Inground Pump and Filter Question

[BigDave]

I wasn't clear - sorry. I'm not advocating changing the sand but inspecting the laterals (which are buried at the bottom of the sand) before buying a new filter. It sounds like either your laterals may have been broken since the filter was installed or (as you surmize) the pump is pushing sand through them. The only way to know is to inspect. I see the laterals for Hayward S310T2 (2004 and prior) for as little as $5.00 on Amazon (not including shipping) where the S310T2 filter with multiport valve is more like $500.00. I would find a way to save the sand as I removed it and reuse it.

Here's the parts list for the S310T2 if that's the filter you have and here's the manual.

[Jodester]

No, you were clear -- but perhaps I wasn't. What I meant was the guy said the the act of manipulating the unit in order to remove the sand would damage the unit. He said they tend to crack when opening them up.

[Jodester]

Oh -- and regarding saving the sand -- I thought that after a number of years, the jagged edges of the grains of sand wore down and lost their effectiveness in trapping material. The sand in this unit is at least 13 years old (it has never been replaced). Do you still think it might be worth saving given that?

[mas985]

I agree with Dave, the pump is probably pushing sand out of the filter.

A simple fix would be to downsize the pump impeller. Do you know your current pump model#?

[Jodester]

Yes -- our filter is model S310T, a 30" filter that holds 500 pounds of sand. By the way, I was looking at its manual, and I can't get over how there is absolutely no mention of any regular maintenance such as changing the sand anywhere in the entire manual! I went online and found more generic instructions on changing sand, and it describes using a plastic cup to scoop out the sand to avoid damaging the laterals. I cannot imagine scooping out 500 POUNDS of sand with a plastic cup!

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Oops -- goofed on my last post. You were asking for the PUMP model, not the filter. Our pump is a Hayward C48M2N111.


EDIT by Moderator: 2 posts waiting in the queue were combined.

[mas985]

That is the motor model #. I was more interested in the pump model but I think it is probably a SuperPump SP2615X20. If so, then that filter should easily handle that pump and more than likely, something is wrong with the filter.

[BigDave]

No reason to change sand unless it's been gummed up by baquacil or some nasty growth that can't be bleached away. I believe most of the mods here are on decade + sand.

Removing the sand does seem like a big job and I've never done it myself so I haven't any tips, perhaps someone else does.

This is just my general skepticism but... The pool company that is advising you that removing the sand will break the laterals: Do they want to sell you a new filter? Did they install the filter 13 years ago and may be aware that the laterals have been broken since it was installed? The Hayward manual suggests filling the filter halfway with water before adding sand to avoid damaging the laterals - perhaps this wasn't done at installation.

[drband]

You can remove the sand by first draining the filter, then vacuuming out the sand with a good shop-vac. The bigger, the better! Will not damage the laterals while removing. Be sure to fill the filter about half full of water before adding sand back or you COULD damage the laterals. Good luck! As noted above, be very careful when opening up the filter so nothing cracks-- once cracked, the filter body will have to be replaced.