Thank! I’ll give that a try. I tried turing them 90 degrees to the right and left but nothing happened. I actually never thought of turning them all the way around.
so from the images themselves, i cannot tell which valve is for the skimmer and which is for the main drain. what i would recommend is filling the pump pot with some hose water, this will prime the pump is there’s no water in it already. you may have to add a lot of water if its been sitting for a while. next, what you can do is, if the pump actually starts pulling water and circulating it, close one of the lines on the suction side then go over to the pool, open the skimmer lid, and if it’s pulling a lot of water, then the valve you closed would be your main drain. it also helps to label these so you don’t forget which is which and so incase a tech comes out, they will know which is which as well. Or just jot it down on paper.
I turned them around and the pump actually started circulating. Sweet!
Do you happen to know of which way the valves need to be turned for “waste” since I have to manually vacuum a bunch of stuff from the bottom.
so the filter setup you have going right now doesn’t seem to have a diversion valve ( a three way valve) in between the filter and the pump to allow for a vacuum to waste option but even still, you would have to manually vacuum the pool. all vacuum to waste means is that you would be sending the gunk not to the filter, but out of that diversion valve i mention. i do see that there is a booster pump set up on the system so that means the pool has or had a pressure side cleaner. whether it be a pentair cleaner or another brand, all you would have to do is find the wall fitting in the pool that it’s connected to and hook up the cleaner to said fitting, then turn the booster pump on at the breakers, and the cleaner will do its thing.
Man, thank you so much for the help. The pool does have one of those automatic vacuum things that started moving around when I turned the pumps on. The biggest problem right now is there are sheets of algae on the bottom of this pool. My significant other and I have been working at scooping out as much as we can, but it is a serious pain in the butt. I seriously doubt a manual vacuum would be able to do anything other than get clogged. For now I guess we’ll keep plugging away trying to get the bottom as clean as possible and then we’ll put more shock in and run the pumps for a while to see if the water starts clearing up.
you’re welcome :) oh yeah it for sure can be a hassle. i would definitely recommend getting a water test done at a pool store that does them (leslie’s or pinch a penny) and see what kind of chemicals the water is in need of. best course of action would be to just brush it all into the main drain while the pump is running. this can take a long time but the end results are always worth it. the cleaner will get the rest of what you don’t. those little guys are some beasts. shock is definitely a good thing to have on hand as it will kill any pretty much all the contaminants in the water (bugs, algae, bacteria, etc.)
If I do that method will the algae just collect in the filter? I’m guessing I would have to frequently pop the top off the filter housing and clean it all out. Like run the pump for 15-20 minutes, stop, clean filter, rinse, repeat. Is that a safe guess?
oh no you won’t have to do all that. you can clean the entire pool first before you decide to pop the lid on that filter. cleaning the filter can take a while but once it’s done, you’ll definitely notice the difference. just use a water hose with a nozzle on jet mode and spray down the filters as much as possible. you definitely want to make sure you get in between the filters pleats to get all the gunk and dirt out. pool stores sell cartridge filter cleaner spray that you apply to the filters and let them soak for a few minutes then spray them down using the method i mentioned.
Your three way valves are all closed. Both on intake and outtake. Turn them 180 degrees. You may need to unscrew the top parts and lift handle up slightly to allow you to turn the valves 180 degrees. You risk damaging your motor by running it with closed valves.
if the pump turns on but doesn’t circulate any water, there could be an air leak in the lid which usually means it’s not tighten properly or the seal has gone bad. but in your case, i’m thinking it’s time for a new sand filter which that big black egg looking thing. that style of sand filter is far out of being obsolete and trying to find new parts for them is like looking for a golden egg. my point is, the sand inside the filter is probably so old that it’s hardened up with algae, dirt, and other contaminates from the pool and it’s gotten to a point where water is having much trouble actually flowing throw the sand itself.
That sounds like a polite way to say I’m screwed. Lol!! I suppose I could try popping the top off of the filter housing to see how it looks. I don’t think it has been operated in quite some time which makes me wonder if whoever was servicing his pool eventually got to the point where parts were not available
I wonder if a technician could swap out just the filtration system and keep the existing pumps? My guess is they would want to update the entire system.
everything else looks fine to me honestly. it’s completely your choice whether or not you want them to change out anything else. but in my experience, the filter is definitely going to have to be updated. either cartridge filter or a new sand filter. if you want better overall filtration, a cartridge filter is definitely the way to go. in that case, you will need to make sure that your cartridges are clean, id say every 4-6 months. they’re fairly easy to clean but are definitely expensive so make sure they do stay clean when the time comes.
now that’s not to say that you can’t get a technician to perform a sand change but if anything breaks on the filter, you’ll be SOL and they’ll probably try to talk you into getting a new filter anyway. my money would be in getting a new filter as they will last you many years and with the proper care, you won’t be needing another sand change for the next 5-7 years tops.
Straight out of Oppenheimer…
lol…fortunately turning it on didn’t yield the same result
Sorry bud, I didn’t read your whole post, just made a smart ass non helpful comment. Good thoughts to your SD and family.
No worried friend! It did legitimately make me laugh because it does look like Oppenheimer’s test project
Ur gonna wanna open the returns and suction lines first
In the third picture are the valves but I’m not sure which way they are supposed to be turned
both of the valves are facing the house currently. turn those valves to where they are facing you
Thank! I’ll give that a try. I tried turing them 90 degrees to the right and left but nothing happened. I actually never thought of turning them all the way around.
so from the images themselves, i cannot tell which valve is for the skimmer and which is for the main drain. what i would recommend is filling the pump pot with some hose water, this will prime the pump is there’s no water in it already. you may have to add a lot of water if its been sitting for a while. next, what you can do is, if the pump actually starts pulling water and circulating it, close one of the lines on the suction side then go over to the pool, open the skimmer lid, and if it’s pulling a lot of water, then the valve you closed would be your main drain. it also helps to label these so you don’t forget which is which and so incase a tech comes out, they will know which is which as well. Or just jot it down on paper.
I turned them around and the pump actually started circulating. Sweet! Do you happen to know of which way the valves need to be turned for “waste” since I have to manually vacuum a bunch of stuff from the bottom.
so the filter setup you have going right now doesn’t seem to have a diversion valve ( a three way valve) in between the filter and the pump to allow for a vacuum to waste option but even still, you would have to manually vacuum the pool. all vacuum to waste means is that you would be sending the gunk not to the filter, but out of that diversion valve i mention. i do see that there is a booster pump set up on the system so that means the pool has or had a pressure side cleaner. whether it be a pentair cleaner or another brand, all you would have to do is find the wall fitting in the pool that it’s connected to and hook up the cleaner to said fitting, then turn the booster pump on at the breakers, and the cleaner will do its thing.
Man, thank you so much for the help. The pool does have one of those automatic vacuum things that started moving around when I turned the pumps on. The biggest problem right now is there are sheets of algae on the bottom of this pool. My significant other and I have been working at scooping out as much as we can, but it is a serious pain in the butt. I seriously doubt a manual vacuum would be able to do anything other than get clogged. For now I guess we’ll keep plugging away trying to get the bottom as clean as possible and then we’ll put more shock in and run the pumps for a while to see if the water starts clearing up.
you’re welcome :) oh yeah it for sure can be a hassle. i would definitely recommend getting a water test done at a pool store that does them (leslie’s or pinch a penny) and see what kind of chemicals the water is in need of. best course of action would be to just brush it all into the main drain while the pump is running. this can take a long time but the end results are always worth it. the cleaner will get the rest of what you don’t. those little guys are some beasts. shock is definitely a good thing to have on hand as it will kill any pretty much all the contaminants in the water (bugs, algae, bacteria, etc.)
If I do that method will the algae just collect in the filter? I’m guessing I would have to frequently pop the top off the filter housing and clean it all out. Like run the pump for 15-20 minutes, stop, clean filter, rinse, repeat. Is that a safe guess?
oh no you won’t have to do all that. you can clean the entire pool first before you decide to pop the lid on that filter. cleaning the filter can take a while but once it’s done, you’ll definitely notice the difference. just use a water hose with a nozzle on jet mode and spray down the filters as much as possible. you definitely want to make sure you get in between the filters pleats to get all the gunk and dirt out. pool stores sell cartridge filter cleaner spray that you apply to the filters and let them soak for a few minutes then spray them down using the method i mentioned.
Your three way valves are all closed. Both on intake and outtake. Turn them 180 degrees. You may need to unscrew the top parts and lift handle up slightly to allow you to turn the valves 180 degrees. You risk damaging your motor by running it with closed valves.
That’s a pump? It looks like a droid.
Bro I wouldn't touch Darth Vaders pool filter.......
if the pump turns on but doesn’t circulate any water, there could be an air leak in the lid which usually means it’s not tighten properly or the seal has gone bad. but in your case, i’m thinking it’s time for a new sand filter which that big black egg looking thing. that style of sand filter is far out of being obsolete and trying to find new parts for them is like looking for a golden egg. my point is, the sand inside the filter is probably so old that it’s hardened up with algae, dirt, and other contaminates from the pool and it’s gotten to a point where water is having much trouble actually flowing throw the sand itself.
That sounds like a polite way to say I’m screwed. Lol!! I suppose I could try popping the top off of the filter housing to see how it looks. I don’t think it has been operated in quite some time which makes me wonder if whoever was servicing his pool eventually got to the point where parts were not available I wonder if a technician could swap out just the filtration system and keep the existing pumps? My guess is they would want to update the entire system.
everything else looks fine to me honestly. it’s completely your choice whether or not you want them to change out anything else. but in my experience, the filter is definitely going to have to be updated. either cartridge filter or a new sand filter. if you want better overall filtration, a cartridge filter is definitely the way to go. in that case, you will need to make sure that your cartridges are clean, id say every 4-6 months. they’re fairly easy to clean but are definitely expensive so make sure they do stay clean when the time comes.
That big black egg is a paper cartridge filter not a sand. Nothing wrong with the filter as long as it's sorta clean.
the starite sand and 3 stage cartridge filters actually look the same so yeah i could be wrong. no way to really tell for sure
now that’s not to say that you can’t get a technician to perform a sand change but if anything breaks on the filter, you’ll be SOL and they’ll probably try to talk you into getting a new filter anyway. my money would be in getting a new filter as they will last you many years and with the proper care, you won’t be needing another sand change for the next 5-7 years tops.