How to connect Intex pipes to standard pool pipes

Intex make great above ground swimming pools, the best on the market, which is why PoolStore only sell Intex pools but the pipes that come with the pools are a non-standard type and if you ever want to connect any non-intex item to your pool, like a heater for example, you will have to change from the Intex pipes to standard swimming pool pipes. This article will help you to do that.

Intex pools have two sizes of pipe. 1.25 inch for their smaller pools and 1.5 inch for their bigger pools.

Standard swimming pool pipe is 1.5 inch class C ABS pipe and is usually white. There is also PVC pipe and that is usually grey in colour. Because pool pipes are 1.5 inch it makes it very difficult to attach the 1.25 inch pipe work to it but the 1.5 inch pipe is fairly easy.

What you need is a 1.5 inch hose tail. There are two types, threaded and plain.

The first thing to note is that the smooth end of the Intex pipe will not fit in to anything other than another Intex fitting. You will have to cut it off. The hose tail will push fit in to the cut end of the intex pipe but it will not be water tight. You can put a jubilee clip on it but because of the ridges in the Intex pipe it will not squeeze down tight. It will need to be sealed with a bathroom type mastic sealant.

Having got the Intex pipe on to the hose tail you can now connect to standard swimming pool pipe and connections. You can screw in to a female thread with the threaded hose tail or glue on to any plain ended fitting with the plain hose tail.

For example if you were installing an EcoWarm heat pump, they have 1.5 inch female threads on their inlet and outlet. We would recommend putting a threaded union in to the heat pump and then glue the plain hose tail in to the plain end of the union. Then you can unscrew the union at any time to isolate the heat pump.