Piping problem after Jandy salt system replacement

[Branjita]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. Please excuse my lack of knowledge of correct terms for PVC parts, but I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to discussing the pieces.

Overall problem: I can't figure out how to hook it back up the way it's supposed to be hooked up. I need ideas and advice.

I have a ~15,000 gallon salt water pool with attached hot tub/spa. This summer, I had to replace the old Jandy Aquapure (cell that converts salt water into chlorine) because it stopped producing chlorine.


I got the newer version of the Aquapure that I believe is made by Zodiac, and I installed it. It was longer than the old one, and had different style screw on couplers so I had to get rid of the old couplers and do a lot more work than I thought I'd have to do. I have a very limited amount of space, and basically no extra PVC pipe to work with. I had to deal with basically a bunch of couplers and no excess PVC pipe to glue new couplers to. I used a rubber sewer clamp because the coupler on the new cell is slightly bigger around than the old thing with the sensor hole I glued a plug into.


This worked fine all summer... until someone put it in Spa mode... and the sewer clamp blew off the end of the Aquapure making a small flood for about a minute until I shut it off.

I'd really like to be able to fix it right, because with winter on the way, if the spa triggers freeze protection, the pool is going to turn on, immediately blow the rubber off the cell, and I'm going to be dealing with a flooded situation in freezing temperatures. How can I fix it properly? I'm really having trouble figuring out a way to do it.

Here's what my idea was: I'd cut out the piece that the old sensor went into, and leave the big coupler that is glued to the Jandy Valve. Then I'd glue a 3-to-2-inch coupler that looks like a funnel to the weird coupler on the Jandy Valve, glue a very short piece of PVC to the black coupler on the Aquapure, and I'd be done. The problem with that is, the circumference of the weird coupler on the Jandy Valve is about 10 5/8" while the inner circumference on a 3-to-2-inch coupler I got at Lowes is around 11 inches in circumference. So it wouldn't fit. Not even close. Does a coupler in the size I need exist? What is it called? Where can I get one? Any online stores?


My second idea is: Since my other Jandy Valves all have pipes going INSIDE them, rather than AROUND them, it's possible that I could cut off part of the coupler, and stick 2" PVC or whatever size it needs to go inside it in there and just run the PVC to the cell. This is risky as I can't tell from videos I've taken if that Jandy Valve has ever had PVC glued to the inside of it or not.


Both ideas scare me though because if I screw up and have to replace the Jandy Valve, ALL of this will have to be redone too I bet.


What I ended up trying was some redneck engineering. What I did is I rolled a piece of thick copper scrap metal to be the same size around as the rubber sewer clamp and zip tied it to hold it on. I figured if the rubber couldn't expand, it couldn't blow off. I tried just that out, and my idea failed, because the cell just ends up backing off the rubber sewer clamp and flooding the backyard. I then tried adding zip ties between the sensor hole I plugged and the rubber sewer clamp in an effort to prevent the rubber from moving. It didn't work.


You can see it not work in this video I made. As soon as all of the air is bled out of the filter, the cell starts backing off, and I shut it off before it did so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzqRPlbatHQ

I really don't want to redneck engineer this anymore, can anyone help advise me on what piece(s) I can possibly buy to do this correctly and tell me what I should do?

[Branjita]

Can my topic please be moved into the proper section? And also, can my account be approved to have access to the other sections? Based on how few views and replies are on topics in this specific section, I don't think I'll have any help regarding what I should do until November 2036 and I really need to figure this out before winter arrives in 2 weeks. I was going to PM PoolDoc and ask for these permissions and move, but I don't apparently have PMing privileges.

[BigDave]

Patience, most of the country's closing thier pools now and things are pretty slow here.
PM doesn't work for anybody here. Ben will get to your post and registration at some point but he's got some other stuff going on and is a little backed up.

As for your plumbing, I think you've already prooved to yourself that bailing wire and duct tape aren't gonna cut it.
I've taken a good look at the pictures and (as you've noted) you'll have to replace the Jandy valve (at least the valve body) as well as the header (Tees strung together) on the left side of the valve and the capped Tee on the right side of the valve as well as the plumbing to the SWCG cell and probably the return valves as well.

If you're not comfortable with this much plumbing, you may want to hire someone to do it. If you are going to try it your self, let us know and we'll try to help.

[Branjita]

I just noticed I have two of the same pic in my first post.

"My second idea" should have this pic associated with it.

[PoolDoc]

I'll look at this, this evening. There aren't too many here who can help with your problem, besides me. (Among other things, I'm a "master plumber" -- that was my job when I got into the pool biz 25 years ago.)

But, quick fix: go buy 5 or 6 all stainless hose clamps that will fit the Fernco fitting. Open them fully, put them around the fitting and reconnect them. Space them evenly, with each clamp rotated 180 degrees from its neighbors, then snug them up.

While you're buying those see if you can get any Fernco Permalink clamps AND some 5/16 or larger *braided* solid nylon rope. If the Proflex will fit, they will not blow out from pressure, but you'll still need need the rope to create a 'hold-together' load. You can see what I'm talking about on this A-store page: http://astore.amazon.com/poolbooks?node=67

Unfortunately, to use the rope, you'll need to learn the bowline knot, the butterfly knot, and a modified Prussik knot to tension the rope properly. I can find YouTubes for that, but it will still require learning the knots. You can try and see if you can accomplish the same thing with some 6 - 9 foot 1" wide load binders or straps.

But you will have to bind the ends of the line there: no neoprene clamp will reliably hold against the blow-apart pressure that is tending to slide the pipes out of the clamp.

[PoolDoc]

Just got back, and had a bit of time to go through your pictures more carefully -- just using the load binder or rope may solve your immediate problem. Long term, unsupported Fernco couplings tend to bulge and eventually fail, so you still need a better coupling or reinforcement, there.

Pics archived.

[Branjita]

Thanks for the reply Pooldoc, I coincidentally had a pool plumber come and fix it the other day for $94, which was a lot lower than I thought it would be. I watched him do it. He used a special PVC piece that fit over some of the other PVC, which he said was a piece that the average consumer wouldn't be able to get because it was a size that isn't sold at Lowe's or Home Depot. Other than that, everything else was pretty standard and do-able. I was impressed that he was fearless in doing it, and that obviously came from experience. He had to redo things a bit from cutting a bit too much off and a bit too little off a couple times, but that's what comes with fearlessness and diving right in. He said next time a repair has to be made, if one has to be made, it's likely all the stuff that goes into the ground will have to be redone along with the Jandy valve (because it has already been plumbed one time on the inside and currently plumbed on the outside), but at least that hopefully won't be for awhile or ever. As long as Zodiac keeps making Aquapures the same size and DOESN'T change the size or way the couplings attach, then I might never have any issues installing a replacement in the next ~5 years.

I'll take a pic in awhile of the finished work and add it tomorrow when I'm on the computer again.

[PoolDoc]

He said next time a repair has to be made, if one has to be made, it's likely all the stuff that goes into the ground will have to be redone along with the Jandy valve.

Yeah. It's been my practice, for some years, for my first connection out of the ground to be a male/female pair, and then to use unions and threaded fittings where possible. Doing so makes repairs and updates much, much easier, but it's a concept 99% of the builders out there are not interested in.

Glad you got your problem solved. $94 sounds very reasonable, for a fairly tricky repair.

[BigDave]

If you have a chance, would you send a picture of what your plumber did?

[Branjita]

Here are the finished pictures. I've only briefly tested it in spa mode while the plumber was still here, but it did not leak. It's run for several days now in pool mode without leaking. I'll test it again in spa mode (and longer) when we have warmer temperatures later this week. Right now we're expecting a cold front tonight and I don't want it potentially busting when it'll be in the 20s tonight.