Filter Cartridges stuck

[rikilii]

First time poster, long time reader.

I just opened my filter for the first time (until now, I've let the pool service handle this part, but I'm starting to take more initiative) to clean the cartridges. The top bracket was very hard to take off, and ultimately I couldn't separate it from one of the cartridges at all.

It was also very difficult to detach the cartridges from the bottom manifold -- to the point where I ended up breaking one of the inlets on it.

I watched a bunch of videos to see how to do it properly, and in all those videos, the whole thing came apart quite easily.

Has anyone encountered this kind of problem before? What am I doing wrong?

My filter is a BlueHaven Smartfilter 450 (which I think is just a rebranded Hayward) with Pleatco cartridges.

Thanks in advance for the sage advice.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. Without seeing how you took things apart, it would be hard to say if you did something wrong. It could be the pool tech that serviced the filter last had the touch of a gorilla and jammed everything together too tight.

 

[rikilii]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. Without seeing how you took things apart, it would be hard to say if you did something wrong. It could be the pool tech that serviced the filter last had the touch of a gorilla and jammed everything together too tight.

Thanks for the response. I pretty much did it like this video, except I drained it out of the bottom drain first, and didn't turn the pump on to loosen the top like he did.

1. Opened the bottom drain and air pressure nozzle;

2. Removed the clamp.

3. Took off the lid.

Then I had a very hard time getting the top bracket off, and also releasing the cartridges from the bottom manifold.

I also noticed it was quite difficult to put the top bracket back on....I had to tap it pretty hard with my hand to get it to the point where the lid would fit back on.

Is it possible they supplied me with the wrong cartridges? Are there two sizes that are almost, but not quite, exactly the same dimensions?

 

[cowboycasey]

Could be, you could try some lube, something with PTFE in it like this
Super Lube 31110 Aerosols, Multi-Purpose, 11 oz: Power Tool Lubricants: Amazon.com: Industrial Scientific
Amazon.com : Teflon Magic Lube for Gaskets : Swimming Pool Pump Parts : Patio, Lawn Garden

Works on the o-rings also

 

[pooldv]

I use a large flat blade screwdriver to pry off the top manifold, a little at a time on each cartridge. Once that pops off then I rotate each cartridge, sort of eliptically, to work them up off the bottom.