Changing out valves

[n8henry]

I have an old, simple setup. Two black poly lines coming in. One from main drain and one from skimmer. They both have a barbed hard 90 elbow coming off the black poly that turns them each into an old brass gate valve. Then they connect in the middle with a tee and go into my pump with pvc. All 1.5" lines. I bought stuff to swap this setup and but want an opinion before I do the work.

New setup will be a barbed connector coming straight off the top of the two black poly pipes. Threaded so I can screw on a piece of pvc. Then I will glue a softer 90 onto that. I will connect them in the middle with a 3 way Jandy valve. The two lines coming into the Jandy valve will be 1.5" pvc. The single line coming out of the jandy will be 2" with a union and go into my pump. Sound better? I would just leave it but I have air coming in somewhere. If it was my pump seal would I be seeing water on the ground by the pump?

 

[linen]

That sounds like a good change to me. Make sure your 90s are schedule 40.

You might want to try some shaving cream on your current valves/fittings to see if the air is coming in there. Most common place is the pump cover o-ring and/or the pump drain plugs.

 

[n8henry]

Just went and purchased a new o-ring. I have a place around the corner from my office. I have proper lubricant too. No more Vaseline!

 

[n8henry]

I tried smearing shaving cream on every connection by the pump. I didn't see any change. Still air in the basket. Then I poured water over everything to wash the shaving cream off. !!!! All the air went away except a hardly noticeable amount. Very excited about that. I assume it means my air leak is above ground or just below the surface. I guess I'll be tackling my project soon.

 

[n8henry]

Well. I started my change out. Here is the existing plumbing. First time trying a picture. Let's see if it works.
[attachment=0:1gbkgn49]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1375223267.816792.jpg[/attachment:1gbkgn49]

 

[n8henry]

So I started taking things apart. [attachment=1:37pf53uo]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1375223345.286376.jpg[/attachment:37pf53uo]
Oops. The black poly was joined just under the soil and the connection came right out of the ground. Below my water line. I'm waiting on the water level to go down so I can finish. [attachment=0:37pf53uo]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1375223415.451722.jpg[/attachment:37pf53uo]
I guess that's one way to get your CYA level down.

 

[n8henry]

Finished. Waiting for the pool to fill. I had a big ugly brown mess on the floor by my main drain. Started the pump on waste. I think most of it went out. Brushed some of it up into the water trying to get it in the drain. Put a gallon of bleach in. I get to see how much my CYA went down when I test tomorrow.

My waste water shot out about 2 foot further than usual having the air leak fixed--and that was with the skimmer off.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Glad to hear it went well! Sounds like you figured out the better trick for finding air leaks..water. I'm not sure I've ever read someone saying the shaving cream worked for them

 

[n8henry]

The shaving cream didn't find it. All the water I poured on to rinse it off did.

So my leak ended up being underground, right below my valves. The barb connectors had degraded and were soft and very thin. I can't believe I wasn't losing any water as bad as they were. I was able to eliminate 2 barbed connections on both my main drain and skimmer lines. I switched them to PVC. I haven't measured it but my flow seems much better. My pump basket stays full with the motor off for the first time in years.

 

[duraleigh]

My pump basket stays full with the motor off for the first time in years.

That's a definitive indicator of success....very nice work

 

[n8henry]

When I dug up my pipes to make this repair I noticed I have a fourth pipe in the ground. One from the skimmer, one from the main drain, and one going out to the retun. There is a fourth pipe. It looks like it comes from the bottom of the pool, and comes into my equipment room with the others and then just keeps extending past the pump and motor under the concrete. I'm not sure where it stops or what it would be for. Any ideas? Keep in mind this is an old pool, built in the 60s.

Could this be a relief pipe for ground water?