Filters

[unkyjoe]

Greetings,

Just wanted to share my experience with you concerning filters.

Let me start off by saying my chemicals are spot on and have been since the first week of setting up our pool, do to this excellent site

I read up on filters, while I cant afford a sand filter this year I wanted to make sure I got the best filter medium I could for my intex cartridge filter. According to the posts I read here, most were recommending the Filbur FC-3710 as a good replacement for the standard Intex filter.

I ordered two of them so I can clean and change them out on a daily basis. I installed the new filter a few days ago and set the intex filter aside. I noticed the Filbur filter had about half the amount of pleats of the Intex filter but I installed it anyway. Ran the pump 4 hrs as I normally do and came out the next morning to find I had cloudy water? My water has NEVER been cloudy.

I checked my levels on the chems and they were spot on. So yesterday I removed the Filbur filter and replaced it with the Intex filter after cleaning it out well. Ran the pump all day and turned it off before going to bed last night. Went out this morning and BAM sparkling clear water again.

Now I dont know if Intex is using a better filter then they were previously, "mind you this pool has been in the box for 2 years, we just set it up this year" but they are obviously a better filter than the Filbur.

I will try and post a picture today of the two filters side by side so you can see what I mean about the pleats. But these Filbur filters are just not up to the job in my opinion. Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

[1380ken]

I don't think that your short test is enough to positively conclude that the Intex filter is better. Filters do not trap all the small particles when they are clean and new, they work better when they are dirty. When a filter is clean it is initially a depth filter. That means that all the particles of dirt are captured in the pores of the filter medium. Some of the pores are large and let particles pass thru. As the filter gets dirty a layer of particles builds up on the filter. This layer becomes the dominant filter medium.
Cleaning the filter every day is most likely making your filtering worse.

 

[duraleigh]

I think 1380ken makes good points but, that said, It would be difficult to re-try a filter that seemed to be the sole source of cloudiness.

unkyjoe, it is my assumption that the cloudiness came from something in the filter itself and not that it could not filter debris......is that your observation?

 

[unkyjoe]

My observation is that the stock Intex filter has more pleats and therefore I would assume more surface area than the Filbur filter.

All I can tell you is that I clean these filters "Intex and Filbur" each morning and I can see the physical difference between them. The filbur was in for 1 day and my water went cloudy, I removed it and replaced it with the stock Intex and the water cleared up within 24 hrs.

The question is has Intex improved thier filters to the point where they surpass the quality of the Filbur?

And why did installing the Intex filter back did my water clear up overnight? Perhaps 1380ken is correct and I need to give it a few days, but I never had this problem with the Intex filter, and you would think I would have for the month I have been re-using the Intex filter.

Anyone else have this experience.

 

[Donldson]

I have to agree with Dave, water doesn't just go cloudy overnight when a filter isn't filtering. There must be something in the filbur filter that is being released, perhaps a defect from the factory. If you turned off the filter for the day, assuming all levels are truly spot on, your water will still be clear.

Whether or not either of these filters is better than the other is not the issue here, most likely there is something wrong with your filbur filter.

Would you be able to post some pictures of the filters? Someone with experience with them might notice if there is a difference between either of them and their own filters.

 

[1380ken]

I have two Intex cartridge type A filters in parallel on my pool. I clean them once a week just by spraying them with the hose. This is my second year with the same filters. My water is always crystal clear. I run the pumps 10 hrs at night.
If you want to see if your filbur filter is contaminated then take another new one and stick it in a five gallon bucket of water.
Filters are a complicated science. If the filter is from a good company then it is probably good. You can't just go by surface area alone.
The difference between the filters would probably be hard to measure.
I worked for a start up company developing filters for diesel engines. I designed and built and ran the flow bench that tested the filters.
It is more complicated than you would think.

 

[unkyjoe]

I will try and post some pictures of the filters side by side later today when I turn the pump off.

It was crystal clear again this AM when checking it.

P.S We have a lot of dust coming in from Africa this month, the sky is orange here due to this, I am sure the pool will be full of it by the end of the month.

 

[unkyjoe]

Here are the Filbur filters.
If you notice on the second picture, the plastic core floats instead of going from top to bottom.

 

[unkyjoe]

And some of the water-nice and sparkly.

These are pictures of the pool bottom and the skimmer so you can see the clarity of the water.

 

[unkyjoe]

Okay, now here is the Intex filter.

Looks more tightly packed than the Filbur, but that is my opinion.

So how often do you clean these filters? Daily, Weekly, etc etc pump runs about 4hrs per day on my pool should I do more?

Thanks

 

[unkyjoe]

Update: Put the Filbut filter back in after my cloudy water cleared up.

Still have crystal clear water after using this filter for 1 day.

However I came to discover that the FC was allowed to drop to 1ppm during that period by lax pool care and not following the BBB method, FC is now back up to 5ppm where it should be and will be kept there from now on... or else

So thanks to all who helped me discover clear water is more a case of FC then of filtering

One more thing, I dont get a heavy bather load, maybe 2 people once a day for 2 hrs tops, and mainly bugs and the odd leaf in the pool, how often to clean the filter? Daily-Weekly etc and I run the pump about 4hrs per day.

Does this sound about right?

 

[Charlie_R]

I have Unicel filters in my parallel set-up, and only clean them when flow at the returns is noticeably diminished.

As 1380ken noted, they work better when somewhat dirty.

I have fine silt/clay soil here, and when first cleaned, I get a slight bit of blow-through when vacuuming my pool. As the filters pick up the larger particles, and form the "cake" on the surface, subsequent vacuuming captures more of the super fine silt.

I run my pump about 6 hours a day, split 2 hours AM and 4 hours PM.

 

[Safetybob]

i am withCharlie, I use Unicell filters on my intex pool. My third year. Never had a quality issue......if you lose faith in those filters, might I suggest Unicell.

Bob E.

 

[unkyjoe]

Thanks for all the help and tips guys, I have since decided to resurect my old Hayward 16' sand filter after finding a 1hp hayward pump to replace my old broken one on craigslist for $60

Please check my thread under pumping station here using-old-sand-filter-with-intex-pool-t67800.html

Please check the thread and feel free to offer some advice.

P.S. Although the cart filter is working very well, I want to use the old Sand Filter so I can use standard pool equip and eventually get a bottom crawler to keep the debris off the bottom of the pool.