Certainly not the way I was taught, in a deep freeze area I will use my system, it gets out 100% of the water. Water and -20 scares me.
Bungee Plugs - Anyone ever used these?
- Thread starter dw886
- Start date
A small amount of water left in the pipe shouldn’t be a problem, as there’s plenty of room for ice to expand should it freeze.
If the Cyclone is a blower, it’s essentially just a fan blowing a high volume of air so there should be no issues ‘dead heading’ it. Even if you were using a compressor, if you set the regulator properly, the compressor will shut off before there is any damage to the plumbing.
If the Cyclone is a blower, it’s essentially just a fan blowing a high volume of air so there should be no issues ‘dead heading’ it. Even if you were using a compressor, if you set the regulator properly, the compressor will shut off before there is any damage to the plumbing.
The biggest problem that I see with this plug is that sooner or later the bungee is going to lose elasticity. Once that happens, if the plug is under water, that the water will run back into the pipe... defeating the entire purpose of blowing it out and plugging it in the first place.
I think I prefer something with a more positive seal.
-Chris
I think I prefer something with a more positive seal.
-Chris
Agreed:
I took a 4' 3" schedule 40 PVC and glued a cap to the base. Filled it up with 90% (based on height) with water. Capped off the top, but did not glue it together (of course). Left outside in the freezing weather straight up near the deck. After one full winter, I removed the top cap with a rubber mallet. Water still in there and no damage or cracks whatsoever.
Next year, I took the same piping and filled up 100% of the way up and capped it off. Remember the cap is slightly rounded and provides some room for expansion. Marked base with black sharpie. Real cold weather and all the water froze. Cap moved just so slightly (maybe 1") and nothing was damaged.
Underground piping carries latent heat. By no means am I stating that piping should not be cleared out properly, but it will take quite a long time, real cold weather, and a lot of water is the piping, before any substantial damage could be done. My return lines, skimmers line, and part of the main drain line is encased in at least 4" + of concrete (The collar and required for steel wall liner pools). This also provides an extra layer of latent heat.
Does 90%-100% of the water need to cleared from all lines (Probably Not!). Is it a good idea (Probably!)
The weight of the water will push it closed regardless of the bungee - think of a door slamming shut in the wind. I'm more curious as to how the rubber holds up over a few winters, and how good of a seal it maintains on it's own seat.
Looks cool... Just ordered four of them. Sunplay.com had them for 6.95ea plus 5 bucks shipping for the lot. The pool is already closed, but it's easy enough to blow out the lines again, and I don't have warm fuzzies from the expanding test plugs that the builder used last year - took several attempts for me to get them to seal.
I've never used sunplay before, and I'm not sure how slow five dollar shipping is. I'll report back, though.
I've never used sunplay before, and I'm not sure how slow five dollar shipping is. I'll report back, though.
Can you please explain the process, what you did, how you did it, and what plugs you used for them not to seal on the first go around? Thanks!
I removed the eyeballs, pumped air through the lines with an air compressor set to about 10 or 15 psi, then installed expansion plugs. They seemed to have trouble sealing the threaded fittings and would continue to bubble.
I use goggles to ensure that they are flush and hand tighten them until the air bubbles stop escaping. If there is still some air that escapes, then I use small needle nose pliers and give them a 1/4 turn at a time. The new ones give you a little bit of trouble as the plastic/rubber is real hard. Once they are used for a season, they work a lot better. The larger ones do not touch the inside, only the face plate with equal pressure. I have never cracked a face plate in 3 years and this year, a few gave me a little bit of trouble. One of them had to be turned almost one full turn, maybe another half of a turn.
If you have isolated lines & bubbles open the relevant valve the bubbles wi ll stop immediately, as you proceed open&close he valves to hit the other lines.
I did an experiment with these. I blew a 4 return manifold without valves, induced leak detection die from the top side. The dye was expelled from all ports, but it did take longer than I expected to purge the branch.
C'mon man... no it won't.
If it would then you could just place a flat piece of rubber sheeting over the opening and it would stay there. Think about it. Why do we use the screw expanding plugs, or threaded plugs? Because you need a force to keep it in place.
If it still worked after the bungee lost its stretch, why bother putting the bungee in there in the first place?
These will work great. Until they don't. And at some point -- they won't.
Not worth it in my book.
C'mon yourself. It's just a check valve. It's pressure differential that opens it or holds it closed, not the rubber band.
I am assuming that you eventually tightened them even more, the bubbling stopped? If not, is this the reason why you switched over? Thanks!
Had to fiddle with them and start over a couple of times. The bubbles stopped, but I like the look of these and for 30 bucks I'm going to redo it.
Exactly. And there is no differential pressure. You would need positive pressure on the pool side, or a suction on the pipe side to have a different pressure.
Pressure is exactly equalized unless you pulled a vacuum in the pipe. Yes, if you could pull a vacuum in the pipe, and then cover the hole you would have differential pressure.
Unless you have that, you have exactly 1 atmosphere is pressure in front of the plug, one on the back of the plug. Which means without the bungee it would just fall back out.
You think they put the bungee in there just to make it look nice? The bungee is what stretches to let air/water be expelled. Once that pressure equalizes the bungee pulls the plug shut.
If the bungee is stretched or dried out, it doesn't pull back, and the water gets back into your piping.
I've tried explain this to you to help you out. I don't have a dog in this fight -- I don't sell these things, or those of a competitor. If you don't want to understand, that's fine. Knock yourself out.
It will work, but only until the bungee is no longer stretchy and able to pull the valve back shut again.
The water is heavy and presses onto the face of the plug. The air behind it has less. Voila! Pressure differential.
The pool store i have used for the last 40 years has them on the shelf. A few weeks back i was looking and playing with one in hand. The owner came over and told me to put in down and laughing told me to stay away from them. I said these are neat and will be very easy to use, do you guys use them i asked, Never said he.
Maybe a mile deep the theory will work IF the rubber stays fresh and lively,, but in 6" to a foot or so, no way.
Maybe a mile deep the theory will work IF the rubber stays fresh and lively,, but in 6" to a foot or so, no way.
In my opinion, the black expandable winter plugs are the easiest and best to use during the closing process. A lot of members use the threaded kind, but I prefer the black ones. Especially as the price of $1.50 (for the # 10) and $2.00 (for the # 11). It appears that PoolPartsOnline.com is probably one of the best and least expensive internet based companies. They only work through e-mail and there is no 1-800 toll free numbers. Have used them over half a dozen times and they are very quick to respond to e-mails. Shipping is very reasonable as well.