Service Tech Tip (Primeing the Pump)

Being the responsible pool owner you are, you are following your normal routine of at least once per week emptying your pump basket. After tightening the lid and turning the pump back on you notice no water is running through the pump. Understanding that most pumps installed on swimming pools are self-priming, there is always a reason your pump will not catch prime that you need to identify. For example, if the pump lid is not all the way tightened down (remember not to over tighten). Check the lid o-ring for cracks, debris, or indentations, if any of these are present, replace the 0-ring. Even if you left the lid off for too long, this allows the pipes to flood with air and makes it more difficult to prime. There are other reason such as suction leaks that may be causing the problem as well. Once the problem has been identified and resolved it is time to prime the pump.
Here is a step by step procedure to priming your pump after any challenges are resolved.
1. With the pump turned off, open the pump lid
2. Turn off suction valves leaving only one suction line open. (if you have a spa it is usually easiest to leave the spa line open.
3. Run garden hose water into pump for 2 mins. (pump will most likely over flow, this is ok as what you are doing is flooding the line with water.)
4. This is the important part...After the 2 mins is up, as fast as yo can, pull the hose out, put the lid on and turn on the pump. THEN you can turn off the garden hose. This is important because once you take the hose out, air can get back into the line if you are not quick enough.
5. Once the pump has re-primed, SLOWLY open the suction valves one at a time. Air from the lines can cause you to loose prime again, so normally closing the line you just opened and giving it a minute will allow the pump to restart.

Congratulations, you just primed a pump!!!

These tech tips are brought to you by Swim Clear Pool Supply.com and Swim Clear Pool Service

Pool Safety

Now that the swim season is almost here, it is not only time to get those pools, equipment, cleaners, and cleaning attachments checked out, but you also want to make sure your back yard oasis is safe. Pool safety is more important to us here than pool fun. If a pool is safe, then the fun is enjoyed even more.

The first layer of protection is your house. Make sure doors and windows are locked and any and all alarms are installed and operational. Check those doors and windows every day.

The area between the house and the pool is of great concern simply because it requires continuous Adult supervision. (Notice the word "adult" is in all caps)
Adults, only, should be responsible for supervising in and around the pool. Consider installing a safety fence or gates around the pool. Motion-sensored lights, and maybe even a camera/baby monitor is a good defense as well. Also, keep hanging tree limbs and pool furniture from being too close to the pool. If you have back yard appliances, or wired electronics, they should be at lease 6 ft. or more away from the water.

The pool itself carries the greatest amount of risk, and also requires continuous Adult supervision. Installing a pool alarm is a great way to be alerted if a sudden disturbance occurs along the pool's surface. Also make sure the pool area is equipped with emergency equipment (i.e. life rings, life hook, telepole, first aid kit, and maybe even an outdoor telephone). Never leave kids, or even pets unsupervised while they are in and around the pool. If you need to go into the house, bring them with you. Even if you think you will be away for only a second or two. A pool emergency happens in seconds.

Taking every, safety first, steps when in and around the pool will definitely make this and every swim season that much more enjoyable.

March Filter Clean Time

It is that time again. If you are following this swimming pool help blog for your swimming pool filter clean schedule it is once again time to take that filter a part and clean it. Remember just like your house or your car, your swimming pool filter will last much longer if you give it proper care.
If you live in the North Dallas area Swim Clear Pool Service is here for your filter cleaning needs.

Is Your Swimming Pool Ready for Spring?

Spring, it is getting closer beleive it or not. Which means it is time to start getting those pools ready. Now that your pool cleaner has taken a beating with fall and the cold temperatures, its time to repair, rebuild or posibly replace.

We see many home owners take their swimming pool automatic cleaners into a shop to have them worked on, but in all honesty, having worked on them for many years they are rather simplistic to work on. So if you have a handy bone in your body, before you take your pool cleaner to a shop, take a look at it your self. For example, one of the most popular pool cleaners is the Polaris 380. Your wearable parts that should be checked out regularly are your tail scrubber, wear rings on the tail, and tires. After that, check for leaks in the swivel connectors on the hose (small amounts of dripping is normal). One the head unit, when you spin one wheel, all three wheels should turn at the same time. If this is not the case, typically one or both of the belts are broken. Finally just a quick inspection of the belts to verify there is no fraying. Checking the bearings is as simple as checking for space within the bearing keeper and wobble. Typically if 4 or more bearings need to be replaced it is recommended to replace all of them.

It may sound complicated but it is not. One concept to remember is that just because you replace the broken parts, watch for items that may be worn that might be causing other items to break. A good example for this is gear driven pool cleaners. Unlike the belt driven Polaris 380, the gear driven Polaris 180 and 280 are notoriously for this. The teeth on the wheel of the Polaris 180/280 may be torn off or flattened, but what could have caused that is the teeth on the drive shaft may be worn down causing this. One step further, is the drive shaft bearings are loose, then they could be causing both problems. This may sound confusing but in the end they are simple machines.

Don't forget Swim Clear Pool Supply has all your swimming pool cleaner parts needs from all the top brands like Hayward, Polaris, Jandy and Pentair. More swimming pool help tips to come from your swimming pool help blog.

Swim Clear Pool Service Expands

Swim Clear Pool Service is pleased to announce we are now servicing the Garland, Rockwall, Rowlett areas of North Dallas. So if you are in those areas and are in need of swimming pool service visit our web site and check us out.

As always if you are in need of quality swimming pool products you can always go to www.swimclearpoolsupply.com no matter where you live.

Price Does Matter!!!

During these economic times, everyone wants to get a fair price on the goods and services that they need. Swim Clear Pool Supply prides itself on delivering quality name brand pool supplies at a great price to you the customer. Our parts and items by such name brand companies as Polaris, Hayward, Pentair, Sta-Rite, and the likes, means you are getting well established company products at a price that it near other big-name online companies or even better. Here are a few of Swim Clear Pool Supplies products, and how they compare with prices of other online big-name companies:

- ----------------Swim Clear -Leslie's Pool Supply -Water Wharehouse

POL Tail Scrubber ------$ 3.99 -----$ 5.89 ---------$ 7.53


POL Sweep Tail ---------$ 24.99 ----$ 25.99 -------$ 39.50

2 H.P. Motor ------------$369.99 ----$389.99 -----Do Not Sell

48 S.F. D.E. Grid Full ---$ 23.99----- $ 33.99 --------$ 29.47

Zodiac Duo Clear Salt
System (45,000 Gal) --$1,599.99 ---$1,729.99----- Do Not Sell

Rainbow 320 Inline
Chlorinator -------------$ 78.99----- $ 79.99 --------$ 101.99


As you can see by some of these examples, Swim Clear Pool Supply offers you, the customer, quality name brand products at a price you know will meet and even beat some of the top name online pool supply companies in the market today.

Snow Storm Breaks Records in Dallas

Wow, can you believe this winter? 12 - 13 inchs of snow fall in parts of Dallas and surrounding. So, besides the obvious possible freeze damage to the pool equipment, what does all this snow and rain mean to your swimming pool.

Frist, be glad it is during the winter when algae grows the slowest rather than summer. Ultimatly, there is no more to do with your pool when it snows than when it rains. After the amount of snow fall we had in Dallas, it is a good idea to shock the swimming pool with a non-chlorine shock. (The use of non-chlorine shock is reccommended so that the chlorine level is not raised.) Other than that, enjoy the snow, build a snowman and stay warm.

Tips brought to you by Swim Clear Pool Supply.

Pool Care in Winter

Can you believe it is already February and that means believe it or not, Spring and Summer are right around the corner. That's right Swimming pool season. Since we are not there yet, whether the swimming pool is covered, not covered, winterized or not it is still important to check on it.

During the cold winter months pool water tends to stay clear with very little help. Generally algae does not appear and hardly ever do you see a pool turn green. Any algae growth that does occur is extremely slow. Even with that said though, if yo have ever had that Spring time algae bloom you should have learned looks can be deceiving.

So keep testing your swimming pool water chemistry.

Related posts:
Basic Pool Care
Water testing supplies

Automatic Pool Cleaners

If you have a swimming pool and you have ever had to manually clean the pool by brushing and vacuuming it, you know how much work and time consumption it can be. This chore can be pushed off to the kids (if you have them), but rest assure, they will find a way to get out of doing it. Automatic pool cleaners are the solutions to ease that burden of manually cleaning your pool. Swim Clear Pool Supply has all the automatic pool cleaners you are looking for to help save you less time cleaning and more time enjoying your pool.

There are many choices in automatic pool cleaners, but they are categorized by: Pressure-side cleaners, Suction-side cleaners, or Robotic cleaners. The Pressure-side cleaners use the water pressure from filtered water that returns to the pool from the side wall outlets. The Suction-side cleaner works from the pulling of water into the pump and filter (suction) usually from the pool's skimmer or a dedicated suction line on the pool's side wall. The Robotic cleaners are self-contained with usually its own pump and filter, and is also an electric unit operating on 24 Volts DC which will come with a long electric cord to plug into a GFCI-protected outlet.

Whatever type of automatic pool cleaner you are looking for, Swim Clear Pool Supply has the pool cleaner you need to ease the burden of manually cleaner of all pool types. If you already have an automatic pool cleaner, Swim Clear Pool Supply also has the replacement pool cleaner parts your looking for to repair your existing automatic pool cleaner.

Water Testing Supplies

Swim Clear Pool Supply is now offering more swimming pool support by adding water test kits and supplies. From the accurate AquaChek digital tester and easy to use test strips to the Taylor Brand test kits and Taylor solution refills, Swim Clear has what you need for your swimming pool water testing.

Swimming pool water testing recommendations still to come in a later swimming pool help blog.