Custom PVC Pipe Adapter for Intex Pools
- Thread starter crookm11
- Start date
Thanks guys! I just installed an external skimmer on to my Intex 18x48 and using the E950HG's it was dead easy. In fact I now have a ton of parts to return that I bought just in case.
I'm not happy with the connection to the existing Intex intake valve as I simply put the new 'tiger hose' around it with a pipe clamp but it works. Might look at replacing that with a Hayward piece if the hole in the liner is the same size.
I'll take some pics and post later.
Cheers
Tim
I'm not happy with the connection to the existing Intex intake valve as I simply put the new 'tiger hose' around it with a pipe clamp but it works. Might look at replacing that with a Hayward piece if the hole in the liner is the same size.
I'll take some pics and post later.
Cheers
Tim
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Very cool. I finished the plumbing on my pool tonight. Was too dark for pics so I'll take some later and post them.
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Here's the plumbing I did on my pool. Having the valves right there makes it much easier to clean the filters or the plates in the saltwater system. I decided to stick with the 1-1/4 pipe. For my system there's more than enough flow with that size.
The E950HG adapter is easy to clean up - I used a sheet of rough sandpaper laid flat on the sidewalk. Swipe the flat part back and forth a few times smooths off the bottom surface. The four little round tabs come off with a few swipes on the sandpaper.
My first attempt at an assembly didn't work so well. I glued one into a 90 degree fitting. Seemed a hair loose, and when the whole assembly was tested, the joint between the E950HG and the 90 degree "L" has a slow drip-drip-drip leak. I may have been too stingy with the primer and glue, so I am going to try it again. Also I didn't quite push the E950HG all the way into the 90 degree fitting, so that may be part of the problem as well.
My first attempt at an assembly didn't work so well. I glued one into a 90 degree fitting. Seemed a hair loose, and when the whole assembly was tested, the joint between the E950HG and the 90 degree "L" has a slow drip-drip-drip leak. I may have been too stingy with the primer and glue, so I am going to try it again. Also I didn't quite push the E950HG all the way into the 90 degree fitting, so that may be part of the problem as well.
Very ingenious! Good work, and nice of you to share.
Also to Raza......very nice lookin setup.
Also to Raza......very nice lookin setup.
Put in the Hayward skimmer on Sunday.
Been waiting for enough splash out for 2 weeks for the level to go down so all I needed to do was to run the backflush to waste for ten minutes and get the water 2" below where the skimmer was to go.
Because my pool is NOT level when we set it up, I used the level on top of the frame tube and then placed the skimmer plate up to the outside of pool, got my height I wanted, and then copied the level from the frame tube, marked the inside opening.
The one thing that you NEED to know is MAKE sure you have the housing ring is positioned correctly as the skimmer has a bolt pattern of 3 bolt holes across the top and bottom and 2 bolt holes for each of the sides. (left and right)
Used a utility knife (like I did before when I installed the 1 1/2" Hayward fittings) using the old OTO 4 way blue test plastic box held up to the backside to cut along the OUTSIDE edge of my marking pen.
Poked in some holes for the screws to go through, put in the skimmer gasket, put in all the screws in with just a couple of turns in first, then went around a few times tightening them even.
No leaks and easy to do other than the heart racing just before cutting the liner as there is no turning back once I started!
Here's pic's
Chuck
Been waiting for enough splash out for 2 weeks for the level to go down so all I needed to do was to run the backflush to waste for ten minutes and get the water 2" below where the skimmer was to go.
Because my pool is NOT level when we set it up, I used the level on top of the frame tube and then placed the skimmer plate up to the outside of pool, got my height I wanted, and then copied the level from the frame tube, marked the inside opening.
The one thing that you NEED to know is MAKE sure you have the housing ring is positioned correctly as the skimmer has a bolt pattern of 3 bolt holes across the top and bottom and 2 bolt holes for each of the sides. (left and right)
Used a utility knife (like I did before when I installed the 1 1/2" Hayward fittings) using the old OTO 4 way blue test plastic box held up to the backside to cut along the OUTSIDE edge of my marking pen.
Poked in some holes for the screws to go through, put in the skimmer gasket, put in all the screws in with just a couple of turns in first, then went around a few times tightening them even.
No leaks and easy to do other than the heart racing just before cutting the liner as there is no turning back once I started!
Here's pic's
Chuck
Attachments
More pic's 
Refilled water and adjusted my #'s and good to go!
I just got a Hayward screw in plug for the 1 1/2" Hayward fitting.
I can always use it later for something like a hard plumbed water sprayer/fall to cool the pool and for fun with the kids to play with!
2nd pic was the original 1 1/4" molded in Intex fittings I cut out and forgot to post a pic of.
Chuck
Refilled water and adjusted my #'s and good to go!
I just got a Hayward screw in plug for the 1 1/2" Hayward fitting.
I can always use it later for something like a hard plumbed water sprayer/fall to cool the pool and for fun with the kids to play with!
2nd pic was the original 1 1/4" molded in Intex fittings I cut out and forgot to post a pic of.
Chuck
Attachments
It's kinda heart wrenchinig when you stick that knife through the liner the very first time.
I have that same Hayward skimmer. Love it, now my intex sand filter flows water through the pool like a champ. Makes a big difference in the volume of water the pump can move. The down side, is that any floating water pistols, balls, un-popped water balloons, etc in the pool all end up in the skimmer now.
One thing I did was to add a large patch on the outside of the pool, to give the skimmer a stronger spot to sit. Just cut a large square with rounded edges out of liner material, and glued it to the outside of the pool.
Also, that rubber gasket for the skimmer is actually two layers - that was not immediately obvious to me. It is sort of U shaped - so it straddles the cut out hole. One flap inside the pool, one flap outside the pool. Mine was stuck together really well, so I didn't notice it at first. Also the instructions were not totally clear on that point.
One thing I did was to add a large patch on the outside of the pool, to give the skimmer a stronger spot to sit. Just cut a large square with rounded edges out of liner material, and glued it to the outside of the pool.
Also, that rubber gasket for the skimmer is actually two layers - that was not immediately obvious to me. It is sort of U shaped - so it straddles the cut out hole. One flap inside the pool, one flap outside the pool. Mine was stuck together really well, so I didn't notice it at first. Also the instructions were not totally clear on that point.
You and me both !
I waited until my family was going to be out of the house for a couple of hours plus I made sure I had a large piece of liner material on hand to make a patch in case I totally messed things up.
Turned out to be dead easy. Just use the usual carpenter's rule of thumb - measure twice, cut once. Go slow, make really sure you have things just right before you start waving that razor knife around.
I waited until my family was going to be out of the house for a couple of hours plus I made sure I had a large piece of liner material on hand to make a patch in case I totally messed things up.
Turned out to be dead easy. Just use the usual carpenter's rule of thumb - measure twice, cut once. Go slow, make really sure you have things just right before you start waving that razor knife around.
Bama Rambler said:
It's kinda heart wrenchinig when you stick that knife through the liner the very first time.
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So far I actually like the stock intex skimmer, but I will probably upgrade to the hayward as some point maybe at the end of this season when it starts to get too cold to use the pool anymore. Is it easy to adapt to pvc?
Anyone have a link for the pool sprayers that are meant to cool the pool down a little?
Anyone have a link for the pool sprayers that are meant to cool the pool down a little?
That's good information to know. Thanks for sharing. Although I bet this will make a lot of people that didn't realize this want to re-seat their gasket lol.RobertR said:
crookm11 said:Hi,Haulinbass02 said:
I'm not sure if you can buy the 2-piece nuts seperatly. You could try looking thru the Intex store for them. As for the pluger valves. My adapter won't work on the plunger valves because of the way they seal with the hoses. The plunger valve uses O-rings that seal to the hoses. When I go and hard plumb my pool and equipment I won't be useing the plunger valves. If you look inside the valves you will see a lot of water flow restricting parts. I'm going to be useing standard PVC ball valves on mine. They will provide a lot less restriction in water flow and will still be able to shut them. Hope this helps.
Has anyone found these 2 piece nuts? I can buy the plungers at 14 bucks a piece at the intex store but with my skimmer, 2 intake, return, SWCG that's gonna get expensive. Anyone have any luck?
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Haulinbass02 said:
I was able to hard plumb to the plunger valves. Just have to make sure everything is square so nothing leaks. You can see them in my pics above. I bought some rubber material at home depot to make gaskets with (its sold where the gaskets and o-rings are) and it all seems to work pretty good.
As for the 2-piece nuts I didn't use any, I just used the nuts from the hoses I removed.
Rªzª said:
I was trying to avoid using the plunger valves altogether as it's been mentioned a time or two on these forums that it is a source of some water impeadment. I also think taking out the plunger valves gives your pool a cleaner look but that's just a prefernece of mine.
Doing more research I think I could just buy the adapters from intex that have the one piece nuts on them and use those to hard plumb the pool.
viberama said:
Try this, it's $1.50 from Intex. It might be larger than the 40mm, can't tell from the picture.
http://www.intexstore.com/ProductDetail ... parts=list
Thanks guys, found everything I need and now just waiting for the the intex stuff to arrive by mail. Great stuff here.
Came across this at Home Depot today as a way to possibly connect the Intex threaded strainer connectors with minimal modification directly to 1 1/2" PVC at poolside to eliminate the need for plunge valves:
NIBCO 1-1/2 in. PVC DWV Trap Adapter (Male)
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... ogId=10053
Mueller Streamline 1-1/2 in. PVC Sch. 40 Pressure Slip x FPT Female Adapter
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... key=Search
First of all, I think the linked image is the correct adapter (Home Depot has the wrong UPC code on the part I bought, but I'm pretty sure I've linked the right one. The easy way to tell is that the threads on the Trap adapter should screw into the 1 1/2" FPT Female Adapter on the second part. As long as they do this, you are good to go).
Install the threaded strainer connector into the pool wall in the normal manner. Take the nut and vinyl washer off the PVC Male Trap adapter and toss them in the garbage - they aren't needed here. Make a flat compressible rubber washer (maybe a quarter inch thick and slightly taller than the Trap adapter middle ridge) to fit around the slip connector end of the PVC Male Trap Adapter at the middle ridge, then stick the slip connector into the back end of the Intex threaded strainer connector so that the rubber washer is between the Intex strainer connector and the PVC Trap adapter (i.e. the threads on the PVC Trap adapter will be sticking out the back of the Intex strainer connector. It will actually fit just a tad loose, but the raised ridge around the middle of the Trap adapter is almost exactly the same height as the opening in the back of the Intex strainer connector. You could probably actually glue the part directly to back of the the strainer connector, but the part fits just loose enough that I'd be concerned with how the connection would hold up under pump pressure. Gluing would also create problems with future disassembly of the joint). Stick the Intex split nut from the plunge valve over the threads of the Male Trap adapter rubber washer and screw it tightly onto the threads of the Intex threaded strainer connector just like like you normally would to put a valve on the strainer connector (it should squeeze the homemade washer tight and create a good seal). Finally, apply a liberal helping of pipe dope to the PVC Trap adapter threads and screw the 1 1/2" Schedule 40 Pressure Slip female adapter onto the PVC Male Trap adapter threads. This will leave you with a slip PVC connection directly to 1 1/2" PVC.
I've dry fitted it using a spare Intex strainer connector and think it should work well.
I recommend using the split nuts from the plunge valves to put it together over the single piece hose nuts as everything fits pretty tightly. Future disassembly of the connection is made easy by the ability to simply take the bolts out of the split nuts to release the connection at the strainer connector threads without having to take off the Pressure Slip x FTP female adapter.
I'm still struggling with my sand filter issue and other issues at work, so it will probably be a while before I can get around to actually trying this. If anyone tries it before I get to it, please post back and let me know how it worked out.
In theory, the same parts could be used with pipe nuts (solid or split) to pipe all the other connectors to 1 1/2" PVC given that most of the joints away from the valves have o-rings and seals which would allow you to create the connections without leaks - you'd probably have to cut the slip connector off the Trap adapter at the raised middle edge, though. The Carlon electrical conduit connector is probably better for this unless you can't get the ones you need.
NIBCO 1-1/2 in. PVC DWV Trap Adapter (Male)
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... ogId=10053
Mueller Streamline 1-1/2 in. PVC Sch. 40 Pressure Slip x FPT Female Adapter
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... key=Search
First of all, I think the linked image is the correct adapter (Home Depot has the wrong UPC code on the part I bought, but I'm pretty sure I've linked the right one. The easy way to tell is that the threads on the Trap adapter should screw into the 1 1/2" FPT Female Adapter on the second part. As long as they do this, you are good to go).
Install the threaded strainer connector into the pool wall in the normal manner. Take the nut and vinyl washer off the PVC Male Trap adapter and toss them in the garbage - they aren't needed here. Make a flat compressible rubber washer (maybe a quarter inch thick and slightly taller than the Trap adapter middle ridge) to fit around the slip connector end of the PVC Male Trap Adapter at the middle ridge, then stick the slip connector into the back end of the Intex threaded strainer connector so that the rubber washer is between the Intex strainer connector and the PVC Trap adapter (i.e. the threads on the PVC Trap adapter will be sticking out the back of the Intex strainer connector. It will actually fit just a tad loose, but the raised ridge around the middle of the Trap adapter is almost exactly the same height as the opening in the back of the Intex strainer connector. You could probably actually glue the part directly to back of the the strainer connector, but the part fits just loose enough that I'd be concerned with how the connection would hold up under pump pressure. Gluing would also create problems with future disassembly of the joint). Stick the Intex split nut from the plunge valve over the threads of the Male Trap adapter rubber washer and screw it tightly onto the threads of the Intex threaded strainer connector just like like you normally would to put a valve on the strainer connector (it should squeeze the homemade washer tight and create a good seal). Finally, apply a liberal helping of pipe dope to the PVC Trap adapter threads and screw the 1 1/2" Schedule 40 Pressure Slip female adapter onto the PVC Male Trap adapter threads. This will leave you with a slip PVC connection directly to 1 1/2" PVC.
I've dry fitted it using a spare Intex strainer connector and think it should work well.
I recommend using the split nuts from the plunge valves to put it together over the single piece hose nuts as everything fits pretty tightly. Future disassembly of the connection is made easy by the ability to simply take the bolts out of the split nuts to release the connection at the strainer connector threads without having to take off the Pressure Slip x FTP female adapter.
I'm still struggling with my sand filter issue and other issues at work, so it will probably be a while before I can get around to actually trying this. If anyone tries it before I get to it, please post back and let me know how it worked out.
In theory, the same parts could be used with pipe nuts (solid or split) to pipe all the other connectors to 1 1/2" PVC given that most of the joints away from the valves have o-rings and seals which would allow you to create the connections without leaks - you'd probably have to cut the slip connector off the Trap adapter at the raised middle edge, though. The Carlon electrical conduit connector is probably better for this unless you can't get the ones you need.
In The Swim at http://www.intheswim.com has these Intex Hose to 1 1/2" Thread PVC connectors. They come two in a package so the $12.99 isn't as bad has it looks. Part Number A2656.
http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Equipment ... cessories/
They're made by GAME and come with Rubber Washers and PVC Thread Tape for the 1 1/2" end.
http://www.game-group.com/products/wate ... ction-kit/
They actual work really well and don't leak.
http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Equipment ... cessories/
They're made by GAME and come with Rubber Washers and PVC Thread Tape for the 1 1/2" end.
http://www.game-group.com/products/wate ... ction-kit/
They actual work really well and don't leak.
