Posts Tagged ‘maintenance’

Pool Cleaning 101: Filters

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Essentially, there are two important things that a pool owner has to consider when he or she wants to keep her pool at a healthy condition. 1. Constant running water; the kind of water that go on good circulation and will unlikely have the chances of getting stagnated. 2. Proper filtration; where it keeps the dirt off the precious pool.

Proper filtration in your pool will not only ascertain that the water will not get filthy; it also gives you assurance that bacteria is prevented from every infesting your pool. Something of ulterior importance to any pool owner. Come to think of it, who would want to swim over a pool full of sickness causing bacteria?

There are 3 types of pool filters that are widely used my most pool owners today. Let’s take a look at them and how they function.

1. Sand Filters

All sand filters have basically three things in common. 1. They all make use of sand (while others utilize sand & gravel combinations). 2. They flow through the top, then right down to the sand filters which will practically strain all dirt and debris off the water. 3. Clean water is then permitted back into the pool once it’s already cleaned.

Sand filters are perhaps one of the oldest known methods of water filtration known to man. Way even before during the time of ancient civilizations, they already make use of sand to filter out dirt from their water linkages in order to make the water potable.

They are very effective cleaning mechanisms when you are not making use of any chlorine oriented cleaning agents such as biguanides.

2. Cartridge Filters

All cartridge filters also make use 3 common denominators that make it work well: 1. Generally, all cartridge filters make use of specially pleated fiber cartridges to catch dirt and debris out of the pool. 2. Water goes through inside of the tank which will then proceed to the cartridges to be filtered. 3. Clean water is then flowed back to the pool.

Cartridge filters are generally large in size. The pleated fiber material can reach as large as several hundred square feet, very much larger than that of residential sand filters which sizes range only below 4 square feet. Due to its considerable size the chances of it getting dirty in between cleanings would take a while.

3. DE Filters

DE filters are perhaps the finest filtration mechanism there is available in the market. DE Filters make use of septum, finger-like grids that sift out dirt and even microorganisms as small as 2-5 microns in size, the size of some microscopic algae and large bacteria.

DE filters will filter out the dirt with their septum, and thoroughly clean the waters until even the smallest organisms are sifted. Then the cleaner water is flowed back into the pool.

Read more pool cleaning tips and visit this article about pool cleaning filters to gain more infos.

Chemical Treatments For Pool Cleaning

Monday, July 12th, 2010

You practically have 2 main reasons why pool owners should always make it an appointment to keep their swimming pools maintained periodically: 1. When dirt accumulates it will lead to destroying your pool. Filth will pile up in every part of the place until such time they stick there for good. Thus you would have to go through the hassle of having your pool professionally overhauled; this practically entails additional expenses. 2. Dirt causes bacteria build-up in your pool. Bacteria will not only destroy the well-being of your pool but to you and your family as well, as it will cause sickness to everyone who would come in contact with them.

There are a lot of pool cleaning options available in the market. One of the most popular ones is the use of chemical based agents in cleaning in the pool. Chlorine based cleaning agents are amongst the ones mostly used by pool owners. They are proven effective to wear off germs from your pool waters. Below are two pool cleaning mechanisms that make use of chlorine:

1. Swimming Pool Shock

Pool Shocks are advisably to be used at least once a week. Especially when the pool is used quite too often within the time being, or after a heavy rain, and or during extended hot seasons like summer. Pool Shocking is simply “extremely chlorinating” your pool. Thias means that the chlorine content level of your pool is increased drastically to saturate the water with the chemical to ensure that all bacteria in it is eradicated. Every pool owner should have a basic knowledge about this method being one of the most commonly used treatment option.

2. Algaecides

The usual cause why your swimming pool becomes mossy and slimy is the presence of algae in it. In order to abate this condition, the use of algaecides is practical. There are 3 different most common types of algae that infest pools. The black, green and mustard. The green algae are obviously the green slimy stuff that floats around your pool. Also they stick on the in betweens of the pool wall tiles and floor giving it the slippery slimy feel. Black are ironically not black. They are more of greenish blue pigments that float around the pool as well. Mustard algae looks like dirt and often mistaken as dirt.

All of the mentioned treatments above are chemically based. Albeit them being effective in cleaning you pool, there comes natural hazards along with their usage. It is important to note precautionary measure each and every time you make use of these treatments.

read more on pool cleaning tips by going through this article about pool cleaning chemicals to gain additional inputs.

Do It Yourself Pool Cleaning Tips

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Swimming pools are not always fun to have around. Because there will come a time when your pool will turn green and dotted with some ugly blue stuff making it look unhealthy to swim on. Your once crystal clear blue waters will suddenly turn into a hideous place in your house. And you really don’t want this to happen to your precious recreational area. That is why it is important to make it a point to always clean your pool from time to time.

However, granted that a pool might be pretty big of a space to clean, the task at hand maybe quite considerable. Thus, you might find it convenient to make use of cleaning systems or machineries to do the job. But, it does not necessarily follow also that you cannot do it yourself.

There are a lot of pool cleaning tools you can make use that are cheap and are readily available. You can have these ones instead of going for those really huge ones. Although bigger ones are relatively more efficient because they would probably entail more comprehensive automated mechanisms. But sometimes the best way to go is to use the practical ones. These practical tools would include your skimming net, pool brush and vacuum.

After you have them, you can now personally begin your pool cleaning task.

Sometimes trees and plants the overlook your pool will wither its leaves on it. Over time they accumulate and eventually cover your pool. Withered leaves on the pool will not only make your pool look dirty, it would also make it susceptible for bacteria attacks. To clean the leaves that fell into your pool, use your skimming net to pick them up. Keep on skimming the pool with the skimming net until such time that you can clearly see that your pool is leaves-free. Place a container or a garbage can near you to easily dispose the picked-up leaves.

When a container or space has water in it, the presence of algae would be natural if the water is left unchecked and unchanged for too long. Same goes as well with swimming pools with unclogged water; the surfaces get mossy and slippery due to algae build-up. It is important to free your pool from this gross. First unclogged and drain the water that has probably been there for ever. When the pool basin is empty, begin using your brush to scrape all the algae pasted in the wall surfaces. After the walls you can proceed immediately with the floor. Tiled pools require a more specific kind of brush to clean the in between of the tiles.

Vacuums are essential in cleansing the water that is circulated in the pool. Vacuum siphons the water and removes certain dirt and debris off it. You can do this ever week.

Filters are important pool items to have. They keep your pool clean in between general cleanings. Filters sift water from dirt thus making the water cleaner. But eventually, all the dirt filtered by the filters will accumulate until it can’t manage to filter any more dirt. It is important to periodically clean the filters to ensure that they are working properly and at the same time, keeping your pool clean.

If you want to make your pool cleaning task easier, read this article about cheap pool cleaning tips to gain additional tips.

Find Out What You Want To Know About Guttering Repair Rather Than Replacement

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

If guttering in the home breaks down; the effects can be truly devastating. Quite apart from the hassles caused, it is likely to cause no small amount of stress as the damage can be severe. Too many, the obvious action is to replace the whole lot, but here is a quick guide to learn how repairing your gutters can be far more cost effective than full replacement.

The first thing to do is thoroughly inspect the guttering. Ideally, this will happen once or twice through the year, and possibly more through inclement weather. Staying ahead of the game is important in this regard.

It is likely the problem area will be easily identifiable; look for pools of water which are indicative of cracks and leaks later in the system. Once you find the cause, working back to the effect should not be too time consuming.

Once the area of concern itself has been found; it is imperative to get the repairs completed urgently. With a list of what parts have failed, head to the store and make the purchase. Prompt action will keep costs and stress levels down.

As a rule, it is always best to overestimate the number of parts you need. It is far better to have something left over for later use, than find yourself in a compromising position at the top of a ladder with not enough!

Other than the basic tools, the depot you’re buying from should be able to advise you what else is required. They should also have some form of guide or instructions for you to follow, in order you can make the repairs as straight forward as possible.

Other than inspecting the guttering each season, proper maintenance will help too. Look for blockages caused by leaves and so forth; and remove immediately. Extra weight breaks guttering, and it is that leads to expensive replacement that really should not be necessary.

Now you have read all there is to know you now have to decide if you will replace your gutters with a large bill at the end, or employ the services of a local quality gutter repair firm. The decision is yours, but if you take my advice try repairing the gutters it often costs far less.

Get more information on the ways that gutter repairs London can save you time and money when they repair your gutters instead of replacing them. You can maintain and extend the life of your gutters when you get regular gutter cleaning London.

The Super Breezy

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Until 1965, if you wanted to have fun flying, you found an old Cub or Champ and took to the sky. Airport coffee shops were well attended on weekends. A few pilots (who did mostly corporate flying) decided that there had to be some way to have more fun flying. Most private pilots were happy just to log a few hours every weekend, but three pilots from the Chicago area (Charles Roloff, Carl Unger, and Bob Liposky) had something more extreme in mind when they invented the Breezy.

A friend of theirs had a pair of wings from a wrecked PA-12. They sourced a tail section and a nose wheel fork from other aircraft. Unger was an expert welder, so they set about building an airframe to connect the parts together.

Their resourcefulness for used parts was worthwhile. With the money they saved, they bought a new C90 engine with a special pusher crank and attached it behind the wing. The airframe was a simple truss, uncomplicated by the need to enclose the passengers and systems. Everything bolted to the outside, and the pilot sat out on the front.

They flew their creation all over the mid-west, having a blast and raising eyebrows everywhere they went. Someone asked them if it was a little breezy sitting out in the open, and the name “Breezy” stuck.

At the 1965 Rockford EAA fly-in, the Breezy was introduced to the public. It gave rides to enthusiastic passengers for the entire weekend.

After returning from the fly-in and much to their surprise, they began receiving a large volume of mail asking for plans from which to build their own Breezy aircraft. They hadn’t drawn any plans while they were building the plane, so they reverse-engineered a set. Since then they have sold over 1,000 copies of the simple drawings.

Although the Breezy had outstanding performance for its power, some thought that it could be improved upon. Always up for new challenges, Yakima Aerosport decided to do just that. They were already building the Super 18 Turbo Cub and a Super Cub using the Dakota Cub slotted wing. It made a big improvement in the STOL performance of the Super Cub, so it was natural to assume that it would do the same for a “Super Breezy.”

Equipped with a 200HP IO-360 engine, the Super Breezy has STOL performance comparable to a Super Cub which is something never accomplished in a breezy aircraft. The Super Breezy is piloted from the back seat allowing the passenger to sit up front and enjoy an impressive panoramic view of the sky and earth.

The Yakima Aerosport Super Breezy is the only STOL breezy aircraft in the air today. Thousands of man hours went into the design, construction, and test phases. The end result was a breezy aircraft that boasts Super Cub performance making it a joy to fly. Contact Yakima Aerosport for more details on this modern take of an old concept and see what all the hype is about.

Correct Care Of Yard Tools Will Guarantee Their Longevity

Friday, December 18th, 2009

If you are interested in prolonging the life of your gardening tools and care about preventing injuries, then that it is very important for you to learn how to properly use and maintain these tools. Take your backyard hoses for instance if they aren’t coiled up correctly it can cause a tripping accident. The points of an upturned rake can inflict painful and sometimes serious puncture wounds when stepped on, to say nothing about the possibility of the handle flying up and smacking you in the face. Tools must not be left where their edges or point may be hidden by grass, leaves, or other material. Keep your fingers away from the blades of the lawn mower: merely striking your hand against the blades can lead to a brutal injury. If you have a shovel or a hoe or some other garden tool with a wooden handle that has a small crack in it, you can expect crack pretty easily just by wrapping some black tape around it real tight. It works pretty well and will help it to last quite a bit longer. If you have any though, a glass filament tape seems to work the best for this job.

Splinters in wooden handles of rakes, hoes, and shovels can be cured by sanding the surface until it becomes smooth again; this not only protects your hands, but keeps the cracks from spreading and causing the handle to break.

A nice way to preserve a wood handle is to apply several coats of quality varnish or to paint it. Any parts on the tool that are made out of metal may be painted as well and it is a good idea to use a coat of primer and to exterior coats. You needn’t paint any of the metal parts that are made to work in the ground, as it will come right off anyhow when you use the tool.

Aside from preservation by paint, the tools are easier to find when their handles are of a color which makes them conspicuous if left lying on the grass: SO make sure that you paint your tools in bright colors which will make them easy to spot when they are laying on the ground, like red, or blue for instance.

The metal edges of shovels, hoes, rakes or other backyard tools may become nicked. You can repair these easily with a nice metal file or a grinder with a sanding disk if you have one on hand. If any of the surfaces on the metal parts of your tools have a rough surface a good way to take care of it is by using steel wool or some other type of abrasive. If they have any dents in them, you can easily staighten them out by using a mallet. A wheelbarrow break, in the wood or metal parts, should be repaired at once. If you want to preserve your wheelbarrow for a little bit longer period of time, you can easily do so by painting it as this helps to preserve the wood. The parts on your tools that move or turn need to be oiled on a regular basis for guaranteed smooth operation. Make sure that you keep your tools and a dry spot throughout the winter so your tools aren’t harmed by moisture. Make sure that you clean your tools thoroughly before you put them in storage. If you want to prevent rust from forming on your tools, you can apply a mixture of petroleum jelly and light oil before storage.

If you properly take care of your backyard tools they will last you for many many years.

Another way to correctly take care of your tools is to keep them organized. A garden tool organizer is a excellent way to do this, and you can read more about my visiting http://gardentoolorganizer.org