Upgrading my filter and pump / heater

[ioinva]

Last summer, we had a modest above-ground intex pool, 15', round, 48" deep -- just under the 5000 gallons limit that my city starts to require professional installation and permits. We took it down for the winter and I'm looking to reinstall it this spring, with some improvements. Looking to upgrade two components: add a heater and upgrade the pump.

The heater I am thinking of is a Hayward 105BTU above ground gas heater, and the plan is to put it near the house, with the water circulating back to the pool, about 50' away. (The thinking is that if I put my pad near the house, I will not need to bring electricity and gas near a pool location that might still change next year.)

Filter: from our current 12" Intex sand filter with a 0.3HP pump, averaging 1600GPM to a 1HP dual-speed pump (Raypack Protege 1hp dual speed) with a Raypak Protege 22" sand filter.. The 1600gpm flow was adequate for filtering but not for adding a vacuum or any additional components.

Question: will this pump be strong enough to drive both filter and vacuum if it needs to push water through 100' of piping? (thinking 1.5" PVC piping, which I can lay underground). Or should I go for a 1.5HP one instead?

Thanks!

 

[ioinva]

I asked in a few other places -- really hoping to get some advice before I set the Intex pool this spring. I have a 10'x 48" round pool (4800Gallons) with an Intex 12" sand filter/pump combo supposed to give me 1600GPH (pump is 0.3HP). I would like to add a gas heater, a vacuum and a leaf cannister (the current setup does cannot power the vacuum). So I know I will need to upgrade, likely to a Raypak Protege 1HP dual speed above-ground pump with a 21" filter from the same line. The heater -- likely the Raypak 106A Gas or Pentair Mastertemp 125K BTU.

My pool pad is about 50' away from the house. Last year, we had all the components running on a little brick pad near the pool, at the end of a heavy gauge outdoor extension chord. This year, I'm thinking of setting the pump and heater near the house and run the water to/from the pump through 1.5" buried PVC pipes connected to the pool with the flexible hoses.

The alternative is to run a gas line to the pool, but that seems like overkill for an intex installation. Or, to stick to solar heating, maybe on the roof -- in which case I'm not even sure what pump I would need.

1) Opinions between the two heaters? Pentair vs Raypack?
2) Opinions on the Protege line of pumps and filters from Raypak?
3) Is a 1HP pump sufficient to operate all that or should I spring for a 1.5HP? And would I need to keep running the pump on High if I do? (My hope was to use the High only for the vacuum).

I think I can get all that setup for about $1500 - $1700 (we would be able to do all piping ourselves, but would rely on a plumber to hook up the heater). Still, open to alternative suggestions if this setup is likely to fail.

 

[ajw22]

Get the Raypak heater. It is a simpler natural draft design then the MasterTemp forced draft with a blower. The MasterTemp is more complicated and expensive to repair.

Pump and filters are new for Raypak. They look fine but no one here has experience with them yet. If you get it let us know how it works out.

1 HP should be fine for you. Use 2” PVC for your 50’ runs.

 

[ioinva]

Thank you!