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Also: I was expecting to have to SLAM and so a week or so ago bought 8 gallons of 12.5%. Sounds like maintenance may not keep up with chlorine degradation in the chems. Ah well, I’ll just have to add more of this stuff over time to keep up until it’s gone anyway. :)
 
Here’s a sketch of my pool. Highlighted yellow areas are where I seem to get debris on the bottom of the pool.

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Photos of pool and debris from this morning in next post.
 
Debris on pool surface this morning:

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Vs what was in the skimmer basket (cleaned out yesterday, skimmed pool at same time, pump run overnight):

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Photos of skimmer from side looking down into skimmer well and from pool side:

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And here’s photos of the typical debris I get on the bottom (haven’t vacuumed since Thursday, about 36 hours ago):

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Steps always seem full of crud too.

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So is all of this typical? Blown in from my heavily vegetated landscaping around the pool? Something the skimmer should be taking better care of? Something that every pool owner just has to clean? Perhaps something to do with the sand filter I inherited but haven’t opened yet? :)
 
With 2 returns and one skimmer I think it is what it is. I would have liked to see 4 returns in the pool and one on the steps. That is a mighty big throat on the skimimer so it should pull more stuff in. I wonder if you filter is just not pulling hard enough with that single speed pump.

Okay Icey it is time to take that filter apart. Have you looked at the manual for your filter to see what kind of laterals you have? Some screw on. Some fold up on a hinge. Some push on. You can use a shop vac to help get the sand up and out of the filter. Saves a LOT of wear and tear on your pool hands. Let us know if you need any help on how to do it.

Kim:kim:
 
I may have the surface debris figured out. I had the return jets pointed straight forward and angled down. Also, the suction line by the deep end was on with the skimmer since I was mostly getting chems right and figured two suction lines going (dedicated line and skimmer) would help mix the pool better. I angled the jets up toward the water a little instead and turned off the suction line that isn’t the skimmer and suddenly everything is going into the skimmer from the surface. :)

I will pull apart the filter but I am waffling about if I should buy replacement laterals and standpipe first. That’s around $150 though. I’m afraid of pulling out the sand, finding a cracked lateral, and then having the pump and filter out of commission while waiting for replacement parts. Should I be worried about that?
 
Basket much more full after 30 mins or so. Still some leaves in the pool but now I feel like the skimmer is doing work.

However with the other suction line valve off, I’m getting bubbles in my returns. Now I’m worried I have a suction side leak in the skimmer’s line. ?
 
Have you opened your pump basket lid? Did you lub the o-ring? That is the first spot we check for leaks as it is a VERY easy one to fix!

IF there is something wrong with the laterals you can always put it back together until the new parts come in. It is work now so..........BUT with your "find" about the returns and the other pipe you might have "fixed" it all.

Kim:kim:
 

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This needed to be done!! Nice job! How do the laterals look? Does it smell?

When you go to put the sand back in put a cup or something over the stand up pipe to make sure NO sand does down it. Then fill the filter body half way up with water to help cushion the sand fall. Hand place the sand until the laterals are covered pretty good.

Once all of the sand is back in the filter run a short back wash THEN a good rinse as that is what will get the sand like it should be to filter.
 
kimkats said:
This needed to be done!! Nice job! How do the laterals look? Does it smell?

When you go to put the sand back in put a cup or something over the stand up pipe to make sure NO sand does down it. Then fill the filter body half way up with water to help cushion the sand fall. Hand place the sand until the laterals are covered pretty good.

Once all of the sand is back in the filter run a short back wash THEN a good rinse as that is what will get the sand like it should be to filter.
Click to expand...
All done. We used duct tape to cover the stand pipe.

No cracks in stand pipe or lateral - removed them all and checked. We did find a huge amount of pine needles in the filter. Here’s what we pulled out from the top:

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And then we had a mess more from when we cleaned the sand. I’m thinking they don’t backwash out great due to their shape.

Lost a lot of water which makes me worried as our equipment is all above the level of the pool. I got it running using the side port in the pool sucking water as we refill. What could cause the pool to lose water while the filter is disconnected so rapidly that doesn’t make it lose water when the system is closed up?

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No direct experience but what about the mulitvalve? Is it a side mount? What setting did you have it on when the filter was being cleaned?
 

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