Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc?

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

PB wants to put in a dual main drain, now that we've opened up the can of worms from deciding to put in a new liner. Why do people still insist these are a good idea?

 

[Pool Tool]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Do you have a main drain now? If so, he is probably trying to be in compliant or at least in good practice with some area's pool requirements. If not he may over value the importance of a main drain. Though proven not required for circulation, it is nice to drain the pool or circulate if level is below the skimmer even with an equalizer line.

Continuing the can of worms - you said you always have stuff accumulate in the corner not pictured. Maybe you should add a skimmer there??

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

No, no main drain.

Id love to add a skimmer and/or return on the opposite side, but the one side of the pool is the only one without concrete above the ground.

 

[Pool Tool]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Sounds like no need to add a main drain then. I like mine, but I have one. I don't think i would justify adding one if I didn't tho.

So all this demo, but you won't break a little concrete? Just kidding.

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

All of this demo is BECAUSE we don't have any concrete to break up! If a jackhammer would have been required, I would have been shoveling the concrete bits into the pool and filling it in. LOL

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Yea the bonding wire should be attached to whatever steel you embed into the concrete.

I should be loading up the 1 1/4 minus ("plus fines," as its called around here) in the next day or two. I slipped the bonding wire under the form, but have a question as to how much I should have in the form (attach it to anywhere on the wire mesh?) and how much I should leave out? I have a 60' length of bare #8, so I could run this to the far corner of the pool, if I wanted!

Does the bonding wire from the pad NEED to come up through the concrete?

 

[CJadamec]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

If you wanted to be picky you could attach it to the mesh in the middle. For a pad that size pretty much anywhere would be fine. It doesn't have to come up thru the concrete but you do need to get it to you pump and heater some how. I have about 3 inches poking thru my pad so I can run short lengths to my pump and heater. Anywhere where you need to make a joint in the wire you should use a split bolt connector.

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Pushed the install date back to June 13th due to needing a new skimmer (old one had LOTS of cracks, one of which was leaking!) which is on back order, and of course it will take a while to get a new liner made up to fit our pool.

Working out the details of adding a second return, likely using what was once the deep end low wall vacuum line as a return and putting in a new low wall vacuum line somewhere closer to the middle of the pool. That'll be nice, as we could never vacuum a corner of the shallow end due the old vac line being so far away. Shallow end eyeball will push water up towards the middle and the deep end eyeball will point down toward the "bowl" to help circulation down there.

Electrician is coming tomorrow to run wire and set the subpanel for the pool equipment. Going to figure out what works best for the bond wire through the concrete. Might even try to run the electrical up through in some rigid pipe, to keep liquid tight wire whips from getting in the way of the working area. Hoping he want charge extra to wire up the Intermatic surge protector I ordered.

I'm still digging. Lots of rain this past week has prevented digging, and what digging was possible was pretty messy until it dried up a bit. Thankfully we get extra time to keep digging.

 

[CJadamec]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

I hear ya we got almost 2 inches of rain yesterday. The surge protector takes a few min to wire into a breaker box if he charges you I'd be suprised. One of these days I will get around to posting some pictures of build for my pool. For an above ground it involved a lot of earth moving including an excavator and backhoe.

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Sooooooo... this. How bad of a person was I in a former life to have not one, but TWO 400+ lb boulders right in the path of my trench? Any ideas on how to get these out? Jackhammer and smash them to pieces?

PB is scheduled to install the gear and lay pipe on Monday, but these two monster stones are likely going to get in the way of being able to run one pipe to the deep end.

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Oh that would have been bad.... At least one of those stones is holding down an angle iron that's supporting the steel frame of the wall!!!

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

It's on! Resurfacing the sand right now, but the gear is set and almost totally plumbed! Electricians are mounting the new pool sub panel, and the utility company has moved the gas meter to the outside such that the gas plumber can run a line from a tee to the heater later this week.

 

[twinkiesmommy2009]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

It's on! Resurfacing the sand right now, but the gear is set and almost totally plumbed! Electricians are mounting the new pool sub panel, and the utility company has moved the gas meter to the outside such that the gas plumber can run a line from a tee to the heater later this week.

Yay for progress! Woo hoo!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kimkats]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Not sure how you slipped through the cracks........sorry no one has answered.........Looking at those "boulders" I was going to say "those look man made so might need to stay" Guess I would have been right.

Sound like everything is back on track now. How did they handle the boulder?

Kim:cat:

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Not sure how you slipped through the cracks........sorry no one has answered.........Looking at those "boulders" I was going to say "those look man made so might need to stay" Guess I would have been right.

Sound like everything is back on track now. How did they handle the boulder?

Kim:cat:

I had to dig around it, which wasn't a problem. That meant digging right up along the pool wall, which was a pain. In doing so, I discovered the original pool plumbing, which all ran parallel to the pool (the most recently replaced plumbing curved out perpendicular to the pool before sweeping back to the corner of the property).

I'm not sure how I feel about one of the pipe runs, which went OVER the angle iron that's holding up the pool wall. I guess space was tight though, as they put in the equalizer line in the skimmer. Maybe a small piece of water noodle on the iron might help keep it from rubbing on the pipe? Also, lots of rocks were dropped down onto the pipes, which they said were no big deal. I'm probably going to have to sweep/clean up as much of them as possible, as I don't want them to wear on the poly-pipe.

Still need to get the plumber out to hook up the gas line to the heater. Utility company moved the meter from the inside to the outside on the corner, leaving us a tee with a shutoff valve, just for the heater.

Electrician would NOT hook up the Intermatic surge protector that was recommended earlier in this thread. He suggested that a whole home surge protector would be better. His main beef was that the disconnect was rated for more than the protection of the surge protector (60 A disconnect/sub-panel) vs a 30 A surge protector). I would have no qualms about going back and adding this device later.

The pad layout looks real nice. I'm pretty happy about how it was installed. The liner looks fantastic! Pics will be forthcoming!

 

[cowboycasey]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

that 30 amp is just for the pump circuit breaker and not the whole panel, the whole house one is designed for everything though

 

[CJadamec]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Amp rating on the surge protector isn't an issue it should be on its own breaker in the panel. Surge protectors protect against voltage spikes not current. Tell the electrician it should be installed according to the manufactures instructions included with the unit.

 

[mas985]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

Amp rating on the surge protector isn't an issue it should be on its own breaker in the panel. Surge protectors protect against voltage spikes not current.

I disagree. Both voltage (MCOV, VPR) and current ratings (MSCC, SCCR) are very important.

What Whole-House Surge Protection?

 

[CJadamec]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

In the sense of protection offered yes both ratings are important. That wasn't what the problem was described as. The electrician was saying because the surge protector only goes to a 30 amp breaker it isn't good for a 60 amp panel. That is not how they work. The intermatic surge protector he has is perfectly acceptable for use in his sub-panel for his pool equipment.

 

[MitchRyan912]

Re: Digging up pipes & starting over: all new PVC, pump, filter, skimmer, heater, etc

I disagree. Both voltage (MCOV, VPR) and current ratings (MSCC, SCCR) are very important.

What Whole-House Surge Protection?

Thanks for that link. A Type 2 for the whole home will be added to the main panel in the near future. For now, I believe I am going to set the SPD I have in the pool sub-panel as a Type 1 device (tied into the "mains" coming into the disconnect). I only have 2 spaces left in the disconnect, and wiring the SPD as a Type 2 device would use up the last two spaces. I'd like to leave one open for adding a light for accessing the equipment at night.

Water is almost to the skimmer, and the pump has been running at 3000 rpm since last evening. They added some sequasol to bind up all the metals that are coming from the tap (filling the pool slowly with two garden hoses). The suggested adding 2 gallons of chlorine today, and I'll do so tonight after taking a baseline reading. I've never used anything but chlorine, baking soda, CYA, and (once) something to bring up calcium hardness. I don't know what effect sequasol will have on my levels?

Just picked up a new K2006C kit from my local pool store today. I wanted a new 2006A, but they were sold out of them, and only had a few 2006C's left. It's probably overkill, but at least then I can do a lot of tests and not need to worry about running out of reagents.