Hi y'all, I'm having a similar problem to CVTim as mentioned here, but I didn't want to hijack his thread.
Here's my situation: I have a small elevated pool with a spillway into the main pool. When the pump is on, the water shoots out of the single return and fills the small pool. When the water reaches the height of the spillway, it spills into the main pool. However, when I turn off the pump, the water is sucked back into the return and (I assume) drains into the lower pool. Once the water level in the small pool reaches the bottom of the eyeball on the return, the water level stops dropping. I have placed my hand on the return in the small pool, and I can feel the pool water getting sucked back into the return. If I use my hand to cover/block the eyeball on the return, the water level in the small pool stops dropping until I remove my hand from the eyeball. Also, if I turn the valve marked by "2" below, the water stops draining in the upper pool.
I have not been able to locate a check valve anywhere on my PVC piping. Here's my setup:
Here is the same picture, annotated:
The return to the small pool is marked with "2", and there's some evidence of prior repair (blue stuff on the PVC). I do not see a check valve anywhere on the system. I dug down a bit into the ground following the pipe marked by "2", and there wasn't a check valve.
Initially, I was going to see about installing a check valve somewhere near the "2", but I may have found an easier solution. I'm interested in people's opinions on the "eyeball check valve". It's a device I found while searching the internet, and it is something I think could solve my problem. It also has the added benefit of me not having to cut any PVC piping. I would simply unscrew the current return eyeball, screw in the check valve, and I'm done.
Ultimately I plan at some point to remove and replace all the above ground PVC and upgrade the pump, but that's not a "today" project. I just want my upper pool to stop draining every night.
Thanks for your help in advance!
Here's my situation: I have a small elevated pool with a spillway into the main pool. When the pump is on, the water shoots out of the single return and fills the small pool. When the water reaches the height of the spillway, it spills into the main pool. However, when I turn off the pump, the water is sucked back into the return and (I assume) drains into the lower pool. Once the water level in the small pool reaches the bottom of the eyeball on the return, the water level stops dropping. I have placed my hand on the return in the small pool, and I can feel the pool water getting sucked back into the return. If I use my hand to cover/block the eyeball on the return, the water level in the small pool stops dropping until I remove my hand from the eyeball. Also, if I turn the valve marked by "2" below, the water stops draining in the upper pool.
I have not been able to locate a check valve anywhere on my PVC piping. Here's my setup:
Here is the same picture, annotated:
The return to the small pool is marked with "2", and there's some evidence of prior repair (blue stuff on the PVC). I do not see a check valve anywhere on the system. I dug down a bit into the ground following the pipe marked by "2", and there wasn't a check valve.
Initially, I was going to see about installing a check valve somewhere near the "2", but I may have found an easier solution. I'm interested in people's opinions on the "eyeball check valve". It's a device I found while searching the internet, and it is something I think could solve my problem. It also has the added benefit of me not having to cut any PVC piping. I would simply unscrew the current return eyeball, screw in the check valve, and I'm done.
Ultimately I plan at some point to remove and replace all the above ground PVC and upgrade the pump, but that's not a "today" project. I just want my upper pool to stop draining every night.
Thanks for your help in advance!
