Hayward EC40AC Filter Trouble

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J

jfritz8

0
Jun 3, 2014
2
Moultonboro/nh
We recently purchased a home with a pool and the previous owners had the Hayward EC40AC filter system with the Power-Flo Matrix Pump. We put everything together and started the pump and everything ran great for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes there was very little return flow coming from the filter, and after about 20 there was none. The starting pressure was about 15-18 PSI, and in about 10 minutes it went to 25-27, then 2 mins later about 30 PSI.

After bumping the handle, the same thing happened only at shorter intervals and flow stopped after 10 minutes. Keep in mind we have been trying to vacuum our pool with a suction vacuum, but this also happens while just skimming.

So we completely emptied the filter, took off the head and washed the fingers off with a hose (did not acid wash, previous owners I am sure never did either), cleaned all the old D.E. out and started fresh. We started the pump and it shot out of the return like a cannon, still running around 15 PSI, then we hooked the suction vacuum up to it. The vacuum ran great for 20 mins, and then the same thing happened with the low flow to no flow scenario.

We called a Hayward approved service tech out and he told us we needed to replace the filter because it is just malfunctioning due to years of negligence. We got an estimate of $500 to do this, and I know I can get a filter for half on Amazon but had a question first. Does it seem I should just go ahead and replace the filter, or give the fingers an acid wash? It seems very strange that it would work great for 15-20 mins then just go to nothing and be deemed broken.

Sorry for the long post but this has been incredibly frustrating for us and has cost us a lot of money in technicians with no results.
 
With that kind of filter you will go through ALOT of DE when you are vacuuming. If the fingers were clogged by negligence, that would explain why it would clog during normal use. More likely it would clog if you have organics in the water. What does your water look like? And just to be clear you are following the proper dosage of DE?

I would follow the instructions in Pool School for cleaning the DE filter - on your model I typically do an overnight soak with dishwasher soap and then if I think necessary (but I'm used to recognizing the difference), I do the diluted acid soak.
Before acid soak:
CAM00025 (1) by poolmom11, on Flickr

After:
CAM00026 by poolmom11, on Flickr
This was a filter on a house that had been foreclosed and pool unopened for 4 years. The filter had the DE clumped like a rock of clay at the top.

I say you have nothing to lose by trying to soak/acid soak them. Cheaper than a new filter...

So what does your water look like, and do you by any chance have test results?
 
I have done the same sort of soak with mine, but I use TSP, most dishwasher detergent used to contain this until it was banned in a few states due to the claim that the phosphates in the discharge water can cause excess algae to grow in rivers and streams.
 
I ended up buying a new filter on amazon for $230. It runs at 10 psi, but keep running into the same issue of a 10 psi rise in pressure. Took the vacuum out and it skims for a couple hours before the rise. I guess I am just confused with how long it should while the vacuum is running to bump it? The pool was very dirty with a lot of sticks and leaves in it, so I'm just not sure how often it should run without opening the filter and cleaning out and re-applying DE.
 
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