Plumbing Assessment & Repairs

[Texas Splash]

That's a wrap. Plumbing gave me a fit today in the heat, but it's basically done. Did a final pressure test just to be safe and it held fine. Tomorrow I'll remove the temporary above-ground suction line I've been using and reconnect the ground line back to the pump. Next chance I get I'll pick up some sand to fill in the trench and around the skimmer before packing with soil. Later decide how I want to patch the decking. No rush.

I earned my pay the past week or two. I'm exhausted.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

I earned my pay the past week or two. I'm exhausted.

That you did, sir. I couldn't imagine digging and doing that work in the heat we've had recently.

Job well done. Great work. You should be proud. Sorry you had to deal with it at all.

--Jeff

 

[Dirk]

I see now how my suggestions wouldn't have saved you any elbows. You had to "90-up" anyway, to clear the other pipes. Great job. And good solution for that cattywampus skimmer, heat bending the pipe. Coolio.

 

[Heimbig]

Texas Splash- can you advise a source for the expansion fitting with a hollow center for pressuring your line from your leak tester?

 

[Texas Splash]

And so it begins - PART II (Return jet line repair). At least we're not in triple-digit weather anymore.

 

[Texas Splash]

Here's an overall view of the 4-jet branch line in question.

 

[Texas Splash]

Here you can see how the line pulled so much the T-fitting going into the jet is way over-stressed. This explains why that jet cracked inside. You can see the silicone was pulling away from the shell from the moisture.

 

[Texas Splash]

Looking from another angle. You can see how that jet was pulling away from the shell. The entire line was stressed from settling. It's amazing that more jets haven't cracked yet or that there wasn't a catastrophic break at a fitting.

 

[Texas Splash]

Texas Splash- can you advise a source for the expansion fitting with a hollow center for pressuring your line from your leak tester?

@Heimbig , sorry I didn't see your question earlier. If you didn't find it already, just Google "Frankenplug". They have a website with all of their products.

 

[Newdude]

Extending the pipe past the last return supposedly helps equalize pressure between them. Though, I'm sure you don't wish to break up much more patio than absolutely necessary.

 

[Texas Splash]

Extending the pipe past the last return supposedly helps equalize pressure between them.

I saw that on a YouTube install video. Not sure I'll need to do that, but I guess it's an option.

 

[Texas Splash]

And here is the major offender. It was cracked much more significantly than expected and in more than one area. I was fortunate the Frankenplug insert helped me limp along for a year.

 

[Dirk]

Do you have any plans to prevent that from happening again? Somehow stabilizing the plumbing, or the soil, or perhaps shielding it from dirt settling on and around it again?

 

[Texas Splash]

Do you have any plans to prevent that from happening again?

I do, although I think all the settling around the pool is done after 10 years. I'll look to see if there's a way for me to suspend the PVC from the pool shell for one method. Then after I get the backfill packed back in, I'm thinking of placing some wide pavers under the plumbing as support.

 

[Newdude]

although I think all the settling around the pool is done after 10 years

Agreed. I think I'd it continued enough to break again you'd have bigger fish to fry than repairing the plumbing again.

 

[Dirk]

I do, although I think all the settling around the pool is done after 10 years. I'll look to see if there's a way for me to suspend the PVC from the pool shell for one method. Then after I get the backfill packed back in, I'm thinking of placing some wide pavers under the plumbing as support.

I was imagineering some sort of support under the pipes, too, but I like the idea of fixing the manifold to the shell somehow. That makes more sense to me. Then the dirt can do whatever it's going to do, the pipes would be stable relative to the shell, which would protect all the joints and penetrations from stressing against the shell.

 

[Texas Splash]

Well, Texas isn't quite ready to let go of summer just yet, and the heat wore me out. So today was just about getting the new jets installed to let them start curing. I installed CMP 2" slip x 3/4" outlet jets. The originals were 1.5" slip, so I had to bore-out the wall holes slightly. The drum sanding kit below was a life saver.

 

[Texas Splash]

Nothing fancy here, just some new jets in place curing.

 

[Texas Splash]

My silicone of choice for this project. Also recommended by my builder.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would suggest having 90° elbows come off each of those fittings pointing down and the creating a PVC manifold below it. The problem last time is that the plumber hooked up all those wall fitting running horizontally away from the pool wall. That created a very large moment-arm (torque) on those fittings which is why they split. You need to minimize the bending moment created by those wall fittings and so you should minimize the horizontal travel away from the pool wall.

Other than that - HE🄛🄛 OF JOB, DUDE!!! I’m hiring you to renovate my pool … if you like Texas hot just wait until you experience Tucson Hot !! Cold beers on me.