Convert Pressure Side Pool Cleaner to Suction Side Cleaner

I would like to change my Polaris pressure side pool cleaner to a Hayward vacuum side cleaner. Pool is screened; no leaf problem.

Main pool pump is a 1 hp Hayward Super II with 1.5" ports. I need to replumb the 1.5" pressure supply pipe that went to the pool wall port for the Polaris vac. This will be the new suction pipe for the vac cleaner.

I have space to cut the pool pump 1.5" suction inlet pipe and install a T and then connect the T to the pipe which will now be the suction pipe for the cleaner.

Can a ball valve work to control how much water to drawn by the vac?

Could I plumb it with straight pipe, no valve, and use the skimmer / floor Jandy valve to control flow from the vac? Turn OFF floor drain and only use skimmer and vac?

Thanks.

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Can a ball valve work to control how much water to drawn by the vac?

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A good quality ball valve is a reasonable choice for home pool throttling service, and is a better choice than gate valves or slide valves. A Jandy type valve would be a better choice. But . . . throttling vacuum side flow is often problematic.

Quote:

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Could I plumb it with straight pipe, no valve, and use the skimmer / floor Jandy valve to control flow from the vac? Turn OFF floor drain and only use skimmer and vac?

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Maybe. I don't know without drawings, photographs . . . and reading the manuals on the vacuums.

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The problem with specific plumbing questions is that I've never figured out how to handle them well. Even if I had detailed info, it would take a LOT of time to answer even one question properly. But the truth is, pool owners generally won't do the leg-work (photos, sketches, manuals) that would even allow me to answer them well.

What's worse, from the over-all forum view is that the answer would be a one-off, of little value to OTHER posters, since their installation would ALSO be unique.

And currently, it's just me here.

Your best option? Probably register and post on TroubleFreePool. They have a LOT of enthusiastic amateurs, and you almost certainly WILL get some answers. Will they be good answers? Probably not great, but possibly still useful. Could they be awful answers? Absolutely. And it will be up to you to work out which kind you've received.

However: you have a better chance of getting decent answers IF you include a lot of info. At a minimum, you should include a couple of photos and links to manuals of BOTH cleaners.

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Good luck!

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Thank you for the information Ben. Appears I'll need more detailed pump data to here or at TroubleFreePoll.

Probably.

The better the information you supply, the more likely it is you'll get good info back.

It's just really hard to do good 'plumbing' remotely!