Blew a hose on my pump. Will this setup work?

[garrybunk]

So my original Hayward pump return hose burst last Thursday evening. Fortunately I caught it after only losing about an inch or two of water! I'm trying to replace the cheap hose with a heavier duty solution without using rigid PVC. I've bought 1 1/2" flexible PVC and various connectors. I'm having a little bit of a hard time due to the fact that I can't clamp flexible PVC like it's a hose and some of the connections which are for 1 1/2" hose have too much freeplay inside the 1 1/2" flexible PVC.

On the pump side I re-used the Hayward threaded hose connector which fits fairly snug into the flexible PVC (due to it's conical shape - it's gets wider toward the upper end), but the pipe doesn't catch the one "barb" (the ridge a hose slides over to keep it from sliding back off) since it's smaller than the inside diameter of the flex pipe. I tried a new 1 1/2 threaded hose connection from Lowes and it didn't fit at all (slid right in and out too easily).

The big problem is on my return jet of the pool. My return goes through a light assembly and it has no "barbs" for a hose. It's just a smooth pipe and sized with a jog in it to accept 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" hose (1" inside tube diameter). What I found that works here is a compression connector that you would find used on a sink drain (the kind with a plastic angled washer and a plastic "nut" - see photo below). This works well, but I am afraid the pressure on this return line will be too much for this type of connector. Any thoughts on this? Anyone use this style of connector? I've also thought about trying to find a rubber pipe coupler that fits the flex pipe and this light's connector, but then I don't know how well that rubber will hold up in the sun.

What I am looking for in the end is a reliable connection that won't burst and can easily be removed during winterizing. So what do you think of this setup? What would you change? Should I be using those big Unions that thread together instead?

Photos:

Thanks!
Garry

 

[Bama Rambler]

You should use glued fittings on the flex pipe. Use unions to make it easy to remove later on. I think you're asking for trouble with the drain fitting. Some Fernco (rubber) couplings are rated for about 25 psi so you could try on of them if you want but glued is going to be better.

 

[garrybunk]

Ok, but can I glue to this light assembly? Would there be any reason I can't glue to it? I'm afraid to try it and then potentially ruin it (which won't be cheap to replace I don't think). And what can I glue here? The standard 1 1/2" PVC is too big - too much slop when fit over the inlet pipe of the light. Those fernco couplers are the rubber couplers I was referring to. Problem is that I have to find a size that fits both ends. The end on the light is sized to go inside a 1 1/2 PVC, not around the outside (the 1 1/2" fernco coupler goes around the outside of a 1 1/2" PVC pipe and the fernco measures 1 7/8" inside diameter). The upper part of the return/light assemble measures 1 1/2" outside diameter.

What about the upper connection (pump end)? Should that hold? Or is that likely to slip off as well? I'll probably just replace that with a threaded union connection.

Second question, do you think the 1" inlet of the light assembly is affecting return water pressure at all? Would it benefit much to replace the light with a standard return jet (assuming it would have 1 1/2" connection and not 1")?

Thanks,
-Garry

 

[Bama Rambler]

You could probably get a 1¼ x 1½ Fernco and that'd work on the PVC and the return fitting.

I would use regular PVC every where else.

No doubt that the light fitting is restricting the flow and raising the pressure, BUT it may not be enough to matter. However, changing it to a standard fitting will allow you to use PVC fittings and standard eyeballs if you wanted to.

 

[garrybunk]

Ok, well I finally got back to this and plumbed it up. I changed over to a union on the pump side and used a 1 1/2" x 1 1/4" fernco on the light assembly. I did test out the "drain connector" (and had even found some better drain connector's at Lowes that had the wedge "washer" built into the cap instead of being a separate piece). I tightened the drain connector really really tight, but when I pulled down on the flexible PVC I was able to slide it off the light assembly. It took some force, but I didn't want to trust it. With the fernco in use (again, really tight) I couldn't pull it off or twist the pipes no matter how hard I tried! One thing about using the fernco: when I cut off the previously attached "drain connector" (see last photo above in original post) I cut it off right up against the fitting to leave some of the PVC glue on the flexible PVC. I figured this would give the fernco something to grip to, or at least provide a surface that wasn't too slippery for the flex PVC to slide out easily. One thing I don't like about the fernco is that the 1 1/2" end (end with my flex PVC) doesn't go on very far. The 1 1/4" end has about twice as much area in contact with the light assembly. It's holding though. I ran it all night watching it for the first 20 minutes, then checked at one hour, then checked it before heading to work the next morning (10.5 hours) and nothing has slipped or changed position. Pressure on the pump is reading the same as all year - 15 PSI, but I swear it looks like the water in the pool is circulating better and blasting out of the return jet (around the light) with a little more force. My only concern is how the fernco will hold up in the sun. I will have to keep an eye on it and maybe spray it with silicon spray every spring when I hook it up.

Here are a few photos of the replumbing. Sorry for the quality; it was night when I took them.

I hope this helps others considering re-plumbing. It wasn't hard to do is far more reliable, and since I didn't use hard rigid PVC I don't have to worry about things not lining up when I put it back together in the spring!

-Garry

 

[Bama Rambler]

That looks pretty good. That Fernco should last a good long time.