The Used Above Ground Pool Is Up

by Phil
(Inland Empire, Ca.)

Deck/pool at old location

Deck/pool at old location

Now that I have the used 18" X38" Secard pool up and full of water, I have to establish how to put the deck up to it. Main problem is that the pool is a long oval and the deck is 15'X 6' rectangle. It IS in 3 sections though. Do I have to cut it out or??

Also, I'm trying to avoid putting the filter pump under the deck. The way these Hesperia guys set the skimmer was closer to the end of the pool whereas I needed it on the side. Was thinking of getting longer hoses for it, but don’t no if that'd be bad or not? It came with six footers and I'm wanting to get more 10 foot and 12 footers,etc. I've been told to leave the six footers but don’t know.

Thanks, Phil

Hi Phil

I find that putting a deck over a filter is awkward. Many people feel that it helps to protect the filter and hoses by putting it under the deck. As long as you have plenty of access to work on the filter either way is OK. Cutting an access door in the deck so that you can remove the skimmer lid and basket is pretty easy to do.

Moving the filter is easy also. If you are going to go any longer than six or eight foot with the hoses I would switch to Flexible PVC Pipe. It is very easy to convert a filter to PVC and then you can install the filer any place you want.

It seems to me that a 15' deck would fit along the straight side of the pool just perfect. I'm not sure why you would have to do any cutting but it is wood, and wood is very easy to work with. It can be custom fit easily by cutting a little here and maybe adding a little there.

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Oct 19, 2008
 More updates
by: Phil

"Thanks, Phil

Hi Phil

I find that putting a deck over a filter is awkward. Many people feel that it helps to protect the filter and hoses by putting it under the deck. As long as you have plenty of access to work on the filter either way is OK. Cutting an access door in the deck so that you can remove the skimmer lid and basket is pretty easy to do."

Well...this is a DE filter with a big plastic dome to remove. Not enough room under the deck to be able to remove it for cleaning,etc.

"Moving the filter is easy also. If you are going to go any longer than six or eight foot with the hoses I would switch to Flexible PVC Pipe. It is very easy to convert a filter to PVC and then you can install the filer any place you want."

I've actually put 12' hoses on and moved the filter pump(emptied of water first of course) more away from the deck along the side of the pool. I did this to get it out of the way of the deck. Now that the deck is up I could possibly move it back closer but still the return hose would still have to be longer than 6'. The deck stairs too are also an obstacle to moving it back. The 12' hoses seem to work ok. I was considering flexbilbe PVC hose, but found that trying to clamp that would be futile as it's pretty stiff,etc. Dunno if there's a fitting for that or not. If I used PVC would it have to be blue glued to the skimmer and such?

"It seems to me that a 15? deck would fit along the straight side of the pool just perfect. I?m not sure why you would have to do any cutting but it is wood, and wood is very easy to work with. It can be custom fit easily by cutting a little here and maybe adding a little there."

Actually the original configuration WAS on the straight away side of the pool over the buttresses at the original site. But on my site I haven't got much room for it on either straight side plus even if I DID put it on the same side as it was, we'd have to walk all the way around the pool to get in it. Having the deck on the south end is better with the stair steps right next to the concrete sidewalk,etc. The boys I hired DID tweak the deck by cutting the large 6' X 8' center section into a wedge shape. Looks real nice now. I still have some latice work to finish and painting but I'm very happy with what they did. They only charged me like $225 plus I supplied the parts/supplies, so for under $300 I got my deck reconfigured to fit the oval pool end. Sweet! :)

Oct 19, 2008
 Filter stuff and "conditioner" granuals
by: Phil

OK.... btw, I had gotten a couple chemicals from my local pool store. One was "conditioner" supposed to be to condition the water to prevent chlorine loss. The other is Leslie's "Chlor Brite" chlorine,etc. Before messing around with the chemicals I went and cleaned the DE filters with the hose and put 3-4 scoops of fresh DE in it. I actually took the filter apart completely cleaning all the filter fins very well. I haven't put the chlorine in yet, but tried to do the conditioner first. This stuff is little white granuals one is supposed to mix in a bucket of warm water first before dumping in the skimmer. Well...did all that and even tho there were many granuals left at the bottom of the bucket I was advised to dump it all in the skimmer anyway. What I got then was these white granuals going straight thru the filter and out the return.

A whole layer of them on the bottom of the pool. Vacuuming didn't help either cuz they just kept circulating back into the pool. I finally today got some paint strainer material and rubber banded it around the return to catch any/all granuals shooting thru. I've already dumped maybe 5 large scoops of DE into the skimmer, is this too much or not enough after thoroughly cleaning the filter screens? I'm "fairly" sure I put the filter screens back together right? Why are things shooting out the return? heh.

Feb 20, 2010
 Difference in pool size & chlorine vs Saltwater
by: Anonymous

Hello, We have a 18ft round above ground pool (18yrs old) with a deck built 3/4 of the way around it. We were given a much newer pool 24ft round so we are taking down the old one. I have 2 questions..(1). how far back do we need to cut the deck back in order for the new pool to fit in the same place? (2) . Is it hard to switch from chlorine to saltwater?

thank you.

Hi

Chlorine to salt water is easy, you just hook up the unit and turn it on.

As for the deck, I would remove it far enough to give yourself plenty room to work on the new pool. The deck will have to be redone to fit the new pool anyway, no sense having to fight it during the installation. They really do hinder proper installation.

Jun 05, 2014
 Now what?
by: Phil

Ok....Phil here back again. The used above ground pool has been great. Recently tho after cleaning the DE filter fins and putting it all back together my Zodiac Barracuda crawley cleaner still is slowing down and stopping. First thing I thought of was air leak at the filter basket lid so got a new O ring with lube and fixed that. Still slowing down and stopping. It's been suggested that my filter fins are clogged somehow even after being cleaned/hosed off? I've also checked the hose sections going to the Zodiac and the joins seem water tight and no leaks. What to do now?

Hi Phil

It's important to know whether or not the system gets back up to normal pressure when you unhook the cleaner. Do you have to clean the filter before the system is normal out of the return jet? I assume you just unhook the cleaner and in a minute or so you have full pressure. Try putting a plastic bag over the lint pot and then attaching the lid. If this is where the air is getting in this should slow it down. Have you checked the diaphragm in the cleaner? When these go bad the cleaner slows down. If the return flow stays strong while the cleaner is running, but the cleaner won't move, check the cleaner. If you loose your return flow while the cleaner is hooked up try the shopping bag trick.

Jun 07, 2014
 Now What?
by: Phil

Ok.......yes first we thought it was an air leak at the filter basket/pot so I got a new O ring gasket, lubed it up, installed it,etc. Turns out a main problem was my DE filter fins were plugging up, so even after hosing/cleaning them and putting fresh DE in, the cleaner would slow down and stop after a minute or so. My local pool store sold me some bioguard "kleen it" stuff that you mixed with water soak the filter fins in. That seemed to do the trick. They told me the test on those was do dunk one of em in water upside down then lift it up and see if they "bagged" at all. Mine was bagging about 3-4 inches from the sealed ends,etc. After soaking all the fins in a water filled trash can with the "Kleen it" in, putting the filter back together, 3 large scoops of fresh DE, the cleaner zipped around the pool very well.
Jun 07, 2014
 Now What?
by: Phil

Also....I had noticed before getting the "Kleen it" that upon initial cleaning of the filter fins there was clumps of DE at the bottom and it looked like it was mixed with something "oily"...ie the water looked like it had an oil separation in it. Local store says that oils, metals and other contaminants over time(this filter goes back to 2005) starts to plug up the fabric in the fileter fins. So even if you clean the filter fins as normal the crawley will still slow down and stop per the fins being still plugged up with oils,etc.
Jun 28, 2016
 Zodiac Crawly caused liner damage....
by: Phil

Ok.....had this used above ground pool up since 2008 and of course put a new liner in then. Easter weekend this year tho had a catastrophe. Good Friday looked out and saw water level way down. Found out that the crawly cleaner had fallen apart in the pool and tore a 3" gash in the liner. Its' rubber footpad split and the hard plastic cleaner came out of its' "shoe". I went to try to patch it with a large patch but in process of touching it a couple times with my toe(I was in waist high water) in order to get the chard's up for a flatter surface....boom....the "gash" blew up into a large sunburst of rips/tears about 2 feet in diameter, thus caused me to replace the liner at a cost of over a $1000.00. Zodiac sent out their "rep" to assess the damage but I haven't heard from them since. Wouldn't this be on Zodiac since their product failed and caused the damage? I sure could use some reimbursement for this freak thing?

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