Peristaltic pump information moved from Chlorine forum

[fcfrey]

Now for some of the installation. A storm is coming so it may be short.

Hooking up the plumbing is pretty straightforward. The peristaltic pump, by its very nature will not back feed. In addition the injection port I used has a "Pop-it" type check valve built in. It works by actually requiring a greater pressure from the pump than on the other side in order to open and since it only goes one way it acts as a check valve. If the tubing comes loose or breaks the only consequence will be to pump the injection solution on to the ground at the rate the pump is set for.

Installing the port was only challenging because I wanted to locate it as far away from the other systems as possible. Definitely as far downstream of other chemical feed devises (erosion feeders etc,). I also wanted it to be out of the way so the port didn't get damaged. The port was 1/4 inch male pipe thread so I had to drill a hole of the proper size to accept the 1/4" pipe tap, in this case that drill size is 7/16". I also chose a location where I had multiple layers of PVC pipe to drill through (actually 3 fitting thickness). This gave a broad surface to tap and seal with Teflon tape.

The tubing to the pump and tank was just a matter of hooking up the tubing.
The only caution is to hook the tubing up to the proper sides (in and out).

Your local building code may require you to have a licensed electrician do the electrical work. Check the code in your area!!

The electrical was only challenging because everything beyond the breaker box at pool side is 220 VAC 2 wire with a ground. The pump was 110 VAC so there had to be a neutral. I have to preach a bit of National Electrical Code at this point. I'm not yelling but ----- NEUTRAL IS NOT GROUND. YOU MUST HAVE A NEUTRAL AND A GROUND. In addition NEC mandates NO OUTLETS WITHIN 10 FEET of the pool. I wanted to be able to unplug the pump and remove it for the winter and had the 10 feet from pool side. NEC also dictates these type things must be on a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) breaker. This could be a problem if your pump is not on a GFCI (I installed a GFCI breaker on the main line at the house when I put the pool in so I was covered on that aspect. Things become a lot more complicated if you don't have the proper electrical facilities available. I'll explain how to overcome these obstacles if someone cares.

I had to pull a neutral from the box to the peristaltic pump outlet. I used one side of the pump feed after the last switch in the circuit so that the only time the peristaltic pump runs is when the pool circulating pump is running. This avoids building up a concentration of bleach in the return line. There is a switch on the peristaltic pump just in case you want to it shut off.

That's about it for installation so now it's Q&A time.

Next installment I'll touch on calibration and operation.