Sand Filter Glass Bubble

by JJ
(KS)

On the top side of my PRO SWIM sand filter (near the gauge) was a little glass jar that screwed into the filter.

That broke this winter. Seems to be glass in the threads. Any ideas on how to get it out?

Hi JJ.

The little glass jar is a sight glass. In cases where you can't see the water coming out of your backwash hose you can watch the sight glass, this will tell you when the water is coming out clean and you are done backwashing.

This opening can be plugged off with a bolt or a plug if you do not use the sight glass, not everyone does. If you don't use it there is no need to replace it.

A small screw driver should work to get the rest of the glass out of the threads. Maybe even a few taps with a hammer to get it to start breaking apart. Once the glass starts breaking it should be fairly easy to work out of the threads.

Golf Ball in Pipe Under Skimmer

by Gabe
(Duarte, ca)

I believe a golf ball is wedged in my pull vacuum piping just below the skimmer attachment. I can barely feel it with my middle finger going in the pvc piping, and it feels like the ripple of a golf ball that I must have sucked up when vacuuming?

Kids next door are always throwing things in my pool.

Any ideas? I can only feel about 10% of the ball, the rest of it seems to want to go down the pipe, but I don't want to force it and have it get wedged somewhere else down the line.

Hi Gabe.

It sounds like you are going to have to cut into the pipe and remove it? PVC pipe should be easy to cut and splice back together with a coupler and some PVC glue.

If the ball is lodged in the pipe it is probably reducing your filter flow considerably. If so, the repairs should be done as soon as possible. If the flow has not been reduced it may not be a problem to leave it alone. It might just make it's way down to the pump basket where it would be easy to remove.

Pump Froze

I haven't been turning on the pump for the last couple of days and when I went to turn it on today...it would not turn on. What could be the problem?

Hi.

The problem could be a couple of things. The motor could be completely burned out or the impeller could just be froze up. In order to find out for sure you could remove the front of the pump and turn the impeller by hand.

In some cases it is enough to just remove the hair and lint pot. That leaves a small opening with plenty of room to stick a screw driver through. The screw driver could be used to turn the impeller.

Sometimes they get frozen from small pieces of dirt and silica sand getting stuck in them. At first they appear to not want to turn at all, but if you keep trying eventually they will. Once they do the system can be put back together and the pump should work fine.

Removing Jacuzzi Filter Cover

I have an above ground pool and the Jacuzzi cartridge filter has grown increasingly difficult to remove the top. The locking ring comes off easily, but the top half is very difficult.

Replacing it is just as bad. At times I have had to stand on it, to get it down. Is there some kind of lubricant that I should use (that is safe for O-rings)?

Hi.

Yes, there is a lubricant that would work just fine for that. It's called Aqua Lube. It should also be used on the hair and lint pot cover on a regular basis. Most of the moving parts on above ground pool filters can be lubricated with Aqua Lube, and you will be amazed at how well things start working again.

Intex Sand Filter

by Stephanie Taylor
(South Bend, IN, St Joseph)

I recently purchased a used pool with a fairly new Intex sand filter. Hooked everything up and all was working properly. After running the pool for a while I noticed the pressure from the jets had increased to where it was shoving pool toys around the pool. Changed the sand, checked for blockages and so on but can not find the problem.

Hi Stephanie

I have never heard of too much pressure being a problem, it is usually just the opposite, the filter keeps loosing pressure.

The only way I would be concerned about this is if the filter is not cleaning the pool. If it is doing it's job then leave it alone. As the sand clogs up with dirt the flow will slow down. When you notice this, backwash it, and get this strong flow back again.