winterization - blowing out lines

[td3201]

Hello,

I'm trying to blow out my lines and need a little help. I have a blower hooked up to the skimmer line from the skimmer box side (threaded in). Here's the state of my system:

1. Water level below returns, side drain, and skimmer.
2. Cartridge filter removed
3. Drain valve closed
4. Floor drain closed
5. Blower hooked up to skimmer box (threaded in)

I was expecting the blower to be able to blow water all the way through the system and back out the return lines. Even when I opened up the pump, I couldn't feel any air flow. Is it possible that the bounce house blower I'm using does not have enough HP to push the water through?

I've read up on people doing this with shop vacs so I figured this would be enough. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[ajw22]

Has your pool ever been blown out through the skimmer box?

Do you have more then one skimmer?

Post pics of your equipment pad.

Closing Pool for Winter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

I couldn't feel any air flow. Is it possible that the bounce house blower I'm using does not have enough HP to push the water through?

I have one of those blowers and I started playing with it a while back to see if it would work and when I put my hand over the output, it was clear to me that it wouldn't so I didn't even try.

 

[sande005]

Apparently it is not enough.
I see bounce house blowers come in all sizes. What matters is a combination of psi and cfm. The popular Cyclone apparently "only" has a cfm of 180, but a psi of 6-8. Bounce house blowers seem to have a range of cfm from 800-2000, but psi is unknown. Likely not a lot, since the bounce houses don't need to be blown up like a balloon. So they can move a lot of air, just not with much force.
My Cyclone just came yesterday, so untested. For over two decades I used my trusty 8 gal. 1.5 hp compressor. It can definitely do the psi, but the cfm was very marginal. So the opposite of a bounce house blower/wet vac. But if I "burped" each line enough, with a lot of waiting for the compressor to refill....
There was that one time in the very early years where I ran the psi too high (90+ psi??) in an attempt to have a bit more cfm for a brief time, and blew apart the pump housing and some pipes....(so glad I was on the other side of the pool when it went off!)
In the end, it depends on your plumbing - pipe size, length of run (how much water to push), height it has to push up hill, etc. For some the wet vac/bounce house might work. But likely most, not so much.
On the other had, while it has been suggested to use the Cyclone for my lawn sprinklers too, I doubt it will be capable of the psi needed, That calls for both higher psi AND higher cfm - hence why those guys use big truck mounted compressors.

 

[Bperry]

Apparently it is not enough.
I see bounce house blowers come in all sizes. What matters is a combination of psi and cfm. The popular Cyclone apparently "only" has a cfm of 180, but a psi of 6-8. Bounce house blowers seem to have a range of cfm from 800-2000, but psi is unknown. Likely not a lot, since the bounce houses don't need to be blown up like a balloon. So they can move a lot of air, just not with much force.
My Cyclone just came yesterday, so untested. For over two decades I used my trusty 8 gal. 1.5 hp compressor. It can definitely do the psi, but the cfm was very marginal. So the opposite of a bounce house blower/wet vac. But if I "burped" each line enough, with a lot of waiting for the compressor to refill....
There was that one time in the very early years where I ran the psi too high (90+ psi??) in an attempt to have a bit more cfm for a brief time, and blew apart the pump housing and some pipes....(so glad I was on the other side of the pool when it went off!)
In the end, it depends on your plumbing - pipe size, length of run (how much water to push), height it has to push up hill, etc. For some the wet vac/bounce house might work. But likely most, not so much.
On the other had, while it has been suggested to use the Cyclone for my lawn sprinklers too, I doubt it will be capable of the psi needed, That calls for both higher psi AND higher cfm - hence why those guys use big truck mounted compressors.

I use the cyclone for my sprinklers and it works great. I’ve got some very long runs on a large property, doesn’t need much psi.

 

[td3201]

Here are some pictures. You are probably all correct in that my blower is just not strong enough. I was just trying to avoid buying one. However, I will take recommendations. I do have a large compressor. I could figure out how to hook up to this as well. The higher psi of that makes me, a little nervous but I’m sure I can figure it out. I use it to blow out my sprinkler system every year.

 

[Bperry]

Here are some pictures. You are probably all correct in that my blower is just not strong enough. I was just trying to avoid buying one. However, I will take recommendations. I do have a large compressor. I could figure out how to hook up to this as well. The higher psi of that makes me, a little nervous but I’m sure I can figure it out. I use it to blow out my sprinkler system every year.

The psi isn’t needed, you need a large volume of air along with a little PSI. The “cyclone” blower works awesome. I was able to do my nearest skimmer with a shop vac, but couldn’t do anything else. The cyclone blows right through everything without blinking an eye.

 

[Newdude]

. I do have a large compressor. I could figure out how to hook up to this as well

The issue with compressors is the low CFM. Once any air escapes, it no longer clears the water because it only needs a small path. Say, a horizontal pipe that's 10% empty. It will use the air pocket to blow right through while the water remains.

 

[Darin]

I use a big shop vac to blow skimmer to pump basket. For some reason my gas leaf blower cant do it but my shop vac blower has no problem. No need to buy special equipment until you try your shop vac.
1. Take the lid off of the pump strainer. Make sure the drain plug on pump is out.
2. NO neeed to thread in anything into skimmer, just put your large exhaust port of the shop vac blower (the rigid three foot section that doubles as your vacuum wand) over the skimmer suction port. Dont neck down the blower discharge as that will decrease the volume off air that the electric shop vac motor can supply.
3.. This works for me and i am pushing about 60 foot of return line to pump.

 

[Darin]

You have threaded couplings on your valves from skimmer and main drain. Just unscrew them on pump side, rotate them up and start blowing.

 

[Newdude]

For some reason my gas leaf blower cant do it but my shop vac blower has no problem.

My gas handheld fails entirely but the backpack rivals the cyclone for the returns and skimmers.

 

[sande005]

Here are some pictures. You are probably all correct in that my blower is just not strong enough. I was just trying to avoid buying one. However, I will take recommendations. I do have a large compressor. I could figure out how to hook up to this as well. The higher psi of that makes me, a little nervous but I’m sure I can figure it out. I use it to blow out my sprinkler system every year.

If you want to try the compresor, remove that little drain thumb screw at the bottom of the pump pot. I screw in a quick disconnect fitting there, and then hook on the hose. Just be wary of high pressures. I have an on/off valve on the air line at the compressor. After I blew mine up, I always, always made sure that one clean out line (skimmer, jet) was open BEFORE I opened the air line....
But others have reported other things working, so you might want to try them first.

 

[sande005]

I use the cyclone for my sprinklers and it works great. I’ve got some very long runs on a large property, doesn’t need much psi.

Can you share how you plumbed it into your sprinklers?

 

[Bperry]

Can you share how you plumbed it into your sprinklers?

I have a backwash prevention valve I remove for winter which exposes the inlet to the whole system. I just hold the hose up to that open pipe. Some air escapes, lots gets pushed through the system. Then I just cycle the sprinkler controller to run each zone for a minute or two and let the air “sprinkle” out.