Rainy icky mess and problems with sand in pool from filter-PROBLEM found! See note in first post.

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kimkats said:
Lets take a close look at your filter/pump. First some questions to help me dial it all in.........Did you put the filter on rinse BEFORE you the pump/filter?

Sand-while adding the sand did you use care to make sure none of it got in the center pipe? Did you hand add the first of the sand to make sure it did not plop on the laterals and damage them?

That is called the Pump Basket or at least that is what I call it as it is the basket right in front of the pump so......pump basket. Did you add any o-ring lube to the o-ring in the lid?

This should get us started!
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I made another thread bc I thought this maybe a separate thing but you can delete if that was incorrect.

So I am pretty sure we did the rinse/backwash bc I read your instructions about how to do it that you gave in another thread about letting it run clear. We may have had the dial on "backwash" though.

Center pipe, there was a cover that we put over it so that didn't happen. My husband and handyman just poured it out of the bag. Doh! But have the bottom piece completely out and cleaned and nothing is cracked on the bottom. All the pieces look new still.

O-ring is there and they did not put any lube on it.

So we are about to put everything back together. But it was 3 inches below the minimum line when we took it apart. Also going to level the platform everything sits on to see if that helps.

IMG_20200522_134945.jpgIMG_20200522_134941.jpg
 
Mermaid Mama said:
I made another thread bc I thought this maybe a separate thing but you can delete if that was incorrect.

So I am pretty sure we did the rinse/backwash bc I read your instructions about how to do it that you gave in another thread about letting it run clear. We may have had the dial on "backwash" though.

Center pipe, there was a cover that we put over it so that didn't happen. My husband and handyman just poured it out of the bag. Doh! But have the bottom piece completely out and cleaned and nothing is cracked on the bottom. All the pieces look new still.

O-ring is there and they did not put any lube on it.

So we are about to put everything back together. But it was 3 inches below the minimum line when we took it apart. Also going to level the platform everything sits on to see if that helps.

View attachment 140848View attachment 140851
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Put everything back together and added more sand and still spitting sand back in the pool. And the pressure isn't right bc we tried putting the Intex Auto Cleaner on and it doesn't go anywhere. It's starts to go but stops and won't go even when given a push. Not really picking anything up either... accept sand. Don't know what to try next?
 
Sand we put in was Quikrete# 1153 put looks super fine. The particles are supposed to be slightly bigger then Silca #20 like the manual calls for. I read that most people used Quikrete pool sand with Intex pump didn't have problems. Here is a picture of the sand. Is it supposed to be this fine? IMG_20200522_180723.jpg
 
OH MY!! That looks like play sand instead of pool sand. This company had BIG issues with their sand and looks like you either got an old bag or they are back at it :( I would take it all out and start over with "real" pool sand. I got mine at Leslies many years ago.
 
kimkats said:
OH MY!! That looks like play sand instead of pool sand. This company had BIG issues with their sand and looks like you either got an old bag or they are back at it :( I would take it all out and start over with "real" pool sand. I got mine at Leslies many years ago.
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I was reading some old comments from Duraleigh about their processes and thought maybe I got some bad stuff from them. My husband and I took everything apart and spent hours trying to fish it all out. IMG_20200522_172915.jpg
 
Any advice how to get this super fine sand out of the pool? It goes straight through my net and Intex Auto Cleaner had a really tough time getting it. There is probably 6 inches of sand scattered all over.

Also, is this going to mess up anything on our brand new pump?
 
Mermaid Mama said:
I called Home Depot to tell them. And manager said this stuff is much finer than the play sand they sell.
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AND that is why it does NOT work!!!! It is going straight through the laterals!!!!

A turkey baster!!!! One of my fav pool tools!

It is so fine it will not hurt your new pump. I would get as much as you can up with the turkey baster though.

Hey can your hubby start a siphon with a hose? If so you could use that to suck it up and out of the pool. Of course then you will lose more water but............
 
Here is a visual to show how different sands can be. One is not good............guess which one:

My findings on how not all sand is created equal

Ok well today I finally got all my parts from Intex to fix my problem I was having with my sand filter. Here is a link to that thread which I will update as well http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/101906-New-Pool-Intex-Customer-Service-Long-Post-lol So basically for the sake of this thread...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Getting the sand out of the pool means vacuuming. I'd run the pump long enough to know I've flushed the lines, then let the sand settle out and sweep what I could into nice long piles. The whole time, be adding water until the pool holds as much as it can, then vacuum to waste. You'll probably have to do it a couple times.
 
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You’ll have better luck on the cover if you trim it so it lays flat on the water. Just make it a little smaller than the pool surface. Less water will accumulate on top, and you can use the stream from a hose to sweep any debris into the skimmer.
 
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Having a hard time keeping chlorine in the pool.
This AM
Water Temp 62
FC 0.5
CC 0.0
Does this mean I need to slam?
We added Chlorine according to App as usual but by next morning it's gone.

I was planning on doing CYA today should I still do that? Or try to get the chlorine up from all the organic matter being swirled around?

We went to ACE Hardware and they didnt have any HTH sand. Lowe's has a Clorox brand that is advertised as super small particles so thinking that's not a good idea. Someone suggested Leslie's and they have a Quartz brand that I am going to pick up in a couple of hours.
Thank you so much!
 
Here is what I want you to do for the FC..............add in enough to get it up to 5. Brush the pool and have the pump on. After 15 mins RETEST the FC and see where it is at. If it is close to where pool math said it would be then you are good. If it is GONE we will need to talk some more.

I would get as much chlorine as you can put in your car as I do think you need to do a SLAM.
 
kimkats said:
Here is what I want you to do for the FC..............add in enough to get it up to 5. Brush the pool and have the pump on. After 15 mins RETEST the FC and see where it is at. If it is close to where pool math said it would be then you are good. If it is GONE we will need to talk some more.

I would get as much chlorine as you can put in your car as I do think you need to do a SLAM.
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Great, we got the new sand from Leslie's and about to put that in. Do you have a link to that process? We used "backwash" instead of "rinse" the first time.
 
I will type it out here to speed me up:
-cover top post to keep sand out
-put center post in and seated
-put on laterals.
-HAND put in sand under the lateral
-keep hand putting in said until the lateral are well covered
-add water to sand already in there. This will help any sand settle
-hand put in some more sand and feel to make sure it is covering the laterals
-keep adding sand until it hits the max level
-add more water and see if the sand settles any more

Now BEFORE you turn it to filter you need to do a rinse run of the pump/filter. This really helps settle the sand and rinses it off at the same time. I would do it for about 2 or 3 mins. If it is coming out dirty then keep it going.

Once the rinse runs clear turn off the pump and turn the filter to filter and turn the pump back on..............come and cheer with us that is worked!!!
 
@kimkats Went to do the test to bring FC to 5 and it's already all gone from this morning. This AM we added 38 oz of 12.5% bleach to bring it to 3. So I am going to bring it up to 5 and brush it like you advised. If those results changes anything let me know. PH still at 7.8.

Thank you for helping us and I don't mean to keep bothering you on a Saturday with your family but I have never owned a pool and I am extremely grateful. Plan on giving a donation as soon as PPP comes.
 
kimkats said:
Today is a couch day for me so you are good! AND if I can't get to it someone else can/will step in to help out!

What was your last CYA test and when did you do it?
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I haven't added CYA yet bc i didn't think I was supposed to until I got the chlorine leveled out?? But I have everything ready to do it. We added another 70 oz of 12.5% about an hour ago to bring it to 5. This AM we put 38 oz. Just brushed it and was going to give it a little more time to mix around. The water is getting circulated SOO much better since changing the sand. The return is making a steady stream of bubbles and that wasn't happening before. My daughter is also helping to circulate per your instructions lol.
 

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