Can I limp along with no $ for repair?

[McKNewb]

I (mistakenly) installed a cheap 18” sand filter and it is not compatible with my 2hp pump. On recirculate it works fine, but if I put it into filter mode it will over pressurize and send half of the water down the drain. Internally what’s happening is the multivalve on top of the filter gets pushed up by the water pressure and approximately half the flow bypasses the sand filter and goes strait to sewer. In addition, I start to see filter media sand expelled from the jets in the pool.

Long story short: I know the fix is to either downsize the pump, or even better, get a larger better filter. The problem is, I absolutely don’t have that in the budget right now.

So my question is, can I continue to run on recirculate to chemically treat the water. Then use something like a Green to Blue clarifier to knock stuff to the bottom of the pool and vacuum to waste once a week or so?

I know that none of this sounds ideal, but I have chemicals on hand and absolutely can not afford a new filter right now. I have four kiddos that are hoping I can find a way to keep it swimmable.

Thank you for any advice you might have!

 

[woodyp]

Welcome to the forum. Yes, you can run it on recirculate to add necessary chemicals and keep it balanced. A cheap solution to your problem may be that the multivalve spider gasket needs to be replaced. How old is the equipment?

 

[ajw22]

Post some pics of your plumbing and equipment.

How about putting a 3 way valve with a T to bypass some of the pump water flow around the filter? Adjust the valve to let the filter handle whatever flow it can.

 

[PoolNewb2020]

What is the pressure on the filter? If it is not too high, you could get away with installing just a diverter valve before the filter and choking the flow a little. But it will raise the system pressure and thus, the filter pressure. This way you will save a bit on power as well.

The bypass idea will not raise system pressure, so it is another possibility.

 

[McKNewb]

I (mistakenly) installed a cheap 18” sand filter and it is not compatible with my 2hp pump. On recirculate it works fine, but if I put it into filter mode it will over pressurize and send half of the water down the drain. Internally what’s happening is the multivalve on top of the filter gets pushed up by the water pressure and approximately half the flow bypasses the sand filter and goes strait to sewer. In addition, I start to see filter media sand expelled from the jets in the pool.

Long story short: I know the fix is to either downsize the pump, or even better, get a larger better filter. The problem is, I absolutely don’t have that in the budget right now.

So my question is, can I continue to run on recirculate to chemically treat the water. Then use something like a Green to Blue clarifier to knock stuff to the bottom of the pool and vacuum to waste once a week or so?

I know that none of this sounds ideal, but I have chemicals on hand and absolutely can not afford a new filter right now. I have four kiddos that are hoping I can find a way to keep it swimmable.

Thank you for any advice you might have!

Welcome to the forum. Yes, you can run it on recirculate to add necessary chemicals and keep it balanced. A cheap solution to your problem may be that the multivalve spider gasket needs to be replaced. How old is the equipment?

Thanks! Pump is three years old, but has little run time because I didn’t open the pool last year. The current filter is brand new. I installed it about two weeks ago. I suspect I’m having this problem because I bought a cheap undersized filter so I’m hesitant to spend money on any replacement parts.

 

[McKNewb]

Post some pics of your plumbing and equipment.

How about putting a 3 way valve with a T to bypass some of the pump water flow around the filter? Adjust the valve to let the filter handle whatever flow it can.

 

[McKNewb]

I installed that ball valve last night so I could choke back on the flow rate a little bit, but that hasn’t helped. When I choke back enough to stop the water running to drain I have no pressure on the return jets.