Alternate use for pressure side port?

[Ps6fsu]

Hey all. I have a new pool (1 year old) that came with a pressure side port and cleaner. I have been less than impressed with the performance of it and find myself manually vacuuming most of the time. I was looking hard at the Warrior SI (I want the ability to spot clean with my phone) but as always, the cost of these machines are the biggest hurdle. I wish I knew then what I know now. With the cost of the booster pump (Polaris PB4-60) and Vacuum (TR35P) the additional cost likely would have been minimal. So say I pull the trigger on the robot... is there another use for this booster pump and pressure side port? Is there a secondary market for this pump and vac to help me recoup some of the cost for the robot? Or does nobody want these things nowadays and I'm SOL? Seems like such a waste of money.

 

[VetteBlue]

I'm in a similar situation. Pressure side cleaner is marginal. Going to order a robot before Memorial Day. Hadn't really considered what to do with the old booster pump and port. Could be a good spot for an aerator/fountain connection though.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Ditch the booster pump and redo the line to be another return. Robot is cheaper to run and get far better results.

 

[VetteBlue]

Ditch the booster pump and redo the line to be another return. Robot is cheaper to run and get far better results.

Any known issues with just taking the input hose off of the booster pump, and screwing it into the booster line return directly?

My first thought is the hose could become a concern for breaking, but they would become an issue with the booster pump too. Otherwise, having the booster line permanently connected to the return is going to change the output on the other returns but I'm not sure if that's a problem... ?

 

[BowserB]

Same story here. Pressure side cleaner replaced with a robot. I thought I'd just leave the pump and fitting. I run it for a few minutes every couple weeks. At one point I thought it could be a water source for a slide, however in truth, I'll likely never get a slide (too expensive, too dangerous, and not worth the trouble.) So it just sits there. The Pentair booster pump is junk anyway--noisy and weak. At some point if it becomes practical to redirect some plumbing, I'll probably just discard the pump and use the connection in the IntelliConnect for something else.

 

[kdahlgren249]

I'm in similar shoes. Inherited an older liner pool and about to replace this old Polaris pressure side sweep with a robot.

We unfortunately don't have a heater and are 'landlocked' due to the equipment being housed in a backhouse with concrete surrounding so not sure I'm ready for a big project of installing a gas heater somewhere and finding my gas line.

So i'm considering using the pressure pump to pipe some PVC to the roof and get some solar heaters up there and use the extra HP to get the water up and out the outlet.

 

[VetteBlue]

I'm in similar shoes. Inherited an older liner pool and about to replace this old Polaris pressure side sweep with a robot.

We unfortunately don't have a heater and are 'landlocked' due to the equipment being housed in a backhouse with concrete surrounding so not sure I'm ready for a big project of installing a gas heater somewhere and finding my gas line.

So i'm considering using the pressure pump to pipe some PVC to the roof and get some solar heaters up there and use the extra HP to get the water up and out the outlet.

Oh - now that heater idea is a good idea!

 

[Ps6fsu]

I'm in similar shoes. Inherited an older liner pool and about to replace this old Polaris pressure side sweep with a robot.

We unfortunately don't have a heater and are 'landlocked' due to the equipment being housed in a backhouse with concrete surrounding so not sure I'm ready for a big project of installing a gas heater somewhere and finding my gas line.

So i'm considering using the pressure pump to pipe some PVC to the roof and get some solar heaters up there and use the extra HP to get the water up and out the outlet.

Great idea! We already have a heat pump so wouldn't work for us but great thinking.

 

[jedigrover]

The solar heat idea is neat. If I ditch my pressure side cleaner for a robot (not sold on that yet for myself), then my plan was to install a vac cover on the port and replumb as a dedicated line for a manual vacuum (putting a kreepy krawly style leaf canister in-line with the vac hose). For the occasions I need to manually vacuum, that would be quite a bit nicer than the skimmer plate bit...but it would only get used a few times a year. I like the idea of using the booster pump and return for solar heat.