20K Gallon Underground Pool
New England area
Hayward 1hp Superpump (old)
Hayward 60sf filter
I'm just now opening my pool, been redoing the deck.
Ok, so I had the old Hayward 'finger' DE filter with an old 1hp Hayward Superpump. Note: I pump from a main drain in the deep end as well as one skimmer. I usually use the skimmer alone.
I kept having trouble with losing pressure very quickly and my bump handle shaft kept corroding and breaking, thus I continually had to unscrew ~30 stainless screws to get inside, rinse it off, and restart...because my backwash wasn't cleaning the fingers well - all the DE was getting mucked up in it...even after I backwashed there was tons of it still in there once I went into it. So annoying. No bump and no backwash effectiveness. So, I read online to 'go bigger' when you replace the filter. So I bought the Hayward 60sf filter - brand new - as I wanted an easier filter to deal with. I also got the controller that offers filter/circulate/backwash/rinse/waste. I was super psyched to not have to deal with my old filter anymore and finally have an easy open.
Only I have run into a few problems.
1. I still lose pressure very quickly...even though the pool isn't that dirty and the filter is brand new and should have PLENTY of capacity. It started at 10psi. By 20psi, I lose pressure to returns. A bit weak at only 20psi. I backwash, rinse, add DE...and within 4 hours I'm losing pressure to returns again. I have backwashed this big filter about 6 times in one weekend. A bit excessive. Again, the pool is not 'that' dirty. It's blue-ish and I can see the third step (barely). Again, note, the pool is not that dirty and I have had this problem with my old filter even when the pool was pretty clean.
2. After backwashing, I opened it up and AGAIN there was DE still all over the filter. Showed pic to a pool guy and he said if I backwashed it shouldn't be that mucky. It didn't clean it off very well. The next time I backwashed, I checked where I backwashed in the grass and it really isn't that much DE left behind. I backwashed about 3 inches out of my pool...kept it running for a while. Added just 4lbs of DE instead of the normal 5-ish and the recommended 7lbs. Still lost pressure within hours. Opened it up, still dirty fins...though not AS dirty because I didn't use as much DE. This explains why it only takes a few hours to get to 20psi and lose my pressure both in and out. Similar issue to my old filter...and what I was trying to fix.
3. After the pump goes for about 2 hours or so, I notice the filter basket water drops down a few inches until it is just at the top of the filter basket. Likely an air leak but ring on filter basket is fine.
Ok, so the question, is my 1hp pump not strong enough? Does that explain why it (a) loses pressure so quickly (b) can't pump enough pressure once the DE coats the filter (c) why it gets to just 20psi and can't seem to crack that level and (c) why it can't seem to backwash itself clean? Is it not enough pressure to really clean the fins on a backwash? And perhaps the fingers in the past filter too? When I run the pump ONLY on circulate, the returns flow is really strong because it bypasses the filter. But once I try to run it with the filter, it seems to lose its power very, very quickly. I know the easy answer is "It's just dirty, keep backwashing it", but I've literally had the pump lose its ability to put pressure back in the returns within an hour of the backwash. And the backwashing does not seem to be efficient in EITHER the new or the old filter. The pool is not that dirty after a month of dealing with this and cleaning it super slowly, but I can't deal with this ongoing...
Thinking about a new 1.5hp pump (1.5 inch piping in place)...hoping that would help...but wondering if anyone else has experience with this. And hoping someone will tell me the pump is the problem, and not something else.
bp
New England area
Hayward 1hp Superpump (old)
Hayward 60sf filter
I'm just now opening my pool, been redoing the deck.
Ok, so I had the old Hayward 'finger' DE filter with an old 1hp Hayward Superpump. Note: I pump from a main drain in the deep end as well as one skimmer. I usually use the skimmer alone.
I kept having trouble with losing pressure very quickly and my bump handle shaft kept corroding and breaking, thus I continually had to unscrew ~30 stainless screws to get inside, rinse it off, and restart...because my backwash wasn't cleaning the fingers well - all the DE was getting mucked up in it...even after I backwashed there was tons of it still in there once I went into it. So annoying. No bump and no backwash effectiveness. So, I read online to 'go bigger' when you replace the filter. So I bought the Hayward 60sf filter - brand new - as I wanted an easier filter to deal with. I also got the controller that offers filter/circulate/backwash/rinse/waste. I was super psyched to not have to deal with my old filter anymore and finally have an easy open.
Only I have run into a few problems.
1. I still lose pressure very quickly...even though the pool isn't that dirty and the filter is brand new and should have PLENTY of capacity. It started at 10psi. By 20psi, I lose pressure to returns. A bit weak at only 20psi. I backwash, rinse, add DE...and within 4 hours I'm losing pressure to returns again. I have backwashed this big filter about 6 times in one weekend. A bit excessive. Again, the pool is not 'that' dirty. It's blue-ish and I can see the third step (barely). Again, note, the pool is not that dirty and I have had this problem with my old filter even when the pool was pretty clean.
2. After backwashing, I opened it up and AGAIN there was DE still all over the filter. Showed pic to a pool guy and he said if I backwashed it shouldn't be that mucky. It didn't clean it off very well. The next time I backwashed, I checked where I backwashed in the grass and it really isn't that much DE left behind. I backwashed about 3 inches out of my pool...kept it running for a while. Added just 4lbs of DE instead of the normal 5-ish and the recommended 7lbs. Still lost pressure within hours. Opened it up, still dirty fins...though not AS dirty because I didn't use as much DE. This explains why it only takes a few hours to get to 20psi and lose my pressure both in and out. Similar issue to my old filter...and what I was trying to fix.
3. After the pump goes for about 2 hours or so, I notice the filter basket water drops down a few inches until it is just at the top of the filter basket. Likely an air leak but ring on filter basket is fine.
Ok, so the question, is my 1hp pump not strong enough? Does that explain why it (a) loses pressure so quickly (b) can't pump enough pressure once the DE coats the filter (c) why it gets to just 20psi and can't seem to crack that level and (c) why it can't seem to backwash itself clean? Is it not enough pressure to really clean the fins on a backwash? And perhaps the fingers in the past filter too? When I run the pump ONLY on circulate, the returns flow is really strong because it bypasses the filter. But once I try to run it with the filter, it seems to lose its power very, very quickly. I know the easy answer is "It's just dirty, keep backwashing it", but I've literally had the pump lose its ability to put pressure back in the returns within an hour of the backwash. And the backwashing does not seem to be efficient in EITHER the new or the old filter. The pool is not that dirty after a month of dealing with this and cleaning it super slowly, but I can't deal with this ongoing...
Thinking about a new 1.5hp pump (1.5 inch piping in place)...hoping that would help...but wondering if anyone else has experience with this. And hoping someone will tell me the pump is the problem, and not something else.
bp
