The Spare Parts Episode: Be Ready for Anything

Time is the silent profit killer on a busy pool route, and the most reliable way to reclaim it is by building an inventory that solves problems before they appear. The strategy begins with a mindset shift: treat your truck and garage like a mobile supply house designed to eliminate emergency supplier runs. Start with emergency chlorine. A 50-pound bucket of dichlor is shelf-stable, pH neutral relative to alternatives, and safe for most surfaces when pre-dissolved. It rescues the day when liquid stock runs low with six stops left, sparing you from detours and cheap, weak retail chlorine. Pair it with spare mechanical essentials: an extra pole and a leaf rake. Tools break, get lost, or get left behind during a rushed phone call. Having backups lets you finish the route without doubling back or improvising with inferior gear that slows you down and frustrates clients.

Power reliability is the next frontier. Battery backups for portable vac systems like Riptide and Bottom Feeder turn windy-day disasters into routine pickups. A compact 18–20Ah spare for the Riptide mounted on the cart gives one to two hours of runtime and avoids removing your main battery. For Bottom Feeder, a second battery pack covers forgotten charges, charger glitches, or heavy debris loads. Yes, batteries cost money, but they cost less than lost hours and rescheduled cleanings. That buffer is a revenue protector because each avoided trip and each completed stop preserves trust and schedule integrity, which compounds into fewer cancellations and higher lifetime value per client.

Organization decides whether inventory helps or hinders. Use sturdy buckets—old trichlor buckets work well—to group parts by category, and split storage between the truck and a garage shelf. Avoid turning the back seat into a junk bin; designate zones and label everything. Track what you actually use, not what you imagine you might need. Keep a simple list of the pumps and filters on your route and stock the most common O-rings, lids, and wear items. In Pentair-heavy areas, carry Clean & Clear Plus and 2000/4000 filter O-rings, WhisperFlo baskets, pump lid O-rings, thin housing O-rings, and even a spare clear lid and seal plate for older systems. If you see Hayward regularly, carry Super II O-rings. The rule of three applies: carry at least two, ideally three, of the O-rings you use most. Use one, reorder one. Skip this and you’ll meet the worst inventory problem: thinking you have stock you never replaced.

Small parts save big time. Timer trippers and Intermatic mechanisms are notorious for warping or wearing out, and standing in line 30 minutes for a $5 part is madness. Keep trippers and a spare mechanism on the truck. For offline chlorinators, carry Rainbow lid O-rings, tubing, and check valves; trichlor swells O-rings until they fail. A spare chlorine floater covers salt system outages or temporary dosing needs. Cleaner uptime is just as critical. Carry common cleaner wear parts and one spare suction cleaner with hoses so you can swap it in when a repair becomes a project. Raccoon-chewed hoses and split cuffs are not rare; keep replacements on hand to avoid returns and unhappy calls. These habits transform service from reactive to reliable, which clients notice and reward.

The final piece is discipline. Build a route inventory list, restock immediately after use, and calendar a monthly audit to purge excess and reorder staples. Guard against hoarding; more isn’t better if you can’t find it or if it never gets used. Measure wins by fewer supplier trips, fewer reschedules, and faster onsite fixes. Over a year, that reclaimed time becomes profit, and that reliability becomes your brand. Make your truck a problem-solving machine, keep your garage a lean backup, and treat every stocked part as a promise that you’ll finish the job on the first visit.