Normal For Filter Pressure To Drop A Little?

[NullQwerty]

Hey folks,

Background
Opened the pool last week to a big mess. Now it's just milky cloudy water that I'm dealing with. This year I got a brand new oversized sand filter (27" 350 lb). I'm coming from a DE filter and still learning a little about the sand.

Problem:
While dealing with this milky/cloudy water I only expected to see my filter pressure rise (especially since I added a little DE to the filter). For the most part it's held fairly stead, except when I vacuumed. Last night however I noticed a 1 psi decrease in pressure. I only expected an increase, especially with my water, so this was surprising. Is this normal? All day yesterday and the day before it was 14 PSI, and now it's been 13 PSI all day today. Is a 1 PSI decrease normal? I did shock yesterday and I also had added 8lbs of baking soda.

Sign of a filter problem or no big deal?

Thanks

 

[topher]

a big filter like that will take a bit for pressure to go up.. I dunno why it went down. wouldnt worry about it too much at this time.. it's new? and you put it together right? I have a small 19" ATM (will upgrade this winter) and my pressure goes up 2 lbs in a week.. it does go down when I vacuum but I dont pay attention to it that much. I just wait till hit 13-15 and then backwash.

 

[JasonLion]

Drops in filter pressure usually mean some kind of flow restriction or blockage on the suction side of the pump. Check the pump strainer basket and skimmer basket(s) and make sure they are free of debris.

 

[NullQwerty]

Skimmer Basket was all clear although pump basket had some stuff in it (not a ton but maybe).

Only other thing I can think of is maybe some of the DE got gunked up in side the filter and it finally broke free. I premixed it, but it's the only other thing I can think of. Oh well...as long as it's not an obvious sign of something wrong with the filter I assume I'm all clear. Thanks!

 

[NullQwerty]

So, I had written off the skimmer basket when I didn't see a lot of stuff in it, but I figured what the heck and just went and cleaned it out and got rid of whatever gunk that was there. Restarted the system and turns out that was it. Pressure back up to 14. Thanks Jason!