Increasing the size of my intake opening

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M

musikfan

0
May 25, 2018
15
Thompsontown, PA
Greetings all.

If this topic is covered in another thread, please redirect me to that one as I don't want to duplicate subjects which have already been covered. I am brand new to the forum so I am not real familiar with all the thread history.

I currently have an Intex metal frame pool. The intake opening on the inside wall is a plastic strainer rather than a plain opening that you'd have in a skimmer-style opening. I am running a Hayward Perflex EC50 and I think that the opening is likely too small because my PSI is running around 18 (which my pool guy tells me is too high). Do you think that this may be the reason for the higher PSI?

Does anyone know if there is a different intake fitting that I can use to replace the current one? The strainer is messing things up when I vacuum- catching a lot of the debris and then interfering with the suction.

I realize that I'm dealing with Intex which is the DYI of pools. But at present, this is what we can afford as opposed to a "traditional" pool so I have to do the best with what I have.

Thanks for any direction..
 
The suction size would not be having the effect on the filter pressure as you are thinking. If you increase the suction size hole and pipe, you will lower the suction side headloss which will increase your flowrates and increase your filter pressure.

There is really nothing wrong with 18psi in a filter. What pump are you using?
Is 18 the clean pressure? When is the last time the filter was completely disassembled and cleaned?
 
I have the 1.5 HP Matrix pump. 18 PSI is the clean pressure. I just cleaned out the whole thing two days ago - took the top off and sprayed off the fingers, completely drained the filter. Actually, I talked to my pool guy and he told me that if it's running at 18 PSI and there are no leaks, then everything should be fine and I'd only need to bump if the PSI goes up to 21 or 22. The filter is actually doing fine. My main concern was the fact that those stupid strainers keep all the larger pieces of dirt/grass from going through the vacuum tube. I"d just like to have that hole without any obstructions.
 
I wouldn’t do that. You don’t want your filter getting bogged down with large chunks of debris. Your pump basket either, for that matter.
 
well, I guess it depends on what you define as "large chunks" of debris. ;) I try and strain out as much of the leaves as I can but I have a lot of little pieces and also some grass that are not big enough to get with my net but still not small enough to pass through that intake hole. No, I don't want anything large going through my filter. I don't currently have a skimmer either.
 
Yes, but all the stuff backs up right at the opening on the INSIDE wall of the pool, and then my filter suction decreases and the lower basket at the pump only fills up about half way with water and then I lose pressure and suction. I have to shut down the filter and try to remove all the stuff that's backed up at the opening. When I do that, it all goes right back into the pool and all the vacuuming that I just did was for nothing.

When I lived at home, I vacuumed with no issues. The debris went through the hose and down into the filter. I'd backwash and everything was fine. That pool had a skimmer and I'd just plug right into the base of that. THe opening had no strainer like these intex pools have..
 
You could add a skimmer! A lot of us do that with our Intex pools. That’s a lot of stuff getting caught be the strainer... a skimmer would probably eliminate a lot of that.
 
Also, one more suggestion - the Intex Auto Cleaner. It actually attaches to your return, and picks up a lot of debris. I haven’t vacuumed my pool in 2 years or more. And as you can see, my water is pretty clean. ;)

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There are all kinds of threads, and you can find YouTube videos too. It’s actually very easy.

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Ignore the aging pedicure... just had them redone today!
 

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Second best thing I did for our Ultra Frame was add a thru-wall skimmer (link in signature), and change to all standard 1-1/2” Hayward wall fittings.

I also have a 1-1/2HP power flow matrix pump, and use the original suction port (with Hayward fittings) as a dedicated vacuum port. I use a leaf canister (with hairnet over the basket) as a pre-filter. I never have issues with debris blocking the line. My suction side cleaner zips around no problems at all.

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Great idea and great pic here. Thanks so much for your help. It was a pleasure to chat with you and get your input. I appreciate it and I'm going to start looking at those videos for installing the skimmer. But one more question: Won't that heavy skimmer pull on the liner and "sag" backwards with all the weight of the water in it? I noticed that most of the ones I've seen are are upright and look pretty sturdy. But I look at the liner on mine and think that it's awful flimsy without the traditional metal wall that is on regular pools.
 
Looks like a plan! I'll be back in touch and let you know of my progress when I'm ready to actually do it. I have so many projects that I need to get done this summer. The skimmer is not an emergency as I can deal with what I currently have, at least for a little while. For now, it's off to re-do our master bedroom - scraping wallpaper off the ceiling, spackling all those cracks, painting the walls, pulling up the carpet and sanding/prepping the floors, taking an existing wardrobe which is actually screwed to the wall and moving it to another location in the room.....I need to get this done first.

Thanks again for the helpful info, folks. It's a pleasure to meet y'all and get your advice.
 
musikfan said:
Does anyone know if there is a different intake fitting that I can use to replace the current one? The strainer is messing things up when I vacuum- catching a lot of the debris and then interfering with the suction.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone answered this. ..yes intex make one without the little grid piece in the opening. I have two from another pool and thought about swapping them in for the reason you mention. I get tons of pine needles and cottonwood pollen and the intake completely plugs in about 10 minutes of vacuuming. In the previous pool it all went into the filter which I could rinse out once at the end of vacuuming..much better for me.
 
Poolzzz said:
I don't think anyone answered this. ..yes intex make one without the little grid piece in the opening. I have two from another pool and thought about swapping them in for the reason you mention. I get tons of pine needles and cottonwood pollen and the intake completely plugs in about 10 minutes of vacuuming. In the previous pool it all went into the filter which I could rinse out once at the end of vacuuming..much better for me.
Click to expand...

Dumb question, but do you know what the exact name of the part is? I was on the Intex website and couldn't find anything in the parts listings/pics. I guess I might have been looking at the wrong thing.....
 
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