sorry for repeating myself, i posted this in the "above ground pools" forum, but wasn't getting any advice so i moved it over here. sorry if i'm a little impatient, i'm just in a bit of a panic 'cuz this pool season is starting off pretty bad. i went to check my sand filter as i discussed in the forum i mentioned earlier, and now i think i'm screwed. i went to remove the "head assembly" from my filter to check the sand and found it hard to remove. i thought it was just stuck a little, so i pulled a little harder and finally got it off, but then i discovered why it was so hard to remove it. the pipe going down to the laterals is STUCK in the head assembly (don't know if "head assembly" is the proper term or not, but you get my drift,right?). while i was unknowingly pulling the laterals up through the sand, i broke one, which is no problem i suppose, as i can get a replacement, but what can i do to get the pipe going to the latereals un-stuck, so i can replace the sand and start over? why would it be stuck in the first place? am i just totally screwed here? has this happened to anyone else? this pool is already driving me crazy and i haven't even really STARTED yet. ARRRRRGH !!!