What's the purpose of these two capped off pipes?

[superuser]

Anyone know what these two capped pipes would be for?

1. The capped pipe directly below the puck tank
2. The smaller capped pipe near the wall, extending from the skimmer drain line (middle line on the suck side)

View attachment 168876

 

[Newdude]

No idea about the small one but I had one just like #1 It was for a pressure/suction cleaner if I chose to add it later. I had a port in the pool to match.

 

[superuser]

Hmm, that makes sense, just not sure where it terminates if that's what it is. I'll have to uncap the big one and blow air down it, see where the bubbles show up. The only "extra" port in/near the pool that I've found was what looked like an umbrella sleeve in the deck.

The small one I just don't get why it's there, and I haven't seen anyone else's pad plumbed with anything like that. Possibly to dampen or crutch the pressure spike when the pump fires up? Not sure why that would really matter though.

 

[proavia]

The small line may have been for an ozonator.
The large line may have been for a pressure side cleaner. There could have been a 3-way valve where the tab feeder is now.

If you are going to cut either cap off to test, be sure to have new caps and pvc glue on hand to re-cap those lines.

 

[superuser]

That's a good thought. There was a dead ozone generator there previously, visible in the photo to the left of the Jandy RS cabinet. It was plumbed into the drain port on the bottom of the pump basket, doesn't mean it always was though. It's now sitting in the garage until I decide I've kicked it around enough to heave it into the trash can.

 

[Newdude]

It's now sitting in the garage until I decide I've kicked it around enough to heave it into the trash can.

You have to trip over it exactly 107 times before you’ve had enough. It doesn’t matter what *it* is. Ask me how I know.

 

[Dirk]

Hey Pandora, you could just leave 'em alone...

The big one might have led to the pool and been capped off after a remodel covered up the corresponding port in the pool.

The small one could have been some sort of manual or auto filler. If you decide to cut that one to see what it might be, you should turn off the water main first. Not just the one to the house, but the one at the street. Sometimes landscaping and pool supply lines are tapped into the water main before they go into the house, so are not controlled by the house's main shut off...

 

[workedonthousandsofpools]

It looks like the cap on the big line has a slit cut through it on the back side, if so then its probably an air line for the spa jets.
the ozone unit connection remnants ( tubing that connects to the pump ) should be removed, and a pump plug should take its place, this tubing has the potential to be a bigger problem than it looks, trust me. the 1/2'' line is ozonator connection also, i would hack it off at the tee, and cap it.

most air lines will have a slit cut in the pipe, the cap, and the cap is not supposed to be glued

 

[superuser]

The big one might have led to the pool and been capped off after a remodel covered up the corresponding port in the pool.

The small one could have been some sort of manual or auto filler. If you decide to cut that one to see what it might be, you should turn off the water main first. Not just the one to the house, but the one at the street. Sometimes landscaping and pool supply lines are tapped into the water main before they go into the house, so are not controlled by the house's main shut off...

Best I can gather the pool is about 8 years old, house is 9, so there should be no remodel work. The small pipe definitely only connects to the skimmer suction line, I pushed the gravel aside enough to see that. It's made up of a reducing tee in the suction line, the horizontal section, a 90 el, the vertical section, and a cap.

I do have an autofill on the other side of the pool that is creatively plumbed into the hose bib on the side of the house. The basin, float and valve assy. is under a cap in the pool deck like you'd expect, but the fill line runs underground around the corner of the house where the 1 inch PVC comes up and connects with some adapters to a garden hose Y fitting on the hose bib.

It looks like the cap on the big line has a slit cut through it on the back side, if so then its probably an air line for the spa jets.
the ozone unit connection remnants ( tubing that connects to the pump ) should be removed, and a pump plug should take its place, this tubing has the potential to be a bigger problem than it looks, trust me. the 1/2'' line is ozonator connection also, i would hack it off at the tee, and cap it.

most air lines will have a slit cut in the pipe, the cap, and the cap is not supposed to be glued

Guess I need to take a closer look. If that is an air inlet, that might explain why I can't seem to turn off the bubbles in the spa completely. I re-lubed the O-rings on what I figured were the air inlets (one per jet), but they still don't seem to seal completely. If there's no air pump for the jets, and the jets blow air bubbles already, what would the purpose of plumbing that back to the pad? The jets in the hot tub have some sort of wobbly massage bits in them, and they seem to work fine, would that be related?

The whole O3 unit is gone, I pulled the unit, it's plumbing and wiring and brackets. The pump got a new plug which solved the issues I was having with the pump draining and losing prime. I didn't see a check valve on that line previously.

 

[Dirk]

If you can see the beginning and the end of the smaller line, which means it's doing nothing, then cut it off, leaving just enough to glue on a cap, and be done with that one. The idea is to eliminate as much as possible any chance of you kicking it or stepping on it and cracking it or breaking it off.

I'm not familiar with how air works in spa plumbing. I would say look for the cut in the pipe others have suggested and report back on that one.