I can't figure out what valves do what

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PerpetuallyClueless

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May 29, 2018
29
Tucson, AZ
My pool is green and I can't see the bottom. I have no idea how to determine what valves do what here. I've attached an image with labels which will hopefully help you guys get it through my thick head what each of them do. Questions:


  1. Can I turn these valves when the pump is running? (I know you can't turn the multiport valve, but wasn't sure if these are different.)
  2. What setting do I put my multiport valve on while testing? Recirculate?
  3. Does the speed of the pump matter when testing?
  4. What do I write on each of the positions so I can understand what does what?
  5. Am I going to damage anything or put myself in harm's way (like the filter exploding) if I accidentally put these valves in any particular configuration?

All I can figure out so far is that when I put the "OFF" position to 3I, the spa jets turn off.

The valves: https://i.imgur.com/MvCCCMK.jpg
 
pc,

No one here is going to be able to tell you exactly what those valves do, as you have not provided us with enough info... A pic showing the whole equipment pad would also be helpful.

Those valves are not in the standard layout for the return valves when you have a spa... So tell us more..

How many pumps do you have? Do you have a pool with a spillover spa? What water features do you have? How many Skimmers do you have? Do you have a pressure side or suction side cleaner?

A pic of the input pipes to the pump(s) and the pipes leaving your filter (or heater) would also be a big help.

The more info you can give us the more likely that you will get a good answer.

To start, I would move valve 1 so that the handle points to C and valve 3 so that the handle points to H... this would open every port... Then starting with valve 2 and then 3, I would turn the "off" tab to each position, one at a time and see what is happening in your pool. Do valve 1 last with the other valves fully open.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Sorry for not providing enough info.

Here's a photo album of my pool and all the equipment: Pool - Album on Imgur

There is 1 pump. Yes the spa spills over into the pool if it gets full enough, but it's not like a waterfall if that's what you are asking. There are no water features. There is 1 skimmer for the pool and 1 for the spa. I'm not sure how to answer your pressure/suction cleaner question but I have a Kreepy Krauly that hooks into the skimmer in the pool.
 
pc,

Thanks for the extra pics... that is some weird set up you have...:confused:

Let's assume that the pump only gets its water from the skimmer/main drain so there is only the one input and no valve.

That means all the valves are on the Return side of your plumbing where the water goes back to your pool and spa. The problem is there are way too many valves if you have no water features.

My guess (and it is just a guess) is that there used to be some in-ground cleaning system that has been replaced with all the valves you now have.

Have you ever been able to see the bottom of the pool? If so, are there a bunch of pop up heads that could be part of a cleaning system? Can you see any return eyeballs on the side walls of the pool?

If the pool is still green, I would put the filter in the recirculate mode, which will by-pass the filter.. I am sure it is full of gunk and almost useless at this point... then I would run the test that I described in my original post. I would run the pump at 3000 rpm during the test and I would not have the Kreepy crawler (KC) connected.. The KC is a suction or vacuum side cleaner and why you have to connect it to the skimmer.

You can turn the Jandy valves with the pump running, but just don't turn them real fast.

What is your goal? Depending on what you are planning to do, it might make sense to drain and repair the pool once the weather gets cooler. This would allow you, or a pool guy to determine exactly where all the plumbing is going.

Run the test on each valve and then let us know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
It is an Aquatech Whitaker pool, and from what I've heard, that company had a really weird pipe setup in the 80s. I grew up swimming in this pool and there is no in ground cleaning system or pop up heads. There are no return eyeballs. There are 3 or 4 pipes that return to the pool (I can't remember the exact number right now), and I don't know if they are all controlled by one of these valves, or multiple.

I was trying to avoid having to drain the pool because of the cost and the huge waste of water (we live in Arizona). I just wanted to get the water clear so my kids could finally swim (it's been out of commission all summer). I have not been able to use the SLAM method so far because of finances, and instead I've been trying to get the chemical guy my dad had to help me out. They added 10 pounds of liquid chlorine twice last week and will again this week and I've been running my filter 24/7. I've been cleaning out the filter by taking it apart and spraying off the grids, which have been coated with algae every time. I've been doing this 3-4 times a week. I recharge with DE afterward and I have also been brushing the walls and skimming every day.

Every time I mention that I have a chemical guy everyone stops responding and I get no more help. I understand what this forum is trying to achieve, and I agree with it, it's just all overwhelming with everything else going on in my life right now (see my post history for details). I did buy a test kit which will be arriving this week. I just need some guidance because I feel like I'm still lost. I can probably adopt the TFP way to a clean pool just not yet.

I will try your suggestions tomorrow morning. Thank you for the reply.
 
pc,

I understand completely.. To use the TFP method, or really any other method, you need to have some circulation of the water in the pool. If this were my pool, the first thing I would do is make sure that I could circulate water through the filter and back to the pool. Once I knew for sure that was working I would be adding liquid chlorine and cleaning the filter often.. I would think that the green in your pool will clog up your filter in a couple of hours.

The problem with algae is that it can grow faster than you can kill it.. In some case it will cost more for the chlorine than it would to just replace the water.. I would call the city and see what they say. Often they will waive any sewer fee, when they know you are just filling a pool.

Step one... let's see if we can figure out the valve arrangement..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
If the water is just green w no solids or gunk in it u should be able to get it blueish on 2 to 3 days w chlorine. How many gallons is the pool? Maybe take a water sample to local pool store in meantime so we have a idea of where ur at even tho they r wrong mostly it will be something to go by. I'd be adding a gallon liquid chlorine to pool 3 times a day for next 3 days and see what happens I bet it starts turning.
 
PerpetuallyClueless said:
It is an Aquatech Whitaker pool, and from what I've heard, that company had a really weird pipe setup in the 80s. I grew up swimming in this pool and there is no in ground cleaning system or pop up heads. There are no return eyeballs. There are 3 or 4 pipes that return to the pool (I can't remember the exact number right now), and I don't know if they are all controlled by one of these valves, or multiple.

I was trying to avoid having to drain the pool because of the cost and the huge waste of water (we live in Arizona). I just wanted to get the water clear so my kids could finally swim (it's been out of commission all summer). I have not been able to use the SLAM method so far because of finances, and instead I've been trying to get the chemical guy my dad had to help me out. They added 10 pounds of liquid chlorine twice last week and will again this week and I've been running my filter 24/7. I've been cleaning out the filter by taking it apart and spraying off the grids, which have been coated with algae every time. I've been doing this 3-4 times a week. I recharge with DE afterward and I have also been brushing the walls and skimming every day.

Every time I mention that I have a chemical guy everyone stops responding and I get no more help. I understand what this forum is trying to achieve, and I agree with it, it's just all overwhelming with everything else going on in my life right now (see my post history for details). I did buy a test kit which will be arriving this week. I just need some guidance because I feel like I'm still lost. I can probably adopt the TFP way to a clean pool just not yet.

I will try your suggestions tomorrow morning. Thank you for the reply.
Click to expand...

Id almost guarantee you can SLAM a pool on the same budget you are paying a pool guy that isn’t getting results for you.
 
You probably had a retractable whip system originally installed, there used to be a different valve setup and somebody has changed it using the jandy valves. How it originally worked is the valves were in the normal position and you would get suction from the skimmer and it would go through the filter and such and through to the valves and they would be set to let some water back into a return line and the rest to go to the whips. Then by changing the valves you could actually create suction on the whip line and they would retract into the wall. And to really confuse you, you also have valves that can change the normal pool setting to spa only. Whitaker stopped building in the early 80's but had several variations of this arrangement.
 

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PerpetuallyClueless said:
Step 1 and I'm already confused... I opened the first valve to 1C and my pump lost prime and there is zero pressure. I had to move it back to 1A to get the pump to prime again.
Click to expand...

Help me play along here. Are you saying the position of the handle or the OFF marking is on 1C?
 
PerpetuallyClueless said:
Step 1 and I'm already confused... I opened the first valve to 1C and my pump lost prime and there is zero pressure. I had to move it back to 1A to get the pump to prime again.
Click to expand...

Since we do not have a clue what the valves d,o this is to be expected...

Just so that we are both the same page... Turn off the pump and set all the valves as follows.. Point the handle of Valve 1 toward C and the handle of valve 3 toward H and the handle of valve 2 toward E.

Turn on the pump and see if it primes or not.. What does it do??

If it primes or not... Turn the handle of valve 1 toward B.. What happens now?

Unfortunately, we will just have to do this one or two steps at a time...

Even when the pump does not prime or losses prime, it will tell us something.. Not sure what at this time..:p

Jim R.
 
It has been running in that configuration for about 30 minutes now and the pump is not losing prime or pressure. In this configuration, the spa skimmer is still sucking but the pool skimmer is not. I have no idea what is going on with the main drains or the returns because I can't see anything through the green. Am I going to have to put on my swim suit and go in that nasty water?
 
PM sent! And to answer the question, that was in the first configuration. I moved the valve to 1B and did not see anything change. The pump did not lose its prime. Rather than flood the thread with replies, I'll work with kadavis and report back. Thank you for all the help so far!
 
kadavis saves the day! I am going to do my best to explain what he told me, both so I can share the knowledge here, and so I can document it and refer back to it, since I will probably forget half of what he said. If you, kadavis, want to chime in and add more info (or correct any mistakes I make in explaining all this!), that would be great!

Also, guess what?! I found the ORIGINAL paperwork for the pool, plans and everything. My dad never threw anything out... The pool was built in 1982 and contains 22,819 gallons. The invoice says there was a "Poolmaid" cleaning system, but I do not recall there ever being cleaning whips in the pool (I swam in this pool for multiple hours every day my entire childhood!). The piping does seem to indicate that it was built to accommodate for it.

My piping/equipment setup is obviously not typical. The pool has several returns all throughout (if memory serves, there are at least 6) and no other "traditional" return--it's all through these little pipes. In my diagram, the valve labeled "1" never needs to be changed and should always point to 1A because these whips are not there.

I do not have a typical main drain either. There is a pipe that goes from the main drain into the skimmer for the pool, and it has a plug in it right now. There is a plate that you put in the skimmer to control whether the Kreepy Krauly runs, or water comes from the main drain. kadavis said these plugs are typically pretty tough to get back in if you take them out, so essentially I should use the Kreepy Krauly as "a moveable main drain." This might explain why the cholorine added last week didn't help clear up the algae at all, because the pump was just circulating water off the top of the pool from the skimmer instead of the bottom. So when people advise to take out the Kreepy Krauly when slamming the pool, I will have to interject and say "Nope, not for my pool!"

Additionally, and I'm a little foggy on the details of this already, but at one point there was a 4th valve that did control the main drain, but that pipe has been capped off for an unknown reason. It was difficult to tell from the angle of my original picture, so if you look at this new one, I can explain:

https://i.imgur.com/jckNGr3.png

The pipe labeled "1" connected to that nearest elbow, which was a "T" with a valve on it. The pipe labeled "2" is connected to pipe "1" and it also connected to the pipe labeled "3". Pipe "4" is the air intake for the spa jets.

Looking at my original picture https://i.imgur.com/MvCCCMK.jpg, here are what all the pipes are for:

A - Pool suction
B - Pool (whips) return, Same as G
C - N/A
D - N/A
E - To pump
F - Spa suction
G - Pool (whips) return, Same as B
H - From pump
I - Spa jets

I hope I explained all that well enough! Now that I have the valves figured out, I'm hoping I can finally get some good circulation going and get the algae cleared up. I also got my TF-100 test kit today!

If anyone can offer any additional help or advice, I'm all ears. I still have a lot to learn.
 
Many pools have no main drain. And they can be cleaned quite well. So not having one is not a big deal.

Run a full set of tests tomorrow and post them up.
 

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