First Time Fiber Clear Usage

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SeanH

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LifeTime Supporter
May 31, 2008
65
South Jersey
After deciding I didn't want to deal with used DE backwash anymore I thought I would try Fiber Clear. I thought I would share this in case anyone else is contemplating it.

I gave my filter a good cleaning first.

Since my skimmer is not functional, I have been adding DE for the past few years via the pump strainer. I turn the moter off, open the lid, let some water drain back in the lines, close my valves and then pour my DE in diluted in 4 or 5 gallons of water. This has always worked fine for DE.

Trying the same thing with Fiber Clear does not work. It immediately clogged my strainer basket. I had to remove it and re-dilute it. I then poured the 5 gallon bucket in over 4 cycles. This worked better. Everythign seems to be running ok. My pressure is right around 10PSI. I'll keep and eye on it and see how it goes.

Sean
 
I switched to Fiber Clear from DE last week, my first Fiber Clear usage as well.

Per the instructions, I only needed 2 scoops of material, added slowly via the skimmer with pump running.

Significant "short cycle" problems right off the bat...pressure up from 10PSI to 30PSI in 30 to 60 minutes after backwash. Backwashed three times. Took apart filter, washed thoroughly, reassembled...same problem. The Fiber Clear website said to add a gallon of liquid chlorine to the skimmer to immediately relieve short-cycling...pressure went UP 2 PSI!

Back to the Internet. Read a forum somewhere that said to only add 1/2 the initial amount of Fiber Clear after any subsequent backwashes past the initial coating...so, I disassembled, washed filter again, reassembled...same problem.

So, this weekend, I moved to plan B...it's been four years since I've drained the pool, so I completely drained, spot-treated some areas with 50/50 acid/water mix and wire brush, and started everything back up again. (5 hours to drain via backwash setting with filter removed, 15 hours to re-fill overnight with 3 hoses)

Fingers crossed...today, everything is 100%, running perfectly for 8 hours now with no increase in pressure. After adding 2 scoops of Fiber Clear and 4 pounds of Cyanuric acid (added premixed to skimmer 1/2 at 7AM and 1/2 at 11AM) the PSI is holding steady at 19PSI.

My big concern...wondering if as I add salt over the next few days, will the pressure go up again and short-cycling return? I hope not! 100 pounds of salt dissolved so far today, everything still holding steady. But I still must add 300 more pounds of salt over the next few days, two 50lb bags per day.

I'll post an update in the next few days. Anyone else using Fiber Clear with a salt system?
 
Wow. Sorry to hear you had to drain and re-fill. Hopfully this works.

I wonder if the salt has an adverse affect with Fiber Clear? Hopfully someone else has experience with it.

My pressue is good so far after 48 hours or so.

Sean
 
There doesn't seem to be much info on the forum about Fiber Clear vs DE, and I'm starting to think that maybe that's a good thing.. i.e. if it was causing problems, there would be lots of posts.

I switched to Fiber Clear a couple years ago because I worried about how much DE I was inhaling every time I added it, and I don't have a recovery tank, so all the DE either ends up in the grass or out on the street. I'm hoping Fiber Clear is a little easier on the environment.

I do notice with Fiber Clear that it does clump easily, and a lot of times when adding it to the skimmer I have to stick my hand in and break up the clumps.

I also have salt in my pool, and haven't noticed any adverse affect with Fiber Clear.
 
I believed the hype. Let me tell you my pool was clear and running great for the first month. I followed the directions to a T. The pool was spotless and I didn't need to backwash the entire month. Then the pressure went up (as usual). The first thing I noticed when backwashing was that no dirty water could be seen in the site glass. I found myself back washing much longer than when I was using DE to get the pressure down.

Sadly the Fiber clear only worked well that first cycle. Pressure was going up in days, not weeks and the pool was cloudy. After the last backwash A few days ago I noticed pressure was up at the end of the day. Today when I went outside there was no flow in the pool.

So I opened the filter to clean it. To my dismay I found filter elements packed with media. It looked like someone filled the filter with blow in insulation (this despite backwashing before opening the filter).

The filter is clean and happily running DE again!! PLEASE LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCE, DON'T BUY THIS STUFF!!!
Neil
 
I don't have an opinion of fiberklear one way or the other but from this thread, it sounds like some of you may be counting on your filter to keep your pool water clear......that's not adequate.

Your pool water chemistry (mostly chlorine) must be in place and functioning before the filter can do it's job. Filters of ANY kind are not capable of filtering live algae out of a pool.

Your chemistry must be right to kill the algae or prevent it from ever getting started THEN the filter can do it's job.
 
I've been using Fiber Clear for two years now, I would say my biggest reason for using it vs. DE is to avoid the risks of inhaling DE and any risks from dumping it in the grass and street. Having said that, Fiber Clear is pretty dusty too, and I'm sure you want to avoid inhaling any of that as well.

I agree that I don't see a lot of "dirty water" when I'm backwashing, but my pressure always does go down substantially. But I've been perfectly happy with Fiber Clear I guess, not having the troubles you mentioned.

I think DE clumps on the filter media just as much as Fiber Clear. I've only had a pool for 4 years, but didn't notice much difference between cleaning DE and cleaning Fiber Clear off the grids.. both are a messy, dirty job.

I still haven't noticed much info on this board about DE vs. Fiber Clear, so it would be interesting to hear from other users... especially since I noticed this year that Home Depot is selling a fiber media product similar to Fiber Clear, but probably a little bit cheaper than the pool store.
 
I changed over last summer and was Very happy. I do believe it filtered better. Using again this year but this will be the first year using at startup! Switched over from DE after startup last year!
 
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