Any breakthroughs in Filters?

[microscopes]

My filter finally cracked and is spewing water, so i'm in the market for (preferably) a DE filter.

However, upon looking at what is available, they are the same exact filters that were on the market nearly a decade ago when the current filter was purchased!

I guess the main gripe I have with the current Hayward DE filter I have owned is you have to get a ratchet set out every time you want to take off the lid and clean it. Pain in the rear. Does anyone have a DE filter that has an easy-open lid or other breakthrough they would recommend?

 

[microscopes]

Or I guess I could make the jump to cartridge filter, though i've heard the the clarity is not as good.

I guess another gripe of DE I had was how quickly it gets gunked up during pool opening, and the mess it makes with DE.

 

[Jimrahbe]

m,

I will never, ever buy another DE filter again. About 8 years ago I built a pool at my house. I really, really wanted a DE filter but code would not allow it. So I 'settled' for a large cartridge filter... Now, 8 years later, I am sold on large cartridge filters.

No DE to mess with. No MPV to leak or go bad. Dirt simple plumbing. Low back pressure. My pool is open 365, yet I only clean the filter twice a year. I could go a whole year, but my OCD just won't let me..

Still need a wrench to open it, but I don't care.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[microscopes]

m,

I will never, ever buy another DE filter again. About 8 years ago I built a pool at my house. I really, really wanted a DE filter but code would not allow it. So I 'settled' for a large cartridge filter... Now, 8 years later, I am sold on large cartridge filters.

No DE to mess with. No MPV to leak or go bad. Dirt simple plumbing. Low back pressure. My pool is open 365, yet I only clean the filter twice a year. I could go a whole year, but my OCD just won't let me..

Still need a wrench to open it, but I don't care.

Thanks,

Jim R.

This is exactly the type of insight I was hoping to hear! Thank you Jim.

Is there a noticeable difference in water clarity?

 

[Jimrahbe]

though i've heard the the clarity is not as good.

m,

Total Bull Feathers!!!

I have three pools. One has a large cartridge filter, and I have two rent houses that still have there original DE filters.. The water clarity is identical.

Maybe someone with a microscope could tell the difference, but it is impossible to visually tell which pool has the cartridge filter.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[microscopes]

m,

Total Bull Feathers!!!

I have three pools. One has a large cartridge filter, and I have two rent houses that still have there original DE filters.. The water clarity is identical.

Maybe someone with a microscope could tell the difference, but it is impossible to visually tell which pool has the cartridge filter.

Thanks,

Jim R.

What brand do you have?

 

[proavia]

Cartridge filter - no DE mess and no backwashing.
Get the biggest one you can afford. Bigger equates to more time between cleanings.
My 12300 gallon pool is open year round and I only need to clean my CCP420 yearly.

 

[dfwnoob]

When my DE filter needs pleats or something else breaks, I'll be going cartridge. The DE filter has performed admirably, I'm very happy with the water clarity, but the backwashing and cleaning is extremely annoying. Just broke it down yesterday, actually, and said to myself "I can't wait until I can justify a replacement filter".

 

[microscopes]

Cartridge filter - no DE mess and no backwashing.
Get the biggest one you can afford. Bigger equates to more time between cleanings.
My 12300 gallon pool is open year round and I only need to clean my CCP420 yearly.

Is that the Pentair CCP420 cartridge filter you have in your signature?

 

[Jimrahbe]

What brand do you have?

m,

I have a Pentair CCP-520 on a 17K pool...

I am a hard core Pentair kind of guy, but cartridge filters are all really about the same.

Since you live in a place where they close pools in the winter, you need to know you can't backwash them. When they get dirty you have to open then to clean them. This is not an issue for most with pools that never close, but if you get algae at the start of every season, it is something to keep in mind.

It is also best to put a 3-way valve between the pump and the filter. This allows you to pump water to waste, and it also allows you to take your pump lid off without everything draining back into the pool..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[proavia]

Is that the Pentair CCP420 cartridge filter you have in your signature?

Yes

 

[Newdude]

They're real spendy at the moment, but the S8M500 filter is tool less. The housing and clamps are all but indestructible and 2 honking filters smack directly into the housing.

As far as clarity goes, the 25 micron difference between the 3 filters abilities is 4X smaller than the naked eye can see. When the water is balanced right, a sand filter with the 'worst' capabilites will still leave invisible water. The Cart and DE filters have nothing but bragging rights for what they do when clean.

Now consider this. As your filter gets dirty from your yards debris, that crud traps even finer crud. Your yard ultimately decides how fine you filter because that crud in the filter remains unchanged no matter which way you went, once any of the 3 start filtering it out of the pool.

 

[microscopes]

Update: Just went to the pool store (I know, I know) to see what cartridge filters they have in stock. The 20-something girl at the parts counter says they don't stock carttridge filters because they're junk and that sand (which they do have in stock) is the future.

I thanked her for her time, chuckled to myself, and walked out.

 

[dfwnoob]

Ah yes, the future of the 1960s.

 

[microscopes]

They're real spendy at the moment, but the S8M500 filter is tool less. The housing and clamps are all but indestructible and 2 honking filters smack directly into the housing.

As far as clarity goes, the 25 micron difference between the 3 filters abilities is 4X smaller than the naked eye can see. When the water is balanced right, a sand filter with the 'worst' capabilites will still leave invisible water. The Cart and DE filters have nothing but bragging rights for what they do when clean.

Now consider this. As your filter gets dirty from your yards debris, that crud traps even finer crud. Your yard ultimately decides how fine you filter because that crud in the filter remains unchanged no matter which way you went, once any of the 3 start filtering it out of the pool.

Great information. Than you. I'm definitely leaning Cartridge now.

 

[1poolman1]

Or I guess I could make the jump to cartridge filter, though i've heard the the clarity is not as good.

I guess another gripe of DE I had was how quickly it gets gunked up during pool opening, and the mess it makes with DE.

Many years ago I replaced a DE filter with cartridge for a very "picky" customer, how picky I was soon to find out. Got a call from the husband, who watched every step I took in the removal and install of the new, about a week later. He started the conversation with, " I just wanted to tell you my wife took the pool water to her lab to have it tested." Turns out she was a bio-chemist. Thinking the worst, I asked, "And?" He wanted to let me know that she could find no difference in clarity worth mentioning under a microscope and they were glad they took my recommendation to switch as they no longer had to deal with the DE mess, and they had a separation tank in their system.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

It is also best to put a 3-way valve between the pump and the filter. This allows you to pump water to waste, and it also allows you to take your pump lid off without everything draining back into the pool..

Or install a check valve between the pump and filter and you'll never have to worry about this ... my pool is plumbed that way.

Just stating this as an option.