Vacuuming with an Intex Sand Filter

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I don't know if a filter that size has the power to run a vacuum. Intex makes their skimmers and hoses non-standard so they can sell more accessories. If they don't sell a vacuum for it odds are it is underpowered for that use. My reasoning being they would sell it if it could do it.

That being said, if you could jury-rig the standard vac hose to it it would do something. It might work sorta well, might work not well. Do you have any way to put it over the intake directly at the pump and tighten it enough to form a seal?
 
The Intex vacuum and hose works. No doubt you can find a way to adapt a regular vacuum hose to the Intex skimmer. I have managed things like that by forming a silicone baking sheet into a cone shape and using that to seal dis-similar parts together
 
JasonLion said:
The Intex vacuum and hose works. No doubt you can find a way to adapt a regular vacuum hose to the Intex skimmer. I have managed things like that by forming a silicone baking sheet into a cone shape and using that to seal dis-similar parts together
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Are you talking about the vacuum that comes with the pool that runs off of a garden hose? That thing is lame LOL! I bought an Aqua broom and I have to say I do not love it. It's okay for a little dirt, but it just won't get up large amount of junk I get in my pool from the trees and storms we have here.
After searching some of the other threads I found a link to a site that sells an adapter that will let me plug a vacuum hose into the suction part of the filter...
 
So the intex garden hose vacuum doesn't work very well. It can be a lot better and pumps 1000 but preferably 1500gph or more can vacuum a pool pretty well. The vacuum head intex sends for the garden hose is not that bad for a small pool but it needs to be connected to the pump not the garden hose. Most of us that buy an intex also purchase a larger pump and by the time everything is together and running we have a lot of left over pieces and left over hoses. I ended up with these adapters left over.
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I stripped the rubber sleeve and the nut off of it.
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Next I cut out a section of the rubber sleeve and stretched it over the end of the adapter. It's not easy. Sorry bout the picture quality.
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Then I shoved (really hard) the adapter into the vac head. Finish up by shoving (kind of hard) an extra hose into the adapter.
Tada!
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I have hoses from last years small blue blob pool, hoses that came with the pump that came with this pool, extra hoses from the salt generator filter package and the hose that connects to the skimmer. I simply shoved each section of hose into another and gave each joint a few wraps with vinyl tape but I think they would stay together just fine without it. It's enough hose to reach the farthest part of the pool.

To vacuum to filter I simply use the included skimmer fitting
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A problem arose in that the water inlet has a grill over it and leaves and debris would clog it up very quickly. solution was use the leaf skimmer before vacuuming to remove all but the smallest pieces of leaves and to remove the grill. I couldn't figure out a good way to do it underwater. My dremmel tool probably wouldn't like being submerged and I was afraid to use any kind of saw so I ended up simply breaking each little vane off of the grill with a needle nose pliers. It's not a neat job and I'm not proud of my craftsmanship but it works.
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I drilled a bunch of holes into this extra cover and use it to safely cover the hole whenever the skimmer spear is not installed.
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It all works very well and it only cost a little vinyl tape and a couple of hours. I vacuum about once a week and am delighted every time with how well the intex vac head now cleans the pool.
 
Anyone know where I could buy a standard vacuum head? Dad gave me a hose. He lost the head. It is made for a standard pool (dunno the size).

I am getting a new Intex sand filter and would like to use it for vacuuming if possible, but I don't want to buy the Intex vac system. A head might be cheaper, but I don't know. Adapting won't be an issue, I'm sure H can figure it out.

It'd be nice if dad could locate the head but I doubt it'll happen soon. He already looked and sent H home with just the dirty hose. Apparently he thought he would need it for his spa, but never used it. Thus... lost.

I am also considering the Heritage wide mouth through wall skimmer but have not decided on it yet. I suppose this would handle any adapting issues.
 
If you have the Intex skimmer, a 1.5" vacuum hose should fit nicely over the adapter that attaches the skimmer hose to the through-the-wall adapter. It is the adapter in the 5th picture in docchop1's post above. A 1.25" vac hose with a soft cuff can also be pressed inside it.
 

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One more thing. As is the case with everything Intex, the pole is not standard size (at least mine isn't). So you will need a new pole or do some modifications to make a standard vac head work with the Intex pole.
 
I have the 18 x 48 pool--krystal clear salt water system cs8110--krystal clear sand filter 14" sf15110 these were bought seperate not one unit- how and what all do i hook the the vaccum up to that came with the pool--does it go thru the salt water system with it turned on or off--what position is the sand filter on when i vaccum--
 
I know this thread is old, but someone else may come looking for the ideas posted here. I thought I would add my own.
I don't have a sand filter, but I don't see why what I bought wouldn't work with one. It's Kokido Scooba vacuum. 39.00 at Kmart/Sears.

Right now, I have a 530 gph filter pump on my 10'x 30" Intex Metal Frame pool and this thing did the job. Sand and all. I'll have a 1000 gph pump by next weekend and I can't imagine the job it will do then.

Without a doubt, this thing is pretty flimsy. The purchase price is probably way more than it's really worth. It wouldn't take much to break it. I wouldn't let my kid use it, unless you can trust your kid to be gentle with it and not be all willy nilly about it. And the filter bag could be finer to catch even more sand, but that's easily fixed with a cut off nylon sock(not stockings/panyhose) fit inside the filter bag. But I tried 2 different Ventri Vacs and a vac head attached by vac hose directly to my filter. This came with a few different types of adapters. Read some complaints from some people that none of the adapters fit their outlets. I had no issues. It didn't grab a leaf from the bottom of the pool but I suppose that to be because of the 530 gph.

I'm sure I could adapt this to work with the weighted vac head too, since that has a brush on it.

I like it. And I recommend it to Intex and Intex type pool owners. But do some research first to make sure it's going to fit your type of pool first!
 
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