Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris daily

[JohnInTexas]

Have a Haywood 4 cartridge system. There is an outlet on side of pool below water surface to the polaris pool cleaner. This hose has a fine screen to trap debris so it does not harm the polaris.

The debris getting past the cartridge filters is so bad, that I must clean the screen daily, else the water pressure drops off enough that the polaris does not run.

I clean the cartridges faithfully and examine them for any tears or holes... there are none. The system is plumbed correctly.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent so much debris from getting around the cartridge filters?

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Is there a booster pump for the cleaner? Does the cleaner line bypass the filter? It is difficult to envision that debris big enough to be trapped in a screen can get through a working cartridge filter.
Could you snap and post a couple of photos of your equipment so we can see the setup?

 

[carlscan26]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Are the cartridges seated fully and are you sure they are the right size? Have you replaced the cartirdges recently? Someone recently posted a similar problem of debris getting past the filter and it turned out the aftermarket cartridges they bought didn't seal properly properly even though they seemed to fit correctly.

 

[JohnInTexas]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

There is not a booster pump for the Polaris and the filters are the original OEM cartridges (installed system 24 months ago) from Haywood and are correct for this filter system.

In the two photos - I'd cleaned the screen earlier today. It is filled w/ debris again, as seen in the photo.

Since the debris has accumulated so quickly, I now believe that I've been looking at the filters in the wrong way when cleaning. Could it be that there is a separation of the filter material from the housing? I.E., either at the top or bottom, the filter material is just "laying up against" the top or bottom disc?

Is this a possibility? Or is there something else to look at?

 

[carlscan26]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

I would definitely try a new set of filter cartridges.

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

What is that "debris"? Are those seeds? There is absolutely no way something that large could ever bypass ANY type of filter so something is clearly incorrect.

 

[JohnInTexas]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Yes, those are seeds and other. Ever since the install the particles in the debris has been about this size. Only now when there is so much wind with all the new growth scattering seeds, foliage bits, etc., it really gets bad.

However, with our previous DE filter we had similar problems, just not nearly this bad. Definitely something with the cartridges. I was thinking that the stuff was getting around the filter media... perhaps something to do with the seal 'clamping' the cartridges in place. Don't believe that's the issue now.

Thanks for the help and getting me to think this from different direction. Will post next week about what I found.

 

[Shane1]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Sorry for your trouble. As others have stated and you are concluding something isnt right with the filter sytem. But i though I would mention the use of a skimmer sock or filter saver for added protection and to also make sure your skimmer and pump baskets are working properly.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

I'd be interested in what you found. It had to be bypassing the elements either through a tear or an intentional bypass for anything that size to get by.

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

I almost responded to this post yesterday with the comment: Seems like the debris in the picture was too large even to get past the pump's strainer basket.

Fast forward to this morning: As I was reeling in the polaris for routine bag empty/cleaning, I looked down and lo and behold I noticed debris in that same screen as OP! Not only that, but the debris was much too large to get past filter media.

So just to recap, is the consensus here that there is only one way that the debris could have gotten there? Namely, a compromised filter? Is the purpose of the screen simply a last line defense in the case of a compromised filter, or is there some other "normal" mechanism involved when the screen catches stuff?

I know, I could answer my own question by disassembling the filter to see for myself, but indications are that the filter is operating normally. Meaning, I let my pool go green before starting normal maintenance this year. Not only that, but I had also let significant debris accumulate in the pool. My point is that my pool is now clear & clean, and it happened precisely as I would have predicted. Took about 3 days.

Seems like filter is working, but how else to explain the presence of large debris in the polaris screen?

Baffling, simply baffling...(where's Hamish when you need him?)

Note: edited to avoid confusion in terminology

 

[Locksmythe]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

As Ohm_Boy asked, I would point out that my pressure side cleaner line comes off of the pump output before the filter. Does yours, beez?

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

As Ohm_Boy asked, I would point out that my pressure side cleaner line comes off of the pump output before the filter. Does yours, beez?

Well sir... Didn't see that pertinent point in POST #2 but that would explain a lot! I'm afraid I'm not fit for Lochdubh after all.

That would be my ADD working for me! I would point you to my avatar... Carry on.

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

As Ohm_Boy asked, I would point out that my pressure side cleaner line comes off of the pump output before the filter. Does yours, beez?

Oh, and thanks for setting me straight!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Enough said! Should have read more carefully!

 

[Locksmythe]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Well in the pictures of the OP's pad it does not look like the line splits off before filter, so this point only applied to Beez.

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Enough said! Should have read more carefully!

There's no doubt about that! And a pre-filter plumbing setup would certainly be an easy answer to the question...

But as concerns my own plumbing setup, the polaris pump is definitely post filter. And as far as I understand it I would question the wisdom of plumbing it any other way...

So the mystery continues...

baffling, simply baffling...

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Beez, if your booster ever runs without the main pump on, it will suck unfiltered water in through the returns; that could cause what you're seeing.

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Beez, if your booster ever runs without the main pump on, it will suck unfiltered water in through the returns; that could cause what you're seeing.

AHA! I think you may be on to something here...check me out on this...

My booster cannot run without main pump on, because they are wired together. However, I *did* have a suction leak earlier that caused partial starving of the main pump. In that situation, is it possible that the booster pump actually sucked water in from the returns?

 

[Beez]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Another possibility I considered: Could the multiport valve be considered as suspect? The reason I ask is that I thought of one situation where the filter would definitely be bypassed. That of the recirculate position on the multiport.

Now I never used recirculate, but I did use waste. So the question for those who understand the esoteric principles of plumbing is: Could the multiport be the point of incursion taken advantage of by the wayward debris that made it to the screen in polaris line?

I'm just brushing up on my intelligence skills...still bucking for that PC position in Lochdubh...

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Cartridge Filter-Outlet hose screen fills w/ debris dail

Another possibility I considered: Could the multiport valve be considered as suspect? The reason I ask is that I thought of one situation where the filter would definitely be bypassed. That of the recirculate position on the multiport.

Now I never used recirculate, but I did use waste. So the question for those who understand the esoteric principles of plumbing is: Could the multiport be the point of incursion taken advantage of by the wayward debris that made it to the screen in polaris line?

I'm just brushing up on my intelligence skills...still bucking for that PC position in Lochdubh...

I have definitely put my multiport on filter after a backwash and end up loosing a lot of my new DE out the backwash when the multiport did not seat completely.

So I suppose there could be a chance that water could bypass the filter due to a screwy spider gasket or the valve not seating ... although I am not too familiar with the inner passages of the multivalve which may not make this possible.