Questions about plumbing, swcg's, heaters, solar panels.....

[Brannon132]

Hi guys!!! First Post Here!

First off I want to thank you for an awesome first year of pool ownership (inherited a 15x30 AGP with the house I bought). I emptied the pool and put a new liner in (because I had heaps of algea below the liner) and did it with help of this forum then hooked up a new pump/sand filter/ swcg and listened to all the advice from here and everything went really good never had any big problems. and now I'm moving on to the advanced stages...

Questions about plumbing since I'm re-plumbing:

I need to plumb in my pump/filter/heater/swcg...

Does someone have a schematic of where to put all the couplers and such for plumbing a pool? Last time I did it wrong.

Last year one of my only problems I had was my skimmer getting plugged either with leaves or with kids toys. Then my pump would run bogged down, is there a solution to this should I run two skimmers? Also wondering if I should run two or more return jets?

Also wondering if I need to install a check valve or a flow meter?

I tried to hook up solar panels last year via a 3 way valves but I could never get the 3 way valve in the correct position to push water through the solar panels without sacrificing significant flow. (my wife likes floating in circles around the pool). I'm wondering if anyone has their solar panels hooked up to a separate skimmer and pump and if I could run this small pump off of a solar panel that way it would only be running while sunny?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a Autopilot Digital Nano and a propane heater (I get propane fairly cheap since I work for a RV dealership). Do I just run these after the sand filter?

I greatly appreciate all the help and advice! Any extra info would greatly be appreciated.
I just want to make sure I do it as right as I can this time.

Thanks,
Brannon McCarthy

 

[JVTrain]

Think this one slipped through the cracks. I don't have much experience with SWCG plumbing but...

Two skimmers might help with your problem if you can't empty the one often enough to eliminate leaves or toys. Were the leaves getting to the pump itself or clogging the basket? Not too clear on the problem you're having here.

You need a check valve if you're installing the SWCG. Between the SWCG and the heater. Typical flow direction is Pool -> pump -> filter -> heater -check valve-> SWG -> Pool

Not the most complete answers, but perhaps others can chime in with more detail.

 

[jblizzle]

No real need for a check valve after the heater with a SWG.

Generally solar powered pumps are a no go ... to inefficient.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP! Sorry I missed this post.

Do you have a bottom drain? It would be better to have valve on the suction line between skimmer and drain. I leave my valve anout 80% skimmer and 20% drain.

Water flow should flow pump to filter to solar to heater to SWG to pool.

A 1-1/2 hp pump should be able to provide enough water flow for solar panels. Not sure what the issue might be there.

 

[Isaac-1]

What kind of solar panels do you have and how are they hooked up? photos may help