Hayward cartridge filter

[mak104]

My 20 year old DE filter needs quite a few parts so I'm looking to replace it. I'm considering a cartridge filter. The Hayward c17502 star-clear claims to have a 57.6k turn over in 8 hours. It seems like a smallish unit (175 sq ft) to filter that much water. My pool is 44000 gallons. Any thoughts on this model?
[h=1][/h]

 

[mknauss]

I would contend that that cartridge filter is way too small for your pool. One thing about cartridge filter, go as big as your budget and equipment pad space will allow. Bigger means less cleaning.

I will have someone with much more knowledge in filter sizing respond to your post. Might be tomorrow though --

Take care.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

57,600 gallons of water in 8 hours is a flow rate of exactly 120GPM. So they’re probably quoting the max flow rate of the filter system which is meaningless as no pool pump can generate that kind of flow rate given all of the head loss in the plumbing.

The concept of needing a specific number of turn-overs of the pool water is an “old wive’s tale”. Studies have proven that most pools can be adequately sanitized and cleaned with as little as 2 hours of pump run time.

So as far as TFP goes, the recommendation is to always oversize the filter you purchase and buy the largest one your budget will allow for. A cartridge filter is an excellent compromise between the ease of use of sand filters and the fine particulate performance of a DE filter. Pentair and Hayward both make the best cartridge filters on the market today but I’m partial to Pentair.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[mak104]

Thanks. I know to go big. HOW big is the question. I've read that 100 sq ft per 10000 gallon is a good rule for cartridge filters. That's why the above mentioned seemed too small. INYO told me it was big enough. Didn't seem right. I still may go with sand (hayward s310t2). Money IS an object.

 

[pooldv]

I have lots of trees and 520sf cartridge filter for a 20k gal pool. I would say that with robot it is big enough to only clean in spring and fall but with a pressure or suction cleaner it will take 3-4 cleanings per year, 1-2 in spring and 2 in fall.

 

[mak104]

520sf for 20000 gallon? I'm in tears brother. I'll need a $1000 filter for mine. Sand is good.

 

[duraleigh]

what size is your pump?

 

[patrick3229]

Hi Mak104,

A few more questions.. Could you supply the Manufacturer, Model # and Square Footage of your Current DE Filter? Before your DE filter needed repairing were you happy with its filtering ability?

 

[mak104]

1 HP pentaire pump.Premier Atlas filter.It always cleaned well:

Sorry about upside down pic.

 

[patrick3229]

Hi Mak104,

Based on the information you supplied I think you would be fine with the Hayward 175 Sq. Ft. Cartridge Filter as it has higher flow rating and a larger cleaning capacity then your current filter which you were pleased with. It is true that the larger the filter the better so something like the Hayward C3030 325 Sq. Ft. Filter would be ideal but if your wallet cannot afford it then your will be fine with the 175 Sq. Ft. The larger filter will mean longer time between cleaning your cartridges and less stress on your pump motor which will result in a longer life of your pump.

 

[duraleigh]

I have always matched "flow rate" of the pump and filter, making the filter about 25% larger in flow rate than the pump.

 

[Mayorb]

You may want to consider the Pentair Quad 4 DE filter. It has the fine filtration, without the re-assembly headache of the curved panel grids (which should be obsolete by now). The four filters inside look very similar to conventional cartridge filters, but they clean up a lot faster, total time for filter clean is less than 30 mins.

 

[mak104]

Thanks all. I'm trying to get away from the backflushing if possible Mayorb. I have a well. I won't rule anything out though.

 

[Joshii]

Nothing can prepare you for the pain of cleaning a cartridge filter. Or 4 of them. That's why we recommend buying as big a one as possible. You really don't want to clean these more than 2x a year.

 

[patrick3229]

The Quad DE is nice but you are looking at also being the $1,000 range for this filter and it sounds like you wanted something more economical. I really think you will be fine with Hayward 175 Sq. Ft. as this filter has a quite a larger flow rating than the current filter that you are happy with (120 GPM Vs. 72 GPM) and it stays within your budget.

 

[Poolzzz]

Flow rate specs for cartridge filters are somewhat abitrary. The highest standard defined in the NSF 50 specification calls for a maximum flow rate of 0.375 gpm per square foot of filter area. That is the basis for the 66 gpm spec hayward uses. It is also the flow rate the reemay filter efficiency is measured and overall is a very modest rate so not very stressful on pumps. Larger filters won't filter better or materially affect pump stress so going larger than 175 ft (given your pump rates) really boils down to cleaning frequency. But one should be mindful that they are designed to run dirty for maximum filtration efficiency especially for the smaller particles. If a filter runs all year remaining at its initial clean pressure it may be great for cleaning frequency but not for maximum filtering performance.