Glad it's going well. Looks like I'll be using some silicon in addition to Teflon tape for my repair.
Big problem with my sand filter
- Thread starter Zindar
- Start date
Update for today:
I started out getting frustrated, because when I re-installed the threaded adapters with silicon, they screwed in tighter than before, and in two cases, the new angles no longer pointed to my adjacent elbow joints. I happened to have have 2 couplers on hand from a years-ago project, so after tightening the adapters I cut the pipe and rejoined with couplers to allow the elbow joints to point the correct direction.
Then for some weird reason I can't explain, the pipe from my pump to my filter no longer lined up. It's a horizontal pipe, but somehow the pipe wasn't at the same altitude as the filter threaded port it needed to go into. I wound up cutting the adjacent vertical run and installed a coupler to get the horizontal run to line up. Annoyingly, I had no couplers left (this being my 3rd, and I only had 2 on hand), so yet another trip to home depot solved that.
Anyway, I finished it all, then went out to dinner, and when I got back I turned on the pump, and as far I can see: no leaks! I haven't really scrutinized every connection with my eyeballs in point blank range, so I can't 100% say there's not a drip somewhere, but so far I'm not seeing any dripping. Tomorrow when there is more sunlight I can take a closer look, but I'm optimistic that I finally finished this project.
So, my SLAM is now in progress as I have algae, and a working pump. My FC was only 1, but by now it's at shock level.
I have to report something I discovered that took me by pleasant surprise. When I put in the eyeball jet, I find that the water pressure coming out of the return jet is impressively strong. I'm pretty sure it's significantly stronger than it was when I had flexible hosing. This is despite that I now have an SWG installed where I didn't before, and also despite the 12 feet or so of PVC piping the water has to go through. Maybe this newfound extra pressure will give me better water flow and help inhibit future algae growth. (In another thread I reported algae growth despite proper maintenance of my chlorine levels, and it was suggested I didn't have good enough water circulation.)
Anyway, I've not plugged the SWG to power yet, because I figure I may as well wait until the SLAM is over, and my FC drops to normal levels. Also, I haven't added salt yet. I'm guessing I should wait until the SLAM is over before doing that. Would my salt test strips work with high chlorine levels in the water?
I started out getting frustrated, because when I re-installed the threaded adapters with silicon, they screwed in tighter than before, and in two cases, the new angles no longer pointed to my adjacent elbow joints. I happened to have have 2 couplers on hand from a years-ago project, so after tightening the adapters I cut the pipe and rejoined with couplers to allow the elbow joints to point the correct direction.
Then for some weird reason I can't explain, the pipe from my pump to my filter no longer lined up. It's a horizontal pipe, but somehow the pipe wasn't at the same altitude as the filter threaded port it needed to go into. I wound up cutting the adjacent vertical run and installed a coupler to get the horizontal run to line up. Annoyingly, I had no couplers left (this being my 3rd, and I only had 2 on hand), so yet another trip to home depot solved that.
Anyway, I finished it all, then went out to dinner, and when I got back I turned on the pump, and as far I can see: no leaks! I haven't really scrutinized every connection with my eyeballs in point blank range, so I can't 100% say there's not a drip somewhere, but so far I'm not seeing any dripping. Tomorrow when there is more sunlight I can take a closer look, but I'm optimistic that I finally finished this project.
So, my SLAM is now in progress as I have algae, and a working pump. My FC was only 1, but by now it's at shock level.
I have to report something I discovered that took me by pleasant surprise. When I put in the eyeball jet, I find that the water pressure coming out of the return jet is impressively strong. I'm pretty sure it's significantly stronger than it was when I had flexible hosing. This is despite that I now have an SWG installed where I didn't before, and also despite the 12 feet or so of PVC piping the water has to go through. Maybe this newfound extra pressure will give me better water flow and help inhibit future algae growth. (In another thread I reported algae growth despite proper maintenance of my chlorine levels, and it was suggested I didn't have good enough water circulation.)
Anyway, I've not plugged the SWG to power yet, because I figure I may as well wait until the SLAM is over, and my FC drops to normal levels. Also, I haven't added salt yet. I'm guessing I should wait until the SLAM is over before doing that. Would my salt test strips work with high chlorine levels in the water?
WOW.....What an adventure. More twists and turns than a Clive Cussler novel.
Sounds like you`ve "Dirked" your way to victory.
Just a couple of suggestions if you ever travel down this bumpy road again.
When I re-plumbed my old in ground, due to a split filter housing, I followed the sage advice of an old timer.
When buying relatively cheap components for a project, always buy 2 or more-one to use, one, or more to abuse.
Before I followed this advice, I made dozens of trips for various parts. It got to the point all the clerks knew me by sight and vacated the PVC aisle when they saw me coming.
Ditch the Teflon tape for a bottle of TFE Thread Sealant Paste. It`s non-hardening, acts as a lubricant, and you really have to work at it not to get a good seal.
Never scrimp on fasteners around your pool. You will pay dearly in the long run. Stainless fasteners, with a dab of something like Loctite Threadlocker Blue will give you long term service and it looks cool in your workshop.
I read your travels thru the joy of plumbing an AGP with allot of interest, since I to used to have an inground and now have an 18ft., 52in. AGP in our backyard.
Oh, before I forget. I stood and scratched my head at how do you even clean out the pump strainer with an open connection to the skimmer. Stupid me, I thought there must be a check valve inline I just can`t see-WRONG. After many unrepeatable words and a soaking I got the lid back on. What the heck, this is a really stupid setup I thought. I went in the garage and looked for something to act as a plug for the skimmer. A toilet flapper valve is a perfect fit and saves me the grief of buying a ball valve(or 2)when opening the strainer basket.
Glad you took the time to post up this adventure and good luck in any future endeavor.
John
Sounds like you`ve "Dirked" your way to victory.
Just a couple of suggestions if you ever travel down this bumpy road again.
When I re-plumbed my old in ground, due to a split filter housing, I followed the sage advice of an old timer.
When buying relatively cheap components for a project, always buy 2 or more-one to use, one, or more to abuse.
Before I followed this advice, I made dozens of trips for various parts. It got to the point all the clerks knew me by sight and vacated the PVC aisle when they saw me coming.
Ditch the Teflon tape for a bottle of TFE Thread Sealant Paste. It`s non-hardening, acts as a lubricant, and you really have to work at it not to get a good seal.
Never scrimp on fasteners around your pool. You will pay dearly in the long run. Stainless fasteners, with a dab of something like Loctite Threadlocker Blue will give you long term service and it looks cool in your workshop.
I read your travels thru the joy of plumbing an AGP with allot of interest, since I to used to have an inground and now have an 18ft., 52in. AGP in our backyard.
Oh, before I forget. I stood and scratched my head at how do you even clean out the pump strainer with an open connection to the skimmer. Stupid me, I thought there must be a check valve inline I just can`t see-WRONG. After many unrepeatable words and a soaking I got the lid back on. What the heck, this is a really stupid setup I thought. I went in the garage and looked for something to act as a plug for the skimmer. A toilet flapper valve is a perfect fit and saves me the grief of buying a ball valve(or 2)when opening the strainer basket.
Glad you took the time to post up this adventure and good luck in any future endeavor.
John
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Update for today, which is not a perfectly good update. Here's a new picture of my setup:
I've been running the pump all night, and this morning I'm detecting 4 small leaks, 3 of them are where the SWG is hooked up. Here's a closeup of the SWG:
Both threaded adapters are leaking, maybe a couple drips per second, and there's a very slow leak in the cap over the copper bars of the SWG. Their wierd thing is I haven't modified that copper bar cap. The fact that it leaks suggests either a manufacturer defect, or maybe I didn't screw it on tightly enough. Maybe I should put some sealent in the threads under that cap. I don't foresee ever needing to open it..
As for the other threaded adapters that I did install, maybe I should following this advice:
Looking at home depot's website, I don't see this particular brand, but they do sell lots of thread sealents. Examples:
The good thing about all these leaks is that due to locations of my unions, I can easily disconnect and reconnect these adapters, and when reconnecting, the exact angle of how tightly they screw on doesn't affect their ability to be positioned correctly for reattachment to my piping system.
The 4th leak is potentially more worrisome, which is the threaded adapter next to the return jet:
I can easily disconnect it because of the union you see there, but if it doesn't screw back in the exact same number of degrees +/- a multiple of 360 degrees, it won't line up with the union. Well I think I might have it screwed in as far as it will go, because of the silicon I put in there - I think allowed me to screw it in all the way. (Note: there are two threaded adapters there - one was included by the pool installer, which converts the 2" opening to a 1.5" threaded opening. The one I installed is the one where you don't see exposed threads.) Hopefully this means it screws in to the exact same position if I redo this. I should mention I'm detecting 3-4 drops per second from that adapter when the pump is on.
I guess I'm not in a rush to make these repairs, because the pump is working and circulating my water, but I feel like I should still address this.
Funny that my silicon says that besides lubricating, it may be used on threaded parts, but it's apparently not doing a good job of sealing.
I've been running the pump all night, and this morning I'm detecting 4 small leaks, 3 of them are where the SWG is hooked up. Here's a closeup of the SWG:
Both threaded adapters are leaking, maybe a couple drips per second, and there's a very slow leak in the cap over the copper bars of the SWG. Their wierd thing is I haven't modified that copper bar cap. The fact that it leaks suggests either a manufacturer defect, or maybe I didn't screw it on tightly enough. Maybe I should put some sealent in the threads under that cap. I don't foresee ever needing to open it..
As for the other threaded adapters that I did install, maybe I should following this advice:
(To be fair I did put silicon in there when the teflon didn't work well.)
Looking at home depot's website, I don't see this particular brand, but they do sell lots of thread sealents. Examples:
The good thing about all these leaks is that due to locations of my unions, I can easily disconnect and reconnect these adapters, and when reconnecting, the exact angle of how tightly they screw on doesn't affect their ability to be positioned correctly for reattachment to my piping system.
The 4th leak is potentially more worrisome, which is the threaded adapter next to the return jet:
I can easily disconnect it because of the union you see there, but if it doesn't screw back in the exact same number of degrees +/- a multiple of 360 degrees, it won't line up with the union. Well I think I might have it screwed in as far as it will go, because of the silicon I put in there - I think allowed me to screw it in all the way. (Note: there are two threaded adapters there - one was included by the pool installer, which converts the 2" opening to a 1.5" threaded opening. The one I installed is the one where you don't see exposed threads.) Hopefully this means it screws in to the exact same position if I redo this. I should mention I'm detecting 3-4 drops per second from that adapter when the pump is on.
I guess I'm not in a rush to make these repairs, because the pump is working and circulating my water, but I feel like I should still address this.
Funny that my silicon says that besides lubricating, it may be used on threaded parts, but it's apparently not doing a good job of sealing.
Greetings Zindar,
When using pipe paste/dope on plastic fittings, use one that is non hardening in case you need to remove it at a later date without destroying the fittings. Doing some research, the Megaloc brand seems to be one that doesn't harden.
When using pipe paste/dope on plastic fittings, use one that is non hardening in case you need to remove it at a later date without destroying the fittings. Doing some research, the Megaloc brand seems to be one that doesn't harden.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_96019-138-15620_0__?productId=3535326
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rectorse...e-Thread-Sealant-23631/100201204?N=5yc1vZbuf1
http://www.acehardware.com/product/...56&cp=2568443.2568452.2631237.2631266.2631356
Any of these will work. All non hardening and will disassemble easily. All will not damage PVC pipe.
Not sure why ACE seems to think people want to buy a case of sealant, but they have decent popcorn at the store and they won`t make you buy a case, when one is all you need.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rectorse...e-Thread-Sealant-23631/100201204?N=5yc1vZbuf1
http://www.acehardware.com/product/...56&cp=2568443.2568452.2631237.2631266.2631356
Any of these will work. All non hardening and will disassemble easily. All will not damage PVC pipe.
Not sure why ACE seems to think people want to buy a case of sealant, but they have decent popcorn at the store and they won`t make you buy a case, when one is all you need.
Well I applied the rectorseal, and it seems to have fixed two of my 3 leaks, but the one by the jet still leaks. There's actually multiple adapters in there, and I assumed the one I installed was the one leaking. I'm pretty sure it is, but I'm on my out on errands, so for now I'll have to let it keep leaking until I have time to spend more time on it. It'd've been nice if all 3 leaks would stop.
Oh no; when I turned on the pump, some of the sealant blew into the pool, and I accidentally stepped on some, which has stained the floor white. I was able to carefully remove most of the bits by hand carefully by grabbing it without stepping in it, but there are a couple of spots that are adhering to the liner.
Does anybody have any tricks I could use to clean it off the liner? It's pretty sticky, and it's under water.
Does anybody have any tricks I could use to clean it off the liner? It's pretty sticky, and it's under water.