New to opening up a pool, lots of questions

[nullish]

Let me start by giving my equipment info
- 2 of Hayward super pump xe sp2610x15xe
- 1 of Hayward sp2610x15xe
- 1 of Hayward turbo cell tcell3
- 1 of Hayward Filter c3030
- 1 Hayward gas powered heater, not sure of the model number
- 1 of Pentair safety isolation transformer

I've never had a pool before in a place where it needs winterization, and all the pool companies are either busy or charging an arm and a leg to come out and open it. $500 seems a bit excessive to me, but maybe it is that difficult? In any case, I'm hoping someone here will be able to at least point me in the right direction.

Attached are pics of the equipment top and side views, as well as the main pool and attached spa.

So first I got the cover off and cleaned out a bunch of leaves. The "cover" was a tarp the previous owner put on there. I'll be getting a real cover installed by fall this year. Anyways, after cleaning out the leaves I got out the ice compensator from the skimmer, and removed the plugs from the returns. I placed eyeballs in their places. One thing I have no idea about is in the pic of the spa you can see there are 4 jets on that side, and 4 on the opposite side not in the picture. There was also a plug that you can kinda see about a foot below the water level on the right side. I didn't have an eyeball for this in the equipment that was winterized. There was actually a threaded bushing that does fit into the return port. Is that supposed to be that way? I doubt I'm missing an eyeball, they were very safely stored for the winter by the previous owner.

The spa is supposed to be a spillover spa, and I don't see any labels or controls for spillover vs pool mode. I have no idea what all pipes lead to that you see in the picture.

Another thing was I found an extra pump drain plug in one of the pump strainers. As far as I can tell, all of these pumps have two drains each. The filter drain plug is much bigger. Do you think the pool company left 1 spare?

And does this heater have a drain plug? I can't see anything of the sort of it.

Looking forward to help here, I hate that nothing is labeled and no documentation except for manuals I found online.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP.

The heater does have a drain plug. And if the plug is larger then the ones used on the pump then it may be for the heater. There is also a drain on the filter, but that is usually 1.5 inch. You are right that each pump has 2 drain plugs - one under the pump basket and 1 under the the impeller housing.

Tell us about the 2 water feature pumps. The one on the left has 1 suction and 2 return pipes. Is that extra spa jets?
The one in the middle also has 1 suction but leads to 3 pipes each with a ball valve.

The one on the rght is your main filter pump. It has suction from 3 points. The left pipe is most likely the spa drain, and the 2 right pipes can either be 2 skimmers, or 2 skimmers (plumbed in series) & 1 main drain, or 1 skimmer & 1 main drain depending on what you have in the pool for suction.

On the return side - the pump leads to the filter then to the heater then go through the Saltwater Chlorine Generator (SWCG) and then to 3 pipes. The left side is most likely return the spa and the 2 on the right side can be to the pool or to the pool and some other water feature.

Hope this gets you started. Get a some blue painter tape and start marking the pipes as you do final determination as to what go where. Ensure you have at least one valve open on the output side of each pump so you do not deadhead it.

It may be helpful to pour water in the pump basket to do the initial prime before you kick each one off.
Also, bleed air from the filter when you start the filter pump as you want the filter full of water.
Ensure vent valve and gauge on top of filter are working.

 

[nullish]

Welcome to TFP.

The heater does have a drain plug. And if the plug is larger then the ones used on the pump then it may be for the heater. There is also a drain on the filter, but that is usually 1.5 inch. You are right that each pump has 2 drain plugs - one under the pump basket and 1 under the the impeller housing.

Tell us about the 2 water feature pumps. The one on the left has 1 suction and 2 return pipes. Is that extra spa jets?
The one in the middle also has 1 suction but leads to 3 pipes each with a ball valve.

The one on the rght is your main filter pump. It has suction from 3 points. The left pipe is most likely the spa drain, and the 2 right pipes can either be 2 skimmers, or 2 skimmers (plumbed in series) & 1 main drain, or 1 skimmer & 1 main drain depending on what you have in the pool for suction.

On the return side - the pump leads to the filter then to the heater then go through the Saltwater Chlorine Generator (SWCG) and then to 3 pipes. The left side is most likely return the spa and the 2 on the right side can be to the pool or to the pool and some other water feature.

Hope this gets you started. Get a some blue painter tape and start marking the pipes as you do final determination as to what go where. Ensure you have at least one valve open on the output side of each pump so you do not deadhead it.

It may be helpful to pour water in the pump basket to do the initial prime before you kick each one off.
Also, bleed air from the filter when you start the filter pump as you want the filter full of water.
Ensure vent valve and gauge on top of filter are working.

Hi! Thank you for the welcome, looking forward to learning this system and more.

There is a waterfall feature on the pool. It has 3 thin strips where water comes out from. I remember seeing that running before we bought the house.

The pool only has one skimmer. Also the spa does spillover into the pool. Not sure if that helps align what you expected. How does spa mode vs pool mode work on this system? Is it controlled by what valves are open, or is it a setting on the heater? I see a button on the heater that shows some settings but I haven't used anything like this before. At my old place I just had an electric heater that you either turned on or off, and set the degrees.

I'll try to find where the heater drain plug goes tomorrow morning. And I'll get the label maker warmed up! Let me know if this additional info helps make sense of what I've got.

 

[HermanTX]

Does the pool have a main drain?
For Pool mode - on the suction side going into the pump - the far left pipe is most likely the spa drain as it is usually by it self. (we need to confirm that). That valve is OFF as shown because it appears you have ball valves. Maybe take a photo of the front of the valve to be sure. The 2 valves to the right are the suction for the skimmer and the main drain. Both need to be OPEN.
On the return side - after the heater - you also show 3 valves. My assumption is that the one to the left is a return back to the spa. That needs to be CLOSED. And the 2 to the right are back to the pool and need to be OPEN.

Try that and see what flows. Put your hand on the pool returns to feel flow.

 

[HermanTX]

There is a waterfall feature on the pool. It has 3 thin strips where water comes out from. I remember seeing that running before we bought the house.

Need to identify which pump this is. It is most likely the one in the middle as that has 3 return pipes and each can be controlled independently.

The pump to the far left has 2 return pipes but no valves on them so need to figure out where they flow to. Your spa shows 2 drain covers which would be linked together so that indicates only 1 bottom drain in the spa. Just thinking out loud about how each pump system is plumbed.

Does your pool have any wall drains - it would look like what is on bottom of your spa but it is on the wall of the pool. This allows it to have suction with less chance of picking up debris because there is no filter on that pump on the left.

 

[nullish]

Does the pool have a main drain?
For Pool mode - on the suction side going into the pump - the far left pipe is most likely the spa drain as it is usually by it self. (we need to confirm that). That valve is OFF as shown because it appears you have ball valves. Maybe take a photo of the front of the valve to be sure. The 2 valves to the right are the suction for the skimmer and the main drain. Both need to be OPEN.
On the return side - after the heater - you also show 3 valves. My assumption is that the one to the left is a return back to the spa. That needs to be CLOSED. And the 2 to the right are back to the pool and need to be OPEN.

Try that and see what flows. Put your hand on the pool returns to feel flow.

The pool has 4 drains and the spa has 2.

Need to identify which pump this is. It is most likely the one in the middle as that has 3 return pipes and each can be controlled independently.

The pump to the far left has 2 return pipes but no valves on them so need to figure out where they flow to. Your spa shows 2 drain covers which would be linked together so that indicates only 1 bottom drain in the spa. Just thinking out loud about how each pump system is plumbed.

Does your pool have any wall drains - it would look like what is on bottom of your spa but it is on the wall of the pool. This allows it to have suction with less chance of picking up debris because there is no filter on that pump on the left.

You said a valve is OFF but they are all currently ON because they are parallel to the pipe they are on. I shut off the return valve on the left and all of the pool jets turned off.

Edit: My mistake! I actually turned them all on prior to putting the pool on, so the original pic isn't accurate anymore as far as the valves are concerned. Sorry for the confusion!!

And to your second post, no wall drains. The pump on the left is the spa pump. The pump in the middle is the waterfall in the pool. It has 3 valves because it has 3 outputs at the pool, those thin strips style waterfalls.

So to recap, left pump is the spa, no valves, two pipes out. Middle pump is the waterfall to 3 waterfall outputs with a valve per waterfall. Right pump is the main pool, one valve out for jets, and two for I don't know what. One of the main pool return pipes has a black see through valve on it not sure if you can see it in the original pic. Attaching now.

 

[HermanTX]

The pool has 4 drains and the spa has 2.

OK thanks. The pool has 4 drains as 2 are tied together and go to the filter pump (far right pump). The other 2 drains are also linked together and provide suction to the waterfall pump (middle pump)
Since the spa only has the 2 drains (which I assume are also connected) then that must go to the spa pump (far left pump)

So to recap, left pump is the spa, no valves, two pipes out. Middle pump is the waterfall to 3 waterfall outputs with a valve per waterfall. Right pump is the main pool, one valve out for jets, and two for I don't know what. One of the main pool return pipes has a black see through valve on it not sure if you can see it in the original pic. Attaching now.

So we identified the suction is the spa drain to the spa pump but it has 2 output pipes (no valves) so they must flow equally to the spa.

The water feature pump with the suction coming from 1 set of pool drains and the output is to 3 water features that you can control independently with the ball valves

The main filter pump has 3 suctions pipes - we know 1 is the set of main drains in the pool, and the other is a skimmer. Do you have 2 skimmers - if so then they may be independently controlled with the valves. Can you confirm what the 3rd suction line is for the filter pump? Another option, it would be a suction cleaner line. Do you have a connection port in the pool that may be a foot below the water level?

The output for the filter pump is also confusing but we can work through it. One line goes to the pool returns. My guess is that the pipe on the far right goes back to the spa. It would create a spill over effect of the spa back into the pool. That is also why it has a check valve on the line. (that black object with a clear top). That prevents the spa flowing back through the pipework when the ball valve is open.
This leaves the 1 remaining pipe that also has a ball valve on it. You would have to confirm by leaving 1 open and the other 2 closed and see what has flow coming out of it. Do this for each valve but always ensure you have 1 valve open or you could damage your pump.

Let us know the outcome and post new photos if you change the ball valves around and don't understand what is flowing.

 

[nullish]

OK thanks. The pool has 4 drains as 2 are tied together and go to the filter pump (far right pump). The other 2 drains are also linked together and provide suction to the waterfall pump (middle pump)
Since the spa only has the 2 drains (which I assume are also connected) then that must go to the spa pump (far left pump)


So we identified the suction is the spa drain to the spa pump but it has 2 output pipes (no valves) so they must flow equally to the spa.

The water feature pump with the suction coming from 1 set of pool drains and the output is to 3 water features that you can control independently with the ball valves

The main filter pump has 3 suctions pipes - we know 1 is the set of main drains in the pool, and the other is a skimmer. Do you have 2 skimmers - if so then they may be independently controlled with the valves. Can you confirm what the 3rd suction line is for the filter pump? Another option, it would be a suction cleaner line. Do you have a connection port in the pool that may be a foot below the water level?

The output for the filter pump is also confusing but we can work through it. One line goes to the pool returns. My guess is that the pipe on the far right goes back to the spa. It would create a spill over effect of the spa back into the pool. That is also why it has a check valve on the line. (that black object with a clear top). That prevents the spa flowing back through the pipework when the ball valve is open.
This leaves the 1 remaining pipe that also has a ball valve on it. You would have to confirm by leaving 1 open and the other 2 closed and see what has flow coming out of it. Do this for each valve but always ensure you have 1 valve open or you could damage your pump.

Let us know the outcome and post new photos if you change the ball valves around and don't understand what is flowing.

So I don't have two skimmers, but I can't yet tell what the two main return non checked valves control outside of the jets. When I turn off both of them though, the spa spillover does work! Thank you for the explanations so far, it has been super helpful and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the valves.

The only thing I have left to figure out is when all three water features are ON the one in the middle has little flow compared to the other two. When I turn off one of the 3, the middle one has way better flow. I don't think it's a clog since it does get nice flow with one turned off.

 

[HermanTX]

So I don't have two skimmers, but I can't yet tell what the two main return non checked valves control outside of the jets. When I turn off both of them though, the spa spillover does work! Thank you for the explanations so far, it has been super helpful and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the valves.

For the suction side, since you have confirmed you only have a main drain and 1 skimmer, is to look for a connection in the pool that may be used for a suction type of cleaner. Have you tried to close 2 of the 3 valves on the suction to determine which one is skimmer? You should see swirling in the skimmer if the other 2 are closed. It is harder to test which one is the main drain unless you get in the pool and take a syringe to release some dye next to the main drain and see if it is sucked in. The 3rd pipe is a mystery for the time being.

The only thing I have left to figure out is when all three water features are ON the one in the middle has little flow compared to the other two. When I turn off one of the 3, the middle one has way better flow. I don't think it's a clog since it does get nice flow with one turned off.

Fortunately you have 3 valves so you can control each water feature. You want to partially close the valve for the end ones and leave the middle one full open. You may need to play with it to determine the best setting to balance the flow of all 3. Since you have a single speed pump, you have to use those valves to either reduce or open up for total flow.