How To Repair Flexible Pvc Pool Pipe

Pool Plumbing leaks are one part of pool maintenance that makes many pool owners a little nervous, but making PVC plumbing repairs, or installing new or replacement equipment into the plumbing pipes is easy.

PVC repair tools and materials are simple too, everything you lot need is at any hardware or habitation store. We also have some mutual PVC fittings in our pool plumbing parts section.

Making your own pool plumbing repairs tin exist a simple weekend projection, keeping hundreds of dollars in your pocket! And despite the dramatic picture used here, most leaks in pool pipes are higher up the ground and hands accessible.

Fixing Pool Leaks:

Pool Leaks come in many forms. From the small baste, to the big gusher. For small drips, I'yard often heard to say "It won't drain the pool!", and unless it'south dripping onto the motor, or causing bug, the slow drip on a plumbing fitting or boring drip from the pump – won't amount to whatsoever noticeable water loss in the puddle, and usually won't go any worse.

Merely larger pool plumbing leaks can crusade bug and need to be fixed, past replacing bad glue joints or cracked fittings – by cutting out the old and gluing in the new PVC pipe and fittings.

Suction Side Leaks

The suction side refers to all the plumbing Earlier the pool pump impeller, which carries water under suction or vacuum. This is the skimmer and main drain suction pipes, fittings and valves, which terminate in the front end of the pump. A leak on the suction side will draw air into the pipes when the pump is on, and leak water out (commonly) when the pump is off. The well-nigh common suction side problem is a shrunken fitting, the threaded PVC fitting that screws into the front end of the pump. And then mutual that nosotros've done a whole blog post on pool pump plumbing fixtures repair. Suction side leaks can exist patched with puddle putty or silicone for a temporary repair, but will normally need to exist cut out and replaced with new piping or fittings – for best results.

Suction side valves can be croaky or damaged, or leaky – eventually needing replacement. But it can be difficult to just supervene upon one valve on the suction side, oftentimes it'southward necessary to supervene upon the entire suction manifold, or well-nigh of the pipes from the ground upward, into the pump. It may exist considering all of the Tees and 90's are bumped against each other, or additional PVC fittings from previous pipage and plumbing fixtures repairs tin can make futurity repairs incommunicable.

Pressure Side Leaks

Afterwards the impeller, the water flows under force per unit area, and whatsoever tiny scissure or void will leak water when the pump is running, and ofttimes when the pump is off also. Pool equipment (pump, filter, heater, chlorinator) can all leak water from fourth dimension to time, simply today nosotros are talking abou leaks on the plumbing or pipes and fittings that connect the pool and all of the pool equipment. The most common puddle plumbing leaks on the pressure level side are mucilage joints (where a pipe is glued to a fitting, like an MTA, 90°, 45° or coupling), or threaded joints, where PVC male and female connections are made.

Being under pressure, there is no way to patch an inground pool plumbing leak on the force per unit area side. You can't wrap it with leak-stopping record, and pouring epoxy over the area won't work either. Wrap it a hundred times with duct record and y'all will ho-hum the leak, just it's still gonna leak! Suction side leaks tin be patched with pool putty, or other sealants on the outside of the pipe, considering the sealant is fatigued into the fissure under suction. But pressure side puddle leak repairs cannot be patched finer from the outside (or from the within!), and need to be cut out and replaced.

Underground Leaks

Pool pipes that are hugger-mugger are not usually the cause of pool leaks, but they can exist broken from freeze damage, tree roots, settling decks or shifting soils. Flex piping (Flexible PVC pipe) can be damaged by earwigs or chlorine, and is non recommended for underground utilise. Replacing underground flex PVC piping with rigid PVC pipe is a common repair on 30 year old pools, so common that we've done a whole weblog post on flex piping skimmer repair.

If you lot are certain that the leak is underground, the next usual pace is to pressure examination the suspected line(s), and and then mind with specialized equipment, to make up one's mind the exact location of the leak. Alternatively, if the length of pipe run is very brusk, or if the entire pipe is badly damaged, you can choose to replace the entire pipe and abandon the old pipe, leaving it in the ground.

For pools with a short pool deck apron (3-4 ft width), you may choose the option of tunneling under the deck, every bit opposed to cutting the deck and digging. In a few hours of digging, you tin take the skimmer pipes completely unearthed, or dig up where a return line meets the puddle wall. If you lot dig upwardly enough dirt under the deck to expose the underside, use heavy timbers cut to size, to support the pool deck. If y'all but betrayal 1-2 anxiety of deck, you may not need supports.

Alternatively, the other pick is to cut the pool deck with a concrete saw, bust upward the deck, dig out the dirt and expose the leaking pipe or cracked piping plumbing equipment. Either way, it's a lot of muddy piece of work – just if you're upwardly for information technology, read on.

How to Fix a Puddle Leak

Once a pool leak has been located and identified, either higher up ground or underground, the next step is to cut out the bad and replace with new. Before you intermission out the hacksaw or reciprocating saw to cut the pipe, make a solid plan of assault. For complicated repairs, make a diagram to annotation all fittings and equipment. For simple fitting replacement you'll need enough room to exist able to connect the new fitting to the pipe with a coupling. Make a solid plan of re-connection, before you lot start cutting the pipes.

When cutting the pipes, make a straight cut, and then clean upwards the cut edge with sandpaper or emory cloth. Remember to get out enough pipe to brand a solid connection, virtually ii inches.

You can pre-cutting pipe sections, but it's more authentic to cut the new PVC pipage pieces equally you demand them, so you tin measure again but before cutting. I add 1/2″ to my measures, because information technology's better to be too long than exist too short! And although clichè to say, Measure out Twice – Cut Once!

Employ PVC primer on pipe and fittings about 30 seconds before calculation copious amounts of fresh PVC mucilage. Primer cleans and softens the pipe, heating up the plastic to make a solvent weld. Keep a rag handy to quickly wipe upwardly any drips of mucilage later on you push the pipe deep into the fitting and hold information technology for 10 seconds.

When Gluing 90's and 45'southward , gum them in place with a length of PVC pipe inserted (dry out fit, non glued) into the other side. This helps y'all to become the angle correct, for the exact direction that the fitting needs to face up.

For threaded male PVC fittings, smear a silicone sealant like Blue RTV over the threads, and so wrap the threads several times with Teflon record, in a clockwise management (holding the threaded side of the fitting towards you). Tighten a threaded plumbing equipment in past mitt, and and so give it another 1 to i-ane/ii revolutions with large Aqueduct-Lok® type pliers.

Sacrifices: In many cases, to supplant a simple fitting, you may need to supersede other fittings that are in the way of making a new connection. Sometimes a cheque valve, Jandy valve or union needs to be sacrificed, in order to replace a unmarried leaking PVC fitting. Or you lot may demand to reinstall the chlorinator or other pool equipment plumbing.

Jandy valves can be saved, if y'all spend time with a hacksaw blade and small-scale screwdriver. When pipes are cut off correct off against a valve, the glued pipe is still inside the valve port. Cut the inside piping 2-3 times with a hacksaw blade (blade merely), and and then use a sharp flathead and small-scale hammer to chip out the white PVC piping, without gouging the valve. Another manner to save a Jandy Valve is to get over the outside with a 2in coupling, and so reduce the coupling back down to 1.5 inches with a reducer bushing.

The final connection that is made will be tight, and usually requires some bending of the pipes, or pushing of the equipment, to brand the final glue articulation connection. Pipes and equipment e'er have an inch or two of play in them, and then don't exist afraid to push and pull as needed, to make the final mucilage articulation.

OTHER Pool PLUMBING REPAIR TIPS

Don't reduce PVC pipe size with inserts or sleeves.
Use as few fittings as possible, avoid pipe turns.
Use Fresh medium or heavy trunk PVC gum.
Water and Glue don't mix! Always gum Dry pipes and fittings.
Use schedule 40, deep socket fittings, for pressure applications.
For pool plumbing parts not found at a Hardware shop, visit a Plumbing supplier.
Don't utilize flex PVC pipe underground!