Small pool multi valve problem

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ajtg1952
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Small pool multi valve problem

Postby ajtg1952 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:58 am

A friend of mine has been fighting a dirty, small, above ground pool for about 2 years. Someone fitted the plumbing system for her but would not come back when she complained it wasn't working properly.

I had a look at it yesterday. The plumbing looks okay but the sand filter has the multi valve directly on the top and not at the side.

When I set it to filter and hovered the bottom the green water and sludge came straight back in through the jet. When I backwashed, however, I noticed the water was fairly clear.

My question is, I'm not familiar with this type of filter and multi valve arrangement. Could it have been installed 180 degrees out? Any advice would be appreciated!

probe
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Re: Small pool multi valve problem

Postby probe » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:48 pm

If its been fitted poorly the wrong pipes could be connected to the wrong parts of the multivalve. You should be able to trace back the various pipes to work out whether this is the case.

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Wicksey
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Re: Small pool multi valve problem

Postby Wicksey » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:58 pm

When I hoover I have set it to waste and not to filter. If the sand filter isn't particularly brilliant the dirt will just go around and back into the pool.

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Re: Small pool multi valve problem

Postby TorreDelAguila » Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:11 pm

Wicksey is right. Extremely fine sediment (eg cloudy green stuff, saharan dust) is too fine for a lot of sand filters to remove, and it gets fed straight back into the pool.

Cure is to "vacuum to waste":
- fill the pool extra high, because you will lose several inches of water during this process
- vacuum as usual, but set 6-way valve to Waste
Sucked up dirty water will go straight down the waste (drain) pipe, and not into the sand filter (and pool).

Some liquid/tablet Flocculant put in the skimmer basket will "clump" fine sediment, and help the sand filter catch it.
Five-in-one multifunction tablets should contain flocculant, but some can be a bit weedy when it comes to clumping.

Moral: Never be weedy when it comes to clumping.
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El Cid
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Re: Small pool multi valve problem

Postby El Cid » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:37 pm

I have always vacuumed to waste as we seem to get very fine dust. Luckily, our water is cheap so that topping up is not an issue.
I use liquid flocculante and it usually dumps all the fine dust onto the bottom after 48 hours. I find it better than the cartridges you put in the filter and it is cheaper.

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Re: Small pool multi valve problem

Postby northandsouth » Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:01 pm

And whenever I am using floc I circulate it first on the recirculation setting for a while to get it well mixed then turn off the pump and leave 24 hours or so to clump. And then as they all say vacuum to waste. Nothing worse than finding someone has put floc through the filter :thumbdown: :twisted:


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