I'm back with some information.
Here's what I have so far; Packaging is done very well
Ok, assembly is very easy. you will need a large phillips screw driver to mount the pump / motor assembly to the base plate, don't tighten them all the way till you attach the filter housing. The filter housing just sits in a groove on the base plate and connects to the pump via union. The union already has Teflon tape applied so you hand tighten each end then using a 2" pipe wrench turn an additional turn or so till snug. Hand tighten the union together then tighten the pump / motor assembly to the base plate.
Next, mine came with a hose kit, throw out the clamps and use conventional stainless clamps. There is 1 ball valve & 1 threaded hose connector. I needed some Teflon tape to install the ball valve on the outlet side of the filter housing & on the hose connector on the pump inlet side. I then connected the hoses to the pool.
Finally, my pump motor came with a standard plug end not good. I cut off the end and installed the proper Twist-lock end connected the bonding wire to the terminal at the rear of the pump motor and plugged her in.
I purged the air from the system and started her up. WOW!, so much suction it sucked the skimmer dry! I now must keep the water level in the top 1/4 of the skimmer opening. The return flow is amazing, you can see the current flow all about the pool.
The construction of the XStream is very solid which seems typical of Hayward.
The motor is very quiet in my opinion, and has more than enough power.
My pool has been with out a filter since the 16th of april so after a standard vacuuming with "Whanda The Whale" another Hayward product, I simply turned off the pump, closed the outlet valve and inserted a plug in the suction port of the skimmer. Opened the drain and air bleed to drain the filter housing. I then opened the top and removed the cartridge and hosed it off my thumb over the end of the garden hose, very simple. Then just reversed this procedure and I'm back in business. I would recomend this system to any one looking at cartridge type filtration.
