I just got a new pool installed and wish I had done a bit more research on plumbing, water features, etc before I let the PB install it all.
Here's my setup:
16k SW pool
1 skimmer
3 returns
UltraTemp Heating/Cooling Heat Pump
Water features:
3 tanning deck bubblers
4 spa jets in deep end seat
4 magicstream laminar deck jets
I currently have two pumps:
1 Intelliflo VS (Main pump)
1 Sta-Rite SuperMax VS (Drain/Spa Jets)
Here's how the build went. Originally my pumps were this:
1 sta-Rite SuperMax VS (Main pump)
1 3/4HP single speed pump hooked up to Drain/Spa Jets.
The reasoning was the 1.5HP SuperMax wasn't enough to drive all the water features. So they installed a 3/4HP single speed pump to pull from main drains into the spa jets. The installers couldn't get that 3/4HP pump to prime though. Due to distance, pool equipment being a bit higher than the pool, etc etc. After doing research into these pumps I decided that the SuperMax VS they set me up as my main pump wasn't going to cut it with respect to the automation I wanted to do, so I proposed that the PB refund me the money they charged for the 3/4HP pump and I will buy a Intelliflo VS with the money and move the SuperMax to be the secondary pump. They agreed and I did the plumbing to move the pump.
It works well now, the 1.5HP pump primed and powers the spa jets just fine, and the intelliflo works much better with my automation set up. Cool!
Now, after using the pool for a couple weeks, I realized that this second loop just for the spa jets from the main drain is stupid.
1) The spa jets aren't hooked up to the loop with the heater. So its just recycling cold water off the bottom of the pool through the drains back into the spa jets. Who wants to sit with cool water blowing on their back?
2) The main drains do not tie into the actual hose to drain the pool. So if I want to drain the pool some or circulate lower water through my system I have to hook the vacuum up to the skimmer and put it at the bottom of the pool. Not a huge deal but just seems weird.
So my thoughts are this and I'm looking for suggestions before I gut a lot of this plumbing.
I'm thinking of eliminating the 1.5 HP Sta-Rite completely from the system. Tie the main drain to the skimmer with a 180 valve into the intelliflo. This way I can select if I want to pull from top or bottom (doubt I would do it much, but would be nice to have the option).
Then I will hook the seat jets output over to where the Bubblers/Deck Jets output currently is and put another valve there with an actuator. So then I can control where the water from the heater goes (Either: returns only - normal use, OR to the water features where I can select which ones I want to run). I doubt the pump will run all 3 water features at the same time but I doubt I would want to do that anyway. It has no problem running both the bubblers & the deck jets at the same time right now.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this before I start digging and cutting?
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Here's my setup:
16k SW pool
1 skimmer
3 returns
UltraTemp Heating/Cooling Heat Pump
Water features:
3 tanning deck bubblers
4 spa jets in deep end seat
4 magicstream laminar deck jets
I currently have two pumps:
1 Intelliflo VS (Main pump)
1 Sta-Rite SuperMax VS (Drain/Spa Jets)
Here's how the build went. Originally my pumps were this:
1 sta-Rite SuperMax VS (Main pump)
1 3/4HP single speed pump hooked up to Drain/Spa Jets.
The reasoning was the 1.5HP SuperMax wasn't enough to drive all the water features. So they installed a 3/4HP single speed pump to pull from main drains into the spa jets. The installers couldn't get that 3/4HP pump to prime though. Due to distance, pool equipment being a bit higher than the pool, etc etc. After doing research into these pumps I decided that the SuperMax VS they set me up as my main pump wasn't going to cut it with respect to the automation I wanted to do, so I proposed that the PB refund me the money they charged for the 3/4HP pump and I will buy a Intelliflo VS with the money and move the SuperMax to be the secondary pump. They agreed and I did the plumbing to move the pump.
It works well now, the 1.5HP pump primed and powers the spa jets just fine, and the intelliflo works much better with my automation set up. Cool!
Now, after using the pool for a couple weeks, I realized that this second loop just for the spa jets from the main drain is stupid.
1) The spa jets aren't hooked up to the loop with the heater. So its just recycling cold water off the bottom of the pool through the drains back into the spa jets. Who wants to sit with cool water blowing on their back?
2) The main drains do not tie into the actual hose to drain the pool. So if I want to drain the pool some or circulate lower water through my system I have to hook the vacuum up to the skimmer and put it at the bottom of the pool. Not a huge deal but just seems weird.
So my thoughts are this and I'm looking for suggestions before I gut a lot of this plumbing.
I'm thinking of eliminating the 1.5 HP Sta-Rite completely from the system. Tie the main drain to the skimmer with a 180 valve into the intelliflo. This way I can select if I want to pull from top or bottom (doubt I would do it much, but would be nice to have the option).
Then I will hook the seat jets output over to where the Bubblers/Deck Jets output currently is and put another valve there with an actuator. So then I can control where the water from the heater goes (Either: returns only - normal use, OR to the water features where I can select which ones I want to run). I doubt the pump will run all 3 water features at the same time but I doubt I would want to do that anyway. It has no problem running both the bubblers & the deck jets at the same time right now.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this before I start digging and cutting?
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
