Brand new Pentair FNS Plus DE Filter with high pressure?

[xene97]

I just had a brand new DE Filter installed not more than an hour ago. After the pool guy left, I went and checked things out and noticed that the pressure gauge was at 18 or 19 psi. The writing on the guage shows that the starting pressure should be about 11psi and once the filter reaches 20psi it should be cleaned.

Is it just me or does my reading of 19 sound a bit too high?

I have a call in to the installer, but I wanted a second opinion.

 

[HarryH3]

He may have put too much DE into it. I have their 60 SF model and it reads 13 psi (with a really sad looking gauge) after a backwash and new DE. Mine is the older Nautilus model, but I doubt that they changed much inside. I have 8 grids inside of mine.

(BTW, we might have been neighbors at one time, I used to live in the Vicksburg subdivision just off of Hwy 6 in Missouri City).

 

[xene97]

I was thinking about doing a backwash to see if it cleared things up. I guess it can't hurt.

As to being neighbors, we probably were. We finally moved from Quail Valley after 33 years to Sugar Land. We probably ran into each other at the grocery store and didn't even know it!

 

[JasonLion]

When a DE filter is first installed it gets lots of things out of the water that were getting through the old filter or came with the fill water. You may need to bump or backwash the filter several times before it cleans up the water and settles down to more normal operation.

 

[donaldm823]

DE Pressure

My pool when new read 20psi on my DE filter outlet (press gauge on the top of the DE tank)when the pump was first started without DE loaded. After loading 6lbs of DE, pressure raised 1psi. This is my third year on my Pentair DE 60ft3 DE filter and it works great, and DE pressures have not changed.

I have read here that your filter DE press is totally dependent on the system head losses. Some pools will have lower head losses and thus lower operating pressure

 

[xene97]

Thanks for all of the input. I guess I was worried since my old Pac-Fab filter always ran at about 12 psi. The jump in 6 psi kind of shocked me.