Hello all,
Recently our 20ish year old single speed 1.5hp pump motor died (Sta Rite p2ra). It had been on its last legs for awhile, so we already decided on replacing it with a VS pump (Pentair 342001) when the inevitable happened. Luckily for us the local power company gives us a rebate for our trouble, and the new pump is already here waiting to be installed.
In any case, I'd like to use the opportunity to also re-plumb our pad. The old PVC piping leaks quite a bit, the diverter valve on the intake between skimmer/main and vacuum line doesn't seal 100% anymore. I'm also going to add a bunch of unions so any future work will be much simpler. I'm replacing the 3 way diverter on the intake (2" pipe from skimmer/main and 1 1/2" pipe from vacuum line with 1 1/2" to the pump) with two two-way jandy style valves, one on each line. All my new plumbing will be 2". I'd like to add some more pipe to each incoming line to raise the valves off the ground a little bit and give me some room to work with, but doing so will certainly raise the level of the pvc on the suction side above the pump intake.
The only article I could find relating to something like this is here: Pool pump not priming? It might be Air Lock...
If that article is accurate, my only option would be to actually raise the pump up on some cinder blocks or bricks. Would that work? I'm only talking about one to two feet or so.
Other info not in my signature:
About 30' between pad and pool. Level ground. As far as I know, piping to the pool matches what's coming out of the ground, which is 2" to skimmer/drain and 1 1/2" to vacuum line with 1 1/2" back to the pool.
Thanks!
Recently our 20ish year old single speed 1.5hp pump motor died (Sta Rite p2ra). It had been on its last legs for awhile, so we already decided on replacing it with a VS pump (Pentair 342001) when the inevitable happened. Luckily for us the local power company gives us a rebate for our trouble, and the new pump is already here waiting to be installed.
In any case, I'd like to use the opportunity to also re-plumb our pad. The old PVC piping leaks quite a bit, the diverter valve on the intake between skimmer/main and vacuum line doesn't seal 100% anymore. I'm also going to add a bunch of unions so any future work will be much simpler. I'm replacing the 3 way diverter on the intake (2" pipe from skimmer/main and 1 1/2" pipe from vacuum line with 1 1/2" to the pump) with two two-way jandy style valves, one on each line. All my new plumbing will be 2". I'd like to add some more pipe to each incoming line to raise the valves off the ground a little bit and give me some room to work with, but doing so will certainly raise the level of the pvc on the suction side above the pump intake.
The only article I could find relating to something like this is here: Pool pump not priming? It might be Air Lock...
If that article is accurate, my only option would be to actually raise the pump up on some cinder blocks or bricks. Would that work? I'm only talking about one to two feet or so.
Other info not in my signature:
About 30' between pad and pool. Level ground. As far as I know, piping to the pool matches what's coming out of the ground, which is 2" to skimmer/drain and 1 1/2" to vacuum line with 1 1/2" back to the pool.
Thanks!
