Now that the
pump is assembled with the new Ecotech EZ variable speed motor, it was time to get at the piping upgrades to help improve the overall system efficiency. I had a few serious weaknesses in my pool piping, particularly on the suction of the pool pump, and the piping feeding and exiting the thermopump.
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| Jacuzzi Magnum 1500 upgraded with Ecotech EZ Variable Speed Motor, Suction Side Piping Completed with 2 Jandy Valves |
The existing pump piping layout wasn't very well done - it wasn't particularly efficient, and probably contributed to the pump cavitating any time the vacuum port was used. Note the vacuum port routing - which enters from the top right - 90 degree elbow, ball valve, 270 degree sweep, 90 degree elbow down into a T fitting, then off to the pump suction. All lines are 1 1/2" - so even if you decide to draw from the drain and the skimmer at the same time, you're contstrained by the 1 1/2" suction on the pump.
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| Old pump suction layout - skimmer bottom left, bottom drain top left, vacuum port top right, pump suction bottom right. |
I have 1 1/2" black poly pipe running underground to the pool. I'm not a huge fan of the insert barbed fittings - they're common for these applications but they neck the diameter down to 1 1/4 inch. I thought I would give a polyethelene epoxy adhesive a try, to convert to PVC fittings, made by TAP plastics in California.
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| Black poly lines moved to desired alignment, fixed with copper strapping. CPVC reducing slip elbows - 1 1/2" to 2" - fixed to the black poly line using TAP plastics poly epoxy. |
I also converted the 1 1/2" poly lines to 2" at the 90 degree elbows where I made the transition from vertical to horizontal. See photo above. Once my suction lines were horizontal, I plotted the position of two Jandy 3 way valves facing each other, to allow me full flexibility in selecting and mixing the pump suction source. I used the 2 / 2 1/2" Jandy Valves to minimize restriction in the suction piping.
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| Suction side piping completed - Jandy Valves control suction source - skimmer, bottom drain, or vacuum port. 2" union fittings on the suction and discharge of the Jacuzzi Magnum pump. |
With the suction side piping completed - I then working on the transitions at the sand filter. I spent some time looking for a sand filter with a 2" multiport valve - mine was just a 1 1/2" multiport valve, and eventually decided just to keep the 1 1/2" valve. With the variable speed pump - the system would in the future be spending most of the time operating at a low flow speed, which would minimize the impact of the system restriction of the 1 1/2" multiport valve.
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| Jaccuzzi Multiport Sand Filter Valve Piping - 1 1/2" drain fitting on the close side, 2" rigid pipe discharging to the thermopump and salt cell on the far side. Pump discharge - sand filter feed line in the center. Unions on all connections. |
With the sand filter piped, it was time to work on the thermopump. The former layout had the thermopump piping side facing away from the pool shack, and 90 degrees away from the pool. In order to make the connections, about 30' of 1 1/2" hose made long circular connections between the sand filter and the salt cell.
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| The old Thermopump Installation - About 30' of 1 1/2" hose separates the Sand Filter from the connection to the underground hose where the Salt Cell will be attached to |
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| The old Thermopump Installation - About 30' of 1 1/2" hose separates the Sand Filter from the connection to the underground hose where the Salt Cell will be attached to - right side of photo. |
I moved the thermopump so that the piping connections would be facing the pool, and perpendicular to the pool shack, and then came up with a layout using the Jandy 3 way valves to control bypass and flow to the thermopump.
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| The Thermopump was previously installed on the patio stones to the right. It's now moved into place next to the pool shack, just behind the outlet pipe for the pool jets. |
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| Jandy Valves will provide flow modulation and bypass isolation for the thermopump, with a much more compact piping arrangement. |
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| Now, instead of 30' of 1 1/2" pipe between the sand filter and the salt cell, I'm down to about 10' of 2" pipe |
Conclusions
I'm quite happy with the new piping arrangement and the upgrade to 2" piping. The only section of 1 1/2" pipe which remains is the section about 35' long between the salt cell and the first jet on the pool. I don't think I'll get the energy to make that upgrade for a while because of the trenching, so I'll wait until the pool requires major maintenance.
At this point, it was time to start the new variable speed motor - more on my next post.
Sources and Links
I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions.
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