New Pool Hook LOR for light Pump

[Guest guest]

When you say recirculating do you mean constantly taking in water from the pool, etc. and constantly releasing water back into the pool? In a typical setup with several fountain 'outlets' in series, would you have two valves for every 'outlet' then? What if you wanted to have say the 2nd and 5th 'outlets' in the series open at the same time? I am getting confused.


intake -- pump -- fountain --- fountain --- fountain --- exhaust

[Guest guest]

No expert but recirculation is what I would do. Otherwise the pump is going to be starting and stopping continually and you will have to wait wait while pressure is built before the fountain reaches full height.

[Guest guest]

Lets just use a simple example. Lets say you have a pump, whose output flow is matched to the fountain heads, and 3 fountain heads. If you have all the fountain heads open at one time then there is no problem, the the capacity of the pump output is matched by the water flow through the heads. When one of the heads closes the output from the pump, which remains constant, now has to flow through only two heads. A build-up of pressure starts to occur in the at the motor. Any of these three things would happen to relieve the pressure: the pump motor would burn out, the pipes would start to leak and eventually rupture, and/or the fountain heads would explode. Now to solve this, we would install a(some) valve(s) to keep the water-flow constant. So, if the water-flow from the pump is x, then the flow through each head is 1/3x. If we have 2 heads open, then the total flow is 2/3x, so the relief valve would let 1/3x out of the system. In a simple, diy system, there would be two valves for each head. One that would be connected to the head, and one that would be a relief. When the relief is on, the head would not be and visa-versa.

In more complex, professional systems, the valves are proportional and have to compensate for variable water flow, with multiple water-flow ratings.

[Guest guest]

They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so here is a picture. In the picture, each of the valves acts as a selector, sending the water to either the fountain head or the recirculation output. The recirculation output would simply let the water back into the pond.

Attached files

[Guest guest]

A picture is definitely worth a couple thousand words with me. I understand what you are saying now. Basically, just use four way solenoids...gotcha

[Guest guest]

I'd probably go with a Relief Valve at the end of the line. The pump runs continuously and you set the Relief Valve setpoint 10psi less than the pump's highest pressure (which it instantly reaches if all the valves are closed). So when no valves are open, the relief valve lifts and discharges back into the pool, keeping the pressure stable and the pump happy. When one or more valves open, the pressure will drop and the relief valve will close when if it drops below the "blowdown" point.

There are lots of relief valve types. Some work electrically and need a pressure sensor to control them, others use a smaller pilot valve to control the bigger valve, and some are just plain spring loaded lift valves (like the one on my pool cleaner outlet). Not all relief valves can handle long term relief.

[Guest guest]

Yeah, that would be better for larger systems (10+ heads). The ones professional water displays use are the same, except with an adjustible output.