Question about "Cleaning" my DE Filter

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jjherm7

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Jun 14, 2015
35
Pittsburgh, PA
So, I have a filter with the "fingers", not the grids. Before starting to set up my pool last week, I did a full cleaning of the filter, soaking the fingers, cleaning out the whole filter mechanism, etc. Added new DE, good to go. My pool was very dirty, so we had a lot of algae to clean up doing a SLAM. Had to bump the filter extremely often the first couple days of the SLAM. Seems to be okay today with bumping less. However, with the amount of nastiness we had to clean, i thought it would be a good idea to do the "cleaning" option on the side of the pump, rather than just bumping. So here's where I have questions:

I am a total noob at this, pool came with the house. So, the instructions say to start out like you're bumping, but do it 8 times. Then open the release valve on top, and then the drain on bottom and let the filter drain, right? So I did that and it looked to me as if DE itself started pouring out of this drain. I kinda freaked out because that didn't seem right to me and plugged the drain back up again before losing my DE, and ran here to the message boards! Was I doing something wrong? Or does that sound right? If it's right, it made a pretty nice mess!
 
The whole point of that process was to get all the dirt and DE out of the filter. Sounds like it was doing as it should. Although, I would leave the drain open and then take the top off and really spray everything down to start fresh.
 
Ok, I guess that's what I wasn't really sure about. I'll probably hold off on doing a full clean since I'm still sort of in the middle of a SLAM right now. Seem to be on the tail end though. Would you recommend a full clean on that filter after a SLAM, or am I going overboard? Can that wait until the end of the season?
 
jjherm7 said:
Ok, I guess that's what I wasn't really sure about. I'll probably hold off on doing a full clean since I'm still sort of in the middle of a SLAM right now. Seem to be on the tail end though. Would you recommend a full clean on that filter after a SLAM, or am I going overboard? Can that wait until the end of the season?
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Once you open that drain and start losing DE, you have to replace what you lost. So finish the sequence and recharge the DE, and after the SLAM is complete and you've had a few days to enjoy your clear pool, then open it up and hose things off and recharge again.
 
If I recall correctly from reading the manual on your type of filter, they want you to refill and bump again and drain a second time or something. Anyway, I'd add the full amount. Having dismantled grid type DE filters, I can tell you that dropping a standard grid from a few inches 8 times in a row would likely dislodge almost everything. Also break the ribs, but it would get the DE off.
 
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