High PSI question

[Blazerx]

Hello first time poster long time lurker.

Thanks to this site I've been able to turn my swamp into a nice blue pool. In my battle with my pool I have come across a issue, my PSI is running way to high and I am weak suction through my skimmer. When I first ran into this problem I cleared the skimmer line the plumber hose attachment, soaked the cartridges in dish soap soap over night and re-installed them with a 10 psi change from 30 to 20psi.

So I decided to buy a new set of cartridges which turned out great! They ran between 8 and 10 psi when first installed. Then after a day of running the filter for about 12 hours the psi was back up to 20. Seeing the 10psi change I decided to clean the cartridges. After cleaning them (hosed them of with spray nozzle) there was no change in psi. After vacuuming all the dead algae from the bottom of my pool the PSI increased to 28psi. I again cleaned them and the were filthy from the algae but after cleaning them back to bright white The psi still reads 28psi.

I noticed when I first installed the new cartridges the water was flowing like it should to the skimmer and the skimmer basket at the pump was filled to the top with water. Now at 28psi the skimmer barely pulls water with any kind of current and the skimmer basket at the pump is not filled to the top with water... I am lost at what to do I thought the new cartridges were the answer.

Pool stats are as follows:

Gunite in-ground pool
25k gallons of water? rough estimate
Pool was built in 1996
Original Jandy CL460 Cartridge filter
Type of pump unknown previous owner said it was only a couple of years old.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Remove the cartridge and run your pump for just a minute. If the psi drops back down to the 8-10 (or less) that I suspect, you will know your cartridge is the culprit. They must be cleaned again.

Importantly, they will only plug back up again until you determine what's causing it. I'd bet it is algae.

 

[Blazerx]

Do I need to soak the new filters over night if it turns of to be them? It's 1 cup dish washing soap to ever 5 gallons correct?

 

[JasonLion]

There are a couple of possibilities. The pool might have algae, or some other fine particles, which are clogging the filters quickly. Or the filters might be dirtier than they should be. Or the filter might be getting calcium scale on it. We need to narrow down the possibilities before deciding on an approach. The overnight soak, as your described, is appropriate if the filters are dirty and are not coming clean with a simple rinse off. But it won't help either of the other two possibilities, and we don't even know if it is the filters themselves or not yet.

 

[Blazerx]

Ran the filter without the cartridges and the PSI stayed steady at 10. I'm sure the cartridges are being clogged by the dead algae (the pool water at one point was black). What should my next step be? soak the cartridges? Apparently hosing them clean is not working. I mean they look clean after I'm done but I guess looks can be deceiving.

 

[JasonLion]

If there is obvious algae in the pool then nothing you do will keep the cartridges clean. No matter how clean you get them, they will clog up again very quickly (until you have killed and cleaned up all of the algae).

Thus, it is time to shock the pool.

 

[Blazerx]

I'm pretty sure all the algae is dead. I have yet to do a over night test (just got my TF 100 kit) but I have been shocking the pool for the past week or two. I also added sink and vac which dropped all the dead algae to the pool floor and allowed me to vacuum most of it up. Will I need to soak the cartridges every time since hosing doesn't seem to work? Also what size garbage can do you use for the soaking? Thank you for all your help

 

[JasonLion]

Better filter cleaning isn't going to help. Just keep cleaning the filters as often as you can manage (up to daily) until the water clears up. Then do the full soak in detergent only after the water is clear.

Check out target or Home Depot or a similar store, and look for a storage bin that is the right size to just fit your cartridge.

 

[Blazerx]

Should I bring my FC back to shock levels till all the dead algae is gone? Right now I have:
FC 4 ppm
CC 1 ppm
TC 5 ppm
CYA 20 ppm

 

[JasonLion]

Your CC level is still above 0.5, so continuing to shock is indicated. Also, it is often difficult to tell if all of the algae is really dead, so generally best to remain at shock level until the water clears up.