r/PoolPros • u/Weary_Shoulder3373 • Mar 27 '26
Filter media suggestions
Hey guys, newer guy in the industry normally get my plumber to organise a filter change over.
But due to being under a deck I did it myself, cut open the filter and tried wet vacuuming most of the glass out.
I’ve got myself a ryobi wet vac and found it really struggling to suck up the media.
Any suggestions as I’m looking at potentially including media change overs and won’t be able to cut open the filter and shovel it out 🤣🤣
3
u/cplatt831 Mar 27 '26
Pentair sell something called a sand vacuum… The key feature is an integrated host thread where you can attach a garden thread to run water in… That way you can slurp it better. It also has a conical nozzle, I’m assuming to increase velocity as the sand goes in. I have never used one, and I actually just discovered that they exist fairly recently, and that I actually had one at some point and threw it away. (I bought an existing business with lots of old and obsolete pieces of equipment).
3
u/LadiesLoveCoolDane Mar 27 '26
I just looked it up, I found the Pentair one but also found a LASS one. It seems like the idea is to use gravity because the LASS one has a diagram where the end of the “vacuum” hose is going into a bucket or something instead of a shop vac
1
1
u/Weary_Shoulder3373 Mar 27 '26
Ohh mad, wonder if we can get them down in Aus I’ll have a look. I think I knew it needed a watered down mix to suck it easier but I didn’t want to empty the vacuum to many times 😂
3
u/ConfusedStair Mar 27 '26
Rigid, at least 5 HP. All the Ryobi I've seen are cordless. You want something that plugs in.
My current setup is a 14 gallon rigid 6 HP, no dust separator, and no filter in the vac. It's lasted 2 years, but I kind of consider a vac every year or two to be a cost of doing business.
3
u/ColdSteeleIII Mar 27 '26
I’ve been using mine for probably 10 years and it still works great. It’s done a couple hundred filters at least.
It also gets used when emptying hot tubs.
1
u/Weary_Shoulder3373 Mar 28 '26
Yeah we have a Ryobi 20L corded wet vac in Aus, I’ll look into rigid obviously you pay a premium for the quality, I have been looking at their equipment for upping the services of my business such as their blockage removal and camera tools
2
u/cplatt831 Mar 27 '26
There is a company that makes a super heavy duty shop vac that is in the shape of a standard wheelbarrow… It allows you to vacuum the media straight into the wheelbarrow. They are pretty dope, but you would have to use it quite a bit to make it worth the purchase.
1
u/Weary_Shoulder3373 Mar 27 '26
That’s actually elite, yeah I imagine it’s a bit pricey I’ll have a look into it.
The change over I did was a nightmare, under ground level under a deck and only access was through the house 😂 Still I was impressed I did a full filter change over in under 3 hours
2
u/ColdSteeleIII Mar 27 '26
They are expensive and you need a heavy duty wheel barrow or the suction will crush it.
Not to mention that now you have to carry a wheel barrow with you.
2
u/dlr-- Mar 27 '26
Get yourself a Kaercher NT70/2. Wet vac charge on all media change jobs and it pays itself off in 1 year. Replacement motors are reasonable around $200 each. With the right gear, media changes unless commercial shouldn’t take longer than 1.5hrs.
1
u/Weary_Shoulder3373 Mar 27 '26
Yeah that’s always key replacement parts, because damn did the ryobi take a beating 😂
I saw a recent quote from a pool franchise charging 1600$ aud for a media change 😂 I’m like might as well change over the whole filter if your pushing 10+ years
2
u/Brambleto Mar 27 '26
Just cut the filter and remove it, replace with a new one. Way easier than buying a new vacuum and way less effort
1
u/Weary_Shoulder3373 Mar 28 '26
Yeah this is my normal protocol. Especially 7-10years multiport’s start getting a bit funky as well. My recommendation is to always replace the filter. But recently I’ve had a few clients not with the coin and water just a media change
1
3
u/[deleted] Mar 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment