Auto fill. what options are there?

[uxbridgechris]

And I am not talking about the type that you rest on the side of the pool.

Something that has a sensor in the skimmer or on the side of the pool shell with a waterline/solenoid valve hooked into the plumbing. does that exist?

Cheers

 

[jeffchap]

Yes, I have one. It's basically a glorified toilet tank float valve.

 

[csrpenfab]

My auto fill is plumbed into a recessed bucket/cover in the pool deck that lives right next to the skimmer. It looks much like a toilet tank float and it has a 1" pipe leading to a return fitting in the sidewall of the pool. The top of the autofill bucket has another 1" overflow drain line that leads to my landscape drain loop in case the pool overfills. The autofill gets water from an irrigation line nearby and it's protected by a backflow/shut-off valve.

 

[jeffchap]

My auto fill is plumbed into a recessed bucket/cover in the pool deck that lives right next to the skimmer. It looks much like a toilet tank float and it has a 1" pipe leading to a return fitting in the sidewall of the pool. The top of the autofill bucket has another 1" overflow drain line that leads to my landscape drain loop in case the pool overfills. The autofill gets water from an irrigation line nearby and it's protected by a backflow/shut-off valve.

This sounds exactly like mine.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

And I am not talking about the type that you rest on the side of the pool.

Something that has a sensor in the skimmer or on the side of the pool shell with a waterline/solenoid valve hooked into the plumbing. does that exist?

Cheers

Standard pool autofill pots all use a float valve to control water level. You would not want any kind of electronic sensor controlling a water line as a single failure could mean a flooded pool/yard. Float valves are bulletproof and have been around since the advent of toilet bowls.

 

[uxbridgechris]

Thanks guys. I have seen the toilet float valve style. It is mechanical and requires a pressureized line run to it. I agree that these things last a long time. I have replaced a few in my toilets over the last 20 years. I have not ruled this type out but I do like tech stuff. Jandy makes a solenoid valve controller type that I found on Google. 2 pins. that when disconnected by a lack of water shorting them, send a 24v signal to the sprinkler type valve.

 

[kadavis]

https://www.jandy.com/en/products/water-leveling

 

[uxbridgechris]

https://www.jandy.com/en/products/water-leveling

Exactly!

 

[shingles]

I love tech too... but sometimes, keeping it simple will save your some sanity.

 

[uxbridgechris]

I love tech too... but sometimes, keeping it simple will save your some sanity.

simple is me tossing my garden hose in. lol. But you do have a point. As for my sanity, long gone!!!

 

[TXKnight]

Mine isn’t auto but my sprinkler guys installed a deck jet in the grass on the other side of the deck and put it on it’s own valve so when it’s low, I can just fill it via iPhone app. The water shoots over the deck into the pool.

 

[bdavis466]

The Jandy Levelor is a quality product and I really like the fact that can be located back at the equipment pad. There are a ton of features you can set up with it if you use Jandy automation and it should be considered a necessity if you have an infinity/vanishing edge pool with a catch basin.

As for the mechanical type autofiller, this is the best out there:

Stetson Development | Auto Water Level System. includes all the parts you need.

Many other autofillers use a toilet style float and those are susceptible to getting stuck on - largely the reason autofillers in general are frowned upon on this forum.

I've never had an issue with a Stetson.

 

[jojoman]

My PB puts the float type in every pool he builds and I found this web site too late to change the auto-fill. He ran the water feed line to a hose connection by the pool and I put a Y/splitter on it. I can turn on the auto-fill with a turn of the valve on the Y/splitter or turn it off when water level is high. This seems to work well for me.