I posted a few weekends ago about a complete overhaul that I decided to try (80% Replacement Project - Before I cut - any advice?)
I am now done, but it was quite the adventure. I learned quite a bit during this process and I'm hoping that some of my trials may help the next wayward soul that attempts a similar project.
First off, I would consider myself a passable handyman. I've done my own electrical and pvc plumbing before, but no more than four or five times. I'm far from an expert.
The facts: I replaced all of the plumbing above grade, the pump, and the filter. I replaced the valves with brand new valves. I also reduced the valves from four to three and cut back on the overall plumbing by about four feed overall (lower to the ground)
Lessons Learned:
Pay very close attention to the unions and how they go together. My first error was gluing one of the filter unions to the plumbing without the nut in place. Once that glue had set, there was no way to get the nut in place. Fortunately a bit of research showed that there is something called a split nut that comes in two parts that lock together with screws. Unfortunately, I was unable to find one that was the size needed for the filter. I ended up making one of my own by cutting the provided nut, notching all of the nibs used to tighten it, and putting a hose clamp around the whole thing. A bit stressful, but the final product worked like a charm.
Pay attention to where the o-rings go on the unions. The ones on the filter go around the union and must be in place when you apply the nut. The ones on the pump however should not be placed around the union before the nut is applied. If you do that, the o-ring is in the wrong place and once you glue the pipe to the union, you cannot get it back. I had to buy two new o-rings to fix this problem.
Pay attention to air leaks before you think anything else is wrong. I got all done and could not get any suction from the pump. It refused to pull water even from a bucket with the intake pipe submerged in water. I tore out the entire intake side trying to troubleshoot what ended up being an air leak due to a misplaced o-ring (see above)
Don't continue working when you get angry (or hangry in my case, I hadn't eaten and just started gluing stuff). Step away, thing about it, dry fit your plumbing, and slow down.
On the Hasa Liquidator: the hose clamps that come with it are not long enough to go around a 2" union. I ended up making my own. Why did I have to go around a union. Cut and splice enough and that is all that is left.
If you live in a sunny climate, paint your PVC. I ended up painting all of the plumbing and the top to the filter unit. I just used regular latex paint left over from another project.
Could this have gone better? Maybe, but if it did, I wouldn't have a glorious story to tell and I would not have learned nearly as much.
http://i.imgur.com/jdHHv7r.jpg
I am now done, but it was quite the adventure. I learned quite a bit during this process and I'm hoping that some of my trials may help the next wayward soul that attempts a similar project.
First off, I would consider myself a passable handyman. I've done my own electrical and pvc plumbing before, but no more than four or five times. I'm far from an expert.
The facts: I replaced all of the plumbing above grade, the pump, and the filter. I replaced the valves with brand new valves. I also reduced the valves from four to three and cut back on the overall plumbing by about four feed overall (lower to the ground)
Lessons Learned:
Pay very close attention to the unions and how they go together. My first error was gluing one of the filter unions to the plumbing without the nut in place. Once that glue had set, there was no way to get the nut in place. Fortunately a bit of research showed that there is something called a split nut that comes in two parts that lock together with screws. Unfortunately, I was unable to find one that was the size needed for the filter. I ended up making one of my own by cutting the provided nut, notching all of the nibs used to tighten it, and putting a hose clamp around the whole thing. A bit stressful, but the final product worked like a charm.
Pay attention to where the o-rings go on the unions. The ones on the filter go around the union and must be in place when you apply the nut. The ones on the pump however should not be placed around the union before the nut is applied. If you do that, the o-ring is in the wrong place and once you glue the pipe to the union, you cannot get it back. I had to buy two new o-rings to fix this problem.
Pay attention to air leaks before you think anything else is wrong. I got all done and could not get any suction from the pump. It refused to pull water even from a bucket with the intake pipe submerged in water. I tore out the entire intake side trying to troubleshoot what ended up being an air leak due to a misplaced o-ring (see above)
Don't continue working when you get angry (or hangry in my case, I hadn't eaten and just started gluing stuff). Step away, thing about it, dry fit your plumbing, and slow down.
On the Hasa Liquidator: the hose clamps that come with it are not long enough to go around a 2" union. I ended up making my own. Why did I have to go around a union. Cut and splice enough and that is all that is left.
If you live in a sunny climate, paint your PVC. I ended up painting all of the plumbing and the top to the filter unit. I just used regular latex paint left over from another project.
Could this have gone better? Maybe, but if it did, I wouldn't have a glorious story to tell and I would not have learned nearly as much.
http://i.imgur.com/jdHHv7r.jpg
Nice work. 