Sand in Pool - Lateral or Spider Gasket??

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ddurrett896

Active member
Jul 16, 2018
43
Virginia Beach, VA
2nd year with a new pool and I've seen a little bit of sand in the pool over the last year. Was hoping it was being blown in from the dirt before our deck was poured, but appears not. Today my robot cleaned the pool and as soon as I turned the pump on, saw sand in the shallow end after an hour.

Filter is a Hayward Pro Series sand filter. Is there a way to determine if it's the Spider Gasket or lateral....or something else? Thanks!
 
Can you feel this "sand" ? Pick it up?? It *may* be sand....algae... pollen... ?
How about some test results from your home kit-
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt if applicable

How are you sanitizing your water? How's the water itself look?

Maddie :flower:
 
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YippeeSkippy said:
Can you feel this "sand" ? Pick it up?? It *may* be sand....algae... pollen... ?
How about some test results from your home kit-
How are you sanitizing your water? How's the water itself look?

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
It's fine - kinda like sand but I guess it could be pollen or algae. My number are all 100% good and it's not a ton of sand, but noticable from outside the pool right where the return is. Thanks!
 
ddurrett896 said:
2nd year with a new pool and I've seen a little bit of sand in the pool over the last year. Was hoping it was being blown in from the dirt before our deck was poured, but appears not. Today my robot cleaned the pool and as soon as I turned the pump on, saw sand in the shallow end after an hour.

Filter is a Hayward Pro Series sand filter. Is there a way to determine if it's the Spider Gasket or lateral....or something else? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Not hard, or particularly expensive, to replace the gasket as the first try. Be sure to always have the pump off when changing valve position, especially if you replace the gasket. The factory uses a special glue to hold it in the grooves. You can use a good silicone seal/glue, but need to allow it to cure before use. Since the sand is showing at the return, it is more likely a lateral, unfortunately.
 
ddurrett896 said:
So I vacuumed the pool, turned on the filter to recirculate, ran for 30 minutes and no sand. Is that a definite lateral issue or could it be a spider gasket?
Click to expand...
Unless the tank is overfilled and some sand gets into the valve during a backwash, the only way sand can get into the valve and then the return line is through a bad lateral. Don't backwash, put the valve in "filter" mode and watch the results.
 
Get a skimmer sock or knee-hi stocking and put it on a return to see if sand is coming out.

Use a threaded fitting and a rubber band to secure the sock in place.

Let the filter run for a while and see if sand accumulates in the sock.
 
JamesW said:
Get a skimmer sock or knee-hi stocking and put it on a return to see if sand is coming out.

Use a threaded fitting and a rubber band to secure the sock in place.

Let the filter run for a while and see if sand accumulates in the sock.
Click to expand...
How would I attach the skimmer sock to the return? Do the return fitting just unthread without causing issue to the liner?

Also, is there a way to clean the pool of sand/dead algae without vaccum to waste? Can't tell what on the bottom and would hate to replcae the later assembly + 500lbs of sand if its just residual that needed to be taken out.

I ran my robot yesterday with the extra fine filters and filled the basket with cotton balls in an attempt to have the sand/dead algae stick and stay in the basket. Looked good, but after the pump ran an hour this morning the sand/dead algae was showing collection at the bottom of the pool.

I did back wash wash a week or so ago and had about 1 solo cup of sand come out. Checked the spider gasket and it looked fine. Thanks
 

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Gotta update...

I vac to waste and removed all sand from the pool and ran the pump for 2 weeks without anything in the pool. Backwashed for 5 minutes, then rinsed for 1 minute before flipping back to filter.

Sand dumped out into the street where my backwash drains and returned back into the pool. Any idea what's going on? Thanks!
 
ddurrett896 said:
Gotta update...

I vac to waste and removed all sand from the pool and ran the pump for 2 weeks without anything in the pool. Backwashed for 5 minutes, then rinsed for 1 minute before flipping back to filter.

Sand dumped out into the street where my backwash drains and returned back into the pool. Any idea what's going on? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Too much sand in the tank? A 2hp pump can lift the sand bed into the MPV. Once there it can get into the pool. Best results with a sand filter is a VSP and long, slow, perhaps 24/7 filtration.
 
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ddurrett896 said:
That make sense it's just intermittent and driving me crazy. Even if the same bed lifted into the MPV, wouldn't that sand dump to street when I rinse? Thanks!
Click to expand...
While that would seem to make sense, we are talking about a pool. Sometimes they make no sense whatsoever. Work on enough and you'd know what I mean. Worked on a pump Monday that was put together with parts from two different models, same brand, and it worked when the last time I saw the same thing a couple of years ago it wouldn't
 
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