Pressure increased after vacuuming - Not sure if related

[Chris_N]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a home that has a pool. This is the first time that I have owned/maintained a pool but I am confident that I can. I have read through the pool school and have spoken to the previous owner about the plumbing and maintenance albeit not thoroughly - very high level.

When we first moved in the PSI at the filter (DE type) was running at 10 PSI. This past weekend, my wife and I cleaned the pool out for the first time in about two weeks. We attached the vacuum to the to the inlet and I adjusted the valve about 50/50 vacuum/skimmer. From what I recall the pressure was still at 10 PSI at that time. We vacuumed all three leave that were at the bottom of the pool. That evening, I noticed the pressure had increased to 22 PSI. At that time I did not attribute that to vacuuming the pool nor do I know now if it's atributable or not.

I backwashed the pool for 4 or 5 minutes this morning and added a full amount of DE. The pressure remained high. The manager at Leslie's recommended that I do a full filter cleaning - which I was told was "done recently". "Done recently" is extremely relative.

So my question is - is it normal for the filter pressure to increase after vacuuming? Would a full clean out of the DE Filter be recommended? Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Thank you in advance.
Chris

 

[Saturn94]

Another cause of a sudden increase in pressure is a pending (likely invisible, for now) algae bloom.

Just a thought.

Also you may have too much DE in the filter. Backwashing won't remove all DE. I believe here they recommend recharging with 80% of what's normally called for for your filter after backwashing. It's probably a good idea to break down and thoroughly clean your filter.

 

[kimkats]

Pool School - Maintenance and Cleaning of Pool Filters

I am not sure if this link will be of any help to you. I am not real up on DE filters.

I do know that if your pressure went up that high after your vacuumed then...............1+1=2

I cannot see any harm in doing a full clean of the filter.

Did you find the three leaves in the basket? If they were BIG leaves LOL they could cause a problem....

Kim

 

[duraleigh]

So my question is - is it normal for the filter pressure to increase after vacuuming? Would a full clean out of the DE Filter be recommended? Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Yes. Yes. and Yes.

When you pick up debris from your pool floor and vacuum it to your filter, you increase the resistance in the system so a resultant psi increase is normal

Secondly, If you psi did not drop during the backwash, something is still providing resistance so you have to open up and see what that is.

Last, your gauge could be stuck or faulty but likely is that you just need more internal cleaning. Understand that psi is a measurement of the resistance in your whole system but the filter (and dirt) are by far the biggest part.

 

[Chris_N]

By some miracle of nature, it is raining in San Diego. So, I will do a backwash then clean out this weekend. Once this rain let's up on Thursday, I will check water parameters and get them back in check.

I will also re-read all the tutorials on TFP.

Thank you.
Chris