Horseshoe Pipe Repair

[Kevin Wagenknecht]

My pool building has used a horseshoe arrangements of pipes, that includes 4 90-degree elbows, to replace a leaking pipe to my waterfall. Is this the best solution for me? It would seem to make my pump work harder, but the builder says that this is the strongest solution.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Why didnt they just replace a straight piece of broken pipe with a new straight piece of pipe? That solution seems unprofessional and obnoxiously unessesary imo

 

[Charlie_R]

It looks to me like the repairman didn't want to dig far enough to line up the pipes, so created an offset for alignment. Needs to be fixed properly.

 

[gtemkin]

Since we can't see where the pipe leads further left or right it's possible the last pipe broke from being over stressed in it's misalignment. This may be a perfectly acceptable solution considering we don't know the conditions further out.

 

[JasonLion]

If the leak was at the old 45 degree fitting, there is no easy way to fix it cleanly. You have to cut one pipe back, and then a new 45 won't line up with the other pipe. The existing repair is what follows from someone with less experience dealing with that issue.

The correct way to fix it is by cutting both pipes back further (instead of just one) and using two slip fittings to get the new 45 in the same place as the old. Doing that requires some more digging, rather exact measurements/cutting, three or four hands, and will be tricky to get installed without any flex to get things into place, but will make a better repair.

 

[duraleigh]

Depending on the location, that may not have been so easy to make that repair with one 45. Having had to dig to allow enough "flex" to make the joint may have been impossible if he was within 3-4 feet of any concrete that he couldn't get under.....been there done that.

Honestly, he may have done the best he could. Importantly, that horseshoe will have little (and I mean little) affect on the efficiency of your system.

If it is not leaking, I'd give it a thumbs up and cover it up.

 

[Perry Whitlock]

+1 on what Dave said. Not very easy to repair pipes buried in the ground. The 4-90's is an acceptable method of doing so and you will never notice the head loss.

 

[swimcmp]

My big question is what budget didnyou give him for the repair. Ant expense or as cheap as possible. As others said if it ain't leaking be happy. The restrictions that the repair is putting into the mix isn't that big of a deal.

 

[JamesW]

One way to reduce head loss in a situation where the (4) 90s method is used is to go up one size. For example, if the pipe is 1.5", use (4) 2" 90s instead.

In any case, the current fix should be strong, and not too restrictive.