Cellulose in DE Filter

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mikech

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Aug 13, 2014
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Seminole, FL
I've been using cellulose in my Hayward DE3620 for about 6 months, just using the cheap stuff from Home Depot (can't remember the brand, I think Pool Time?). I've been happy with the results, but have noticed that when I backwash the water comes out pretty clear, even though I know the grids should be dirty. Opening up the housing for a hose down of the grids shows a lot of accumulated 'stuff'. This means I've being doing full cleans every couple of months rather than just a backwash. So ...

1) Is this an issue related to cellulose generally or possibly just the brand I was using?

2) Is it bad to do that frequency of full cleans (just hosing)? I go though a lot of silicon grease for sure!

3) I had to do a full clean again yesterday after a LOT of live oak blossom being filtered through, and had to get a bag of Jack's Magic fiber from Pinch Your Money - about 3 times as expensive per oz than the Home Depot stuff which I can't find any more. Any recommendations on cellulose fiber supply?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Cellulose backwashes better in some filters, worse in others. There doesn't seem to be any real consistency to the various reports we have gotten. Still, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Doing a full cleanup a bit more often is fine.

There are many brands. You could try the Internet and/or pool stores.
 
Do you backwash right before you break it down?

Do you replace 100% of the cellulose after backwashing or 70% of the recommended amount of a full charge?

How often did you need to backwash while using DE?

Do an amazon search for fiber, Walmart, local pool stores, etc. There are many brands out there and I believe the all pretty much do the same thing as I haven't heard one brand being better than any other brand.

My experience was that fiber was costing 3 times as much money and maintenance time as DE due to having to frequently backwash with cellulose and the DE rarely needing to be backwashed.
 
Do you backwash right before you break it down?
Yes

Do you replace 100% of the cellulose after backwashing or 70% of the recommended amount of a full charge?
Always a full clean, so 100%

How often did you need to backwash while using DE?
About the same as with cellulose, every couple of months
 
I too have noticed the cellulose gets gooey and clings to the grids. I've used several different brands, and they all do it. I suspect it might be starting to biodegrade. Cellulose is biodegradable, after all.

I've got my routine down now so it only takes about twenty minutes twice a year to clean things. Backwash a minute, disassemble, clean, reassemble, another backwash to rinse the hose. Done.
 
Richard320 said:
I too have noticed the cellulose gets gooey and clings to the grids. I've used several different brands, and they all do it. I suspect it might be starting to biodegrade. Cellulose is biodegradable, after all.

I've got my routine down now so it only takes about twenty minutes twice a year to clean things. Backwash a minute, disassemble, clean, reassemble, another backwash to rinse the hose. Done.
Click to expand...

Looks like I'll have to stick to full cleans then as I want to continue with cellulose, thanks for the feedback.

As an aside, I've just remembered that my high school equivalent Biology project (UK A-levels) was to put strips of different plastics and cellulose into various soil types, leave them for a month or so, then put them under a microscope and try to culture the various bacteria and fungi that colonized and biodegraded the strips. Got me hooked and ended up getting a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology at university.
 
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