Winter pump run times in Tucson - new pool owner

[Brian Tucson]

TFP gurus....thank you in advance. I see a few dated posts (i.e. 2013) on pump run times specific to Tucson. First time pool owner / maintainer. As Tucson begins winter, I have adjusted my Hayward pump to the following settings...it has a cyclone with 13 floor / bench jets and this number sufficiently cycles the water completly in 24 hours on a 11K GL pool. Would welcome any thoughts on whether this is too much and I should throttle back?
Thanks in advance.

Pool filter run time for winter in Tucson:
Timer 1: 0500-0900 at 66%
Timer 2: 1300-1500 at 52%
Timer 3: 0015-0115 at 29%
Low temperature safety set to activate pump at 34F

 

[ajw22]

@JoyfulNoise is in Tucson.

I suspect that you are looking for advice on how many turnovers your water needs, or advice on how fast to run the pump.

We just don't believe in any of those myths.

You should run your pump for a reason.

The main reason to run your pump is to generate chlorine. You need to run your pump enough to dissolve the chlorine tablets you are using.

The next reason to run the pump is to adequately skim the surface of your pool. This depends on you. Some people don't want to see things floating in their pools and others don't care. I run my pump 24/7, as I like to make a little chlorine all the time and I like to skim all the time. I also think my pool looks better when there is a little motion to the water. You will have to decide what works best for you.

Don't pay any attention to those who say you have to 'turnover' your pool water x times a day. It is just not true.

I would suggest that you run the pump as long as possible and as slow as possible to get the job done. and at the same time avoid running the pump when your electrical rates are at the max.

 

[kimkats]

Allen has you set up for your pump run time. I also like the low and flow method. Run it on low all of the time and you will have a clean pool 24/7 for the most part. If you have a swg it is even better to run it low and flow to keep FC in the pool.

Now lets do some talking about you chemicals as seen in your signature. I am seeing a lot of stuff you do not need. You can save quite a bit of money not buying anything at the pool store. Here is a link to the chemicals we use. Now know you should not go out and buy them all as most of the time you will not even need them:

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

What is buy and use as needed:

-liquid chlorine (one day I will get a swg but until then it is lug a jug LOL). I get mine at the ACE hardware store up the road in my own yellow jugs. It is stated to be 11% but comes in hot right off the truck. It does not stay in the tank long so I have adjusted it to 13% when using pool math. See if any of the pool stores have the huge tanks of chlorine. If so that might be your best bet. If not then look in Walmart to see if they have "shock". That is what the bottle of liquid chlorine says on it. It is a white jug. Look at the date code to make sure it is fresh.

-Muriatic Acid-This is used to lower the pH of the water. I get mine at Lowes. I get the 31% stuff. It is kept outside. Make sure to store it away from metal and other chemicals. It has to be in a well ventilated area as it will off gas.

All of the other stuff you will buy IF you need it.

Now on to the big one..................a good test kit. The test kit you have now is okay but it does not have the range of tests you really need for long term care of your pool. It just shows if you have any chlorine in the pool and it only goes up to 5ppm. There will be many times you need to know if it is higher than that. The lack of regents means you may not test as often so may run into trouble down the road if things start going bad in the pool.

Here are the test kits we use in our own pools:
Test Kits Compared

Do you know what the pool company uses when they test your water?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

Different people do different things. You need to do what works best for you...

My pool pump runs 24/7/365, mostly at 1200 RPM.... This allows me to make a little chlorine all the time and skim all the time. The cost to do this is less than $20 bucks a month. I also believe that running 24/7 is better on the pump than turning it on and off, several times a day.

I see no advantage to changing run times between Summer and Winter.

As a side note... I also see no advantage in using pool store products like... clorox clarifier, Aquafinnesse softener tab, and biodex skillit.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I run my pool pump on low speed (1400 RPM) for 12 hours a day regardless. When the water finally drops below FREEZE PROTECT temperatures (<56F typically), the SWG no longer generates chlorine and I cut back on running the pump at POOL speeds for just 2 hours per day. My CLEANER and SPILLWAY run on their own circuits and schedules and I don’t change those. I use a suction side cleaner and that runs about 90mins every day. The spa spillway runs twice per day for 30mins so that the spa get fresh water in it. When the SWG stops running due to low temps (typically early Dec thru Feb), I chlorinate manually with 10% LC from ACE or the local supermarket. When the water is cold, the FC loss is so low that I can go a week or more between LC doses. I adjust pH as needed but even that changes very slowly in the winter.

In the winter you just keep the pool clean and filter a few hours per day. That’s all that’s needed. But stay on top of testing because the water will heat up above 60F in fairly short order once the spring rolls around and you don’t want to be low on FC when it does or else you risk a major algae bloom.

 

[Homebrewale]

Wouldn't running the pump slow for 24/7 provide freeze protection?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Wouldn't running the pump slow for 24/7 provide freeze protection?

Yes, it would. My automation system (EasyTouch) runs my low speed circuit when freeze protect kicks in. I’m not one of those adherents to the philosophy of running a pump 24/7 so I prefer to let the automation handle it. But there’s no reason why running 24/7 at low RPMs wouldn’t work just as well.