Intex Sand Filter

[Orion0767]

Hi , I am new to the forum. I have a 24 Ft round Intex metal frame pool. We've had it about 3 years and this year decided to buy a sand filter so that we would not have to mess with the expense and trouble of the cartridges from previous summers. The pump is working great and I am pleased so far however ..... I am at a loss. How in the world do you vacuum with one of these ? We took off the over the wall skimmer that was used with the previous pump which was what was used for vacuuming. Where do you connect the vacuum ? Should we have left the wall skimmer attached and kept using it ? I am still fairly new to this. I am completely clueless. There were no type of instructions that came with the pump that explained how to address this . Please help

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, Orion0767

What are you using for a skimmer right now? If you just have the underwater suction port, I would go back to your skimmer and then use that for vacuuming. Another option would be to install a above ground pool skimmer to your pool then use a vacuum plate in that skimmer...but that is a bigger project.

 

[gtnos]

ill pipe in on this one..

i too had an issue with vacuuming my intex pool since intex doesnt provide a way to do it. i just got my pool and just got my new sandfilter pump too. im waiting for my through wall skimmer in mail so in the meantime, i have had to get inventive.

since you say you just bought the sandfilter pump, by any chance did it come with another inlet and outlet valve assembly, causing you to have EXTRA parts that you dont need? if your pool and inlets are like mine, that eyeball return cover will also thread onto your inlet. if so, here is what you can do with that extra eyeball port cover....

1. unscrew the eyeball port cover. im talking about this part

[attachment=0:2kbi8f8r]eye.JPG[/attachment:2kbi8f8r]

2. got a holesaw for your drill? i believe it was a 1 1/2 inch one i used. anyway, from the outside of the eyeball cut out the eyeball from the cover, leaving a hole where the eyeball was. you are NOT just drilling out the eyeball, you are also drilling out that ring around it. BTW, it wont unscrew, its glued. so drill it.

3. go to home depot and get this

[attachment=1:2kbi8f8r]adapter.jpg[/attachment:2kbi8f8r]

screw it into the hole you just cut. (you may have to cut or file the hole a little. you want a tight fit)

4. now you have a homemade intex pool vac adapter that will screw onto your pools inlet cover. now simply connect your pool vac and you are in business!

this has worked perfect for me as i await my hayward skimmer....

 

[Orion0767]

Well , that's the thing. There is no skimmer. There is only the underwater suction port. I kept telling my husband that this wasn't going to work for us over and over. Last night, we simply removed the new hardware and replaced it with the old for the intake and reconnected the old skimmer. We lost a lot of water but my mind is at ease knowing that I know I can keep it clean now. I guess I was just over thinking the whole situation and we should have simply left the intake as is when we installed the new pump. Live and learn, I guess .... Just a bit frustrating but all is working well so far. Thanks for the input !