Can't find 18-year old tool

I inherited an inground pool with the purchase of my home 18 years ago. Among the tools and attachments left for me was an attachment that allowed me to use the suction of the skimmer to create a reverse flow into the vacuum hose to fill it rather than having to use one of the jets. I have used it hundreds of time over the years until misplacing this past season and it is sorely missed. I have scoured the internet and been in countless pool places to try and find a replacement to no avail.

Have any of you heard of or use this device?

The item is about 4-5 inches in length and uses two opposing turbos to generate the reverse flow. The illustration below is my best memory of what it looked like (right image is a cutaway).

http://www.gleim.us/reverseflow.jpg

Thanks for any help.

Jim

Interesting concept and design. I'm impressed with your 3-D drawing knowledge.

But . . . I've never seen such a device, though there've been quite a few times when it would have been handy

new to me. Not really sure how it would work either.

Suction flow over the lower blades turns the upper blades, which in turn pulls air and water through them, till the hose is primed . . . at least, that's what it looks like to me.

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

Suction flow over the lower blades turns the upper blades, which in turn pulls air and water through them, till the hose is primed . . . at least, that's what it looks like to me.

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Yes, but I would think that the vacuum needed to pull all the air out of the hose could not be created in this manner. I understand HOW it's SUPPOSED to work. I just don't see it actually working.

My guess is, to actually make it work, the flow paths would have to be somewhat different than shown.

The suction from skimmer sucks water through the lower turbine into the skimmer and towards the filter causing the turbine to turn, because it is a fixed spindle the top turbine is also turned and it sucks water into the device and pushes it into vacuum hose through the end attached to the vacuum hose. Again, the drawing is how I remember it and is probably lacking some key detail that would make it make immediate sense to all. I can only tell you at this point that it worked great for hundreds of pool cleanings - - until I lost it.

From the description, I believe the doo-dad pushes water into the vaccum hose instead of trying to suck the air out. However, as drawn the doo dad would pull on the hose.

I have something that looks almost exactly like your drawing. It's orange, with 2 white fan blades inside. They seem to be attached by a shaft running through the middle of the device, and when I turn the blades of one, the other turns too. The diameter of the ends are different sizes though, unlike your drawing. One end is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, the other is close to 1 3/4 inches. It's been in my shed forever, and I may have used it once, although I really don't remember. You can have it if you want it. Maybe a moderator can help us facilitate me sending it to you. Not sure what shipping would would be, I'm on Long Island, in NY. Worth a shot I would guess. The price is right, free, lol.

Tom

Tom, if you and JCG agree, I will send each of you the other's email address. -ben

(Giving away stuff doesn't violate the no selling rule ;)

Did you fix that picture?
Anyway, I take it back, as drawn the Doo-Dad will fill the hose.
I want one - how clever!
BTW - Nice drawing!

That's fine with me Ben, thanks. Always glad to try and help a forum member, as this forum has helped me so much! JCG, shoot me an email with your name and address and I'll get it out to you this week.

Tom

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

Tom, if you and JCG agree, I will send each of you the other's email address. -ben

(Giving away stuff doesn't violate the no selling rule ;)

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That would be fantastic! And yes the diameters on the ends are different given the one end goes into the skimmer and the other into the end of the hose, I had just neglected to consider that in the drawing.

Many thanks,
Jim

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Originally Posted by BigDave

Did you fix that picture?
Anyway, I take it back, as drawn the Doo-Dad will fill the hose.
I want one - how clever!
BTW - Nice drawing!

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I did, with each comment that suggested a problem and prompted a bit more of the memory.

Jim

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Originally Posted by TomC

I have something that looks almost exactly like your drawing. It's orange, with 2 white fan blades inside. They seem to be attached by a shaft running through the middle of the device, and when I turn the blades of one, the other turns too. The diameter of the ends are different sizes though, unlike your drawing. One end is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, the other is close to 1 3/4 inches. It's been in my shed forever, and I may have used it once, although I really don't remember. You can have it if you want it. Maybe a moderator can help us facilitate me sending it to you. Not sure what shipping would would be, I'm on Long Island, in NY. Worth a shot I would guess. The price is right, free, lol.

Tom

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Many, Many thanks Tom !!!
Also changed the drawing to reflect your observations (although can't promise the proportions).
Thanks Again,
Jim

This is exactly why this forum works. Everyone helps everyone else. Awesome.

Now I'm curious... if there is a brand or company name on the device, please post. Maybe a part #?

Too late for me to look, my wife mailed it this afternoon, you'll have to wait for Jim to receive it. Maybe the manufacturer's name is on it.

Tom

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Originally Posted by TomC

Too late for me to look, my wife mailed it this afternoon, you'll have to wait for Jim to receive it. Maybe the manufacturer's name is on it.

Tom

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I will follow up with all as soon as I receive it. Thanks to all, Thanks to Tom!

Jim

You're very welcome Jim, I hope it's the piece you need.

Tom

I would think that opposite pitches on the fan blades would cause water to be sucked in the side and forced out both ends, as Jim describes. Basic turbo-charger technology: One fan spins the other. It would be clearer how it worked if they were separate chambers with separate intakes and exhausts connected solely by the shaft. But, if the pitches are correct, it should work with the single intake.

However, I'm not not sure why this is better or more practical than just using the return.

Carl

Perhaps returns aren't convieniently located?

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Originally Posted by BigDave

Perhaps returns aren't convieniently located?

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Really? Like behind a locked door, or in the neighbor's yard? :)

Carl

The neighbor's yard is for backwash.;)

Of course! My bad!

LOL! Y'all are funny.

And to think when I read the title to this thread I instantly flashed forward ten years ... thinking about the little punks who will want to date my daughters. Thank God for handguns and remote swampy places ;-)

Hope the part works out ... and good on ya Tom for being a good neighbor!

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Originally Posted by Watermom

LOL! Y'all are funny.

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What makes you think we are kidding? My down-hill neighbor doesn't like dogs!

Carl

I may be missing something here, what is the point of that device? Just to fill up the vacuum hose with water? I may have been doing something wrong for the past 30 years but all I do is put the vacuum head with handle and hose attached into the pool, then I push the rest of the hose underwater near the skimmer. As the hose is pushed into the water, the water rises into the hose till it comes out the end. Then I plug it into the skimmer. I suppose with an extremely long hose, maybe it would be more difficult.

It's probably a solution in search of a problem (the tool) but it just looks "cool" and I'd like to see one-- but probably would NOT spend money for it. :p

Just FYI -- some pool pumps, and some installations have very poor self-priming capability. Typical methods of filling a vac hose can put enough air in these installations to be a real problem. (One of the benefits of the old-school Hayward Super Pump is that it has EXCELLENT self-priming capability.)

Hey Jim,

Did you receive the piece I mailed to you yet? I mailed it last Monday, it should be there by now.

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Originally Posted by TomC

Hey Jim,

Did you receive the piece I mailed to you yet? I mailed it last Monday, it should be there by now.

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Sorry Tom, I have been traveling. It actually arrived last Thursday in great shape. I will be back to the pool later this month but it looks like there won't be any issue with it working.

It was a bit alarming when I first opened the package, I have included a new drawing that demonstrates just how far off my recollection was from reality. Yikes!

The "device" is called a VacPrep and was manufactured by Plastiflex (plastiflex.com). I contacted them and was told that they stopped manufacturing the VacPrep many years ago. It does indeed have two seperate chambers as CarlD had suggested. The single shaft and opposing turbos drive water into the vacuum hose using the suction of the skimmer.

Tom, Once again many thanks for your generous assistance and passing this along.

This interweb thing sure is cool.

Jim


http://www.gleim.us/vacPrep.jpg

How long did it take you to do those drawings?

What tool did you use?

(Uh, if you wanted to make drawings of how common pool parts and components work . . . I can put them where LOTS of people will see them!)

Sweet! Glad to help, keep cool.

Tom

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

How long did it take you to do those drawings?

What tool did you use?

(Uh, if you wanted to make drawings of how common pool parts and components work . . . I can put them where LOTS of people will see them!)

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I used 3d studio max (an autodesk product), this was a pretty simple drawing because there are very few irregular shapes and no modeling; just cylinders, rectangles and tubes, so not much time involved, the software does most of the work, including attaching the material properties (drag and drop plastic) and lighting. Also allows you to animate; probably would have taken 30 seconds to get the fan turning and maybe 15 minutes to get a convincing flow of water. The software is truly amazing in what it will do and how quickly it will do it. Downside, 3d max is fairly expensive.

For those that want a cheap entry into the world of 3d modeling go to www.Blender.org and download the latest version of Blender. It will do "everything" 3d max will do, is free, is open source and there are a ton of free tutorials and a huge user community that are constantly putting more free stuff up on the web. If you need a 3d model of a motorcycle, or fork, or birthday cake, or diving board . . . there is one out there that you will be able to bring up into Blender and either modify it or, use in a scene.

For the first timer, all this stuff will look scary at the start, but if you will dedicate an hour to reviewing the software and videos you will be surprised at how much you can do with very little experience. And I should add, no artistic talent is required, just the ability to recognize the various shapes that make up an object and scene, and a sense for proportion (although there are tools included that can assist with that as well).


Jim

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And I should add, no artistic talent is required, just the ability to recognize the various shapes that make up an object and scene, and a sense for proportion

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uh, that sounds like artistic skill, if not talent.

Does Blender run better under Win7 or Linux?

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

uh, that sounds like artistic skill, if not talent.

Does Blender run better under Win7 or Linux?

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I use it with Windows because most of my other apps that I use to manipulate the final image (add arrows and type) are part of a windows version of Adobe's master collection, but Blender also comes in Linux and Mac versions. Performance is more dependent upon the hardware than the platform, the more ram and the faster the CPU the faster the render times.

Keeping with the Free theme, Linux (as you are probably aware) has some wonderful free applications for photo manipulation/enchancement and video editing (if you wanted to animate your models in Blender), but seriously check out some of the starter videos and you will discover how little talent one needs, artistic or otherwise, to create some impressive results.

Jim