Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

If you have a pool that gets a lot of leaf debris in it each week or if you service pools that have heavy debris, there are a few things you can do to make it at least manageable. I will go over some of the things that I think will help you the most with a heavy debris pool. This sounds simple and it is probably the thing that will help the most, but it is one thing many customers do not want to do. Simply, trim the trees and keep them trimmed back every season. Trimming the trees around the pool can go a long way in eliminating excessive leaf debris. If you haven’t had your trees trimmed in years, it is probably way overdue. Trimming the trees get rid of all the leaf debris that would fall off into the pool over time and will also prevent a lot of the leaves that would fall in from overhanging branches. I have had many clients also just take a tree or several trees out because managing the debris was a losing battle. But simply trimming the trees around the pool will hel...

Primate 2X (8 x 16 ft) Telescoping Pool Pole is the latest edition to the line-up of the Primate Carbon Fiber Pool Poles. If you use a standard 2-piece pole on your pool route, the Primate 2X pole would be a great fit for you. The Carbon Fiber makes it extremely durable and light which is a perfect combination for a professional pool pole. Here is more from Primate Pool Tools: The P2X is the newest edition to our carbon fiber service pole series. It is identical to its brother the P3X in strength, weight, and durability and features our flagship lever lock mechanism. However, this version is a 2-part pole for those who would prefer a traditional 8 x 16 ft service pole.  Specs: Measurements: Collapsed length – 96″, fully extended – 184″ Weight: 2 lb. 4 oz Materials: Carbon fiber tubing with fiberglass reinforcement at stress and wear points. The 2X pole is almost the same length as the 3X pole when fully extended. The 3X will extend to 15’ 7” and th...

Draining your swimming pool sounds simple enough. But there are many things to be aware of and some things that you overlook could cost you thousands of dollars and could cause potential damage to your pool. The only in-ground pool types that you can safely drain are plaster/cement and Pebble Tec pools. If you drain a drop-in fiberglass pool down the walls may collapse and the pool can be damaged. If you drain in an in-ground vinyl pool the liner can separate from the wall and this will severely damage the pool to the point where you will need a new liner. The drop-in Fiberglass Pool and an in-ground Vinyl Pool should only be drained by a company the specializes in them. Otherwise, you can potentially damage these types of pools by draining them down. The first thing to check is how your city looks at pool draining. Most cities in every region ban draining your pool down directly into the gutter outside in the street. Here in my area if you drain a green pool or a blue ...

The eXact iDip® Professional Test Kit is one of the most underrated Photometer/Digital Test Kits on the market today. The concept is a bit complicated and I can see why most pool pros and homeowners pass on it. After using it and testing the kit I can say it is extremely easy to use and very accurate. So accurate that it is EPA approved for the Free and Total Chlorine Tests. The Professional Test Kit would be perfect for Commercial Pool use as well as Residential Pool use. Let me try to take the mystery out of the eXact iDip Kits. It is a photometer that reads the color released on the pre-measured test strip. Other photometers use reagents or pills but the concept is the same. The photometer will read the light spectrum and give you a digital readout of the test factor you are doing at that moment. The eXact iDip is very accurate when done correctly. It also links via Bluetooth with the downloadable app and you do all the testing from the app on your phone or device. T...

Doing an Acid Wash for the first time can be challenging but there are some things you can do to make it go smoothly. The first thing you need to do is to assess the pool to see if an Acid Wash is even the proper thing to do. By this I mean, maybe the pool needs more than an Acid Wash and will need to be resurfaced. If the plaster has cracks and chips in it already, an Acid Wash will make things worse. There will be more chipping and bigger chunks of plaster will start to come off once the pool is refilled. A Pebble Tec pool with pebbles coming off or cracks is a sign that an Acid Wash should not be done. This will make the Pebble Tec surface worse and not better. You also want to be careful not to drain a pool down if the outside air temperature is above 90 degrees. This can also cause the plaster to chip, but not until you refill the pool. Sun exposure at that temperature will weaken the old plaster and the chipping will appear over time. So it would be optimal to sch...

I must say that I am impressed by the New Hydro 500 cordless battery-operated cleaner by Water Tech. I have used and tested many Water Tech devices and the Hydro 500 was surprisingly powerful! The large debris chamber makes the old internal bag cleaners seem small in comparison. Here are some of the features of the Hydro 500 from Water Tech. The unit will run up to 45 minutes on a full charge. Featuring a reusable Xtreme Multi-Layer Filter and large debris chamber, the Hydro 500 vacuums all types of debris including leaves, twigs, sand, and dead algae.  The Hydro 500 comes complete with a 10.50-inch vacuum head and a smart charger which turns from red to green when the unit is fully charged. Simply attach the unit to a pool pole, turn the unit on and you are ready to vacuum. To purchase on Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2H1GC1Z •SKU# -26051SL •Lithium Powered, fully rechargeable in 4 hours •Up to 45 minutes run time •Push-button ON/OFF switch •Includes (1) Re...

When Hayward acquired the PoolCleaner form Poolvergnuegen a few years back I had a suspicion that they would use the patented parts in their other pool cleaners. I was correct and Hayward used the V-Flex turbine from the PoolCleaner in their Navigator and Pool Vac cleaners. What I didn’t see coming was the duplication of the PoolCleaner model into the Hayward AquaNaut and the Hayward Phoenix cleaners. This has lead to some confusion in the industry so this article will try to clear things up. All three cleaners are the exact same cleaner. That is it. Just a different shell and a different name. All the internal and external parts are exactly the same, except for the different shell design and color scheme. Hayward did not want to lose the PoolCleaner Poolvergnuegen brand name that they acquired and rightly so. The Poolvergnuegen had a big following at the time and it was a very popular cleaner for the pool service guys around the country. The main problem for Hayward then was...

An Acid Wash is a great way to renew your pool’s overall look without re-plastering it. The acid mix will take off a layer of the plaster and if done correctly with the right mixture, it will also remove 95% of the metal stains and other staining. That is one reason I use the Bio-Dex products when I do my Acid Washes. Their products actually do what they say, and you can see the stains coming right off the surface of the pool. The Acid Wash mix is the most important element of Acid Wash. Here are the products that you need for a successful acid wash. You will need 31.45% Muriatic Acid mixed with water in a 2 to 1 water to acid mix. Bio-Dex Plaster White ‘n Brite to help thicken up the acid solution so that it runs smoothly down the walls of the pool and to reduce the acid fumes. Bio-Dex AquaDex 50 Stain-Off which helps to remove iron and other metal staining from the surface. If you use this Acid Wash mix you will have great results and the plaster or Pebble Tec will look as...

I get asked often what the best chlorine type is to use in a pool. There are a great many choices out there and the best one is one of the oldest methods, straight liquid chlorine. In the old days, it used to be chlorine gas but with regulations and such that practice has disappeared. Liquid chlorine is strong and has the least side effects for your pool. Liquid Chlorine or Bleach is the tried and true standard chemical of choice for most pool service professionals. It is easy to use and relatively inexpensive and it has the least side effects of any of the chlorine you can choose from. It is usually sold in 12.5% active chlorine per gallon with Bleach coming in at about half that strength at 6.5%. It will raise the pH slightly, but it does not contain any Stabilizer or Conditioner making it ideal for all pool types. This means that when you add a gallon of liquid chlorine and your Conditioner level (CYA) is 50 ppm it will stay at 50 ppm even if you add 20 gallons of liquid c...