Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old pump

[notluf]

I recently upgraded my Intex model 637 model pump for the higher 2500 GPH pump and was wondering what to do with the old pump. The smaller pump had degraded down to less than 600 GPH and my SWG didn't like it. I have the new 2500 GPH and was wondering what to do with the smaller pump. I had an idea. Earlier in the year I bought a small sump pump to hook up to black hoses to help heat the pool but that small pump failed and dumped oil into my pool. I have this extra pool pump just sitting there and it is external of the pool vs. being in the pool like the sump pump was.

A trip to Lowe's and I find 1" to 5/8 hose fitting PVC adapters. Not quite the size to fit the pump, but a little JB Weld fixed that.

Fittings "welded on"

I layed out 400' of black hose in two coils with some landscape fabric beneath them and attached it to the pump, one short hose for the intake into the pool, and the output to the coils, again back into the pool. No filter. Ten degree rise in temps in less than 12 hours.

Hose coils on the ground:

Heat output visible in the water:

Now with the temps in my area reaching above 100, the pool was too hot, around 98 degrees, so I detached the coiled hose and ran a short hose from the output side of the pump and attached a small sprinkler head from a Miracle Grow spreader and now I have an aerator/cooler/sprinkler.

Just another way to re-use an old pump that wasn't making the grade but it is still useable.

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

Also tonight I made the plunge and actually cut into my pool liner to add the fittings for the 2500 GPH pump. I was using the adapters sold online but I knew they were reducing throughput. That first cut with the box knife is the hardest thing to do, but once you start you realize it is actually pretty easy. My next planned upgrade is a through-the-wall skimmer. Cutting the liner is way more easier than I thought. After that I plan on upgrading to PVC to reduce the hoses.

 

[George_]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

What type of tubing did you use and if it is connected on the output side of the pump, why is there a garden hose attached? Also, how do you prime the pump as I assume the hoses are both just over the side.

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

What type of tubing did you use and if it is connected on the output side of the pump, why is there a garden hose attached? Also, how do you prime the pump as I assume the hoses are both just over the side.

Just plain garden hose, black heavy duty, over the side of the pool. As for priming the pump I take the intake hose and push it up against the output of the main pool pump, once some water is in the hose and over the side of the pool gravity takes care of the rest and then you can bleed out the air from the pump.

 

[George_]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

As for priming the pump I take the intake hose and push it up against the output of the main pool pump, once some water is in the hose and over the side of the pool gravity takes care of the rest and then you can bleed out the air from the pump.

So you have to do that everytime you want to run that pump, right? Otherwise wouldn't air get in there as soon as you turn it off since the hose sits higher than water level?

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

So you have to do that everytime you want to run that pump, right? Otherwise wouldn't air get in there as soon as you turn it off since the hose sits higher than water level?

Nope, with the one end in the water and the other end higher than the water, the water in the hose has no where to go. Now if the exit end of the hose falls off the pool then it will start draining the pool regardless if the pump is on or not, so I have it secured pretty good.

 

[George_]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

Yup, I found that out for myself after trying it out today. I'm using my orig. 800 gph filter for the floating skimmer only and will take your idea for the heater and tie it into the skimmer return. I'll also create a PVC sprinkler attachment to give me both options and I don't need to run my 2650 gph pump for any of it.
Thanks!

 

[docchop1]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

If this thread had a "Like" button I'd click it.

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

We hit 100 degrees again here today and my little pump really didn't drop the water temp with the makeshift fountain, but it did keep it from climbing too high, water hit 93 at the high mark today (it would have been much higher without the little pump!) I was digging around in the threads and found several about making your own out of PVC for less than $20 using the Intex blue side attached skimmer adapter and pursued that route (cost me $23 at Lowes in materials.) It attaches to the 2500 GPH pump output. It worked and dropped the temp to 89 in a few hours but I didn't like the setup with the blue adapter. Going to figure out how to attach it to directly to the 3" Intex connectors on the inside of the pool. I'll post pics of that setup either here or in a separate thread.

Though we do not hit 100 often around the Washington DC area it is nice to have a backup to hook up to the bigger pump for when the little pump can't handle the extreme days. The little one handles the high 80s and low 90s fine, 100 and up and it just slows down the heat build up.

I am also prepping for extending my pool season and repositioned all of my heating hoses into one big coil in an other area of my yard that gets the most sunlight later in the year. I've lost track of how much hose I have in it now but I estimate around 900'. Coiled up it doesn't take as much space as you would think, but you need to be willing to sacrifice some grass in the process (it grows back before the first frost if you get the hose up and stored away in time.)

 

[George_]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

I've lost track of how much hose I have in it now but I estimate around 900'.

900' of 1/2" or 5/8" garden hose? The pump can push through that length?
Also, if you had to buy 900' of garden hose that would cost more than a solar heater.

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

I've lost track of how much hose I have in it now but I estimate around 900'.

900' of 1/2" or 5/8" garden hose? The pump can push through that length?
Also, if you had to buy 900' of garden hose that would cost more than a solar heater.

Sounds crazy, I know. This is all 5/8" I've bought over the years. I didn't just run out and purchase it for this project, a good solar heater would have been a better choice. I'm working with what I have on hand and simply using black spray paint on the hoses that aren't already black.

Typically what I have done over the years is if a hose develops a crack, gets hit with a mower, or a connector falls apart I just used to coil it up and put it behind my shed in a pile and buy a new hose for the season. Once I started putting up the pool I dipped into my supply of hoses, spliced and repaired broken sections and put new connectors on them and put them into production. If they aren't black, I simply hit them with some really cheap black spray paint once I lay them into the master coil. I'm just working with what I have on hand on the cheap. If I had the money I would ditch the entire system and get a proper solar heater, but I'm cheap and this is working for me for now.

Believe it or not, the pump is actually pushing it through all all that hose even though the pump is already degraded in it's output. It's not a huge blast of water but it is a steady enough stream. Tonight I disconnected my fountain and attached the smaller pump to the coil to act as a heat sink to shed some of the 93 degree from the pool. At night it works in reverse of a heater and disperses heat if the air temp is lower than the water temp.

 

[notluf]

Re: Intex 1000 GPH upgrade to 2500 GPH, what to do with old

As promised here is a pic of my cheap PVC fountain attached to my 2500 GPH pump.

It works great, the kids love it. I'm not happy with the design and am going to make some mods to it and start a different thread on it's construction.

In this picture on the right you can see my little degraded 1000 GPH pump also pitching in to help.