starting psi

[pecck1]

hi all, we've recently purchased a home with a pool everything i read about our filter says to do a backwash when the psi level is around 10 higher then where it should be, how do i know what it should be? we have a purex triton nautilus fns 60.

i believe my pool is 16k gallons.

thank you very much for any suggestions with keeping my pool running smoothly.

 

[woodyp]

It could be anywhere from 10 to 14 or so. Backwash when you see a 25% rise in pressure over a clean filter.

 

[pecck1]

thanks, we've been here for a little over a month and i've never been able to get it under 25psi. i'll turn it to backwash for 1 minute, then rinse for 1 minute, then waste for about 7 seconds. should i take it apart and manually clean the filter?

 

[jblizzle]

That is a DE filter. Have you been adding DE back into it after every backwash? If not, and given you do not know the history. I would do a full breakdown following the DE Filter Cleaning Tutorial.

Here is some more information that may help: Use and Care of DE Filters

We certainly to not prescribe to the 10psi pressure rise. We recommend backwashing when the pressure rises 20-25% over whatever your clean pressure is.

 

[woodyp]

If you decide not to break it down and clean it, I'd certainly backwash longer than one minute. I have no idea why you would run it on waste after rinsing.

 

[Texas Splash]

If you do take it apart, just be careful with the parts you handle. If I'm reading your label correctly, it looks like your filter dates back to 2000? If that's true, and most everything is still original, it might need a good inspection if you can't confirm one was done recently. I can't validate your filter clean/starting psi, but many owners will simply do a very thorough cleaning/backwashing/rinsing, and when they know it's as good as it's going to get, they make note of that "clean" starting pressure. Then as Woody noted above clean/backwash when that pressure gets about 20-25% higher.
If the previous owners didn't leave you a manual, I found this link that may help you: https://www.inyopools.com/manuals/345/pentair_filters_nautilus_fns.pdf.