Recent content by everthustodeadbeats

The O-rings were leaking because they were filled with sand, breaking the seal. Interestingly, while the sand seemed to get everywhere in my equipment and plumbing, I didn't much if any sand in the pool itself.

Another unusual occurance: A couple days ago I accidentally left the backwash on for too long (about 45 minutes). I was kicking myself because of all the wasted water, but could that also have contributed to sand escaping? Is there such a thing as too much backwash?

If an MPV can cause sand, then could the spider gasket or other innards of the MPV have gotten bounced around just from my handling of it, even if I nevered opened the valve? I also thought of another candidate for the culprit: I am in the middle of trying to put up a solar heater (I have...

Interesting. But I think I will start with filling up the north side, then if I need more room go to the southwest, and I'm not going to worry about that southeast side for now. I know my limits and don't need that kind of hassle in my life right now ;) Going back to the check valve discussion...

Also, while on the one hand it does seem like the multiport is the weak link in this equation given the recent activity, on the other hand how could any issue with the multiport cause sand to come out of the filter in the first place? Even if the multiport valve were totally broken internally...

No, didn't touch that. It was actually more of a repair. There was a hairline crack in the output port threading (possibly from over tightening) that was leaking. I patched it up with epoxy and glue and covered it with a hose clamp. I tried to do what this guy did --- --- but I didn't do as...

A couple days ago I noticed some sand on my driveway where the backwash exits out to. That's weird, I thought. Sometimes I see dead algea or other debris that came out in a backwash, but never sand. Then today the plumbing started leaking from multiple places, basically everywhere there is a...

I suspected as much. I could run it around the side of the house under the eaves, but more likely I'll just skip that side and not bother with a panel there. Here in Michigan it freezes pretty hard in the winter. You can't get away with leaving any water in any underground pipes. I blow out all...

That's what I figured. I just realized something. If I take your advice and put panels on the east- and west-facing sides (assuming they will fit), how will I get the water to the east-facing panels at all? Don't I have to go over the roof ridge with PVC to get to the east side panels in the...

I will definitely put some on the north side. I do have a slight pitch change in the middle of the slope on the north side which might make the plumbing a little more complicated if I cross it. And I don't want the panels to be visible from the front of the house so I don't want to go down all...

@mas985 any thoughts on the feasibility of draping a solar panel over a ridge? There are 2 scenarios. First is the one labeled in red in the figure below, where the feed header and return header are on opposite sides of the roof's slant. I would make sure that the return header is at a higher...

They are regular commercially available panels, like this one: SunHeater Universal 2, 2 ft. x 20 ft. (80 sq. ft.) Solar Heating System for In-Ground or Above Ground Pool S240U - The Home Depot (some of the panels say SunHeater and some have a Fafco brand name, but they all look identical to me)...

@Dirk, Thank you for your honesty. It's definitely better to know sooner rather than later. Note the framing is just sort of a "proof of concept," and the plan was that if and when I successfully get the solar working I would reinforce it to be a more permanent structure. And I agree that it's...