Coming to grips with new pool

[rarara]

We've just bought a new place, that came with a swamp green 11x5m pool.

After some research I've worked out it came with
- a poolrite s1800 filter box with broken basket
- a seized main pump (Super II - 1.5 HP (SII411) | Hayward Pool Australia)
- an old-ish hayward 715 filter with probably leaky spider gasket and siezed pressure guage
- apparently functional zodiac chlorinator
- a hacked on haywayrd booster pump via 3/4in fittings (Booster Pump | Hayward Pool Australia). Note this one has no basket built in.
- some tired valves & crazy plumbing

To get things going I had to replace the original hayward pump with an 800w (~1hp) cheapo pump I had lying around that I used to use at a different place as a solar heating circuit pump.

After running things a few times I worked out some interesting aspects of the plumbing
- the new pump doesn't seem to pull hard enough to allow for creepy crawleys or similar to operate properly. I wonder if this is because of the crazy plumbing, and or potentially obstructive booster pump.
- the booster pump doesn't really seem to help the main pump as it will suck from the pool.
- The booster pump will suck from an outlet in some circumstances (especially if the main pump isnt running) as it is easier than pulling through the filter
- whoever did it added far more 90deg bends than necessary and created unmaintainable plumbing due to fittings being butted up against each other.
- The filter will pump dirty water into the pool sometimes if one outlet isn't blocked by hand (I think spider gasket is gone?)
- The main pump valve (Jandy??) is very stiff and doesn't seal properly. Not sure if this can be rebuilt in situ (its below water line)
- there is a hole at the bottom of the skimmer box that I cant seem to work out the purpose of. No suction comes from there.

The pool was full of silt and leaves and has taken about 2 weeks of cleaning to be able to see the bottom. I had to use pool robots many many many times with silt filters as I couldn't get enough suction for normal pump powered devices.

Questions
- can anyone suggest why the booster pump is installed the way it is? Running 40mm into 3/4 pipe seems crazy.
- is there a way I can effectively replumb the booster to get more suction without causing issues due to lack of pump filter basket?
- Would the booster assist in suction if plumbed in serial after the main pump with a booster bypass circuit with checkvalve?
- The filter is now reading ~50kpa under use with new pressure gauge. Is that ok?
- What is the purpose of the valve on the left of the diagram?

 

[kimkats]

Not a union in sight makes me wonder how bad the filter sand is messed up. is the booster pump REALLY run in line with the main pump? That seems silly to me but I will say equipment is not my strong point so..............it might be how it is done but my gut says something is not right there.

Where does the line with the unknown valve run to on the pool? If it goes where I think it does I bet it is used to close off the system so work can be done on the equipment. How you would do the work with out any unions I don't know though.

 

[cowboycasey]

The booster pump is for a pressure side cleaner connection.. Is the cleaner in the pool when it is running? If the cleaner is not connected the booster pump should not be run... Do you know what connection the cleaner goes to?

A pressure side cleaner is the most energy use cleaner there is because it uses another pump to work.. A robot is just a little more expensive but they work SO MUCH BETTER and cost about 20 cents a day to run..

 

[rarara]

Not a union in sight makes me wonder how bad the filter sand is messed up. is the booster pump REALLY run in line with the main pump? That seems silly to me but I will say equipment is not my strong point so..............it might be how it is done but my gut says something is not right there.

Where does the line with the unknown valve run to on the pool? If it goes where I think it does I bet it is used to close off the system so work can be done on the equipment. How you would do the work with out any unions I don't know though.

The lack of unions does point to lack of maintenance I guess.

The booster is sort of inline with the main pump, except that it can also suck from an outlet (which makes no sense to me, as it could suck in debris) if it outflows the main pump or if the main pump is off.

The line with a valve is one of the return lines to the pool. The main other apparent return line has no valve.

 

[rarara]

The booster pump is for a pressure side cleaner connection.. Is the cleaner in the pool when it is running? If the cleaner is not connected the booster pump should not be run... Do you know what connection the cleaner goes to?

A pressure side cleaner is the most energy use cleaner there is because it uses another pump to work.. A robot is just a little more expensive but they work SO MUCH BETTER and cost about 20 cents a day to run..

Theres no attachment in the outlet for a cleaner that I can see, just a regular PVC pipe outlet, and the cleaner that came with the pool was a suction cleaner which makes everything more confusing.

I'm certainly a robot convert in general after switching from a baracuda style at my old place, but they're nowhere near as good as a suction based cleaner when you have 3+ months of sediment to get rid of off the floor. The robot was clogging in less than 30mins, which makes for a lot of time around the pool cleaning it out

 

[rarara]

@kimkats What are you thinking is likely to have happened to the sand filter?

 

[cowboycasey]

It will be an outlet/return pipe coming into the pool... it should be one with no water coming out when the booster pump is off and when it is on water coming out... As far as a suction side cleaner that is interesting...

 

[kimkats]

The sand may be okay but there is bound to be a LOT of *stuff* in it. Even with good back washing during the summer I open up my filter to do a deep clean and find all kinds of *stuff* comes out of the sand. Small pieces of this and that like leaves, dirt, etc.