Upgraded Intex Easy Set pool pump and now have questions....advice please!

[KarenG3]

Hi,
I have an Intex 18 x 48 Easy Set pool and after many months of dealing with how bad the included 1500gph pump is, I bought a 2500gph Intex pump for this summer (hope it works a bit better!), but after it's all installed I'm realizing that my skimmer basket no longer fits and not sure if I'm missing something or if I need to upgrade the skimmer or possibly the fitting for the skimmer? If I don't use a skimmer basket, then obviously I can't hook up the (not so great) vacuum!
Also, yesterday when I turned on the pump for the first time I was amazed at the force of the water flowing out of it. Thought FINALLY!!! Then today it's hardly moving the water! I took the filter out and ran it under water to clean it a bit and again it pumped forcefully and then after a couple hours back to hardly at all! Any ideas??
Thanks for any help!
Karen

[PoolDoc]

I'm not sure about the skimmer situation -- you may have to dig around on the Intex site and see what you can find out.

Take a look at this page, describing their "Deluxe Wall Mount Surface Skimmer" . It looks like this unit is designed to go with the pool and filter you have. I'm not sure what sort of skimmer you have now, so you may need to purchase this one, OR you may be able to look at the manual, and see how to adapt yours.

Regarding the filters -- they are tiny cartridges, with only 14 sft. Intex says toss them every 2 weeks. Cartridges can gum up with algae pretty badly. Here's what I'd try, if I were you:

1. Buy this pack of 'B' cartridges AFTER verifying that 'B' is the correct size. You can probably get them locally, but here's the Amazon link: "Intex Brand Type B Pool Filter Cartridges" .

2. Get some bleach and laundry soap, and a clean 5 gallon bucket. Mix 4 gallons of water with 1/4 cup of bleach and 1/8 cup of liquid laundry detergent.

3. Get a 2nd clean 5 gallon bucket and fill it with 4 gallons of water and 1/4 cup of bleach but NO laundry detergent.

4. Put a new filter in, and throw the old one away.

5. When the new one plugs, rinse it off, and put it in the detergent mix. Leave it.

6. When the 2nd one plugs, rinse the first one off CAREFULLY, and put it in the 2nd bucket with no deterent. Rinse the first one, and put it in the detergent bucket.

7. When the 3rd one plugs, repeat the process, but CAREFULLY rinse the 1st cartridge again and re-install it in the filter. Do rinse carefully: you do NOT want detergent in the pool! Continue to use the chain process to clean your filters. You should get somewhat better life, and cleaning, that way.

Here's something else. The Intex cartridges are very low grade. You may want to try a single "Unicel C-5315 Replacement Filter Cartridge for 15 Square Foot Intex B Filter" from Amazon, even though it costs 5x as much. They can't improve the design, but it is higher grade filter material. I would only buy one of these, till you've tested and found out that it's worth paying extra for.

But, be careful. The Amazon link above goes to a genuine Unicel cartridge, but other Amazon links for "Unicel Type 'B' cartridges" actually go to low-grade Pleatco cartridges, which are not likely to be any better than the Intex model, and may be worse.

(Note: if you by from Amazon using these links, PoolForum gets a 4% advertising fee. However, you don't have to buy from Amazon with those links, to get the products, and you can find these items elsewhere. But on the Unicel cartridges, be very careful. Pleatco is an aggressive marketing company, and its retailers are selling Pleatco cartridges as Unicel equivalent cartridges, so to speak!)

Good luck!

[KarenG3]

Thanks for the suggestions. The pump does require a "B" cartridge and I purchased a 6 pack. With the prior pump (which used a "A/C" cartridge, I rinsed them after use (which sometimes was everyday!) and would put them in a bucket with water and shock for about 30 minutes. Had to be careful I didn't forget to remove them though because the shock would eat through the plastic on the (cheap) filters. I will definitely try the bleach and detergent!
Still looking for a solution to the skimmer basket connection, which will also be my vacuum connection. Can't set up the vacuum with the way everything is installed now, because the only hoses are on the outside of the pool and go directly to the pump. Inside the pool consists of the strainer that directs water to be filtered and the blower which forces the clean water into the pool. Not sure where I'd connect the vacuum. I hope this is making sense. The 1500 gph pump connections that I just replaced had threads on the strainer piece (inside the pool) that would accept a connection that ran to the skimmer basket or you could remove the skimmer and attach the vacuum.
Thanks!
Karen

[PoolDoc]

Did the shock eat through Intex brand filters? (If it does, that's just information I need to have) Or, were they another brand (unlabeled Walmart special)?

Do you have a digital camera? Can you take pictures of the old and new connections? If you can, send them to poolforum@gmail.com .

Did you look at the Intex page and manual on the skimmer I linked to? It appeared that that skimmer (not yours) was designed to work with your filter.

Is your skimmer different than the one I linked to? Do you know what make / model it is? (Where did you get it?)

[KarenG3]

I used both the Intex brand and ones I purchased at Walmart and the shock damaged the plastic on top and bottom of the A/C cartridge. It would start to eat through it and the plastic became 'gummy'.
I do have a camera and will take photos in the morning when it's light out (it's 8pm here now). I looked at the link your provided and it is the same skimmer. I think I may need an adapter that leads from the host at the bottom of the skimmer basket to the strainer inlet on the inside wall of the pool. The one that I replaced had threads on the strainer and the adapter that is on the end of the hose coming from the skimmer basket attached to it. But the strainer with this new pump is much larger and the adapter does not fit. So I looked on eBay and did see a 4 1/2 inch strainer adapter which I think I need to attached the skimmer basket. There's no mention of it with the new pump so I guess I was supposed to figure that out myself. I'm still looking though for the correct information. Thanks for the info you've given me!
Karen

[PoolDoc]

Intex does not have the best customer support.

On the other hand, so do some companies who sell far pricier products. But, they still have done more to expand the US pool market than any other company in the past 30 years. When I entered the pool business over 25 years ago, the idea that someone could go to Walmart (yes, they existed then!), buy an 18' round pool for less than $750, install it themselves, and have it actually work for more than 12 hours would have been heresy!

But, setting that aside, they are hurting themselves these days by not providing better support, at least online.

However, before you buy, try calling their customer service number, and see if you can get any clarity there:

Consumer Service
Special Summer Hours:
Monday through Friday 7:00am-5:00pm PST
Saturday 7:00am-3:00pm PST

Online Store: http://www.intexstore.com
E-mail: http://www.email.intexstore.com

[KarenG3]

Thank you! I will call them on Monday to see if I can get what I need!
Karen

[SafetyBob]

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I am just about ready to dump the cartridge filter setup and go with the big sand filter pump setup from Intex. I think it is rated at 2650gph flow rating. It comes with a real strainer basket like real pool pumps.

What I am getting at is I have the same pump/filter setup as you on my much smaller 10' metal frame pool and I use the bigger return/inlet parts that came with that pump on my little pool. And the valves certainly make it easier to change cartridges without loosing a bunch of water. You would have to cut your opening slightly bigger to fit those fittings in versus what came originally with your pool. I have no issues with anything NOT using a skimmer basket...inlet suction is NOT a problem unless you take the cover off then decide to be cute....it will suprise you with it's power and you can just stick a hose in it and use a cheap brush/vacuum that is sold at most places.

The only thing I don't like is changing filters every week for me, BUT never have I tried Doc's suggestion of putting used filter in buckets and trying to clean and reuse them....that would certainly take a large expense down to virtually nothing. I will give it a shot before putting around 300+ dollars down for the sand filter/pump setup.

Bob E.

[PoolDoc]

From what I've been told, you can't clean the Intex cartridges very well -- you'll need to switch to the Unicel (or probably Filbur) cartridges to operate that way.

Also, the 2650 gallon system is a SWCG + copper ionizer hybrid system. If anyone with blonde hair gets in that pool, there will be trouble!! We don't recommend those.

[SafetyBob]

PoolDoc, I just ordered 3 of the Unicell B cartridges off the Amazon link. Thank you, for this experiment to work correctly, I MUST have the genuine Unicell article. I am off to buy two new 5 gallon buckets with lids that those carts will fit into easy and for the whatever of it, practice with the Intex cartridges first using the cleaning system you suggest. 50 bucks for superior cartridges and the small extra work to clean and maintain them is worth the effort to keep everything small and simple for me. Give it a couple of weeks and I will report back as to the difference between the Intex cartridges and the Unicell ones and how they both work being cleaned.

Do you recommend I just use the normal garden hose sprayer to clean the cartidges off or is it worth the few dollars it costs for the "official" cartridge sprayers worth it?

I need to appologize to you because just a little more effort on my part and education has got me realizing that the Intex folks while not lying about their system, my be reverting to over simplifying things. If their replacement cell is made of copper (and that's what it looked like to me when I was giving it a quick look a couple of weeks ago), then their SWCG system is using copper ionization to make the chlorine from salt. I did not realize that the expensive systems used either a plated material or strictly used exotic metals to keep the copper out of the water due to the blonde hair issues while converting the salt to chlorine. So again, I may decide it is worth my 57 bucks to order one of the replacement cells so that not only myself but everyone here knows exactly what this system is and decide to use it or keep strictly with BBB.

Looks like Wednesday until my Taylor 2006 test kit will be at the house.

Bob E.