It's been a few years since I've changed anything, so it was about time.
I got the itch for a cartridge filter and wanted a 2-speed pump anyway, so I figured that I'd just get both.
After some research I ran across the Waterway 200 sqft cartridge filter and 2hp 2-speed pump combo. I looked around several places and Inyo Pools had the best price. I contacted them, asked a few questions, and they responded quickly, and the new pump and filter was on the way. there's not a lot to say about the buying experience because it was so flawless. One thing I will say is that after a few days Patrick emailed me and asked if I'd received the filter and if I needed anything from them. I was impressed.
Since it was a combo pump and filter it was large enough that it had to ship by truck. Since I live in a very rural area truck shipments can be a challenge. It took a few days, but the trucking company finally called to arrange delivery. The driver called and I explained how to get to the house and he promptly told me that he wouldn't deliver there, even though I explained to him that I had 5 acres that he could turn around in. He finally agreed to back down my road (which is ¼ mile long) and deliver the unit, even though I assured him that I had several semi loads of steel delivered and they all turned around in the field. While I would have certainly liked to have seen him try to back down ¼ mile of curvy road with ditches on both sides, I got to feeling sorry for him and called him and told him I'd bring my tractor with forks on it to the nearest gas station (about ½ mile away) and we could unload it there (I needed diesel in the tractor anyway). I did let him sweat a little, because I let him get about 5 miles from the house before I called him.
I have to give the trucking line and the packers of the crate credit. There wasn't a single scratch or dent on the outside of the box when we took it off the truck.
Now it's on the tractor and on the way home. I made it over the dale and through the woods (oh wait, that's another story). Anyway I made it home with it fine.
Now to uninstall the sand filter. Do you know how MUCH a full sand filter weighs??? Good thing I got a tractor! I unhooked the plumbing & electric and removed the pump and filter using wide nylon straps. Lets just say that it went as well as could be expected. It's now sitting in the yard waiting on me to unload all the sand.
Now came time to install the cartridge filter and pump. Come to find out it wasn't nearly as heavy as the bill of lading said it was. I installed the base and then assembled the filter and sat it on the base. I then installed the pump, and low and behold the suction lined up perfectly with the plumbing from the other pump. So I screwed the fitting from the old pump and screwed it into the new pump and made the union up. Then I coupled and tightened the discharge union between the pump and filer.
Now for the return plumbing. Of course the sand filter outlet is at the top of the filter and the cartridge filter outlet is at the bottom. Not to worry. With my trusty vibrasaw and some PVC fittings, I sawed her off and oops, guess where the valve was? Yep in the part I just sawed off! So now water is flowing out the cut off pipe. I had a PVC threaded plug handy so I went to the pool and unscrewed the eyeball fitting and installed the plug. There was only a few inches of water for me to stand in, but I finished rerouting it. And yeah, I installed a new valve. All-in-all it took me about an hour to get the new filter installed.
Now, all proud of myself, I opened the valves, and between the pump and strainer basket was a drip. I got out my trusty channel-lock 460's and tightened it up gently. Still dripping, so I tightened it a little more. Got it down to about a drip a minute and decided to deal with it later. So I hooked up the pump and turned it on. And yes, I did remember to remove the plug from the return fitting. On high there is gusher of water out the return, and even on low there's more flow than I thought there would be.
Now back to that annoying drip. I had let it run for a few hours and I went back out to check it and it was still dripping of course. I decided to shut it down and open up the basket because I saw something odd in it. I stopped the pump, closed the valves and drained the pump basket and opened it up. Guess what I saw? Yep sitting there as pretty as you please, a shiny new union gasket! After I slapped myself in the head, I got out the trusty channel-locks again and unscrewed the union between the pump and basket and sure enough, no gasket. Installed the gasket and hand tightened the union, and opened the valves and low and behold, no leak!
It's been running a week or so and I love it. I run the pump on low 24 hours a day. Yeah I know it's overkill, but it's just as cheap to run it 24 hours a day as it was to the old pump 8 hours a day.
If you've made it to the end, bless your heart, cause that's one long rambling story. Now you know how I got my name!
I got the itch for a cartridge filter and wanted a 2-speed pump anyway, so I figured that I'd just get both.
After some research I ran across the Waterway 200 sqft cartridge filter and 2hp 2-speed pump combo. I looked around several places and Inyo Pools had the best price. I contacted them, asked a few questions, and they responded quickly, and the new pump and filter was on the way. there's not a lot to say about the buying experience because it was so flawless. One thing I will say is that after a few days Patrick emailed me and asked if I'd received the filter and if I needed anything from them. I was impressed.
Since it was a combo pump and filter it was large enough that it had to ship by truck. Since I live in a very rural area truck shipments can be a challenge. It took a few days, but the trucking company finally called to arrange delivery. The driver called and I explained how to get to the house and he promptly told me that he wouldn't deliver there, even though I explained to him that I had 5 acres that he could turn around in. He finally agreed to back down my road (which is ¼ mile long) and deliver the unit, even though I assured him that I had several semi loads of steel delivered and they all turned around in the field. While I would have certainly liked to have seen him try to back down ¼ mile of curvy road with ditches on both sides, I got to feeling sorry for him and called him and told him I'd bring my tractor with forks on it to the nearest gas station (about ½ mile away) and we could unload it there (I needed diesel in the tractor anyway). I did let him sweat a little, because I let him get about 5 miles from the house before I called him.
I have to give the trucking line and the packers of the crate credit. There wasn't a single scratch or dent on the outside of the box when we took it off the truck.
Now it's on the tractor and on the way home. I made it over the dale and through the woods (oh wait, that's another story). Anyway I made it home with it fine.
Now to uninstall the sand filter. Do you know how MUCH a full sand filter weighs??? Good thing I got a tractor! I unhooked the plumbing & electric and removed the pump and filter using wide nylon straps. Lets just say that it went as well as could be expected. It's now sitting in the yard waiting on me to unload all the sand.
Now came time to install the cartridge filter and pump. Come to find out it wasn't nearly as heavy as the bill of lading said it was. I installed the base and then assembled the filter and sat it on the base. I then installed the pump, and low and behold the suction lined up perfectly with the plumbing from the other pump. So I screwed the fitting from the old pump and screwed it into the new pump and made the union up. Then I coupled and tightened the discharge union between the pump and filer.
Now for the return plumbing. Of course the sand filter outlet is at the top of the filter and the cartridge filter outlet is at the bottom. Not to worry. With my trusty vibrasaw and some PVC fittings, I sawed her off and oops, guess where the valve was? Yep in the part I just sawed off! So now water is flowing out the cut off pipe. I had a PVC threaded plug handy so I went to the pool and unscrewed the eyeball fitting and installed the plug. There was only a few inches of water for me to stand in, but I finished rerouting it. And yeah, I installed a new valve. All-in-all it took me about an hour to get the new filter installed.
Now, all proud of myself, I opened the valves, and between the pump and strainer basket was a drip. I got out my trusty channel-lock 460's and tightened it up gently. Still dripping, so I tightened it a little more. Got it down to about a drip a minute and decided to deal with it later. So I hooked up the pump and turned it on. And yes, I did remember to remove the plug from the return fitting. On high there is gusher of water out the return, and even on low there's more flow than I thought there would be.
Now back to that annoying drip. I had let it run for a few hours and I went back out to check it and it was still dripping of course. I decided to shut it down and open up the basket because I saw something odd in it. I stopped the pump, closed the valves and drained the pump basket and opened it up. Guess what I saw? Yep sitting there as pretty as you please, a shiny new union gasket! After I slapped myself in the head, I got out the trusty channel-locks again and unscrewed the union between the pump and basket and sure enough, no gasket. Installed the gasket and hand tightened the union, and opened the valves and low and behold, no leak!
It's been running a week or so and I love it. I run the pump on low 24 hours a day. Yeah I know it's overkill, but it's just as cheap to run it 24 hours a day as it was to the old pump 8 hours a day.
If you've made it to the end, bless your heart, cause that's one long rambling story. Now you know how I got my name!
