Thinking about adding an autofill valve, worth the hassle

Started by Jason Okafor · · 2 replies
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#1
Been topping off my pool by hose every week or so all summer, vinyl liner so I'm always a little paranoid about the water line dropping too far and stressing the seams. Looking at just plumbing in a simple float valve tied into the fill line instead of babysitting it. Anyone done this on a vinyl liner setup themselves or is this one of those jobs where you just call a plumber for the water line tie in. Not trying to get fancy, just want it to shut off on its own so I stop forgetting and coming home to a pool six inches low. For what it's worth I'll DIY almost anything but water lines into the house make me nervous. Curious if the ones from the big box are decent or if I'm better off finding a legit pool specific setup, and how bad the install actually is for a guy who's only ever messed with pad plumbing.

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#2
Never done the autofill thing myself since the spool's small enough I just eyeball it off the solar cover corners, but a buddy with a vinyl liner did the exact water line tie in you're describing and said the pool side plumbing was easy, the part that made him nervous was the same as you, tapping into the house line. He ended up having a plumber do just that one connection, like an hour of labor, and ran his own PVC from there to the float valve himself. Honestly that split seems like the smart move, keeps you from second guessing a fitting that's inside your wall somewhere.
#3
That split derek's buddy did is exactly right, but before any of that, do you know your static water pressure at the hose bib, psi wise. Autofill valves are just glorified float valves so if your house side is running high you'll want a way to knock it down before it ever reaches the float or you'll be replacing washers constantly.