Intex AGP 18' Sand Filter / Pump

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Slevin

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Jul 16, 2007
5
So I bought an Intex Easy AGP last year and the pump that came with it was absolutely horendus! I can't believe they expect those things to keep water clear...don't get me wrong, my water was clear, but after being up for a month I found I was swimming with teny tiny little dead bugs and bits in the water that just never mad it to the filter...GROSE!

So this year I got my hands on a Sand Filter and just had to buy a new pump for it since the old pump had seized up. I purchased a Hayward SP1580X15 1.5HP pump. I though that this would be a lil overkill being 1.5HP, but it was a good deal. So I decided to plumb new PVC lines in place, I added 2 ports that I used for input's and the two origional ports were to be for the overflow and another return. I left a plug in as spot in the PVC line to the pump to add another return port later.

Now, I got all this nice new PVC plumbing in and it lookes super, got the pump connected to the filter, bought new sand for the filter, put the multiport valve on, everything is just connected nicely. Well, the only gripe I have is that all the Lowes and Home Depot's around me (6 in total w/in 10 miles of me) were out of 1.5" PVC unions, so I had to use 1.5" compression fittings. I will replace these soon enough with unions. Also, the only other irregularity is on the output port of the pump, I have a threaded 1.5" busching to 1.5" / 2" connector and a 2" union going to the multiport on the filter. I know, confusing to picture, but I will add pics when I get home.

The problem I'm having is not what everyone would expect, or at least what I was expecting (the suction being too extreme to use the skimmer that came with the pool) no the skimmer works beautifully. What I'm seeing is I'm not getting the suction that I was expecting! Everything is working, but it just seems like I have 2 inputs and 2 returns and a 1.5HP hayward pump and it is just not as I anticipated. It's working! It cleared my pool water in 2 days after I had filled it from 6" and the water was very cloudy. It's crystal clear now and working, I'm just a little dissapointed because I though that I'd see a HUGE difference.

Does anyone know if this is what I should be seeing? Is it working correct? I'll post some pics up later this evening, they won't be spectacular as they'll be from my retarted cell phone because I don't have my other camera, but I'm sure you'll get the idea. Thanks for any input.

-Slevin
 
Well, your psi is normal enough so I don't see any reason to suspect any blockage.

Just guessing from the pics, but the filter might be just a little too small for the pump........not that that will fix anything but just mentioning it.

a larger filter would drop your psi and give you more flow, but not more "speed" or "high-pressure water" which seems to be what you may have been expecting.

I think what may have occurred is you have installed a pretty good system with no restrictions so you are getting good volume and it's working very nicely....just not "blasting" like you may have assumed it would be. Does that characterize your "concern" fairly accurately?

If so, I think you've got nothing to worry about. Looks like you got everything balanced pretty well. One characteristic of a good circulatory system is it will work pretty effortlessly....your's seems to be doing that.
 
duraleigh said:
I think what may have occurred is you have installed a pretty good system with no restrictions so you are getting good volume and it's working very nicely....just not "blasting" like you may have assumed it would be. Does that characterize your "concern" fairly accurately?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was concerned about, I agree with you, the system is installed well and seems to be doing the job, I guess you could say that I just expected to have more issues with the skimmer than I actually do, so with that said....

I ain't gonna complain!!! :goodjob:

Thanks for the advice.

-Slevin
 
Wow, what did you use for the pieces that connect from the inside and outside of the pool for the extra returns? I like your solution for holding the skimmer. I just use the clamp thing that goes around the ring but am sometimes wary because the ring pressure decreases at night with the cool air. If you want more skimmer suction just plug the other suction line.

Also, as a reference, I have a 1 HP pump and only get 30 GPM(which I think is low). It's easy to figure it out, just hold/connect a hose to the return (and in your case, close the second one) and time how long it takes to fill a 5 Gal. bucket.

Adam
 
launboy said:
Wow, what did you use for the pieces that connect from the inside and outside of the pool for the extra returns? I like your solution for holding the skimmer. I just use the clamp thing that goes around the ring but am sometimes wary because the ring pressure decreases at night with the cool air. If you want more skimmer suction just plug the other suction line.
Adam
Click to expand...

I got these from a local pool supply store last year, unfortunately they moved or closed this year and I'm not sure if my other supply store has them. I think I still have the bags with the part numbers on them, but they're almost identical to the ones intex installs, just the intex ones are 2" on the outside and have the 2 different threaded rings on the inside. They were not that expensive either, $10.95 each.

Yeah, my ring has a tiny hole that I can't find and the ring will deflate some over the course of a day and caused the skimmer to float up and suck in air. I just decided to do something different with the skimmer so it was always stable. When I need to vacuum, I almost cover the other suction port and the vacuum works excellent now, way more suction than with the pidly filter that came with the pool.

Thanks.

-Slevin
 
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