Plumbing For Pool Pump

[aeopav]

I'm in the process of re-installing my pool pump & Polaris booster pump. The Polaris pump is new and has some flex PVC and fittings for installation. I have a question on re-plumbing these pumps. When I pulled the pumps, I had to cut them out. There was no way of pulling the pumps without cutting through hard PVC pipe or fittings. Did my original plumber just screw me by not putting in fittings that thread together, like these? http://www.bestbuypoolsupply.com/praher-fittings.html

The Polaris booster pump was "hard lined" in also. I had to cut fittings to get it out. The new pump came with some flexible line and fittings that will make it a breeze to install and to R&R in the future.

Am I asking for leaks if I reinstall using the disconnectable fittings? I would think not as the filter has O-ringed fittings, at the backwash valve, that have done fine over the years. Am I missing something about plumbing in these pumps that drives pool builders to plumb them in "hard" like mine were?

 

[Guest]

The Polaris pump always used the flex pipe (small diameter) and that was fine for that application. Most pool plumbers rigid plumb the equipment though, so your application sounds typical on the rest of the plumbing. The threaded couplers are great, and allow for easy change out of the pump(s) later on, but are more expensive than normal fittings, so they do not get used typically (you gotta remember that most pool builders are trying to keep material pricing low and profits high!). The threaded fittings work great, don't leak, and are the only way to go if you do it yourself or specify that the installer use them if you have it done for you.

Bruce

 

[geekgranny]

I've had Polaris, for close 20 years, and Booster pumps longer, and I've never had any issues with leaking or bursting of the hose that is used going to and coming from the booster pump. In fact I'm redoing some of my lines at the pumping station (adding and relocating a new larger filter) and I'm thinking the hoses for my booster pump may be the originals. One factor that may help with longevity is whether the pumping station gets full sun every day and for how long. My pumping station is under the deck where no direct sunlight ever reaches it.

I was wondering if there is a reason for the limited size of the hose. There may be a very good reason for not upsizing it but I'm not sure. My booster pump hose connects to a fitting in the dedicated 1 1/2 return for the Polaris with same fitting going into the pump. The hoses simply screws on and off like a normal garden hose although the only time I know of that they have been taken off is for a booster pump replacement. At any rate my Polaris moves around faster than those I've seen in many other pools. (Beside the point, but my main pump is pretty powerful and over sized for my old filter.) My pump is one speed too.

I'm using flex hoses to and from my new filter as I'm doing it myself and the new filter will be 5'-10' away from the station pad and a drop of about 3' and it is possibly not a permanent connection especially if I decide, at a later time, to move the entire pad to where the new filter will be. I'm definitely going to use connections that can be put on and removed without cutting pipe. My pumping station, at this point, is so 'Franken-plumbing' (quote from member 'waste'), from cuts, re-cuts, glued fittings, etc., when things have been added and/or taken out, over a 28 year period, that it is scary to look at. That's what happens over time and it becomes ugly and especially difficult if most of the visible plumbing is pipe reducers, extenders, elbows, etc.

gg=alice

 

[geekgranny]

I wanted to add.... I have a push/pull valve, original, on my old filter. The filter is 28 years old. The screw on connections that connect the valve to the filter had never leaked. They are under pretty high pressure as my pump is so powerful and some of my pipes are 1 1/2". Over the years the cylinder base, that the filter sits on, lost integrity because the ring at the top came loose. Because of this the filter would twist some on the base, creating excess stress on the screw on connections. I think this has been going on for at least 10 years. A month or so ago, I removed the filter, via the screw on connections. The connector sleeves jammed for the first time and were difficult to remove, but the filter was twisted more than ever before. When I put them back on the collars/sleeves did crack so I just used big steel 0 clamps, until I replace the valve and filter. I did fix the ring in the base too. It is not twisting now AND even with cracked collars they are holding well with no leaks. The valve and connectors (and filter) are 28 years old.

gg=alice

 

[geekgranny]

Some pics of my 'Franken-plumbing'. The screw on fitting front left is where the Nature 2 vessel was initially hard plumbed in. After a couple of winters of the vessels freeze cracking I had a pool guy make me a section that I could put in in the winter to take the Nature 2 out of the system. That section and fittings are over 10 years old. The little cone thing on the return line is a Nature 2 express I used for a few months a few years ago. I haven't removed it as I've been planning on doing some redo down there for a while now. I'm totally BBB now. The brown spray is from painting some of the deck metal. I forgot to cover the pumping station back up.

Showing twisting of filter due to base being "broken". This put extreme stress on the screw on fittings where push/pull valve attaches to filter.

Shows misalignment of filter inlets caused by twisting action of filter. This was simple to readjust.

28 year old screw on fittings that have had the twisting stress on them for at least 10 years. It was twisted so much this time it jammed the collars and they were very difficult to unscrew for the first time ever. They cracked when I screwed them down. In removing the collars I think I did some small damage to the threads.