Plumbing Examples and Suggestions

[counciloak]

I know that we have the hydraulics 101 thread but, being more of a visual type of person, I'm curious if we have a place for good examples of those principles in use. I know that each pool will have a unique layout to the plumbing and design but being able to see some of those best practices in reality would help me immensely

I inherited my current plumbing from the previous owners and after spending some time on TFP I've come to realize that it needs some work and by some work I mean a total overhaul



The heater was never connected to gas or electric. I'm currently in the process of running a new gas line that is the correct size for this unit. I figured that this would be the best time to fix many of the other issues.

• I counted 13 x 90 degree turns from the time water leaves the pump until it goes back into the ground
• I haven't used the in line chlorinator (liquid only) and I never intend to, so that is going
• The filter is stacked on top of the heater, leaving no access to the service panel (I'm either going to move the filter to the left or perhaps rearrange everything)
• Wondering if it would make more since to have the pump on the left, heater in the middle (facing the camera) and the filter on the right.
  Suggestions would be much appreciated. Keep in mind that I'm spending about $1500 on the new gas (and house meter upgrade), so I'm trying to keep plumbing costs to a minimum. Always room for improvement in the future.
  
  Thanks in advance!

 

[Newdude]

I counted 13 x 90 degree turns from the time water leaves the pump until it goes back into the ground

People put way too much emphasis on 90s.

The filter is stacked on top of the heater

Would it fit here ?



Use schedule 80 and high temp unions which are more robust.

No more ball valves, only use rebuildable diverter valves.

Pipe is relatively cheap. A couple of lengths will allow you to start fresh. From the looks of all the couplers, it's already been patched back up a few times.

 

[cfherrman]

Best way to think of a 90 is it's like adding 9 feet of pipe, not that big of deal now.

 

[counciloak]

Thanks for the tips! Wondering if that ball valve on the heater outlet is necessary. You can bypass the heater with the valve above it. Not sure about its purpose, unless it's just redundant for safety sake?

 

[Newdude]

Not sure about its purpose

It's a backflow preventer / alternative to a check valve.

 

[Catherine13]

It's encouraging to see how motivated you are to upgrade the plumbing in your pool. Use only rebuildable diverter valves; stop using ball valves. Use high-temp unions and schedule 80, which are both more reliable. The pipe is not very expensive. You can start over after a couple of lengths. It appears it has already been patched up a few times based on how all the couplers look. Ask a qualified plumber for guidance if you need clarification on any part of the plumbing overhaul so they can give you their professional opinion and ensure everything is installed and aligned correctly.

 

[1poolman1]

Would be good to look at this info, especially if that is a enclosed space:

https://www.poolspanews.com/how-to/ultimate-tech-manual/pool-gas-heater-installation-tips_o

 

[Dirk]

Thanks for the tips! Wondering if that ball valve on the heater outlet is necessary. You can bypass the heater with the valve above it. Not sure about its purpose, unless it's just redundant for safety sake?

That red-handled ball valve is part of the heater bypass, but it is not strictly necessary to bypass the heater (to keep water from actively flowing through the heater). The three-way bypass valve can accomplish that by itself. What that second valve does, when closed (or a check valve in its place), is allow you to both stop the flow through the heater with the three-way and then completely disconnect the heater unions. You could then run your pump with the heater disconnected.

The times you would need something like that would be rare, like if you wanted to disengage your heater and work on it or something, or replace it, or if it was leaking, etc.

If you want to retain that function, a check valve, IMO, is a better choice, because a check valve will do that job, but not cause any dead heading. What I mean is: right now, with the bypass valve in heater-on mode, you could inadvertently close that ball valve which would block your plumbing, causing damage somewhere, probably the filter blowing a gasket or cracking. A check valve wouldn't be able to do that, so it's a bit more "fool-proof."

Sidebar: while others will never agree, there is some benefit to minimizing pipe and elbows, however little. You wouldn't want to do so by making things harder to get at, but wherever you can, why not? I use sweep 90s wherever I can, for the same reason, and get the same disagreements!

 

[Dirk]

Regarding your layout, you would figure out where the heater needs to be first, then plan around that. It probably needs easy access to one or more sides, and it probably has to have some amount of clearance on one or more of its vertical surfaces (venting, heat, etc). Plus it'll need some sort of flu probably, and then the gas line hook up. That's going to be the "fussiest" component to locate, the others are much more flexible in which way they can point, and where they can go.

It's interesting how all of that plumbing must be at least second gen, because the suction and return manifolds (the original ones) are on a different plane (a little less than 45° rotated from where you have things now). One pipe of the suction manifold was abandoned at some point, but it too was aligned with the original angle.

The pad and the shed came later, and were angled for whatever reason (to align with house or yard) and from there that determined the new angle for the pool equipment.

Or sumpin' lik dat thar.

 

[counciloak]

Regarding your layout, you would figure out where the heater needs to be first, then plan around that. It probably needs easy access to one or more sides, and it probably has to have some amount of clearance on one or more of its vertical surfaces (venting, heat, etc). Plus it'll need some sort of flu probably, and then the gas line hook up. That's going to be the "fussiest" component to locate, the others are much more flexible in which way they can point, and where they can go.

It's interesting how all of that plumbing must be at least second gen, because the suction and return manifolds (the original ones) are on a different plane (a little less than 45° rotated from where you have things now). One pipe of the suction manifold was abandoned at some point, but it too was aligned with the original angle.

The pad and the shed came later, and were angled for whatever reason (to align with house or yard) and from there that determined the new angle for the pool equipment.

Or sumpin' lik dat thar.

Thanks for the input and great observations! The yard/house/pool are all angled in that direction (I'm sitting on a curve in the road)

The original owner of the house (circa 1984) randomly showed up one day while I was mowing the lawn. He was happy to see that the shed he built was still standing. It was built sometime after the pool installation. I think the other intake was for a slide which no longer exists but the old bolt holes are still visible in the concrete.

You are quite the sleuth!

 

[Dirk]

Thanks for the input and great observations! The yard/house/pool are all angled in that direction (I'm sitting on a curve in the road)

The original owner of the house (circa 1984) randomly showed up one day while I was mowing the lawn. He was happy to see that the shed he built was still standing. It was built sometime after the pool installation. I think the other intake was for a slide which no longer exists but the old bolt holes are still visible in the concrete.

You are quite the sleuth!

Ha, ha, well, not much sleuthing was needed. If the pad and/or shed had been there before the pool, no pool plumber would have brought those pipes up out of the ground all caddywompus to the pad like that, they would have been straight across one side of the concrete or the other. So the pipes must have been laid before the position of the shed was decided.

And you might have already noticed: because the new angle was not an easy 45° skew, someone decided to use a chunk or three (maybe more) of flex PVC to get the angles needed, instead of using 90 and 45 degree elbows. I don't know all the downsides of flex PVC, but it's not usually used on a pool pad, so that was the other clue.

It was elementary, my dear Watson!