Calling all PROS!! LOTS of sand in pool, motor seized up!

[Jfoeller0103]

Okay, this site helped me tremendously last year and I want to thank you for that... And ask for more help! I bought my pool late in the season last year, we swam in it 10ish times and the TFP method had it sparkling and crystal clear! I never properly closed it down and I think I messed up big time! Obviously I had to SLAM it when opening up as it was a dark green swamp! Running the pump continuously, and keeping my FC up to shock levels the pool became a beautiful aqua color. But stayed cloudy and could not see the bottom. After slamming for about a week with no further progress, i hopped into the pool to hand vacuum the bottom and really kick this process into overdrive! I felt a little algae on the bottom, which i expected, but then a bunch of sand!! It seemed almost all of the sand from my pump was now in my pool?! (Which with research after that i now know are broken fingers inside the pump)
But wait, it gets worse.
I then began vacuuming the sand up (sand came out of pump, maybe i can vacuum it up and it will stay back in this time? What a dummy)... and now for the worst part of this story. MY MOTOR SEIZED UP!!! All of this hard work, just started getting over the misty blue plateau I had been stuck on, and the motor craps out on me. Was it because I tried vacuuming up the sand?
The story gets even crazier...
The day after the pump seized up, my fiance goes into labor and we spend 4 days in the hospital!! So I'm forced to let the pool sit uncirculated!

If you're still reading this, THANK YOU, and yes its true I couldnt make this stuff up!!

On the bright side, I called WATSONS and my motor is under warranty with 2 months left!! YAY!! So I am going tomorrow to get the new motor. AND, my pool is now clear enough to see to the bottom?! Slight green haze obviously but its almost better without the pump?! And now I can see all the sand on the pool bottom!

So onto my questions:

1) Once I get the new motor, how will I go about removing the sand in the pool? (I am assuming using the vaccuum is what seized the motor up? Too much sand in motor?)

2) What do I need to do to fix the latterals inside? (Will I need to drain water to below return since I have no shutoff on that side?)

3) What parts will I need to pickup when I go to swap the motor out?

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read about this disaster!! Any and all input is much needed!!

 

[zea3]

You can unscrew the eyeball fitting from the return and screw a plug into the opening to block the flow of water while you work on the filter.

Is your filter under warranty as well? If not you will need to drain the filter and look at the laterals. If they need replacing order the the laterals you need for your brand of pump.

You should be able to vacuum up the sand as long as you are vacuuming to waste. The sand shouldn't have seized the motor unless it totally blocked the flow of water in the pipes or pump basket.

You will need a shaft seal kit for the new motor.

 

[Jfoeller0103]

Thank you! I was just on the phone with Watsons and I am picking these items up tomorrow at 10am to hopefully fix my issue:
Pump and basket unit (with all new gaskets)
New multiport pressure indicator (mine is full of water and shows max pressure no matter pump on or not)
Whole new lateral unit (only $45 so i figured i might as well)
New oring from multiport to base
3 new bags of sand

And maybe it was just a coincidence that it happened while I was vacuuming the sand? I mean I have ALOT of sand in my pool... But if it shouldnt effect the pump than I will do that and vacuum to waste!

I will keep the post updated for reference thank you to everyone!
and A T-shutoff? to install between return and multiport valve to ease future work

 

[Jfoeller0103]

Just to update... Once I got all the parts from Watsons and dug into the pump. The assembly that holds all of the "fingers" or "laterals" inside the pump actually broke in half. allowing all the sand to basically be sucked up the 2" PVC and dumped into my pool. I've replaced the assembly and added another 150lb of sand. Now all I have left is to get the sand out of the pool, how fun?!