New filter - now pool is cloudy?

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J

Joshii

Well-known member
Jul 15, 2013
270
I replaced my Perflex EC65 DE filter with a 425sq ft cartridge filter due to DE filter being very old and requiring daily bumping and maintenance. The flow through the new one is exceptionally strong which is great.

But now my pool is cloudy. What gives? Is this common with new cartridge filters? In all the years I've owned the DE filter I never once had a cloudy pool. Really. And now all of a sudden I get the cartridge filter and have a cloudy pool.

I've started running the pump 24x7. It's been running for maybe 16 hours straight now but I don't think it is any clearer. Ph is fine, alkalinity is good, and chlorine is through the roof.

Do you need to do anything special with a new cartridge filter, such as open it up and seat the cartridges, or do they basically come ready to use? I'm thinking the water is actually bypassing the filters on its way back to the pool, but I don't know enough about these filters to know.
 
There is no by pass on a cartridge filter. You asked if they come ready to use. Which makes me wonder did you ever take the top lid off the bottom housing during installation or literally take a fully assembled unit (top and bottom attached) out of the box and hook it up to the inlet/outlet ports?

If that's the case, do you know for sure there are actually cartridges in the unit? And if so, are they seated properly in the bottom of the filter housing? Along with the top plastic piece seated properly on top of the cartridges?

I know those questions sounds quite on the simpleton side, but I figure start simple and go from there.
 
Thanks, Mike. I did take it apart before install to make sure the cartridges weren't in plastic bags or anything. I think everything is seated properly including the manifold on top. I opened it up yesterday just to double check. Since this is the first time I've ever looked at a cartridge filter, though, I suppose I can't be 100% sure. I didn't take the filters out to check the bottom. The top goes over the filter just fine though.

Duraleigh - I will posted test results tonight. PSI is 12. The flow is amazing. Too good (compared with the DE filter) it makes me suspicious it isn't actually filtering...

I was thinking the filter may be letting particles go through it and not catching them? I've heard various things like you need to coat a new cartridge with a tiny bit of DE, but that sounds silly to me. A brand new filter should filter great, right?
 
Sounds like you have the Hayward C4025 or C4030. (You had a Hayward DE, so I am assuming you went with Hayward cartridge to keep it in the family. Lemme know if that's a wrong assumption).

If assumption correct then that top manifold can easily be placed on the cartridges upside down. One side will have extra tabs on the circles. Those should face UP. The circles that sit in the top of the cartridge holes should seat firmly into the cartridge and "flush" with the blue plastic on the cartridges. When you look, it will be clear what I am talking about, but a little hard to visualize via the written word.

Also, another "simple-stupid" to check. (and again don't this as insulting as we have all done worse, I'm sure)... Make sure that you didn't hook the input to the output port and vice versa. Top port should be "In from pump", bottom outlet should be "out to heater/returns"
 
Yes, I have the C4030. I appreciate the "simple-stupid" suggestions very much, thank you. My top piece doesn't look like that. I've seen the youtube videos on how to clean these. Makes me wonder. It is flat on top, maybe they changed the design? Check out this pdf:

https://www.hayward-pool.com/pdf/manuals/SwimClear-Cxx30.pdf

Mine also has that "outlet pipe" #15. Seems like the old designs don't? Don't see them in the youtube videos. From the diagram it looks like it bypasses the filter but that can't possibly be true, right?
 
Yeah. My manifold is different than that. They must have changed the design. But I do have that #15 Outlet pipe. Definitely does not bypass the filter. Give me a few to look over this manual and compare to mine. Bear with me for a bit if I don't respond right away. I want to research how this differs from mine.
 
I see what they did different between the old and new version. Unlike the old version where the filtered water flows through the bottom of the cartridges and then out the outlet port, the new version flows the clean water "Up" the cartridges, into the manifold, "out" the fifth hole on the manifold, "Down" pipe # 15 and finally "out" of the filter port through Pipe # 17 (SwimClear Piping).....

So if your water is somehow bypassing the cartridges it is doing so via the connection of the #15 pipe to the manifold (make sure o-ring is seated)... OR The bottom of the #15 pipe to the elbow of the #17 SwimClear Piping.

Check those connections. If those are seated properly, then I think we can rule out a filter problem and move onto water balance, cleanliness, etc.
 
I looked into the filter and everything looks seated correctly. The pool is also noticeably clearer than this morning so I guess it is working after all. Mike, thanks for your help identifying the filter components. It enabled me to verify it is working properly.

I guess the lesson here is to be patient. It takes more than 16 hours for a murky pool to begin clearing!
 

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That's great. I thought some more about it after my last post. It's possible that when disconnecting the DE filter some DE got into the lines and eventually found its way into the pool. My pressure is at 12 by the way and it hasn't been opened or cleaned since I opened pool b4 Memorial Day. These run at a much lower pressure.
 
FC - 19
CC - 0
PH - 7.5
TA - 110

Don't know what my CYA is, but I put 4lbs in at the beginning of the season. I think that should have brought me up to around 30ppm.

I wonder if something is out of whack? I've been checking ph and chlorine levels regularly and ph is always in range and chlorine is usually pretty high. What do you think?
 
That C4030 filter is a big boy - something like ~ 150gpm! If you follow some of the suggestions here (making sure the cartridge is seated properly, etc) then your filter is probably fine.... The only thing I would ask is do you use liquid chlorine or the powder? I've seen people with cartridge filters switch to powder chlorine and it end up clogging the filter and clouds the pool.
 
I know that people don't like clarifiers on this site but after I clean my filter cartridges I add 4 ounces of super blue clarifier in the skimmer which helps my 450sq/ft filter. The psi goes up by about 1psi after I do this and seems to filter better. That's the only time I use it.
 
duraleigh - thanks for the suggestion about chemistry. I'm now thinking my CYA may be high. I always test it at the beginning of the season, it's always 0, and I always add 4lbs. This year I added the 4lbs but didn't test. With my luck I had plenty of CYA already and now I need to run FC in the 20s just to have any sanitation at all. I will get it tested and see. (Thanks to everyone else for your suggestions as well. May do the clarifier idea, I like that better than adding DE to the filter!)
 
Since you removed a DE filter and replaced it with a higher flow cartridge style the change in flow velocity may have blown DE sediment out of your return pipes and back into the pool. That could explain the sudden cloudiness after changing the filter. That super fine sediment would also take a long time to settle to the bottom or get filtered out. You may want to vacuum to waste if brushing the bottom stirs up any cloudiness.
 
CJadamec said:
Since you removed a DE filter and replaced it with a higher flow cartridge style the change in flow velocity may have blown DE sediment out of your return pipes and back into the pool. That could explain the sudden cloudiness after changing the filter. That super fine sediment would also take a long time to settle to the bottom or get filtered out. You may want to vacuum to waste if brushing the bottom stirs up any cloudiness.
Click to expand...

This is good thought/post.
 
I know that people don't like clarifiers on this site but after I clean my filter cartridges I add 4 ounces of super blue clarifier in the skimmer which helps my 450sq/ft filter. The psi goes up by about 1psi after I do this and seems to filter better. That's the only time I use it.
Click to expand...
I think 'those people' might have a point- while 'clarifier' sounds like a simple concept it is often used as poor substitute to the actual effort to look what is wrong with the water in the first place. Then ppl start tossing all kind of stuff in the water so at the end even chem geek ® can't help them :). I personally like this site's approach- try to look for the actual reason for the problem, it's usually not that complicated at the beginning.
 

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