I'll admit I haven't taken my DE filter apart for about 3 years now, mind you I only backwash and recharge the thing once maybe twice per season. I have a mesh safety cover and more laziness stopped me from adding chlorine during the winter, so I started with basically a swamp this years. The filter just wasn't working as fast as in years past, so I broke the thing apart and man I wish I had taken some pictures. It is insane how much DE is left behind even after a vigorous back-washing session. There were just huge clumps of DE some almost top to bottom in between all the inside grids, so please take the word of a lazy guy, get off your butt and manual clean your filter at least once per season.
Please Manual Clean Your DE Grids.
- Thread starter uloset
- Start date
I totally agree. Even after just one backwash cycle there seems to be a lot of DE left over.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,763
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
I've pretty much switched to breakdown cleaning mine every time. I was doing it once a season, then started doing it spring and fall. I noticed that it was still pretty bad. Since I start a breakdown by backwashing first, it shows how much you don't get out by just backwashing. I notice that the pressure drops more after a full cleaning and that it stays down longer. I guess it really isn't that much more work than those who have a cartridge filter. Same process, just more mess with the DE.
Yea I'm thinking of doing the same thing from now on. Plus no matter where I back wash I get some DE sitting in low spots on the lawn. The last thing I want to do is run over all that DE with the lawn mower kicking it all up in the air and breathing it in. When I take the grids out I can wash them in the street and the DE all runs down the storm drain. I also try and schedule my cleanings before heavy rain fall so that any DE that is left over, be it in the street or lawn is washed away.
I scrape what I can down into the bottom section of the filter before pulling the grids out. Then I scoop all that out and let it dry some before double trash bagging it.
I still see sections of uncovered grid though. Haven't nailed the coverage yet. Guess I could slowly add DE until the pressure starts moving up.
I still see sections of uncovered grid though. Haven't nailed the coverage yet. Guess I could slowly add DE until the pressure starts moving up.
How are you adding the DE are you making a slurry by mixing it with water first or adding the powder straight to the skimmer? I'm kind of mixed on which works best in my setup as I have tried both. Though I would not recommend dumping the dry DE right in if you don't have at least 2 skimmers. I actually keep both my skimmers open during slurry or dry loading as I personally feel it promotes better mixture of the DE and hopefully better grid coverage.
I have tried both as well. Slurry last year, shake through skimmer this year. Can't really tell how well it worked until next year's disassembly, that's the downside.
When I did the slurry last year, after a partial refill, I shut off the main drain and started before the water level was high enough, so I ran the skimmer dry. And forgot to shut off the venturi return. Had to stop, adjust, wait, etc, so it wasn't a very good job by me of adding the slurry, so I won't knock that method until I can do it cleanly.
When I did the slurry last year, after a partial refill, I shut off the main drain and started before the water level was high enough, so I ran the skimmer dry. And forgot to shut off the venturi return. Had to stop, adjust, wait, etc, so it wasn't a very good job by me of adding the slurry, so I won't knock that method until I can do it cleanly.