I have a Hayward DE 6020 with a Hayward Selecta-Flo Valuve. It has four settings; filter, waste, backwash and pool or spa boost. After I backwash, add new DE and turn vaulve back to filter, powder and debris shoot out of returns for a few seconds and we end up wih a little pile of DE and debris in the bottom of the spa. All the instructions I find for backwashing say to use rinse setting after backwashing but mine doesn't have one. I have checked for holes and rips in filter but don't see any. Tag on the side of my filter says I should use 7 .5 lbs of DE and I am using a scoop made specifically for DE. What am I doing wrong?
Backwashing a DE filter
- Thread starter Poolsareeasy
- Start date
I can only guess that "Boost" is the same as recirculate where the filter is skipped?
The "DE scoops" are horrendous. You should certainly weight the DE and find of how much DE you are really adding.
What setting are you using when you add the DE? You should alternate between backwash and filter a few times (turning off the pump before you move the valve). Then when you are ready to pour the DE into the skimmer (I put it in a bucket and mix it with water into a slurry) you should be in filter mode, turn on the pump, and slowly pour in the slurry.
If you are adding the DE on backwash mode, then it will be inside the grids and when you switch to filter it will blow it all into the pool.
The "DE scoops" are horrendous. You should certainly weight the DE and find of how much DE you are really adding.
What setting are you using when you add the DE? You should alternate between backwash and filter a few times (turning off the pump before you move the valve). Then when you are ready to pour the DE into the skimmer (I put it in a bucket and mix it with water into a slurry) you should be in filter mode, turn on the pump, and slowly pour in the slurry.
If you are adding the DE on backwash mode, then it will be inside the grids and when you switch to filter it will blow it all into the pool.
I am definitely in filter mode when I'm putting in the de. Looks like you have the same filter. What do you use for a measuring tool or do you weigh?
I bought a DE scoop from Leslie's asked the guy how much DE I should add and he said I should need 1 scoop (with no knowledge of what filter I had 
). I find that each scoop if full is around 0.9lbs (see this: leslies-de-scoop-weight-t31401.html#p259918).
But I have added the DE to a larger bucket and weighed it and then just know roughly how full to make the bucket ... I just use the scoop to move the DE from the box to the bucket.
Also we recommend you only add 80% of the DE after you have backwashed as there is still going to be some in the filter. Only use the full amount if you have opened up the filter and cleaned off the grids (BTW, this should be done yearly).
I am currently out of DE, and think I am going to try some of the fiber stuff the next time, which means I will have to come up with a new method of how much to add.
OF course none of this is explaining why you are getting DE into the pool, I have NEVER see any blow into the pool when I add the DE on filter mode {ignoring when I poured too fast and some of it went down the wrong pipe and came out the floor drain}
). I find that each scoop if full is around 0.9lbs (see this: leslies-de-scoop-weight-t31401.html#p259918).But I have added the DE to a larger bucket and weighed it and then just know roughly how full to make the bucket ... I just use the scoop to move the DE from the box to the bucket.
Also we recommend you only add 80% of the DE after you have backwashed as there is still going to be some in the filter. Only use the full amount if you have opened up the filter and cleaned off the grids (BTW, this should be done yearly).
I am currently out of DE, and think I am going to try some of the fiber stuff the next time, which means I will have to come up with a new method of how much to add.
OF course none of this is explaining why you are getting DE into the pool, I have NEVER see any blow into the pool when I add the DE on filter mode {ignoring when I poured too fast and some of it went down the wrong pipe and came out the floor drain}
So I back washed my DE filter yesterday and added DE powder. After SLAMing the pool the last 24 hours the water is crystal clear and the CC is 0. We continue to have the same recurring problem after adding DE powder however.
I weighed the powder utilizing a food scale. Our filter calls for 7.5 lbs. I added 6 lbs (80% of 7.5). This is what we get.
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=1&o=2
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=1&o=0
I weighed the powder utilizing a food scale. Our filter calls for 7.5 lbs. I added 6 lbs (80% of 7.5). This is what we get.
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=1&o=2
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=1&o=0
The 2nd pic is after we back washed and added the DE powder. It appears the DE powder is shooting out of the spa return.
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=3&o=0
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=3&o=1
Hard to see but you can see the powder shooting out of the spa return. I was on standby with my camera in case this happened again.
http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Josh_l ... sort=3&o=1
Hard to see but you can see the powder shooting out of the spa return. I was on standby with my camera in case this happened again.
Clearly something must be "off" in the filter or the valve that is allowing the DE to bypass the the filter.
Do you only have DE in the spa after doing a backwash? The next time the filter needs to be cleaned do a complete tear down and make sure all of the parts are installed correctly and all of the parts are in good shape including any orings. Make sure there isn't any DE inside the grids.
If the filter checks out fine, then something is wrong with the valve.
If the filter checks out fine, then something is wrong with the valve.
Yes, only de in spa. I ran the spa filter @ 30 minutes and switched back to pool filter. DE powder was gone, debris started coming out of the return in the spa.