hard plumbing return pump?

[Skeeter7424]

trying to pick some of the plumbers/people who have done this type of thing. this is my first sump re-design, and i am redoing the plumbing of my sump with new pvc. what i am wondering is do people plumb there return pumps with pvc, or do you always put a piece of soft rubber hose somewhere in it? i am set up right now to hard plumb everything, but upon looking at it further, i feel that putting even a 1.5' section of soft line in there, that it will allow for some flexibility, and the ability to remove the return pump shpould the need arise. thanks for any input that you guys have

cheers
jordan

 

[MikeG]

I like to put a small piece of spa flex in the line right at the return pump to reduce vibration, not necessary though. The one thing I always do is put true union ball valves before and after the pump so I can take it off line without draining anything other than the water that is in the pump itself.

 

[Skeeter7424]

im going to do both of those things. didnt think about the ball valve on the return side. i have one on the down side into the refuge so that i can control flow between that and the skimmer chamber. thanks mike

 

[Skeeter7424]

also i am running a mag9 pump, so it is submerged. there is only an "out" line on this pump.

 

[MikeG]

Not really as important for you but just to throw it out there as well so you can give it some thought. I also do this in case of emergencies. If I am not around, someone can easily shut off the ball valve on either side of the pump and take it out. I go one step further to protect myself in emergencies

Can you see what it is here?

I always have a spare pump with unions connected so someone can just close ball valves take a broken pump out and replace with a new one then reopen ball valves.

Try to plan easy access to things like this when you can and you will likely have less disasters.

 

[pallobi]

Try to plan easy access to things like this when you can and you will likely have less disasters.

+1

 

[Skeeter7424]

yup, that right there is what i was visualizing while staring at my sump just now. i said to myself "now if i hard plumb all of this, and this pump craps out on me, NOW what do i do? cut a piece of pipe inside this stand, go get a union, grab a new pump replumb the new pump, wait for the cement to dry, then fire it up?!..." so i will be installing a 9" piece of flex pipe between the fitting on my pump and the piece of PVC that is above it. again, i will have another pump on standby so that it will be as simple as removing one hose clamp, remove pump, reinstal new pump, tighten hose clamp, plug in...

cheers, thanks for the advice
jordan