricity cost for the year. Only my Air Conditioner cost me more: $319.00 and 30% of my total electricity. It is the tier system that raises the cost in my area. LOWER YOUR PUMP RUN TIME: Lower your pump run time Most people run their pools too long without even knowing it.

Regular Unscented Bleach I started doing pool service when I was 16 years old back in 1988. I took a break from the industry and did some Real Estate Investing and ran a small business for awhile. But I always loved working outdoors and so I decided to do pool service again. So I have about 15 years of practical experience in the field. My specialty has always been water chemistry as I was formally trained by an experts in the field. So I am well versed in most of the chemicals that are on the market today and I have used and tested a lot of different products. So when you hear those in the industry discourage and even slander anyone who uses bleach in their pool, you may think that it is not a product that you should use. In fact as you read this article you will find that using bleach and only bleach is a safe and smart choice. There is a lot of ignorance surrounding household bleach and the use of bleach in a swimming pool. Here is a video I made that goes in more detail on usin

Huntington Pools & Spas Showcase House Pool 2008 There are Pros and Cons for both options. Since I service pools for a living I am a little biased but I will start by taking the opposite position first and you can weigh the decision of doing it yourself. There are some benefits of doing your own pool. If you have been to my YouTube Channel: mrdgvb1 you will find lots of Do-It-Yourself videos that I have created. One of the videos is on "Getting Out of Debt" which is one of my passions for people. Here is that video:  http://youtu.be/zodWtOUb2os  I hate Debt as it destroys marriages, keeps you from becoming wealthy and makes only one person rich - the banks that hold all the notes. Debt steals your freedom and makes you a pseudo employee of the Bank. So I am for saving money when it comes to doing your own pool. And if you don't hire a pool service you can save $800-$1,000 a year. That is a lot of money that you can put towards paying off your credit cards

I get this question a lot on my YouTube Channel and since I don't sell any products myself people tend to trust my unbiased opinion. If you are an "Old School" type buyer then you will get your supplies from a brick and mortar store. I will cover the online stores also. BRICK AND MORTAR CHOICES: #1 FIND A LOCAL MOM & POP POOL STORE IN YOUR AREA. Malins Pool Supply Chino, Ca This is your best retail choice in most circumstances. You local pool supply store will stock and carry a wider variety of pool products than the large corporate pool stores. In most cases they also run a pool service company out of the store so the staff will have practical hands on experience. The owner usually is a pool man with several years of experience. They will also be honest about the products they sell since there isn't a huge incentive for pushing one product over another. So if you are looking for a good automatic cleaner, they will sell you the one that they think is best

Zodiac MX8 Choosing the right automatic cleaner for your pool can be challenging and picking the wrong one in the same respects can be frustrating and disappointing. The majority of pools will do fine with a traditional suction side cleaner with few exceptions. That is why  suction side cleaners are the most popular and for good reason. Most of the newer pools will come with a side port connection - a pre-plumbed suction line near the middle of the pool where you can connect a suction side cleaner. You can also use a suction cleaner directly in the skimmer which many people do. If working correctly it will leave the pool bottom spotless. The drawbacks of a suction cleaner are that the skimming of the surface is not as great as suction is being diverted to the cleaner, it doesn't look very nice with hoses in the pool and large debris can clog it up and stop it. But for the most part a suction cleaner would be most peoples 1st choice for their  pool. Polaris 280 Next up wou

When you do a Google search for any pool problem or swimming pool related issue, chances are you will find a post listed from a swimming pool forum in the search tag line. Either that or you will be directed to my YouTube channel ;) So you may wonder if the post is accurate since it is from a swimming pool forum and not the manufacturer or a pool company. Here are the most popular forums that you will run into when you search for a pool solution: www.troublefreepool.com community.poolcenter.com www.poolforum.com www.poolspaforum.com ths.gardenweb.com And there are a few smaller forums also on the web. So the question is can you trust the advice given out on these various forums? From hitting several of these over the years I have found that for the most part the advice is accurate. Maybe not 100% of the time but pretty close. Each of these forums has moderators that verify posts and there are many long time members that are qualified to answer or clarify a specific post or