Plumbing Fitting for automatic pool cleaner

[gdubs]

I recently purchased a home w/ an inground concrete pool. All the plumbing returns are 2" pvc with eyeball returns on them. The return for the automatic pool cleaner is 1.5" pvc with no threads or fitting on it. It looks like it was cut flush w/ the plaster, but nothing else was ever done to it. Most of the cleaners i have looked at require a 1.5" threaded piece to connect to. How do i correct this? Do i have to have this threaded, or is there some type of connector i can use?

Thanks,

gdubs

[Poconos]

Is this cutoff pipe above or below the waterline? Reason for the question deals with how good of a seal you need. If underwater you don't have to worry about a really tight seal. If above then you can't afford to leak air. I've got some ideas but it's late so tomorrow I'l go check my stash of PVC goodies and maybe come up with a simple way to rig something.
Al

[gdubs]

It is under the waterline.

[Poconos]

Here's an easy way that doesn't risk damaging anything. Wanted to try it before I posted. The ID of a 1.5" PVC pipe is 1.6" and the OD of a 1.25" pipe is 1.67". Almost able to fit one pipe inside the other. You need to shave about .035" off the OD of the 1.25 pipe and it will slip into the 1.5". I did this with a drum sander chucked in a drill press. Took about 5 minutes. Since the junction is under water you don't have to be totally airtight. Once you're adapted to 1.25" pipe you can go to whatever the cleaner needs. Don't know if the smaller diameter and slightly added restriction will affect operation or not but it's worth a try. Cheap too. You can almost thread a 1.25" NPT male into the 1.5" pipe but I wouldn't try cutting threads as the pipe may fracture. PVC is pretty brittle. If you have a lathe the job gets easier yet.
Hope this helps.
Al

Attachment 660

Attachment 661

[mas985]

Is this a pressure or vacuum cleaner? You said return which indicates a pressure side cleaner. What Poconos suggested will work well for a vacuum cleaner but you may need to glue the pipes together and have threads for a pressure side cleaner. However, that means you will have a pipe sticking out in your pool all of the time.

[waste]

Al, your ingenuity and resourcefulness never cease to amaze me! What you've made here is a DIY 'pipe extender' (sorry, no pic but found them online at:
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pvc.html#spigot ) They are an interior slip by 'outer pipe diameter' coupling just long enough to take a standard slip fitting - very! useful when you don't want to have to install a whole new fitting or valve. If you cut your pipe to 1.25" you could glue a F/A to be flush to the wall (only the F/A sticking out). I will point out that using one of these reduces the interior size of the pipe, but in a pinch - you gotta do what you gotta do. Ooops, I just noticed that with Al's, you'd need to use a 1.25" to 1.5" bushing to attach a standard 1.5" F/A.

gdubs, welcome to the forum! As you can see, we will go to great lengths to help each other (including going out to the shop to 'hack up' and photograph a peice of pipe ) If you don't have all the tools to reshape a peice of pipe, you can find them {edit - pipe extenders} online (I'm sure that the link I gave is not the only place to find one - knowing that they exist is the starting point for comparative shopping) Before gluing anything into the 'return', double check that you need to (the old owners might have left the attachment fitting you need), and be sure that it's a return driven cleaner -as mas pointed out. Run the pool a few times and see if the cleaner will work without permanently having something stick out into the pool - or if you can contact the old owners, ask them what they used.

There is also the chance that the link I provided has a F/A that will also connect to the ID of a 1.5" pipe (I gotta look that whole site through- they've got some funky and potentially useful fittings ) No one where I work had ever heard of 'pipe extenders' until I had the secretary order some - who knows what fittings exist that I don't know about!?
Good luck with your quest, please keep us informed (& sorry about the kabitzing ) - Waste

[Poconos]

Mark is right. I missed that one about pressure side. Brain focused on suction and that was it. Still may work though. I've used a 1.25" poolhose and a homebrew nozzle as a deluge gun for kids or washing the solar cover, hooked together with slip joint PVC like I suggested and very seldom blows apart. The sanding does rough up the surface and it may work. What have you got to lose?
Al

[Watermom]

What do y'all think? Al is just like McGyver, isn't he?

[gdubs]

Al, thanks for your help. I went to home depot and purchased a 1.25" fitting w/ 3/4" fpt. I rigged it up to my cordless drill, and filed it down until it fit inside the 1.5" pipe. I tapped the fitting into the return pipe, until it was a tight fit. I purchased a jandy ray-vac, which has 2 connector options, 1.5" or 3/4". I connected the 3/4" connector to my homemade fitting, and it worked perfectly.
It was a simple solution, but i wouldn't have thought of it without the help of this forum. Thanks for all your help.

gdubs

[Poconos]

Great.
I just love happy and cheap endings.
Al