Pool Equipment Installed Correctly - Pool Equipment Installation Tips 

A sacrificial anode works to protect metal component within the pool system by providing a less noble metal which will decay, and in tuen provide cathodic protection to the more noble metal pool components. All pools have salt in the water, either from being a "salt water pool" or just from using regular chlorine, which is all salt based, so all pool water will have a measurable salt level, but also a measurable TDS level. The more easily that electricity can travel through the water, the more activity from galvanic corrosion. Instead of letting these destructive, albeit tiny currents, destroy random things in the pool, you give it something in particular to destroy, something that is easily replaceable. All pools should have a sacrificial anode.

Depends on the strength of the spring. It will have a pounds rating for the spring, for example .5 lbs, 1 lbs, 2 lbs, 5 lbs. Smaller is better as this would be less of a problem for a VS pump at low speeds.

Thanks for the invite - I get a lot of these lol! I am sorry to say that you have fallen into a normal trap. Pools are not that hard to work on and lots of people call themselves pool professionals, however it is only the people with the most knowledge about these systems that design with efficiency in mind. It sounds like your pool guy still has a lot of learning to do.

@@Swimmingpoolsteve thank you for the reply feel honored that you replied wish I could have someone like you with your knowledge to fix my pool correctly and not look for quick and easy/lazy way out... again thank you for your reply...DC

Sure, here is an article that I wrote that talks about common errors people make with friction loss values: www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/pages/friction-loss.html

This is true, but as a pool builder myself this all boils down to knowing what you need and telling your customers that is what it takes to do the job properly.

I built My own pool system basically I have an above ground intex 5000 gallon pool And basically kept going green because they only had a 1000 gallon per hour pump on it with the sand filters which I hate so basically I bought a 1988 Hayward C 800 cartridge filter and I like the old Hayward stuff so I specifically got that and I wanted one of the best pumps ever built a starite duraglass thats over 20 years old Bought a fresh cartridge for it works perfect I'm very skeptical about variable speed pumps because they're just so high to purchase and if I'm interested in wanting a variable speed pump I was just convert my Dura glass into a variable speed

Yes it is common. While many installers use regular gray PVC glue for this, you are actually supposed to use a CPVC transition glue (#724 - the orange one) for making this connection. To see a breakdown of the commonly used PVC glues you can see them all listed here along with their intended application: www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/pages/glue-connections.html

Steve,Steve, I used a hot blue glue (Christy's) which was approved for all excepte pex, and I used CPVC 8" nipples on my heater's and Pumps, CPVC has a higher melting temp or warping and I'm not a fan of draining water thru circ pump,too easy to forget to rotate suction to main drain or drain water down below skimmer mouth,but a clean looking job for sure and a good video Steve Scott Aquavit Pool & Spa

Flex is used in areas with very cold winters, but even still everything above ground should be rigid because it looks better and is superior pipe overall.

@@Swimmingpoolsteve , quick, thank you! What about climates like upper New York State and southern Ontario, Canada, that get about 4 feet of frost? Insulation as described? For health reasons, I don't like the idea of water, especially chlorinated water, passing through soft-plastic tubing over time.

It is still PVC its just black, the union comes with the HAYWARD heater, its just to match the heater

The 90 degree turn in a sweep is more gradual, resulting in less friction for the water passing through and theoretically more flow (for no/negligible cost difference).

Those are normal 90s they’re not sweep Sweep 90s are longer and more gradual than the standard

Because it's useless

@@MrBmxbrawlerGot it! I'll relay your opinion to the folks that write the building codes for HVHZ’s so they can change them.

Rarely is pool gear secured to the slab here. In places where hurricanes are prevalent there's usually some sort of hardware with things like heat pumps to secure them. Only time I've really seen stuff secured is to a plastic "base" but honestly the base weighs maybe 2 or 3 lbs at best and that'd wind up airborne along with the other stuff. Also factor in most support equipment gets serviced and replaced often and the form factor is always different. Really old systems used to be bolted down but when a pump broke it was often a nightmare grinding off old rusted bolts.

This article explains it in more detail: www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/pages/friction-loss.html

This is from another comment on this page about zoning in the heater: I agree it should have one. From an operators perspective. In this particular case I can tell you what happened which is there is a bylaw where this pool it, and the pool heater does not need a pressure relief valve (PRV) if the plumbing is straight in and straight out. If you zone in the heater with a bypass, now the PRV is required on the heater, and they are over $100. The additional valves needed, plus hte cost of the PRV were too much for this pool owner. I am not saying any of this is good, just providing some real world context as to why you might see something like this, even commonly. I agree with you 100% this heater, and every heater, needs to be zoned in. What would you do if you accidentally put 10x too much chlorine or accidentally dropped your pH to 5.0? The first thing I would do would be to take my heater offline (and probably drain it to make sure it was not holding that bad water) but if you are not zoned in for the heater then your heater WILL take damage from this.

Spring loaded door on them

@@jasoncarter3921 pretty sure the weight of the water keeps the valve open allowing chlorine to flow back into the heater.

The straight run before the pump inlet reduces water turbulence and improves pump efficiency. General rule of thumb is 5x pipe diameter in that straight run, so 7.5 inches for 1.5 inch PVC, 10 inches for 2 inch PVC

Common sense

BUSTED! Actually there is no such a thing as a contractors licence for pools where I live, so your comment does not apply. Also, for what it is worth, none of this was installed by me, and I was invited by the new pool owner to come in and critique the quality of their installation.

No "license" here in NJ either, however there is a the contractors registration act which came into existence about 10 years ago and is required by all contractors to possess. There was talk about making pool pros licensed but honestly I think that would reduce competition and likely drive the price way up. It's also a jack of all trades business, installing a liner is very different than plumbing or doing electrical.

That is the code in Canada. Unshielded stranded but one size up from USA code size

When a sand filter takes the debris out of the water, the debris accumulates on top of the sand. Backwashing reverses the flow of water through the filter and washes that debris out the waste line. A cartridge filter does not require backwashing, but it does require that you open the filter and manually clean the cartridges periodically. It usually takes a week or two for a sand filter to build enough pressure to warranty backwashing. A cartridge filter can run for months before the pressure increases 7PSI and you need to clean them.

Swimming Pool Steve, The reason I asked was, I wished my cartridge filter had a direct to waste, is so I could not run my winter kit through the filters when I first open the pool. Thanks for answering, that makes sense.

You are looking for a gas technician. Look under gas line installers, gas heater installers etc. Not all will do pool heaters as many will only work on house furnaces and stoves, water heaters etc. The pool company will need to hook up the water, the electrician will need to run a circuit to control your heater, but the gasfitter will run the lines, install the heater and fire it up. Usually the pool company loves to get the heater sale if possible and lets the gasfitter only get the gas line installation part of the contract. Strange they did not jump all over the opportunity to sell you a heater.

I've bought an electric heater, electrician will only run the power not the PVC lines

That would be pretty normal. Can you confirm, are you talking about an electric heat pump, or an electric heating element style heater? Either way, it is pretty common to have the pool company make the water connections for you. Just ask the pool company how much they would charge to connect the plumbing to your new heater.

much better

I agree it should have one. From an operators perspective. In this particular case I can tell you what happened which is there is a bylaw where this pool it, and the pool heater does not need a pressure relief valve (PRV) if the plumbing is straight in and straight out. If you zone in the heater with a bypass, now the PRV is required on the heater, and they are over $100. The additional valves needed, plus hte cost of the PRV were too much for this pool owner. I am not saying any of this is good, just providing some real world context as to why you might see something like this, even commonly. I agree with you 100% this heater, and every heater, needs to be zoned in. What would you do if you accidentally put 10x too much chlorine or accidentally dropped your pH to 5.0? The first thing I would do would be to take my heater offline (and probably drain it to make sure it was not holding that bad water) but if you are not zoned in for the heater then your heater WILL take damage from this.

I am not. I am currently located in Ontario Canada.

what part of ontario

Painting of the pool pipes to protect from UV damage is a regional code. In most of the USA and in all of Canada painting the pipes is not required by any code, and almost unheard of.

BOOOOOOOO! How can you say there is nothing wrong with designing a system piece by piece that has four times the flow restriction of smarter options? Designing with efficiency is important. Unless you want to buy a Honda Civic that gets one mile per gallon because the designer could not be bothered to learn about how to effectively build an efficient product?

Are you talking about the zinc sacrificial anode installed right next to the heater? That is a sacrificial anode my friend.

Swimming Pool Steve How would I use zinc sacrificial anode in an above ground pool and where do I find it?

Its not me that decided street elbows are 4x the flow restriction (efficiency loss) as compared to a sweep elbow. You are welcome to install plumbing systems that are as inefficient as you like...but the reality is that from a design and efficiency perspective street elbows are a poor choice. If you don't care about efficiency or the longevity of your installations then by all means install whatever stuff you like.

Actually the numbers look more like cartridge filters 5 to 15 microns and sand filters 15 to 30 microns, so yes there is a three times spread between how effective each are. Also this is old news, nobody is arguing that sand filters are better than cartridge filters. Sand is the most economic entry level pool filter you can get. They work fine, and are super popular...but nowhere near to as good as a cartridge filter. Both of these fall short ofthe potential of DE filters, but DE has the health ramification of needing DE powder and handling DE powder. In some areas that is fine, but some areas have strict restrictions on this type of DE powder so there are uncommon in those places. Another thing you are not appreciating is that sand works well as a filter due to the rough and jagged shape to the sand. Over time the sand rounds and channels develop and the quality of filtration goes down dramatically. It is very common to have older sand filters which are closer to the 50 to 100 micron or more size due to these issues with the filter medium. In total, cartridge filters cost three times as much money and can filter three times smaller debris than even the best sand filter. There is also no backwash needed for cartridge filters so in areas where water conservation is paramount then you can forget about sand filters altogether.

@@Swimmingpoolsteve I've always liked putting a small cartridge filter AFTER the sand filter so it doesn't require as many cleanings. Haven't done one in awhile though.