Using a 2-speed pump on low, with sand filter (Zeosand)

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Cherie

Cherie

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jul 23, 2008
518
Wylie, Texas
Hi. We would like to cut our electric bill down by going to a 2-speed pump, running on low, except to clean and backwash. We have a 150# Sand Dollar (SD40) with zeosand. Crown Pools said we can't use a 2-speed, because the LOW setting will not provide enough pressure to push the contaminants into the sand filter (or something along those lines). Is this true? I don't know how to create a SIG line, but our pool info is as follows:

16x32 Doughboy buried 3' with 7' deep end
1 skimmer, 1 return inlet
25 mil print liner
Pentair Dynamo 1hp, 115v
150# SD40 sand filter
New BBB'er and loving it!

A second question: We need better circulation. Since we only have one return inlet, we are trying to decide whether to have a 2nd return inlet installed, or try to use THE CIRCULATOR for better circulation. Which would be a better solution to better circulation? The Circulator is cheaper and easier :flower:

Any advice on these two issues would be greatly appreciated!



Any advice
 
From the experience from many on this board, sand filters usually filter better at lower flow rates. High flow rates tend to push the dirt through the sand while lower flow rates allow the sand to trap the dirt. I would not expect Zeosand to be much different than regular sand although better at cleaning so it should work fine at lower flow rates.
 
Thanks Mark. I'll be ordering the 2-speed Pentair next week. Considering it is only around $200, and will cut our electric usage for the pump in half each month, it will pay for itself quickly!

Thanks so much for responding.

Cherie
 
Thanks HDTV! We've also ordered The Circulator to plug into our return jet - our circulation isn't the best with just one jet. So I'll be experimenting to see how the 2-speed will work with The Circulator too. We are scheduled to have a 2nd inlet installed. But as usual, the pool guy didn't show, didn't call. I'll take this as a sign to move forward with the new pump and The Circulator!

Do you run your pump 24/7? According to one response, we would need to run ours twice as long, with the new low speed. But I intend to run it 24/7 anyway - given that it will only cost us $36/mo, as opposed to the $150 (to run it 24/7) with the current pump!

Appreciate the help. NOW, I'm off to get my guideline ready to take on the mustard algae that has been plagueing me since 4 weeks after we filled our pool!! :?

Hope you have a great weekend!
 
AnnaK said:
What is a Circulator? Can you please point me to a link somewhere?
Click to expand...





The Circulator (Item #CIRC3)
The Circulator is a major breakthrough which redefines pool water care. Cloudy pool water and algae can be the result of poor circulation in your pool. The patented Circulator disburses chemicals up to 1500% more fluently, greatly enhancing the purity of your pool water. This extreme circulating action helps to keep chemicals working at their maximum potential so that you can virtually eliminate cloudy pool water and algae.

In addition to the more efficient distribution of chemicals, this powerful circulation promotes even distribution of heat - faster heating and less evaporation means money savings to you. The Circulator makes pool maintenance a breeze, resulting in time savings and more enjoyable pool. The Circulator helps protect your pool finish from etching and staining caused by harsh chemicals and debris lying dormant.

The Circulator is a modern marvel that will give you up to 1500% more circulating power, saving you time and money and prolonging the healthy life of your pool.
FOR MORE INFO ON CIRCULATORS, CLICK HERE!
Price: $32.99


https://www.poolsplusinc.com/acatalog/shopping.html

This is where I found it about a month ago, thought about trying it and instead just got a better filter and pump.
 
Thanks Klight. It eases my stress on this decision more each time I hear from someone who is already doing what I think we need to do! Currently, it's supposed to take our 12 amp, 1hp motor about 10 hours to run the water through once. I read somewhere last night to expect it to take twice as long, running it on slow - which makes sense. It's no problem though, given that I want to run it 24/7 regardless. I always worry about only running it a couple of hours after I pour my bleach in at night and sweep the sides down. I'd just feel better knowing it's running all the time.

I've ordered The Circulator (comes with a free foundtain too) and should receive it by about Tuesday, 7/29. I'll try it out for a week and come back and post the results.

The right-angle return would be a good idea, except that, to use our automatic cleaner (which I would eventually LOVE to start using) requires that we have the inlet pointing down into the deep end. We've been having to unscrew it and adjust it each time we use the automatic, which is a pain. And NOW, it won't even climb up the sidewalls. So it's easier for me to manually vac. Unfortunately, we only have one skimmer and one return. We were scheduled to have another return installed last week, but the guy didn't show/call. So we're tyring the route of The Circulator first. I'll post results when I have them.

We're also battling the remnants of mustard algae - it wore me out from not treating it correctly (didn't know about this site at the time) :( So hopefully, the The Circulator will be a big help in that too.

But my goal is to have the pump run 24/7, The Circulator do its job, me do the hard part...add bleach every night :) ... and US SWIM IN OUR POOL ALL THE TIME!!

Thanks for all the help, everyone!

klight said:
I run my 2 speed on low all the time except for sweeping and backwashing.

Circulation has been an issue for me also (even on high), but a right-angle pipe fitting in the return or better yet a poolskim or pooldevil really helps.
Click to expand...
 

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Hello again! I just wanted to report back about our experience with The Circulator. He charged us entirely too much for S&H. Received something that didn't look anything like the picture. It wouldn't work with our pool. We paid to return it to him so he could replace it with "the newer one". Little did we know that he charged our card again to send out "the newer one". So now, we've paid for THREE S&H. Still didn't work for our pool, so he was going to ship us some other gadget to make it work and it would end up sticking out about 6-8" into the pool! Yeh, that sounded dandy! We told him thanks, but no thanks and said we'd be returning it for a refund. I don't expect to see a refund and am VERY thankful we used a credit card instead of our debit card!! So in all, we lost the original $70 and three more S&H for about $18. He made a nice enough profit, I suppose! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT SITE OR THE PRODUCT.
 
Code: 
The Circulator doesnt work on intex pools, does it?
It does not appear to me it would be particularly effective on any pool.

Even distribution of your return pool water is pretty easily managed simply by rotating eyeball fittings.
 
Re: The Circulator

mrsray said:
The Circulator doesnt work on intex pools, does it? :cry:
Click to expand...

msray, The Circulator is a gadget that simply screws into your existing return inlet and it pulsates as it spins around slowly. Because of the pulsating, it supposedly circulates the deeper water better and mixes all the water more effectively, thus, cutting down on the time you would need to run your pump. These are the claims. I've only seen one other person on this site who actually has used one for a couple of years now and loves it.

In our case, we purchased one, AFTER Wes Weldon, The Circulator guy, assured us that it works with ANY pool! What we got was an unattractive thing that was shaped like The Circulator, but basically made of PVC, and made very cheaply - as if a machine shop was whipping them out. When we tried to put it in our eyeball, it wouldn't fit. He sent us a "newer one", which still was not workable. He then offered to send us some attachment to make it workable - and after all this, the original extra ONE INCH that it was supposed to stick out into the pool turned into SIX INCHES, assuming that his attachment would make it "workable". After paying for 3 S&H charges, we told him we didn't want anything else (especially since he kept charging our card each time he'd ship us something!)

I've done all the research I can and was not able to find any site where you could get users' pro's and con's on it, other than askalanaquestion.com And his site is biased in favor of it. We just thought we'd take a chance on it - sounded like a good idea at the time.

But Dave is right, direct your eyeball fitting (assuming you have only one). With your pool being a round also, you should be able to get good circulation by simply turning your eyeball or getting one of the pvc attachments that sticks out a little, but shoots the water off to the right with a pretty strong push.

Hope all works out well for you. We ended up putting a second return in in our shallow end and we're tickled pink at how well our pool is doing now!
 
Thanks Cherie ...

I was also under the impression they were supposed to work for any pool ... and the web page does make it sound like something that would be worth having.

Sorry for what you went through ... that is terrible :cry:

thanks for the info
 
Cherie said:
Re: The Circulator



msray, The Circulator is a gadget that simply screws into your existing return inlet and it pulsates as it spins around slowly. Because of the pulsating, it supposedly circulates the deeper water better and mixes all the water more effectively, thus, cutting down on the time you would need to run your pump. These are the claims. I've only seen one other person on this site who actually has used one for a couple of years now and loves it.

In our case, we purchased one, AFTER Wes Weldon, The Circulator guy, assured us that it works with ANY pool! What we got was an unattractive thing that was shaped like The Circulator, but basically made of PVC, and made very cheaply - as if a machine shop was whipping them out. When we tried to put it in our eyeball, it wouldn't fit. He sent us a "newer one", which still was not workable. He then offered to send us some attachment to make it workable - and after all this, the original extra ONE INCH that it was supposed to stick out into the pool turned into SIX INCHES, assuming that his attachment would make it "workable". After paying for 3 S&H charges, we told him we didn't want anything else (especially since he kept charging our card each time he'd ship us something!)

I've done all the research I can and was not able to find any site where you could get users' pro's and con's on it, other than askalanaquestion.com And his site is biased in favor of it. We just thought we'd take a chance on it - sounded like a good idea at the time.

But Dave is right, direct your eyeball fitting (assuming you have only one). With your pool being a round also, you should be able to get good circulation by simply turning your eyeball or getting one of the pvc attachments that sticks out a little, but shoots the water off to the right with a pretty strong push.

Hope all works out well for you. We ended up putting a second return in in our shallow end and we're tickled pink at how well our pool is doing now!
Click to expand...
I am also an unhappy Wes customer. My pool does not have a skimmer and there is a few branches from a tree that overhangs our pool and we get a lot of leaves, twigs, gnats, bugs and we desperately need a skimmer. I found the PoolSkim and liked how it is installed with pipe instead of hose but it is not compatible with Intex pools but it directs you to contact Wes at The Circulator to get an adapter. I emailed him specifically asking if his Intex adapter on his website for $9.95 would fit my model pool. He replied and asked to send pics of my return. I receive a voicemail from him and call him back. He said that he custom made my adapter already and it would be 14.95 and The Circulator would be 32.95. I was caught off guard as I never mentioned anything about purchasing The Circulator. I was confused thinking maybe you cant buy the adapter alone. But what it was, he did not want to sell me just an adapter alone. He told me that people these days only email and text and that he uses the phone to communicate. (I know why so he can talk you into stuff. He is like a car salesman.) Well he then says “what card are you going to be using?” I never planned on purchasing anything, I was merely wanting to know about the Intex adapter. I felt forced to buy it. So like a dummy I gave him my card info. I receive my credit card charge alert email and the total charged 74.80! All I started out expecting to spend was for an 9.95 adapter and $7 shipping. I sent an email asking for a copy of my purchase order. I was charged the 32.95,14.95 PoolSkim adapter and 7.95 for The Circulator adapter, 18.95 for shipping. I could of swore he said the adapter would work for both the PoolSkim and The Circulator. I know he never said anything about another adapter. All his adapters on his website range from 7.95 to 9.95 but mine must be made of gold as it was 14.95. I have been reading very bad reviews from buyers on Amazon about this product and a couple people said it made their pumps build pressure and blew them up. I do not want The Circulator all I want is the Intex adapter so I can use the PoolSkim. If the adapter does not work I am returning everything. I am so mad at myself for not speaking up. Oh yeah, He said there will be coupons in package for either a free fountain or floating solar pool light. On the website it says you have to pay 9.95 shipping for your free item.
 
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