Hayward S-240 Sand Filter Replacement

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lastwaltzvan

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Jul 25, 2011
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Hoping one of the pool Guru's who's posts i've been reading here on TFP can throw a little advice my way. Have not gotten consistant answers from the pool folks here in Cincinnati.

Have a 20 or so year old Hayward S-240 that developed a vertical crack in the lower housing half. Patched it this past weekend with fiberglass mat over a 3rd of the inside of the tank. Started leaking after 24 hours of run so think the UV has softened the tank material up enough that it's just done. Hayward no longer makes this part and reccomends the S244S as a replacement. Am curious about a few things before making the $500 - $600 investment in a new S244S.

- Should we look at a different tech like DE or cartridge? Have been happy with efficiency of the sand since switching to Zeo media several years ago. Only downside I see to sand is the amount of water used to backwash which is not a problem here, we got a whole river full of the stuff. Would you use the "effective" filter area measurement from our S-240 as a guide for sizing say a DE unit or do you size filters using flow?

- Feel like our system is a bit undersized for the pool. We treat the pool as 36,000 gal which seems to work when adding chemicals etc.. System is all 1.5" with a 1.5 HP Super Pump. Seems a bit undersized only because feel like we loose 50% + flow (per my highly calibrated & government certified eyeball test :-D )with only a 3 - 4 PSI increase in pressure from "clean" filter. Runs about 31 PSI clean and seems to almost stop flowing when it gets up to 35 PSI, we replace the cheapo guage every year so while the absolute pressure may not be terribly accurate, pretty sure the 3 - 4 PSI range is about right. In an effort to lengthen the time between backwash would there be a problem going to a larger area sand filter? Would our 1.5 HP Super Pump provide enough flow to backwash a larger filter effectivly?

- Would upgrading to a larger pump be worth looking at while re plumbing for the filter? My thinking is that the 1.5" piping is the limiting factor in flow so any gains would be minimal. Imagine our old Super Pump is a real turd when it comes to efficiency, whould it be worth looking at a more modern unit to improve this? Is there an efficinecy vs flow chart out there somewhere one could use to compare?

- How do you change the media in these new Hayward filters? Looks like the only way in is through the top, what is it like a 6" opening? Guessing its a pain & involves a shop vac?

- Anyone happen to know if our old SP710X32 Vari-Flo valve would fit on the new Hayward filter tanks? Can't seem to find any dimensional drawings of this valve or the SP710X62. Imagine that.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Martin
 
From everything I've read a larger filter is always better :-D

I just removed a used pool to relocate it to my place. I used a shop vac to remove the sand, course I was worried about damaging the laterals. I had to empty the shop vac fairly often and put the sand into old dog food sacks to reuse when we setup the pool again. You could probably do the same with your zeo and put it into the new filter. Might have to add some if going with a larger filter.
 
Thanks for the input. Thinking bigger is better to. Looking at these VS pumps, wouldn't take long to spend a few bucks upgrading a filter & pump! Looks like the VS pumps are 2 - 3 HP & the efficiency comes from running the larger motor a lower speed which i guess is more efficient than running a smaller unit at max speed to do the same work??? or is it the ability to slow the unit down when you don't need full flow?

Putting the cover on this weekend too many leaves, good thing because I think it will take me all winter to figure this out!
 
I would get a 300lb filter or even a little larger. But 300lb is fine. I prefer the top mount filter vs side mount though. S244T

There are fancy pumps out there that have dual speeds and controls panels and such. I really like the super pump style though, it's a real work horse. Primes fast, easy to work on, takes a beating.
 
Hey, Martin,

Welcome to the forum :lol: Yeah, a bigger filter is a no-brainer in your case. A 36k pool could stand at least a 300 lb sand filter and a 450 is not too big at all.

mas985 (one of the members here) did a nice calculation and posted it here some time ago. The end result was it's difficult to get your money back on a VS pump but quite easy on a 2-speed. Food for thought.
 
Thinking will go with either the Haward S310S or the S311SX. Have been having trouble with our Raypack RP-2100 Digital heater (believe its the 336K BTU, could be the 406K) cycling on & off too much, thinking it is a flow problem as there are no error codes. Hopefully a larger/less restrictive filter will help raise the pressure/flow at the heater enough to satisfy the temp or pressure sensor that is likely causing this problem.

Questions/thoughts:

- Will be increasing filter area by more than 50%, current 3.14 ft2 vs new 4.91 ft2. Will this along with new 2" plumbing on the pad significantly increase flow/reduce head? Current setup has 2 x 1.5" suction lines from skimmers to a 3 way valve about 8" from the 1.5" pump inlet. Piping on the pad is quite a spaghetti pile, a mix of 1.5" smooth black flex pipe with barbed fittings (what is that stuff, HDPE?), some clearish softer flex pipe & some schedule 40 PVC. There is 1 x 1.5" return line that feeds 3 jets & 1 x 1.5" return for the Polaris that runs through the booster pump, no bybass or isolation valves, to a single fitting in the pool. The heater is plumed with a bypass as we don't use it much, you should see the gas meter fly when it's on! can actually hear the gas flowing. Bottom line, does eliminating a few 90's in the existing setup at the pad + 2" pipe at the pad + 50% increase in sand filter area = significant reduction in head, like 4-5 PSI, or am I dreamin'?

- Current pump is a 1.5 Super Pump. With the current setup think it is operating close to max head as we seem to lose significant flow with a 4 PSI increase across the filter. For example, it generally won't prime with the multi-port set to filter when the filter is dirty but primes very quickly on a clean filter (even with new zeo this past spring). Would like to go 2 speed with the new unit. Do i rebuild my 1.5 with a 2 speed motor? Should I upgrade the whole pump for higher flow at high speed to get decent flow at low speed? Feel like the Super Pump is not a very efficient design & if we change the whole unit there must be something more efficient out there that would give us better flow for the same or less utility usage. Any opinions on more efficient units? Replacing/upgrading the 1.5 HP motor is about 1/2 the cost of a new 2 HP x 2 speed Super Pump, haven't checked out the other options so want to make sure it's worth it. Guess this all sort of depends on the head reduction we see from the new filter.

- Is there an industry preference for a brand of valves? Will be replacing several & would like to install something that will last. Same brand for 2 way & 3 way?

- Any opinions on the Hayward S310S vs the S311SX? Looks like either can be had, delivered, for around $800 with new 2" multiport valve. One is ball shaped & one is the more standard oval/straight side shape. Other than those physical differences not sure why you would choose one over the other.

Thanks for reading & would greatly appreciate any input on the head reduction. Is the larger filter a big factor, like 3-4 PSI clean big? Know a bit about good piping practices & figure what we have certainly needs straightening out which will help some but am clueless how much the larger filter size will change things.

Martin
 
Increasing the filter and piping size will definitely reduce the head but how much it helps depends on the rest of the system. I'd guess it'd be a pretty good amount. I'd stay with the pump you have as long as there's nothing seriously wrong with it. If I considered upgrading, I'd go for a 1 hp 2-speed.

Any of the "Jandy" style valves are good. Several mfg's make versions of them and I'm not sure one of them is any better than another.

I like the 310S better but that's just because I like the way it looks. Go with the one you like. Either will be good filters for your pool. I'd opt for the hi-flow valve if they offer it for those models.
 
Thanks for the input Bama. Thinking will go ahead & try a 1.5 hp 2 speed motor for our existing Super Pump, current motor is starting to growl at me so doubt it would be around much longer. This will be the 3rd in 10 years, guess we should consider taking it inside for the winter. Hoping the reduced restriction of the new filter & piping will let the pump generate enough flow at low speed to run the SWG.

Looks like the like the round shape of the S311SX makes it more efficient. It uses 350 lb sand vs 500 lb for the S310S to provide about the same "effective" filtration area. Will have to go with the S310S as our equipment pad is too small for ball shaped S311SX.

Martin
 
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