I was at Home Depot today and i was going to get item #'s for the parts and i forgot. Sorry all, too much rush and not enough thinking.
The above post is very interesting to me -- if I understand what you're describing, the goal is to get your suction point down onto the floor of the pool while cleaning up algae debris?
Exactly. Right on the money... In short, making a main drain on an AGP, redneck style (no offense intended).
I am clogging up the unicel filter and rinsing it out daily as well. How many times can the filter be reused? I have probably had it on there 2/3 weeks and have been hosing it off daily.
I bought a pack of 4 filters for the cheap OEM "A" style cartridge filter that came with the pump when i bought the pool last year. About June of this year i got fed up with no water flow and upgraded to the pump i have now. If pumps were cars, this one would be a "Caddy" compared to the VW. Anyway, i washed the same filters out the whole time i was using that pump. I have also heard but can not offer any help on it, but using some TSP in a soak solution is supposed to clean them to like new condition. I guess to answer your question, clean them until you cant clean them anymore.
I am beginning to think there is another culprit....the pump/filter. This thing is noisy and excuse my language but I can probably pee harder than then amount of water coming through pump. The pump has been running non stop for the past 5 days, rinsing filter morning and night. There is small amounts of dead algae being caught in the filter, but does not seem to be catching as much as i would think. Should I upgrade the pump to the Intex sand filter?!?!
After upgrading mine, it takes me literally 20 minutes a week to do the maintenance on it (testing, vacuuming, brushing). I put out a little over $200 to upgrade mine (pump, strainer basket, and sand filter) and it came with the adapters to convert from the Intex hoses to 1 1/2" pipe thread. Best money i spent.
Below are some other tips that i have learned/realized while using the "redneck main drain"
Do not screw the threaded 4" connector on tight to the inlet connector, leave it just snug. At some point you will have to take it back off and if it is too tight, it will unscrew the bulkhead fitting on the pool.
If you clean the filter out and still notice very low water flow, disassemble the "unit" from the intake inside the pool and check the inlet screen, leaves or debris may have gotten in there and have restricted the flow. Ahhhh another reason NOT to glue it together.... (I have a solution to that also without cutting the screen out of the fitting, but that is for another problem, back on subject)