I've repaired two leaking panels with plugs and heated the pool water 6 degrees a few times.
As a result I was able to swim for the first time this season last saturday.
pretty cool seeing that work.
But I've noticed the solar installation (from 1993) lacks a check valve between the filter
and diverter to solar or direct pool returns and also no check valve just before the solar (heated water coming back)
plumbing goes back to the returns.
Right now the system is all manual as the control panel was dead. I also have 1 orange ball
valve after the diverter to solar and another one right before the solar plumbing goes to
the return jets.
So when I open those up and divert from return jets, to solar then it gets going....much later in the day
when the pump is turned off I hear the panels drain. If I leave it like that overnight the pump basket
empties. Also after the panels drain, I hear gurgling in my filter and some dirty water from the filter back
flows a little to my skimmer which is odd because I do have a check valve between the pump and filter.
If I get check valves installed in the two places in the plumbing for solar will that prevent it from
losing prime in the pump basket with the diverter on solar and ball valves open?
I had hoped it would work this way so that when the pump automatically turns on at noon
it is heating the water on sunny days when I'm at work.
I tried letting it do that once on a sunday and the pump basket could never get fully
pressurized and I had vortexing at the skimmer even though the pool is fully filled to the line.
I sure as heck wouldn't want it doing that while I'm away.
my workaround for now is to manually turn off the pump when the sun stops heating the panels
and once the panels drain, I close the ball valves and move the diverter back to return jets position.
As a result I was able to swim for the first time this season last saturday.
pretty cool seeing that work.
But I've noticed the solar installation (from 1993) lacks a check valve between the filter
and diverter to solar or direct pool returns and also no check valve just before the solar (heated water coming back)
plumbing goes back to the returns.
Right now the system is all manual as the control panel was dead. I also have 1 orange ball
valve after the diverter to solar and another one right before the solar plumbing goes to
the return jets.
So when I open those up and divert from return jets, to solar then it gets going....much later in the day
when the pump is turned off I hear the panels drain. If I leave it like that overnight the pump basket
empties. Also after the panels drain, I hear gurgling in my filter and some dirty water from the filter back
flows a little to my skimmer which is odd because I do have a check valve between the pump and filter.
If I get check valves installed in the two places in the plumbing for solar will that prevent it from
losing prime in the pump basket with the diverter on solar and ball valves open?
I had hoped it would work this way so that when the pump automatically turns on at noon
it is heating the water on sunny days when I'm at work.
I tried letting it do that once on a sunday and the pump basket could never get fully
pressurized and I had vortexing at the skimmer even though the pool is fully filled to the line.
I sure as heck wouldn't want it doing that while I'm away.
my workaround for now is to manually turn off the pump when the sun stops heating the panels
and once the panels drain, I close the ball valves and move the diverter back to return jets position.