New Doughboy - Thoughts on Recommended Setup

[justinham01]

We have had a small Intex 12' w/ upgraded sand/salt system for the past couple years, but now it is time to move onto a full-size pool. We have been shopping for pools locally for over a year and believe we have finally settled on the specifics. The largest pool our yard can comfortably accomodate would be a 24' round. I would like feedback on our selection of pool, equipment, and general construction setup.

Planned purchases:
Doughboy Desert Spring - Round 24'x54"
Doughboy 20 Mil Misty Falls
Doughboy 2094 Deluxe Skimmer
Pentair OptiFlow 2-speed 1HP Pump
Pentair SD70 300lbs
Polaris 65 Automatic Cleaner

Already purchased:
Two - Fafco Solar Bear 4'x20' Swimming Pool Heater Panels (had one last year for Intex and purchased another)
TF-100 Test Kit

Construction:
- Will be hiring a local installer to get the general pool setup (I plan on doing the heater connections myself; very comfortable with plumbing and electrical)
- Pool will be installed on the ground, not buried
- Not currently planning deep end (not sure if we need with 54")
- Pool is away from house (run from pool to house would be 50ft and would have to bury pipes to go to house roof), so installing Fafco Solar Panels at ground height on plywood rack, rack height will be approximately 2-6' high.
- Plan to use sand for bottom (no "happy feet/bottom" setup)

Thoughts on selected equipment & construction?

Most of my local dealers recommended standard Doughboy equipment except for one that specked out better equipment. I was happy with this one recommending better equipment right at the start without asking. I did push on options for a larger sand filter (they originally specified a SD40 - 150lbs filter) and mentioned going to 250 or 300lbs filter.

Thanks,
Justin
SE Michigan - Metro Detroit

 

[pwrstrk]

Welcome to TFP !
Everything looks good to me. Nice choice on the pump. You'll run 90% of the time on low as I do with mine.
Nice size filter. Less backwashing.
Is that the thickest liner from doughboy ? The reason I ask is mine is 25 mil thick. I suggest the thickest you can get even if you have to go elsewhere for the liner or talk to whom your purchasing the pool from.
I don't know anything about the polaris 65. I manually vac now, but plan on getting a robot at some time. There are some good robots out there for AGP. aquabot being a good one.
I had an installer put mine up. Work and side work just made that way easier. They had it up and water going in it in 2 hrs. I did all the leveling myself with a machine so all the installers had to do was put the pool up.
Keep us posted on how things go.

 

[justinham01]

Thanks Jeff!

I'm researching Doughboy liners and it looks like they offer two grades for their overlap liners (EZ-Clip only comes in 20 Mil):
1.) 20 mil Expandable
2.) 25 mil Uniform Depth

So, I think I can increase the thickness to 25 mil, including keeping with the Misty Falls pattern.

-Justin

 

[pwrstrk]

Sounds good Justin !

 

[Glock]

Welcome to TFP. Check my build thread in my signature. I have had mine for a few years. Love the pool but the proprietary skimmer is kind of a pain. I have the 300lb sand filter and 1.5HP pump.

 

[f3justusc]

I am all for the professional install. It took my installer a week or so to completely finish but that's because the pool store failed to order the coping. It was so nice to leave the hard work of getting through tree roots and leveling to the pros. That was the best $99 I have ever spent!

 

[justinham01]

I stopped at the pool stores again this weekend and have a few questions on my 24'x54" Desert Springs doughboy w/ 1HP 2SP Optiflow:

1.) The technician at the store recommended keeping with the SD60 vs SD70. I told him I was willing to pay more for SD70, but he was worried that the 1HP 2 Speed pump wouldn't be able to backwash the SD70 given it is so big. Thoughts on this risk?
2.) Used the pool calculator and the 24'x54" (4.16" water?) would likely have around 14,100 gallons of water. What if I added a deep end in the middle using gentle slope after 2 ft. in from sides? I used pool calculator and used 24' x 4.66" water (figured roughly half pool would be 12 inches deep...) would likely have around 15,800 gallons. Did I calculate this right?
3.) Thoughts on gradually sloping center of pool to make deeper? I like the additional 6-12" water. Would this also make it easier to clean as well - forcing all sand/debris to middle of pool?

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

1) Backwashing won't be a problem at all as long as you use high speed. You could go a fair bit larger than that before there could possibly be an issue.
2) I suspect you are using the wall height, rather than the water depth. A 54" wall height usually means a 48" water depth. Apart from that you seem to be on the right track.
3) Gradual is good. Easier to clean manually, a little more difficult for a pool cleaner due to the slope.

 

[justinham01]

Thanks Jason, appreciate the quick response. Mark's Hydraulics 101 also has come in really handy. Has some valuable information in there including info that helped me better understand the backwash ratings - pump ratings (Curve-C and Curve-A), pipe sizing and it's impact to flow, and backwash requiring at least 15 GPM/sqft. Looks like the Optiflow 1HP can do around 44 GPM on fairly restrictive pipe (1.5") and 61 on less restrictive pipe (2"). My plan was to hard plumb the Doughboy to the pump and filter using 2" PVC in order to improve flow. Thanks again!

 

[Casey]

If you dish your bottom n go for a deep end, you'll limit your choices on custom steps if you want to go that route. Ladders shouldn't be a problem though. That will come down to personal taste. I really like steps because my children played on them n now, my granddaughter will play on them.

Also, you'll have to see what doughboy offers in the way of stretch liners and their patterns offered. Go with the highest mil/gauge possible.