Changing Sand in Filter and Random Filter Question

[tenax]

i'll kick in on the sand filter as i just did mine:

-drain the water (should be a water drain..go into a small bucket or hose if you like with a funnel, etc.

-use the wet vac to carefully take out the sand. you can break the pipes that come off the main pipe that you'll see inside if you are too aggressive. i found it most effective to avoid too much glogging of the vac hose to skim it on the sand surface rather than digging as it were..the sand will be wet!

-clean it all out, inspect the pipe in the middle and pipes coming off it for any damage (cracks, etc). if it's all good, rinse the tank of any remaining sand if you like.

when putting sand back in:

-fill the tank 1/3 full of water so it gently settles on those pipes inside and doesn't damage them.

-cover the main pipe so no sand gets into it when you fill. i just used pieces of black electricians tape and removed after i was done.

-put your sand slowly into the filter. your filter guide will tell you for sure and it may be on the pump..but my 21 inch takes 200 lb of sand or 100 lb or zeobrite (half the weight, same volume, better filtration capability as it's finer than silica sand) i would guess a 19 inch filter is 150 lb.

[drumr]

You mention that you "switch it to close" and then "run it"..I may be wrong but you should never run your filter with the multiport vavle in the "closed" position, it basically shuts all of the water flow off to the return(s) and this could be what's blowing your gauges up too. Switch it to anything but "closed" when you start the pump up ie...filter, backwash, waste, rinse.

Running it in the closed position puts a lot of unwanted pressure on your system.

Good Luck

Welcome to the forum!!

[newbie2pools]

Thank you guys for the replies! I will give it a shot tonight.

Pam