My PB said I should store my filter cartridge inside, and in a container full of water. Anyone else do this? If so, what type of container do you use (I have a large single cartridge to store, it's about 43" in height, and 12" wide)?

I'd not heard of this. Any reason given as to why it must be stored in water? Perhaps the cartridge fibers are prone to deteriorate if left in a very low humidity environment?

Ya, must have something to do with it being bad when dried out. But I was thinking if it was sitting in water all winter, how would you stop the water from going bad, perhaps you have to change it out every once and a while?

If it's necessary to store the filter cartridge in water, why not just prep the water as you would the pool? Correct pH, add a bit chlorine, then check it mid-winter and correct if needed.

Ya, or just throw it into the bottom of the pool.....

I would really wonder about your PB...no, you don't store it in water. What you'll want to do is clean it really good by letting it soak overnight in a container of water mixed with dishwashing detergent (preferably one that has tri-sodium phosphate in it), then hose it off really good, let it air dry, and then store it inside. I use a tall trash can I found at Wallyworld to soak mine in. After it dries, I put it in a trash bag to keep the bugs out of it, and store it over my garage in the attic.

Here's the cleaning instructions straight from the Unicel website.

Great advice, and thanks for the link....

Any idea off hand what dishwashing detergent has TSP in it, or do you add the TSP to the dishwashing mixture?

Goes to show you how easy it is to get hooked into sales talk and misinformation. I have to confess that I almost went along with this. Sounds reasonable, keep those fibers from drying out... until I read your post. All I can say now is DOH!

Flyboy, if you're still listening to anything I have to say (and you have good reason not to!) here's what I think. You may* have to add the TSP; most dishwashing detergents (at least the ones I've seen sold in my supermarket here in California) claim to be phosphate-free.

Excerpt from Wikipedia's entry on TSP

TSP was once the major component of laundry and dishwashing detergents. However, the phosphate contained in these products was not removed from wastewater during treatment and was then subsequently discharged into watersheds and larger bodies of water. There, phosphate was often the limiting agent for waterborne plant life, and the excess caused algal blooms and subsequent eutrophication of lakes and estuaries. In the United States, the Clean Water Act severely limited the use of phosphates in general, and trisodium phosphate in particular, in consumer cleaning products.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphate

* Cascade Automatic Dishwashing Detergent has 6.4% phosphorus, 1 gram per Tbls. Formulation in Canada may vary.

Adding my 2 cents (from personal experience)

Make sure the cart is completely dry before it goes into storage. One year hubby didn't let it dry out and he put it back inside the filter housing and put them in the shed.

Opened it up in the spring....well you can only imagine the smell

We purchased a new cart.

I checked the TSP at Home Depot and it was "Phosphate free". When I asked the guy working the paint dept, he said NY is phosphate free so they cannot sell TSP.

I spent, literally, about 30 minutes at the grocery store checking all the labels. I ended up with Electra-sol. Here is a link (not sure of the date, or if the manf's have changed the recipes.

http://www.lwtf.org/dishwasher.pdf