Blow Out Pool Lines With a Shop Vac? Here's the Truth
Looked at the forecast last night and there's a real hard freeze coming — the kind where you can almost feel the air bite right through your jacket the second you step outside. My inground pool needs to be winterized properly, but I don't own an air compressor and I'm not sure it's worth renting one. I do have a decent shop vac that has a blow mode on it, and I'm wondering if that's actually enough to push water out of the skimmer lines and return lines, or if it's just going to move air around without really clearing anything dangerous.
The thought of a cracked pipe or a busted fitting — that dull, hollow thud you hear when frozen water splits PVC — is enough to make me want to do this right the first time. But how do I actually know when the lines are empty? Is there a sound change, a feel difference in the air coming out? I want to make sure I'm not just plugging a line that still has water sitting in a low spot somewhere.…more
The thought of a cracked pipe or a busted fitting — that dull, hollow thud you hear when frozen water splits PVC — is enough to make me want to do this right the first time. But how do I actually know when the lines are empty? Is there a sound change, a feel difference in the air coming out? I want to make sure I'm not just plugging a line that still has water sitting in a low spot somewhere.…more
