Sand Filter dumped all the sand in my pool

[PoolDoc]

I'm waiting for things to settle after using but I did get some of it out. The system for attaching the bag to the leaf eater is horrible. I lost a bag in the pool.

Sorry, I forgot to say anything about that. There's a 'knack' to it, that I don't think they explain in the literature. But I've known how for so long, I don't even think about it, as a rule.

When you put the bag on, slide the griplock tight. If you look, you'll find the bag is bunched up near the lock. Slide the bag along the cord so that the bunches are at least 2" away from the lock on both sides, and the bag near the lock, lies smoothly along the cord. Then re-tighten the bag.

Also, with heavy material like filter sand, you can't fill the bag very full, before it holds the bag down. But, if you wear a swimsuit while you do this, you do NOT have to take the bag off, to get the sand out. Just position the entire leaf eater over a 5 gallon bucket, and push the bag through the hole and into the bucket. You will get a bit wet doing this. I don't get nearly as wet as I used to, but even so, I'd rather get wet than take the bag on and off each time. By the way, if you'll put a gallon or so of water in the bucket, you'll be much less likely to dump it over, when emptying the LeafEater.

Vacuuming sand is tricky, no matter how you do it. If you'd gotten the leaf trap, you'd be fighting to clean off the O-ring and seal area each time, to keep the sand remnants from introducing a suction leak.

C'est la vie. The easy way to do this . . . is to hire someone else.

Do you think trying to just vacuum to waste by removing the DE cartridge from the filter, open the backwash port and shut the lines down going back to the pool would work?

Maybe. I've gotta go right now. If you do this RIGHT, vacuuming to waste is the BEST way to do it. If you do it WRONG, you'll mess up your filter. I don't have time to scan back through the thread, to see if you've posted your exact filter make and model, but that's what I'll need to answer. I don't think you've done the Pool Chart. If you would, please complete our new Pool Chart form -- it takes about 30 seconds, but will save much more than that.

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Be sure to include EXACT filter info, and I'll take a look when I get back in a couple of hours.