Leak in skimmer piping

[waldreps]

I have a suction side leak in my skimmer pipe. The pool was built in the late 70's and they used the black plastic pipe. I have already cut through the concrete deck and am going to replace the whole line with pvc. Any suggestions you can make so everything goes smoothly for me? Should I just use rigid pvc and schedule 40 fittings or something else? Any special glue? Thanks for any tips or suggestions you can offer.

Stacy

[simsjim]

A few things I've learned by doing my own that may be helpful to note -

Use Schedule 40 PVC. If you can, go with 2" diameter all around. That will give you more flexibility when it comes to pump HP, etc

Try to get the deepest unions you can find, the pipe should go into the union at least an inch because of the high GPM flow rates.

Measure Twice (maybe even three or four times) and cut once. Don’t forget to add the inches that are inside the unions when measuring pipe distances.

Mock-up a dry-run with all your plumbing. That is - do a detailed layout first, both on paper and with the physical plumbing. Lay it all out on the ground so you know what is going where.

If you wanted more/new control valves…now is the time to do it. The Jandy website has a decent valve schematic page that shows the best layout for various pool equipment combinataions.

Buy extra pvc cleaner, cement, sand paper, a few extra unions and extra pipe. There is nothing more annoying than having to run back to the big-box while in the middle of the job. You can ALWAYS return what you haven’t cut, opened or used.

Don’t forget the thread seal for the pump's threaded joins - (make sure its JUST sealant and not Lock/Seal) It looks like toothpaste. Some folks like Teflon, but I've never been a big fan - its neater yes, but under pressure it gives out over time (IMHO).

Using two 45 degree elbows at turns produces less friction (less head) than using 90s

I used threaded union connections just before the pump for easy pump removal. If you have to bring your pump someplace for repair later on down the road, no cutting.

There are different grades of PVC glue - make sure you get all-weather, heavy bodied, low set, high strength PVC solvent cement used to join PVC pipe and fittings. Make sure it's for all classes and schedules of pipe and fittings, exceeding the diameter of your plumbing. A personal preference is clear, as the blue can be unsightly on those above-ground joins.

Invest the 30 bux in a decent PVC cutter that can handle 2" diameter. WELL worth it.

Try not to 'end' at a complicated join, so if you chump something, you don’t have to cut away a lot of work to fix the mistake.

Work fast with the PVC cement - the set up time is minutes. Paint both sides of the join, stick it in, turn a quarter turn - in ONE direction, and hold. Hold those joins together with both hands for at least a minute. PVC cement tends to force the pipes to 'drift' out of the join, so hold it steady.

Off course, don’t smoke around PVC cement, and don’t inhale too much vapor either.

Enjoy,
J

[Poconos]

J,
You take all the fun out of it. The job always looks better if you inhale some good snootfulls of the solvent. Of course it may look pretty bad once you sober up.
Al

[simsjim]

Al

I save the inhaling until AFTER the job! But the post-huff-crash is head-splitting :D

Stacy - I forgot to mention - sand the ends of the male joins to eliminate cutting burrs and give a little something for the solvent to adhere.

If you like - do a search on google about installing PVC, there are a few tricks that will be helpful that I know I am forgetting.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Peace,
J

[Poconos]

J,
You about covered it all about working with PVC. Nice thing is the stuff is cheap and you can practice with little expense. I've also been able to salvage used ball valves by cutting flush with the ball valve and using a drum sander chucked in a drill press to remove the inside pipe. If you used the purple primer, that shows when you get close as you're sanding so you slow down so you don't cut into the ball valve material. I'm inherently cheap and don't like to chuck perfectly good $$ ball valves.
Al

[Watermom]

I'm inherently cheap and don't like to chuck perfectly good $$ ball valves.
Al

Ya think? ????

[waldreps]

So how do you know if pvc fittings are schedule 40 or not? I look at the store and don't see any markings on them. Do I have to get them from a pool store or does Home Depot or someone have them?

Stacy

[Poconos]

You're right and someone please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not a plumber. Just looked at some generic Home Depot ones in my basement and no markings. I believe sched-40 refers to the pressure rating which is determined by the thickness of the pipe or valve body and the depth the mating pipe seats for a good pressure joint. Sched-40 pipes seat about 1.25". The ball valves have about the same seating depth. I've also always seen only one variety at a HD or Lowes. There are better, more expensive valves available but I've never used them.
Hope this helps.
Al

[waldreps]

Boy, concrete is tough...lol! I rented a saw to cut it and it worked great. It cut through it like butter. I cut the whole area into four smaller pieces and thought I would be able to use a pry bar and get the pieces out of there. No dice! Just bought a big sledge hammer and will start pounding away as soon as I find the time. I was hoping to avoid having to do that. Oh, well. I'll get some much needed exercise!

Stacy