Can someone please help me better understand my piping?

[censored]

Hey all, I would very much appreciate some help trying to understand my piping.

Here is a front shot:

And here is a top view:

My pool has a center drain, skimmer on the side closest to the pump and filter, and a pressure side return where the sweep hooks up to.

I am really trying to better understand the valve and the hoses. The way it is pointed in the front shot is how the previous pool man left it. I assume that is for floor/skimmer combo?? Is there a way to reverse the flow on the pressure side return to suction for sweeping?

Thanks!

 

[gwegan]

Wow, now that's spaghetti!

It appears you have a combined suction line so your drain probably feeds into the bottom of the skimmer. A line runs from the skimmer to the input side of the pump. Then to the filter. From the filter it goes to a Jandy valve which selects between the returns and the pool sweep.

What model pool sweep do you have?

There is no way to reverse the flow on the return side.

I'm not sure I was much help.

 

[atttech-2]

so it looks like the black 3 way valve is to divert water from the returns to the cleaner probably because you don't have a booster pump. You could re-plumb the pressure side sweeper port to a suction if you want to switch to a suction cleaner but if all you are after is a way to vacuum the pool you can use the suction port in the skimmer. Since there is only one suction side pipe and you said you have a main drain there must be a diverter/float valve in the skimmer. Just take that out of the bottom of the skimmer and connect your vacuum hose to the side that goes to the pump. The normal hose bib is just to drain some water if you get a lot of rain.

 

[censored]

Hey thanks guys. I have a Polaris 360 (pressure) and just got a Hayward Aquanaut (suction). My Polaris was having quite a few issues and I didn't like how it can't pickup dirt and small particle debris. The suction cleaner is doing a much better job at that, and yes, I do have it hooked up under my skimmer basket right now, but my pool is long and the new sweep can't reach all the way to the other end. So atttech, if I understand what you are saying, I could essentially turn the valve and shut off the pressure side return while keeping my skimmer and floor drain?

Also gwegan, I sent you a PM a little while back. Just curious how you are liking the Heliocol and what company you had do it. I am between that or Fafco from Sierra Pacific.

Thanks

 

[JVTrain]

Like gwegan said, it looks like you only have a 3 way valve on the return side to control flow distribution to your returns, rather than on the suction side. Doesn't make much sense to me as I'd much rather have control of the where suction is being directed rather than return flow. However, it seems like you have a pressure side cleaner? The three way valve on the return side would allow you to direct all flow to the cleaner or your return or a mixture of the two, but I don't know how well your cleaner would run without most of the flow going to it as they need pressure to run well.

The lack of dedicated lines for your skimmer and drain (and valves) means you can't direct all suction to come from your skimmer when you'd like to do some vacuuming.

 

[atttech-2]

Correct that valve is there to turn off or reduce the pressure to the returns so you can feed more pressure to the Polaris. Depending on how comfortable you are with it you could cut the valve out completely and reinstall it on the suction side so you wold have suction form the former Polaris port and the skimmer/main drain. You are looking at about $30 to $50 in fittings and glue a bit more if you have to go with a new 3-way valve. I would think a Plumber or pool company would probably charge a 2 to 3 hundred to reconfigure it not too bad either way.

 

[censored]

Cool, thanks all. I am going to play around with it and try cutting the pressure side return and then directing it all to the sweeper. There shouldn't be a possibility for me to cut supply to the filter, right?

 

[atttech-2]

Supply to the filter will stay in place only reason to cut it would be if you have to move the pump a bit to get things to fit. Before you start you might want to take a look at the output of the filter there is not much pipe to play with there you may end up having to order a new threaded fitting from the filter manufacturer for the reconfiguration, pool store may also have it.

 

[Richard320]

You might be able to unscrew the fitting for the pressure cleaner inside the pool. If you can, then it will be possible to convert the existing plumbing to run the suction side cleaner. So it's time to get your arm wet and see if you can unscrew the old connector and screw in the new. If you can, then what you want is feasible. How good are you at cutting and gluing PVC?

You'll need to play with the valve on the return side to figure out which pipe goes to the returns and which goes to the cleaner. Then it should be easy enough to replumb things. The way that three-way is plumbed - one to the inside and one to the outside -- suggests to me that someone has already cut it out once and reattached it with the external fitting, so have a new three-way standing by when you start cutting things apart. As an aside, buy ample fittings when you go to the hardware store. Keep them clean and don't remove the barcode stickers and they'll let you return the excess when you';re done.