checking laterals

[scout123]

I've been getting sand in my pool all season, and finally got around to ordering some laterals bc I assumed that was probably my issue. I took the sand out of the filter today and looked at the laterals and I don't see anything, but I'm not exactly sure what I should be looking for?? Will I see a crack or break somewhere if it's the lateral? What I did find was what appears to be a hairline crack in the lateral assembly (the black thing that the laterals attach to). Would that cause my issue? If so, is there a way to repair this? I looked online and intex doesn't sell this specific replacement part for my filter. Thanks

 

[borjis]

All it takes is a hairline crack. Better to replace than epoxy.
There was a post awhile back and someone had the same problem.
They could not find any cracks but replaced the laterals anyway...no more sand after that.

Then they took a real close up look everywhere and sure enough there was a fracture on the bottom
where the lateral connects to the ball joint thing it attaches to.

 

[duraleigh]

At least 100 times annually, we get reports of sand in the pool and it is dead algae......not sand.

Can you capture this gritty sand between your thumb and forefinger or does it just "poof" away?

 

[scout123]

When I run my hand over it on the floor of the pool it's gritty. I can push it into a tiny pile with my finger but can't pick it up. I use the intex handheld portable vacuum, and after I vacuum and dump out what's in there (what comes out looks like water with sand in it) and let the vacuum dry out, when I open it there's a little bit of dry sand in it. thanks

 

[duraleigh]

When I run my hand over it on the floor of the pool it's gritty. I can push it into a tiny pile with my finger but can't pick it up. I use the intex handheld portable vacuum, and after I vacuum and dump out what's in there (what comes out looks like water with sand in it) and let the vacuum dry out, when I open it there's a little bit of dry sand in it. thanks

That is a little vague, Seems like you should be able to pick it up if you can push it into a pile. I am only being picky to make sure you don't go chasing the wrong rabbit. We need your help defining if it really is sand or not.

 

[scout123]

Thanks. It's because the piles are so tiny that I can't pick it up I think....I should probably not even use the word 'pile'. My pool is a tiny 12' and my pump only runs 3 hours so there's not a whole lot of this stuff, I'll call it sand, on the bottom. When I first noticed it, I vacuumed the pool and then turned off the pump for 3 days to see what would happen. I didn't get anything on the floor. When I resumed my pump, I started getting the stuff again. I did that to try to determine if it was sand. I'm mad at myself bc I just vacuumed my pool and I poured the contents out over my hand and it felt gritty but I didn't try to catch any in my palm, I just let it run through my open fingers. Next time, I will catch it in my hand to be sure.

This has been going on all season. I didn't want to replace the laterals bc I was going to get rid of the pool at the end of season and upgrade so I'd need a new pump anyway. Things have changed and I've decided I might need it another year so I'd like to get it fixed now. All that to say, wouldn't my FC be off if it was algae? Also, I've done 2 overnight chlorine loss tests (just because I like to every now and then, not bc anything was going on) and those were fine with no loss over night.

Thanks again

 

[duraleigh]

I would not replace the laterals. It sounds like there is just not enough sand in your pool to warrant that. I assume that your water is nice and clear. That you have passed the OCLT twice indicates it is likely sand and not algae, it just doesn't seem to me to be enough there to worry about.