Broken filter?

[collinsj102]

My newish sand filter puts sand back in the pool when I turn it on. It's not a whole lot, but enough to cause concern I think.

So I took it apart to investigate, but I didn't really find anything wrong with it other than one little cut on the strainer or whatever it's called.

Now, I can't get the 6 port valve off to refill it with sand. It's just stuck. Any ideas on what to do here?

The manual said it could be the wrong size sand but my sand doesn't list a size. So I really don't know.

 

[DirtyRat91]

Your sand filter is much smaller than what I'm used to, so I'll just explain sand filter theory a bit. If the strainer you're talking to is that disc at the base of your pipe, that appears to be the equivalent of laterals in larger filters. The pump draws water from the pool and pumps it down into the top of the filter. The water must go through the bed of sand to the bottom of the filter where that strainer is. By the time the water travels through the sand bed, your impurities have been filtered, the water passes through the tiny openings of the strainer and back UP the central pipe. The clean water returns to the pool.

So if that strainer has any measurable cut/slit in the material it could allow sand to flow with the water back to the pool.

The other possibility would be that you aren't rinsing fully enough after backwash (which reverses flow through the filter) and allows some sand to float up into the plumbing. Rinsing returns the flow to the normal direction while still dumping water out of the pool until the plumbing is clear.


As far as my filter, the valve presses onto the central pipe with just a snug fit. A bit of tugging/twisting should separate the two. The filter would need to be empty of sand to allow the strainer back on the bottom, then sand piles on top.

Good luck.

 

[collinsj102]

Your sand filter is much smaller than what I'm used to, so I'll just explain sand filter theory a bit. If the strainer you're talking to is that disc at the base of your pipe, that appears to be the equivalent of laterals in larger filters. The pump draws water from the pool and pumps it down into the top of the filter. The water must go through the bed of sand to the bottom of the filter where that strainer is. By the time the water travels through the sand bed, your impurities have been filtered, the water passes through the tiny openings of the strainer and back UP the central pipe. The clean water returns to the pool.

So if that strainer has any measurable cut/slit in the material it could allow sand to flow with the water back to the pool.

The other possibility would be that you aren't rinsing fully enough after backwash (which reverses flow through the filter) and allows some sand to float up into the plumbing. Rinsing returns the flow to the normal direction while still dumping water out of the pool until the plumbing is clear.


As far as my filter, the valve presses onto the central pipe with just a snug fit. A bit of tugging/twisting should separate the two. The filter would need to be empty of sand to allow the strainer back on the bottom, then sand piles on top.

Good luck.

Thank you. I was able to get the 6 port valve off and after inspection, there is one slit in the strainer at the top, under the 6 port valve mechanism, but it's no bigger than the holes that already exist throughout the strainer. So I don't know if that is causing the problem or not.

 

[wireform]

There are also other possibilities on a multi port valve that will put some sand into the pool.
A) by not shutting of the power to the pump and moving the valve handle to another position.
B) similar to (A) but, shutting off power but not waiting the roughly 10 seconds or so for the filter to settle down.

 

[collinsj102]

There are also other possibilities on a multi port valve that will put some sand into the pool.
A) by not shutting of the power to the pump and moving the valve handle to another position.
B) similar to (A) but, shutting off power but not waiting the roughly 10 seconds or so for the filter to settle down.

I didn't know you had to wait 10 seconds! Usually, when I backwash and rinse, I immediately turn it back to filter. I'll try waiting and see how it goes.

Edit: when I think back though, sand goes in the pool even after the filter has been off for several hours, so this might not be the culprit after all.