Razzysmom's thread

[razzysmom]

Hi. I would like to thank you for the great information on here. It has helped me greatly. I have an Intex 20X52. I just upgraded to a Columbia 22" 2hp filter/pump system. Got it running yesterday morning-everything is great. I have an intex skimmer that hangs from the side that I use to vac with also. I was vac'n & was okay then lost suction. I emptied the the vac mess bag and never really could get it to do good again. Had friends come over & we got in and I left the filter/pump running. It pulls in water from the skimmer basket. We were in it maybe 30 min to 1 hr. When I went to get floats out I realized I had a pile of sand under my water inlet! Please help me-what happened? Did I vac wrong? This is my third yr with the pool and my first year of having nothing but problems. Past 2 yrs have been great. I'm totally new to the sand filter. Please help-I would love to be able to enjoy my pool! Thanks!

[BigDave]

Sounds like a really big pump for that filter. Have you backwashed the filter? Sand from the return could indicate that something is broken in the filter.

[PoolDoc]

I had never heard of a 'Columbia 22"' - unfortunately I'm afraid we're going to here a lot more about them.

I just spent about 20 minutes looking at their website. It appears they are marketing a group of Chinese made filters, pumps and filter / pump combos. I don't know anything about the manufacturing quality (except as regards the sand filter problem you are having) but I can tell that their pool system engineering is really crappy - even by US AG product standards, which are really bad. I'm going point out the site to my moderators, because I'm afraid this is a product line we are going to need to know about.

With regard to your particular problem: they have a "troubleshooting" section, which includes exactly one "troubleshooter", and it's about YOUR problem. What that tells me, is that that's a really common problem, and in its turn, that makes it clear they have an unresolved quality problem. Here's their page:

http://www.columbiapoolproducts.com/troubleshooting/

and here's the parts page:

http://www.columbiapoolproducts.com/spare-parts/

Most likely, you need the "udrain" part.

But, I'd call them and see if you can get it warranted:

Columbia Pool Products, Inc. ▪ Service: (718) 402-8233
111 Bruckner Blvd., Bronx, NY 10454

What's almost certainly has happened is that the under drain has broken, spilling sand into the pool. If the filter is new, maybe they'll send you one free.

Regardless of any of that - when a sand filter begins dumping sand into the pool, it's time to open the filter and see what's wrong.

Sorry for your problems, and good luck!

[CarlD]

The UDRAIN sound like the joint where the laterals in the tank meet the vertical pipe that rises up to the multivalve. And, as Ben says, it sounds like it is a problem. Did you load the filter with the full 250 lbs of sand it takes?

Carl

[PoolDoc]

Carl, that filter doesn't have laterals.

[CarlD]

Carl, that filter doesn't have laterals.

Really? How can it work? The Udrain sounded exactly like the laterals in a std sand filter, but as if there are only 4 of them --"an X at the bottom of the tank"