Ep104. Dealing with the leaves and other problems winter brings

Frank and Jacque discuss a few things that can help you deal with winter and all of the leaves and issues it brings.

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00:00 introduction

07:22 Things that can help you deal with winter leaves

08:50 Skimmer wizard. blocks leaves from getting into your skimmer. If your pool is getting a lot of leaves it can completely overwhelm your skimmer causing you to lose flow. If flow stops or greatly slows down, which can result in freeze damage in freezing weather.

11:45 Pool Skim. this is a unit that screws into your pool return. it uses a venturi to draw leaves into a large bag. this used in conjunction with a Skimmer Wizard can really help you manage large amounts of leaves.

14:35 Pool Magazine pool news of the week.

16:00 Oreq Big Gobbler, other versions are Leaf Master, Leaf Eater, Leaf Terminator. These are leaf vacuums hooks up to a water hose and onto your pole. The hose flow creates a venturi that sucks leaves off the bottom and into a bag. If you have a pressure side cleaner that uses a booster pump, like a Polaris 280 or 380, there is a quick connection you can get that hooks up to the Big Gobbler can do a much better job with the higher pressure. not good for dirt. This does add a little water back to your pool to replace the high amount of evaporation we get early in the winter.

The Hammer Head and Riptide are similar to these style leaf vacs that use a trolling motor that does a great job picking up leaves and debris. These are around $2000.00 and are really just for pros. They are powered by marine battery and have a cart or carrying case. I do not recommend solely using these on routes because they do not pick up dirt well.

28:05 Oreq Stinger Spa Vac, a smaller version a big gobbler. great for spas or pools that get a smaller amount of leaves and debris

29:44 leaf nets. buy the better nets, they are well worth it. there are nets that have net material that is more for leaves. The Oreq option is the stinger grab bag. Plaster will tear up the finer mesh net material especially when dealing with large amounts of debris.

35:25 check your freeze guards. make sure when air temperatures are below freezing that your pumps turn on and do not turn off with the timers. set these 5 to 6 degrees above freezing.

38:13 if you have a pool service, and you are getting a lot of leaves, you need to empty skimmers and cleaners in between services if needed. if you cannot, you may need to hire your service to make multiple trips each week during heavy debris periods

40:45 get a leaf cover. if you have live oaks get your cover and be ready for when the live oaks drop their leaves in the spring

don't allow huge amounts of debris to sit on your covers. drag them off and bag them up

be careful with leaf covers that are not anchored. they can be very problematic and dangerous