I'm tempted

[Richard320]

It's raining real good, the pool level is at the top of the skimmer opening and the gutter out in the street is rushing. It might be a good day to backflush and clean the filter. I need to lose some water, and all the discharge will be flushed away. And then I can open it up, scrub the screens on the driveway, and watch all that get washed away as well.

Do I switch to fibreclear? Hmmm... there's precious little consensus on this board. I've used the search box to find out.

I'll get soaked to the skin, but it isn't all that cold today.....and I have a $100 AMEX gift card that was my Christmas present from work. Stay inside and stay warm, and dry, or take advantage of the situation?

 

[Guest]

Hmmmm, quite a dilemma! FWIW, I know an R/O company that accepts Amex

 

[waste]

Hey Richard

I'd say "Go for it, mad dog!"

I always manage to get fairly soaked when rinsing the grids anyway

 

[Guest]

I always manage to get fairly soaked when rinsing the grids anyway

I was cleaning filters pretty regularly for a couple of weeks, up to 8 a day, for a buddy. No matter how hard I tried to stay dry, it never worked!

I'd rather be covered in rainwater than DE! Some of those pools are nasty!!!

 

[Richard320]

It's done

Right after I posted, I figured, "What the He||?" and jumped in the car and went to Leslie's. They're closest. No one in the place but one salesman. In and out in about 2 minutes. Backflush hose, lube, and fibreclear.

The rain had pretty much stopped, just a light drizzle. Hooked it up, opened the valve, and whoosh. 100' away, out in the street, that hose was whipping around. I shoulda had the camera ready, to get a picture of that gray sludgy water coming out. I ran in and got it; too late. Didn't look nearly as impressive. I let it run 4 minutes - twice what the manual recommends - in order to lower the water level in the pool to where I want it. Opened the air bleed and let it drain, worked the lid off without too much effort, and surveyed the mess. It's very easy to see why the general consensus is 80% of a fresh fill when recoating.

So I wiggled the screens out, I think being a mechanic helped there. I knocked the worst of the stuff off into a trash bag with an old screwdriver and threw it out. Then I hauled everything out onto the sloped driveway and hit it with a jet stream. They look pretty good. No rainbow sheen anywhere, don't look crusted, so I skipped the bath. Washed out the filter base, and reassembled with no problem. Fired it off in backflush mode again, to clear out the hose and check for leaks around the band. No squirts, but it started raining again, so I can't tell if there's any dribbles.

I recharged it and let it stabilize a bit, then doublechecked all the air is bled. Just so I have it somewhere for reference, with the valves and diverter set to skimmer in and pool out, it's 20 psi. With everything where I normally run it, 16 psi. No clouds appeared in the return stream. And then the skies opened up while I was picking everything up. Almost perfect timing. I did end up totally soaked.

 

[Richard320]

More pictures, since 3 is the limit

 

[Guest]

Looking good, Richard

Here's a tip on getting the top off of the filter: Open the backwash valve and let the water in the filter drain out (opening the air bleed helps). Once drained, close the backwash valve and the air bleed and turn on the pump. A little pressure and the top pops right up!

None of it, however, helps with the bath you get washing those buggers down!

 

[JamesW]

Here's a tip on getting the top off of the filter: Open the backwash valve and let the water in the filter drain out (opening the air bleed helps). Once drained, close the backwash valve and the air bleed and turn on the pump. A little pressure and the top pops right up!

This is NOT a safe thing to do. I recommend that people do not do this.

The air is compressed, and the top can come off with quite a bit of force, and speed.

WARNING COMPONENT SEPARATION HAZARD
Pool and spa water circulation systems operate under hazardous pressure during start up, normal operation, and possibly after pump shut off. Pressure in system can cause explosive component separation of the upper filter body if safety and operation instructions are not followed. Severe personal injury or death can result.
http://www.hayward-pool.com/pdf/manuals/Manual362.pdf