Was my Sand filter installed improperly??

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C

czipper

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 12, 2014
87
Long Island, NY
I Got a new pump and sand filter to replace the old (Hayward Proseries, Zeobrite in place of sand). The filter works, the water has been clear (when I remember to keep adding chlorine:uhh:). My pressure gauge read 17 PSI when it started to operate and it returns to 17PSI post backwashing during each of the few times that I did that. I have two observations that force the question that is the title of this thread:
1. Post-backwash there is noticeable accumulation of sand in the pool (but not huge amounts). Once that is vacuumed up, there seems to be no more until I backwash again.
2. My PSI is DROPPING rather than increasing. Last time I went to backwash the PSI was down to 10. After backwash it was back at 17. I ran the pump for two days straight to clear up an algae bloom and the pressure was down to 10 again.

Was my sand filter installed improperly, or is it normal to see some sand in the pool after backwash? I am guessing that the pressure drop is from channeling which I don't think a new filter should be doing.

I will probably call the installer, hoping they will take care of it but I want to know more about it to force the issue in case they hem and haw about it.
 
I dont hear you mentioning using the rinse after you backwash. This could be the reason you have sand in your pool. I usually use the rinse for 30 seconds to a minute after I backwash. Make sure you always turn your pump OFF before you move the selector on the valve.
I dont know what to say about the pressure drop. Someone will be along with more experience that can hopefully address that for you.
 
ranger_ric said:
I dont hear you mentioning using the rinse after you backwash. This could be the reason you have sand in your pool. I usually use the rinse for 30 seconds to a minute after I backwash. Make sure you always turn your pump OFF before you move the selector on the valve.
I dont know what to say about the pressure drop. Someone will be along with more experience that can hopefully address that for you.
Click to expand...

I have always used the rinse cycle (I time it for 1 minute), and definitely turn the pump off before changing valve position.
 
I am very new to pool ownership and have only had dealings with sand filters for less than 2 months. I noticed the pressure on my filter dropping when the basket in the pump needed to be cleaned out. Once I did that all was good.

Is your pump a 2 speed pump? Mine runs about 17 on high, but only 4 or so on low. I mainly run mine on low to save on the electric bill.
 
O.k. S1ngram's post reminded me that I have a new pump that is variable speed, so in fact different speeds will give very different pressures (tee hee!!). Still get a little sand in the pool after backwash, but probably the decreased pressure comes from the different pump speeds. I haven't spent any time changing the default pump program, but for a minute or so when it starts up it cranks out on high and the pressure spikes to 17 during that time. I guess that must be when I stopped looking, so that when the normal program is running it is actually on a lower speed, with a lower pressure. I guess I had gotten used to the one speed pump.
Here is a couple pressure readings for instance:
2850rpm--11psi
2600rpm--9Psi
1100rpm--<1psi
time for a new thread about the best use of a variable speed pump....


I am still very interested in feedback about the sand getting into the pool being a sign of something installed incorrectly
 
Since you have zeo, I assume that you mean there's zeo returning to the pool and not sand.

Did they follow the instructions to a "T" when they installed it into the filter. There are a very specific set of instructions that need to be followed. There is also a specified amount of Zeo that is supposed to be used to replace a set quantity of sand.

It could also be that they left out the standpipe seal when they put the filter together.
 
The service men came to look, and it turns out the sand in my pool isn't from the filter. The zeobrite in the filter clearly has a different look than what is in the pool. It makes me wonder where this extra sand is coming from? Long Island has quite sandy soil, but it can't be washing in from rain because we have had very little rain this season. The tech raised the possibility of a crack in the return line where the sandy soil gets in, how would could I test that?
 
It would be highly unlikely that sand is getting in from the return as it's pressurized when the pump is running. You'd be losing water if a return was leaking.

Are you sure yourself that it's not zeolite?
 
When the tech was there, we backwashed to trap some of the zeo in the sight glass. It was fairly large grains that clearly had a bluish-green hue to it, the stuff in the pool was yellowish brown and finer than what I saw in the sightglass. Unless the zeo is not uniform in color and consistency then it is much more like sand from the beach than zeo. Our newest guess is that it is coming from animals who like to go into the pool. On LI north shore the soil is really sandy, and is basically sand if you dig a couple inches so anything that rolls around in the dirt and gets into the pool would leave some.
 

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Yes, the sand does seem t pool under the jets after the three backwashes I have done, but it wasn't zeobrite and the pool tech backwashed two days ago and it did not appear this time. So I am still looking to solve the mystery of the sandy pool. (Scooby Doo where are you?)
 
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