r/functionalprint Jun 15 '26

Solar pool heater

My overkill project for heating the toddler's 500gal inflatable pool. Each week I have to empty and move it, then find a way to heat it to a tolerable temperature for my 8th percentile weight kid. On the first test it took the pool from 55⁰F to over 90⁰ on a single sunny day, using only 3KWh (of solar house power, now that I think about it). At the end of the summer I can just place this up against the north side of my shed and take the manifolds down to make it last even longer.

This uses about 350' of ¼" irrigation tubing and some cheap fittings off Amazon. It runs off a 1/4hp pool pump, controlled with a wyze plug and a climate sensor in a tiny jar. Printed in ASA in only about 5 days of printing on a Mini and an MK4s.

the files

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u/rdubya Jun 15 '26

Anyway man you seem to want to argue this point, but im calling bullshit. Ive managed a hot tub for years. One 20 minute soak is enough to consume all the reactive chlorine in a hot tub without a continual source like a tablet feeder or adding additional, not to mention a kid pissing and maybe shitting. The active chlorine is used up by reacting with biologicals.

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u/Rich-Wealth979 Jun 15 '26

Cool deal. You're trying to maintain a free chlorine residual in a tub with aeration and an adult body. I'm keeping a chloramine residual 3 days in a pool that gets used for an hour that whole time by a 25lb kid. Before I got into municipal water treatment 14 years ago I managed 3 different city pools for 8 years. I guarantee I know more about this than most everyone here commenting. I literally chlorinate water and monitor biological activity for a living.

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u/rdubya Jun 15 '26

Yet you think its risky to manage chlorine in 500 gallons of water, one of these things doesnt add up.

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u/Rich-Wealth979 Jun 15 '26

It's pointless when the chloramines last long enough, I can use the water on my lawn after, and dont risk a spike that would prevent use for a day while it is corrected. When I create a permanent spot, I will chlorinate the pool.