Sand filter not working

[jordangregory]

Last year I ran my filter 24/7 for weeks at a time without the pressure going up at all. I would always get worried, add some DE to the sand filter, and within 8-12 hours, the pressure would be up by 10-15 psi. Is there something that would be causing the filter to not work correctly?
I did all the trouble shooting stuff last year by looking at the laterals and checking the sand. The sand was perfect. I even took it to the pool store. They said it looked just fine. The laterals were all in perfect working condition as well.

 

[zea3]

Was the water looking dirty? DE essentially adds "dirt" to the sand filter to trap finer particles. The pressure responds as if you just vacuumed up a lot of dirt. How big is the filter and how big is the pool? Do you get much organic debris in the water?

It is possible that your filter is large enough that the pressure rise is very slow to non-existent if your water is clear.

Please edit your signature to include information about your pool. Include size and surface of the pool, hp of the pump, size and type of filter, and any water features or additional equipment you may have. This information will help us be better informed to answer your questions.

 

[Isaac-1]

One more question, has your pressure gauge gone bad? The cheap gauges that are included with pool equipment rarely last over a few years, and can fail in a number of ways, sticking, limited response range, etc.

Ike

 

[jordangregory]

Ok, I have updated my signature.
To answer you questions:
I don't think my pressure gauge went bad. It was new for that season. I can always get a new one for this season and see what happens.
And no, the water was not looking dirty, but it always looked a bit cloudy when the filter was running. If I turned the filter off, it would clear up in a day or so.
I believe it was due to tiny air bubbles being pumped into the pool. I always have tiny air bubbles that I can see in the pump strainer basket

 

[zea3]

You should not be getting air bubbles, you may have a small suction side leak that is letting air into the system, however I don't think that is the cause of the cloudiness. When you leave the pump off a couple of days and the water clears, do you see dirt on the bottom of the pool? Do you still have cloudy water when you use the DE in the filter?

Just brainstorming here a bit...have you checked the sand for channeling, and checked that you have the correct amount of sand in the filter?

 

[jordangregory]

I do still have cloudy water when I use the DE. I am pretty sure it is the air bubbles.
I have checked for channeling. All is well. I did not check specifically for for the correct amount of sand, but there was a lot in there. I am not sure how to make sure there is enough as I can't really weight it, and if I did, I would have to dry it out first.