How to plumb this SWCG?

[bedelliott]

Hello, new to this world as you can see in the pic - I assume the SWCG should go inline just before the water goes back to the pool (after it's gone thru the pump & sand filter), true? What other best practices (what will I wish I had done a year or 5 from now) should I implement when doing this, any check valves, bypasses or anything else? Clearly I'll be done with the liquidator and I've also moved from a Polaris to a robot/vacuum, so I can probably leave the booster pump out of the equation. When I remove the salt cell when the water is so cold (CircuPool said this is good to do) can the water still flow thru the housing or do I need to build a bypass w/ valves into the system? I also have 2 leaks I need to clean up as part of this, there's a leak at the union right above the pump and there's also a leak on the horizontal piece after it leaves the filter and before that check valve. I'm hoping to really simply this during this SWCG installation. Thank you for your guidance!

 

[Newdude]

I assume the SWCG should go inline just before the water goes back to the pool

Yup. It's the last stop on the line.

what will I wish I had done a year or 5 from now

You'll wish that you got the SWG 10 years ago. Prepere to kick yourself.

Hard.

What other best practices

The flow switch needs to be horizontal so gravity can't close it when, not if, it fails. It will be a while off before it fails, but still.

before that check valve

Is the equipment below the pool ? Without a raised spa or downhill equipment, you don't need it.

 

[sande005]

I'd replace the flexible pipe from the filter out to be all hard plumbed. The included, but separate, flow switch needs about 12" of straight pipe before it. If no other way, it can be on the downstream side of the cell, which would count as straight pipe. Circupool does allow it to be mounted vertical when water flow is down, but there is no need in your case. - you have lots of room in that straight run. The cell can be a little heavy, I would make a support leg or two out of PVC for the long run. (I used a 2" Tee fitting that had the side leg that was 1". Sawed it in 1/2 lengthwise, so it was a saddle for the main pipe, and ran a length of 1" pvc as a support leg down to the ground.)
If you mean taking it out during the winter, they sell a dummy pipe with ends that fit the unions - so just replace the whole cell unit with that, and you can still circulate water. It is a bit pricey for what it is. I found it handy to also use when cutting and gluing the rest of the plumbing, as I wasn't dealing with the heavier unit at that stage. But when done, just unscrew it, and put the generator in. Perfect fit.

 

[bedelliott]

My equipment is slightly above the pool, probably even with the coping somewhat. Does that mean I don’t even need the 2 check valves I currently have? I’m wondering why I have those (just got the pool 7-8 years ago)…?

 

[setsailsoon]

Nice upgrades! What model swg do you have? I have Circupool and have been very happy with their performance. They also make a spool piece you can install when the cell's removed. A little easier than building a bypass in my opinion.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

PS you're gonna be amazed at how much easier this is! TFP combined with swg and robot is as good as it gets!

 

[bedelliott]

Nice upgrades! What model swg do you have? I have Circupool and have been very happy with their performance. They also make a spool piece you can install when the cell's removed. A little easier than building a bypass in my opinion.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

PS you're gonna be amazed at how much easier this is! TFP combined with swg and robot is as good as it gets!

I got the rj60+, I’m excited to get it going. I just don’t know why I currently have 2 check valves but really don’t need any, I wanna plug it right the first go.

 

[setsailsoon]

I got the rj60+, I’m excited to get it going. I just don’t know why I currently have 2 check valves but really don’t need any, I wanna plug it right the first go.

The only added check valve you may need is to prevent high FC water from backing up into the heater. But I don't see a heater in your system.

 

[bedelliott]

Question about my booster pump (which I'll remove as part of this SWCG installation/complete re-plumb) - it looks like it has 2 maybe 1" lines coming off the pump, 1 ties into the pipe where the water is returning to my pool and the other goes into the ground in front of my Liquidator - is the line that goes into the ground going all the way over to side of my pool to the place I used to connect my Polaris to, and the water for this is being taken/sucked by the booster pump from the water that's being returned to the pool after having been thru the filter? Seems like such an odd way to do this, but that's all that would make sense to me.

 

[setsailsoon]

Question about my booster pump (which I'll remove as part of this SWCG installation/complete re-plumb) - it looks like it has 2 maybe 1" lines coming off the pump, 1 ties into the pipe where the water is returning to my pool and the other goes into the ground in front of my Liquidator - is the line that goes into the ground going all the way over to side of my pool to the place I used to connect my Polaris to, and the water for this is being taken/sucked by the booster pump from the water that's being returned to the pool after having been thru the filter? Seems like such an odd way to do this, but that's all that would make sense to me.//

I can't really tell from your photo. Doesn't look like the discharge from the booster pump has two lines. Only one ~1". The inlet to the booster is the one that goes into the center of the pump and it normally takes suction after the filter.

 

[Lake Placid]

Suction side is circled in red. Return side is circled in yellow. Quick and dirty fix is to remove the return side flex pipe from the pump and attach it to the PVC T where the current suction side hose is attached. My preferred way would to be to excavate to where the return flex hose attaches to the PVC return pipe back to the pool and hard plumb it into your return plumbing.

 

[bedelliott]

View attachment 612966

Suction side is circled in red. Return side is circled in yellow. Quick and dirty fix is to remove the return side flex pipe from the pump and attach it to the PVC T where the current suction side hose is attached. My preferred way would to be to excavate to where the return flex hose attaches to the PVC return pipe back to the pool and hard plumb it into your return plumbing.

Thank you, but I'm a tad confused - are you saying that you don't think the return/flex hose is going all the way to my pool wall but you think at some point it hits a hard PVC line (which goes to the wall), and what do you mean by hard plumbing it into the return plumbing? FWIW, I have 2 return jets in the pool and separately I have this 1 return I used to plug my Polaris into (this return is very weak when the booster isn't on while the other 2 return jets are very strong of course, since they come off the pump), so I assume that the return line from this booster is a dedicated line (not connected to the other return lines) - I might be wrong on that...?

 

[Lake Placid]

are you saying that you don't think the return/flex hose is going all the way to my pool wall but you think at some point it hits a hard PVC line (which goes to the wall),

Yes. The flex hose is meeting up to another pvc line and has a threaded fitting like the others you see connecting the flex hose above ground. It’s probably just a few inches under the rock in the picture.

so I assume that the return line from this booster is a dedicated line

Yes it is. Connected only to those flex hose connections. It’s weak unless the booster pump is on because only a limited amount of water can flow through the smaller diameter flex hose when the booster pump is off.

what do you mean by hard plumbing it into the return plumbing

I would expose where the flex line connects to PVC and re-plumb the flex line as hard pvc back into the return plumbing. Because it is a dedicated line, I would add a diverter valve so you can meter the amount of flow that flows into the dedicated former Polaris return.

 

[Lake Placid]

Check the green circled area in the pic for a connection from the Polaris flex hose to hard PVC.

 

[bedelliott]

Yes. The flex hose is meeting up to another pvc line and has a threaded fitting like the others you see connecting the flex hose above ground. It’s probably just a few inches under the rock in the picture.


Yes it is. Connected only to those flex hose connections. It’s weak unless the booster pump is on because only a limited amount of water can flow through the smaller diameter flex hose when the booster pump is off.


I would expose where the flex line connects to PVC and re-plumb the flex line as hard pvc back into the return plumbing. Because it is a dedicated line, I would add a diverter valve so you can meter the amount of flow that flows into the dedicated former Polaris return.

I think the thing that's confusing me is... if I have this dedicated line which powered my Polaris, and I'm done with the Polaris now, why not just cap it off or do what @Lake Placid said - since this line won't be used, why do I care about it?

 

[Lake Placid]

I think the thing that's confusing me is... if I have this dedicated line which powered my Polaris, and I'm done with the Polaris now, why not just cap it off or do what @Lake Placid said - since this line won't be used, why do I care about it?

You can surely just cap it off and forget about it. Blow it dry and cap it on both sides. If you don’t it just becomes a haven for bacteria and nasties. In my opinion it’s another return line for the pool that’s already installed, if you’re going to remove the Polaris, why not utilize it instead of capping it? The work involved is not difficult, you might as well make use of it.

 

[bedelliott]

Oooooooohhhhh, so you mean to make my current Polaris return a normal return, so then I’d have 3 instead of 2 - genius - thank you! I probably need all the circulation I can get given my floor drain doesn’t work and I have a deep end, I can point this one down there. Thank you!

 

[bedelliott]

Yes. The flex hose is meeting up to another pvc line and has a threaded fitting like the others you see connecting the flex hose above ground. It’s probably just a few inches under the rock in the picture.


Yes it is. Connected only to those flex hose connections. It’s weak unless the booster pump is on because only a limited amount of water can flow through the smaller diameter flex hose when the booster pump is off.


I would expose where the flex line connects to PVC and re-plumb the flex line as hard pvc back into the return plumbing. Because it is a dedicated line, I would add a diverter valve so you can meter the amount of flow that flows into the dedicated former Polaris return.

So now that I understand what you’re saying, are you saying I should add a diverter valve because going from 2 to 3 return jets might make them significantly weaker, this way I could control the third somewhat?

 

[Lake Placid]

Oooooooohhhhh, so you mean to make my current Polaris return a normal return, so then I’d have 3 instead of 2 - genius - thank you! I probably need all the circulation I can get given my floor drain doesn’t work and I have a deep end, I can point this one down there. Thank you!

Exactly, apologies if I wasn’t clear enough about converting it into a full time return.

So now that I understand what you’re saying, are you saying I should add a diverter valve because going from 2 to 3 return jets might make them significantly weaker, this way I could control the third somewhat?

Often times when converting old Polaris returns I’ve found that single return gets significantly more pressure than the others in the loop, weakening them further. Adding a diverter into that dedicated line allows you to meter its flow individually and force more water into the rest of the return loop and ultimately balance them all more effectively.

 

[bedelliott]

Exactly, apologies if I wasn’t clear enough about converting it into a full time return.


Often times when converting old Polaris returns I’ve found that single return gets significantly more pressure than the others in the loop, weakening them further. Adding a diverter into that dedicated line allows you to meter its flow individually and force more water into the rest of the return loop and ultimately balance them all more effectively.

I love this idea, thank you!!