Dirty cartridge filters

wayner · May 25, 2022

Does anyone else go to clean their cartridge filters and think "My God, surely this filter is making the water dirtier rather than cleaner!" Here are mine after running for about 3 weeks this year:

Texas Splash · May 25, 2022

I wonder that when I let too much time go by. Do you use a skimmer sock?

arvil · May 25, 2022

That looks pretty typical of mine. In the spring, clean twice to several times a day, summer once every couple weeks, when the pump discharge gets about 8 or 10 psig above clean pressure.

wayner · May 25, 2022

I do use a skimmer sock most of the time, but I had not been using it so far this year. The strange thing is that my pressure hadn't gone up much - maybe from 8 PSI to 10 PSI, but that is about it.

FYI - I prefer to call it a skimmer durag as that is hipper!

Newdude · May 25, 2022

wayner said:
Does anyone else go to clean their cartridge filters and think "My God, surely this filter is making the water dirtier rather than cleaner

Nope. The water goes through the pleats and out the pipe at the bottom. That crud is exactly where it should be. In order to get that far, the larger debris already got quite the washing and is dust/pollen free. As the pleats get dirty, the buildup allows it to trap even smaller particles, making it filter even finer particles. (To a certain degree, of course)

Mine looked like that at the end of the season. 3 to 4 weeks into the season I would clean them once the pollen stopped and they were way worse. I barely ever saw a PSI rise but cleaned them for good measure alone.

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Dirty cartridge filters

wayner

Texas Splash

arvil

Well-known member

wayner

Newdude

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