Non-elevated main drain suction covers?

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tenderfoot

tenderfoot

0
Bronze Supporter
Aug 10, 2017
132
North/TX
Hi,

My pool builder never told me about the existance of invisible drains, such as the AVSC Drain (see: AVSC Drain | Cooke Industries ) so the pool was built with the regular circular "white can" type drains which normally have the elevated circular covers on them. The pool has not yet been plastered, but the gunite is now complete.

So, what choices (if any) do I have for drain covers at this point?

All that is there right now is the white can so I am hoping I might still be in time to make a safety compliant change because I really would like to avoid dealing with the cleaner robot getting stuck as it tries to go over the classic protruding round covers.

Thanks!
 
I wish I had done some better research during our pool build and found these pebble top drain covers.

Looking back a channel drain from this company would have been my first choice, but the pebble round covers would be my second choice in hind sight. We have black plastic covers that our robot gets stuck on quite often...I am not sure if the round covers they supply would prevent the robot problem, but they look a little different in shape than the ones that we have now.

What I really need to do now is find someone that just happens to be plastering their pool with Black Kona Primera Stone (our finish) and send them some of these covers in dark grey to have them coated - not sure that will ever happen!
 
tf,

Not all robots have the problem with the drains and if you talk with your pool builder you can eliminate the problem by just having them build up the plaster around each drain by 3/8 of an inch, or so..... This will make each drain cover fit into a very shallow dip in the pool bottom...

Of course I am talking about doing this during the initial plaster shoot, not after it is all done...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
bdavis466 said:
The pebble top covers are still an option. Most are the same size so it should be no issue.

I used pebble tops on a pool that used main drain cans not long ago and they fit perfectly.
Click to expand...



Cans? As in sumps?

are you west coaster lopping pipes & putting mud rings down nowadays?? If so how are you accommodating compliance (if you are even mandated to) with grates & sump depth?
 
Residential doesn't care about sumps. In fact all they care about are that the main drain are split.... That's it.

I laughed at the guy that used the sumps. Never seen them use on a residential pool other than here on the forum.

Mud rings set in plaster and cut the pipes the next day for life!
 
Thanks all for your insight!


@jimrahbe:
build up the plaster around each drain by 3/8 of an inch, or so
Click to expand...
I assume you are talking about doing something like what B is showing in the attached image?

drain cover.jpg


@bdavis466:
the pebble top covers are still an option.
Click to expand...
Are you implying that those covers are better at preventing the robots getting stuck than the regular covers? Or are you saying that even if the plaster is built up, like @jimrahbe mentioned, those covers can still be used?

Thanks!
 

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PoolguyinCT said:
Those safety covers were not designed or approved to be “sunk” in finish material.

Such placement is not safe & the liabilities are endless.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that information! Incredibly valuable. I am glad I found this site...

Oh... And yes, after reading a bit, I can say that what I was referring to as "main-drain can" is in fact a SUMP. Sorry for not using an accurate term, I just did not know what it was called.
 
PoolguyinCT said:
Those safety covers were not designed or approved to be “sunk” in finish material.

Such placement is not safe & the liabilities are endless.
Click to expand...

PG,

Sorry, but I don't buy that for a minute...

I am not suggesting that you actually cover the drain itself in plaster, just a little increase in the plaster surface around the drain is all that is needed to let the robot ride up on top of the drain body... What is shown in the picture in post 9 would work just fine and would not interfere with the safety of the cover at all... In addition, since all new pools have two drains the safety issue is just non existent..

Jim R.
 
ec8836651e6e23fa188280ad325fb4fc.jpg
 
PoolguyinCT said:
I regularly contribute to the relevant ansi standard & irc language & IPSPC.
Click to expand...

pg,

That's perfect!!!.. so now is the time to add some common sense to rules that too often get out of hand.. Raised covers make perfect sense to me when there is only one main drain. With a single main drain the possibility for entrapment is very real and the raised covers are a good way to prevent the problem. But with twin covers, there really is no longer a possibility for entrapment. Channel drains are a good example of how to eliminate the need for raised covers, as is the large circular drain shown in your post # 16.. Sometimes good rules and ideas get surpassed by better answers, but the bureaucracy often lags behind in how we make changes to these rules...

Thanks for your contributions to this site and to pool standards and policies..

Jim R.
 
Your welcome.

To the earlier point. When the height of a drain cover is lessened, all it takes is a stray paper plate or deflated pool float to block its “twin,” now the duo is compromised.

And thank you Jim, for the kind words.
Ray
 
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