New manifold and grids, but DE on floor

[Scice77]

Okay, my new manifold and grids arrive tomorrow (found a replacement on INYO). The issue is that my old grids were shot and I have a good amount of DE on my pool floor.

I should be adding 8 scoops to start the new grids off right, but since the grids will most likely be picking a lot of DE off the floor once it starts filtering, should I add less? I don't want to put the full 8 scoops in and then just keep sending DE back into the pool.

Any advice? Am I making sense? I just don't want to screw the new grids up.

Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

You're making perfect sense.

Aside from DE on the floor, how does the pool look? The reason I ask is, if it were me, I'd start the filter empty and vacuum immediately and get all that DE off the floor and into the filter. Then backwash and then fill with the right amount. But if there's a bunch of other debris in there, you don't want some small sharp twiglet to make it through and damage a brand new screen. There's a reason the caution against running a DE filter without DE.

If there's crud, add DE and vacuum up the rest and just know you're overloaded and will need backwashing really soon, possibly even the first day.

 

[Scice77]

You're making perfect sense.

Aside from DE on the floor, how does the pool look? The reason I ask is, if it were me, I'd start the filter empty and vacuum immediately and get all that DE off the floor and into the filter. Then backwash and then fill with the right amount. But if there's a bunch of other debris in there, you don't want some small sharp twiglet to make it through and damage a brand new screen. There's a reason the caution against running a DE filter without DE.

If there's crud, add DE and vacuum up the rest and just know you're overloaded and will need backwashing really soon, possibly even the first day.

Thanks for the reply.

The pool is pretty clear, except for all the DE at the bottom. I tried running the Polaris a few times and it's not picking up anything (the DE runs right through the bag). But like you said, I'd hate to pick something large up with the vac and damage the grids. I guess I will just put about half the amount of DE to start, then vac up whatever I can and re-assess.

I'll post with the results.

Thanks

 

[Isaac-1]

Also you should weigh the DE those DE scoops are notoriously inaccurate (+/- about 20% depending on how well it is packed)

 

[Scice77]

Okay, so I did the install of the new manifold and grids yesterday (the replacement from INYO was not the same OEM config. I already had, but this replacement was a perfect fit as the old style is discontinued).

Added 4 Orange scoops of DE at start-up. I then immediately vacuumed until I lost suction (which actually got most of the DE off the floor). My skimmer basket was a mess when the vac plate lost suction, so I figured that was a good time to backwash.

Backwash was a mess of green sludge, but it all came clear after a few cycles of filter/backwash.

I then proceeded to add 6 scoops of DE (assuming some of the original was still stuck to the grids). I saw some clouds return to the pool, but after a couple scoops that stopped.

So far so good, I'm interested to see how it looks when I get home.

I'll update.

 

[jblizzle]

Green sludge? Sounds like you need to follow the SLAM process.