Liquidator suction line options

[gleeloyd]

With a vacuum gauge hooked up, I'm only getting 5 inches of suction at the drain plug of my Hayward EcoStar VS pump running at max speed (2500 rpm). HASA recommends 10 inches of vacuum.

Before I start drilling holes, can I expect any chance of MORE suction from the last section of pipe before the pump?

TIA,
Gary

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

I looked at the manual for the LQ (liquidator) and didn't see where it said anything about the required suction pressure. Where did you get that and was it inH2O or inHg?
Also, is your gauge in inHg?
On my installation I read about 4.5"Hg suction and it worked fine.

To answer the question you asked, I highly doubt that there's more suction at that pipe than at the drain plug.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Do you have air in your pump basket? Sure looks like it from the picture ... maybe you have an air leak that is resulting in lower suction?

 

[gleeloyd]

My gauge is in Hg. The following is found at the bottom of Page 3 of The Liquidator installation instructions:

"Note: In order to achieve the listed maximum output rate, both suction from THE LIQUIDATOR and input pressure to it need to be adequate, and the input needs to mee or exceed the output flow. The listed output rate was determined with 10 inches of mercury (in.Hg) suction on the effluent (outlet) side of the device and 4 psi pressure to the influent (inlet) side."

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Water is barely covering the top of the basket. I've always had at least an inch of air in there.

 

[suzook]

Would using the 3/8 upgrade kit help???

 

[Bama Rambler]

Your manual is more recent than mine.

I would hook it up and try it if you already have the LQ.

It's possible that the 3/8" upgrade would help, but he may already have it.

 

[gleeloyd]

My Liquidator came with the 3/8" upgrade kit. It works when running the pump at max rpm, but I don't want to do that if I can keep from it. I've been playing with pump speed to see what I could get away with (and keep The Liquidator working). The pump basket USED to be completely filled with water, so, somehow (with very little difficulty) I've introduced an air leak.

I've read elsewhere on this forum that there is only so much you can expect using The Liquidator and running a variable speed pump at low rpm. Maybe also run an hour a day at high rpm then down to low for the rest of the day. Or, give up and get a Stenner Pump!

 

[suzook]

My Liquidator came with the 3/8" upgrade kit. It works when running the pump at max rpm, but I don't want to do that if I can keep from it. I've been playing with pump speed to see what I could get away with (and keep The Liquidator working). The pump basket USED to be completely filled with water, so, somehow (with very little difficulty) I've introduced an air leak.

I've read elsewhere on this forum that there is only so much you can expect using The Liquidator and running a variable speed pump at low rpm. Maybe also run an hour a day at high rpm then down to low for the rest of the day. Or, give up and get a Stenner Pump!

Yup, stenner is the way to go with vs pump. My new pool install was supposed to come with vs pump. Im thinking of just going with a energy efficient 2 speed so I can use the Liquidator.

 

[gleeloyd]

OK, I've made the decision to start a Stenner build. I just put my Liquidator up for sale on eBay. No link here (forum rules), but if you know anyone interested just have them search. Starting bid is $1.

 

[jblizzle]

You can post things for sale in the coffee bar.

 

[laceygirl]

I wanted a liquidator so bad then I read about the problems with them, coupled with the fact I can't get one in Australia so I went from a puck floater to bleach to peristaltic pump!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[laceygirl]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ravenfan1969]

Glee how much you looking for this Liquidator? How much is it to ship?

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Lacey what kind of problems are you speaking of? I was leaning towards using this to feed bleach to my system

 

[laceygirl]

Hi Ravenfan1969 There appears to be a problem with the liquidators re white scaling forming in the tubes.... Borates in the pool tend to help with this problem, but I have an autistic son who drinks pool water, so borates was definitely not an option for us.. I've also read that the flow metres are pretty crappy, and they can also drain the entire contents of the liquidator into your pool due to suction problems.... A peristaltic pump should eliminate these problems though.....

 

[laprjns]

There appears to be a problem with the liquidators re white scaling forming in the tubes.... Borates in the pool tend to help with this problem,...

Yes, reading through some threads on the forum it appears that some people have had this problem and in some cases borates seem to help, but it does not seems to be a general problem with the Liquidator. I used a Liquidator all last season without any scaling problems.

I've also read that the flow metres are pretty crappy, ...

Not sure why this is even relevant. It just provides relative indicator of flow. Once you've dialed in the correct flow to achieve the FC the only value that the flowmeter adds is that you can tell if the flow has changed. But you already know this since your measuring FC on a regular bases. I actually contemplating taking my out of the system this year.

... and they can also drain the entire contents of the liquidator into your pool due to suction problems....

Well, given the design of the liquidator, with the input and output float values mounted at the top of the container, I don't see how this is even possible.

After my first year of using the Liquidator, here what I see as problems or inconveniences:
1) As pump pressure goes up and therefore you suction, the flow rate from the Liquidator decreases, lowering the amount of chlorine injected into the pool. But again since your suppose to be measureing FC on a regular bases, you will notice this and make the appropriate adjustments

2) The ball valve provided with the Liquidator to adjust flow rates is inadequate to make the fine adjustments. It can be done, but needle valve (pricey) would be much better.

3) Length of time that you can go without refilling with chlorine. It all depends on how big a pool you have, the normal daily FC demand and the strength of chlorine that you use. With my pool of ~30K gallons and using 12.5% chlorine, I was able to maintain 4 to 7 ppm FC for (cya ~60) for just over a week.

 

[stev32k]

I've had a liquidator in service for almost three years on a 35,000 gal pool. It came with 3/8" tubing, but I increased it to 1/2" and it keeps the chlorine levels up in the middle of the summer running my single speed pump 8 hours per day. The flow control valve I use is a tubing pinch valve. They do as good a job as a needle valve and cost less than $10 here: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23076&catid=858&clickid=searchresults I have not seen any scale in the tank or tubing and my pump will peg out the flow meter at 5.0 if I open the valve wide open.

 

[Drd]

My Liquidator came with the 3/8" upgrade kit. It works when running the pump at max rpm, but I don't want to do that if I can keep from it. I've been playing with pump speed to see what I could get away with (and keep The Liquidator working). The pump basket USED to be completely filled with water, so, somehow (with very little difficulty) I've introduced an air leak.

I've read elsewhere on this forum that there is only so much you can expect using The Liquidator and running a variable speed pump at low rpm. Maybe also run an hour a day at high rpm then down to low for the rest of the day. Or, give up and get a Stenner Pump!

I also have a variable speed pump. The manual I have requires a minimum of 2500 rpm speed for the Liquidator to work right. I have mine at 2800 now and I just backed off how many hours it runs instead......so it's a regular pump now.