LOW WATER FLOW & DE FILTER

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D

degilmer

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Feb 14, 2011
13
15000 gallon in ground pool. Mesa, AZ. Pebble tech.

Was salt cell, it broke, now just using chlorine in. Salt cell is just unplugged, but still part of the plumbing. Hayward DE 4800 Filter. Hayward Floor Pool Vac.

Pool had algae - on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst it was about a 6 or 7.

What I've done - replaced filter grids and manifold, added shock, added algae killer stuff, trying to run pump 24/7.

My problem has been is that pump pressure goes up to 25-30 after 4-5 hours and the water flow is really, really slow so I can't circulate the water to get it clean. So last night (3rd day of efforts) I opened up lid of filter, recleaned filters, replaced DE and fired back up. Seemed to be running OK through the night after all of that. Tank pressure was at about 10-15 psi.

Should I have low water flow at 20-30 psi on hayward 4800 DE filter?

I have good flow at 10-15 psi but it's almost impossible to keep it that way. Shouldn't it still flow well at 30 PSI? What am I missing? I cleaned pump impeller, filters, pump basket, skimmer basket, made sure salt cell was clean. I'm not sure what else to do.

HELP - IF I CAN'T KEEP MY WATER FLOWING I CAN"T GET RID OF ALGAE!!!
 
It just sounds like the filter is working the way it should. You just have a lot of stuff to filter! It gets restricted, flow goes down, pressure goes up.

Many years ago - it's scary to think how long ago - I worked summers at a scout camp. The pool was ignored through the winter. Sometime in May we'd start clearing it. When we raked leaves, it was with a real rake. We fished tree branches out of the shallow end that we couldn't even see through the algae. The DE filter needed backwashing at least once a day, sometimes twice, for about two weeks.
 
Is the algae dead? Sounds like your filter is being plugged up by algae, but unless you kill it via chlorine shocking, the filter will just keep getting full of the green stuff :cry:
 
At a rise of 10 to 15 psi your flow will be greatly reduced. You see, as the pressure goes that's telling you that the restriction through the filter is increasing and therefore the flow is decreasing.

Every time the pressure goes up by 10 psi you need to clean the filter. So, when it gets to about 20 psi you need to clean the filter. In battling algae, you're going to have to do that a lot.
 
THANKS GUYS! Keep cleaning the filters...just backwash? If I backwash how much DE do I add. It takes 6 pounds for a full start up. Would liquid chlorine help to shock?? You've helped a lot. What I've learned...run 24/7, keep shocking and clean filters every time I go up 10-15 psi until all the crud is cleaned out. Looks like I got a long week ahead of me...I knew it wouldn't be easy, but lots of great advice so far. THANKS - keep it coming!!
 
After backwashing a DE filter you should add about 80% of a new fill back to it. so for a filter that takes 6 lbs you should add a little less than 5 lbs back.

Liquid chlorine or bleach is the preferred method of shocking here. Along with the articles Dman suggested you should take a little time out and thouroughly read How to Shock Your Pool in Pool School. It'll definitely be worth your time. And will most likely make your life easier in this process.
 
Pool is DEFINITELY moving in the right direction. I'll follow up Thursday after I get water tested. Until then, filter is running and happy to report the flow is still good. I BROKE MY PRESSURE GAUGE? ANY DIFFERENCE IN GAUGES WHEN I BUY A REPLACEMENT? It's a Hayward 4800 DE FILTER ABOUT 6 years old.
 

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