Intex Accesories - Is My Pump Big Enough?

[flair3366]

Hi All,

I have an Intex 15x48 Ultra Frame pool with a sand filter and saltwater system at 1500 GPH. I have one inlet and 2 returns on the pool. All three of these were 1 1/4 inch fittings. On the inlet i cut the liner (very carefully), to make it 1 1/2 inch. Should I also do this on the 2 returns?? I am running an Intex skimmer and have it hooked to one of the returns. I am getting ready to add an Intex fountain and was wondering if my pump is big enough to handle all of this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Texas Splash]

I don't crunch the hydraulics numbers like some others here, but wanted to offer a small opinion to help give your question some action. I think the pump will be adequate. Once you complete the addition of the fountain, time will tell if there is enough water pressure to support everything at once. In some cases, owners may install a simple ball valve in each branch line to help adjust how much flow goes to each item, thereby conserving some pressure for something else as needed. I know there are tons of Intex owners in the forum that have done such mods, so hopefully one of them will pick-up on your question and chime in. I'm going to "tweak" your thread title to help grab some Intex eyes out there.

 

[kellyfair]

Howdy! I think your pump will be ok. Just to use the same terminology as everyone else here, the line that returns water back to your pool is the return. The two smaller holes are the intake or inlets, that take water IN to the pump. For simplicity, we’ll call those suction lines.

So, I did cut my two suction holes to fit the larger 1.5” fittings. I decided to add a thru wall skimmer, so I plugged one of the lines. I have valves everywhere, so I have the second suction line about 1/4 open. My skimmer does work when the second line is fully open, but I feel like I get better skimming action by closing it 3/4 of the way.

So what all that text means is that you could certainly cut your two suction lines to 1.5”. Definitely install valves... it is nice to be able to isolate an area for maintenance. And you can play around with water flow once you add your accessories, to see what makes everything work the way you want it.

My setup:

 

[flair3366]

Thank you Kellyfair. Your Pool looks great. When you cut your two suction holes, what fittings did you insert for those holes. I know it's 1 1/2 inch but not sure which one to get, I'm really new to this. Below is a pic from my pool. I already cut the return hole to be 1 1/2 and put in a directional fitting, just not sure what to put in the inlets/intakes.