Hello and Thanks in Advance

[Mrsheller2246]

Hi all! Last summer was my first season as a pool owner after moving into my current home last spring. I struggled big time! After reading a ton of stuff on this wonderful site the past couple of weeks, I'm committed to doing a better job with less frustration this season! My misery last season was definitely from water chemistry ignorance. I used test strips and the dreaded pool store testing. I also used mostly bags of ChlorBrite as advised by the young pool store girl. Yeah, I would like to kick myself for that. However, this year I'm armed with the TF-100, liquid chlorine, and all the knowledge on this site. I even have the beta pool math app, which I'm pretty excited about. It will be a couple of weeks before I open the pool because I have to resand the bricks near the pool and change the filter. I currently have hayward de filter, from the paper work I have I think its about 20 years old? There is technically nothing wrong with it; however, its the finger style with about 20 bolts to take apart when you have to clean the fingers (which would have been less often if I knew what I was doing last year). Additionally, I have too many first degree relatives with cancer to be handling a known carcinogen. So, onto a cartridge filter I go. I had a pool guy give me some estimates and his version of education about filters. He said he hasn't installed a de filter in 5 years and immediately dismissed a sand filter. That's not how I landed on the cartridge filter, but thought it was interesting, especially since so many members on here have sand or de.

Anywho, thanks in advance to everyone that invests their time in this site and it's products. I will post in Getting started when I'm ready to open. It was a swamp when I closed it, so I have my work cut out for me.

 

[AimeeH]

Ooooo green to clean is so fun.

Welcome

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sheller,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all pool owners that are looking at updating their filters...

I have a cartridge filter and find it to be about the same, maintenance wise, as a DE filter. It takes me about the same amount of time to clean my cartridges as it does the clean a DE filter. In both cases you get wet...

For reference I never backwash a DE filter anymore, and for both the cartridge and the DE, I just break them down and clean them twice a year. Once before pool season starts and once after it ends..

I can do that for two reasons... 1. I follow the TFP principles, so I never get algae, and 2. I have variable speed pumps which let me run with a filter pressure of only 2 or 3 lbs.

My only suggestion is to get the biggest filter you can afford. The bigger it is the less often you will have to clean it.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Mrsheller2246]

Sheller,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all pool owners that are looking at updating their filters...

I have a cartridge filter and find it to be about the same, maintenance wise, as a DE filter. It takes me about the same amount of time to clean my cartridges as it does the clean a DE filter. In both cases you get wet...

For reference I never backwash a DE filter anymore, and for both the cartridge and the DE, I just break them down and clean them twice a year. Once before pool season starts and once after it ends..

I can do that for two reasons... 1. I follow the TFP principles, so I never get algae, and 2. I have variable speed pumps which let me run with a filter pressure of only 2 or 3 lbs.

My only suggestion is to get the biggest filter you can afford. The bigger it is the less often you will have to clean it.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

I already purchased the Hayward Swimclear 425sq ft. I see you have the Pentair 520. When I was deciding I had a hard time justifying an extra ~$200 for an additional 100sqft. In my own theory I figured settling with the 425 may equal 1 extra cleaning compared to the 525. Time will tell. On the bright side, that's one bolt on the clamp compared to the 20 to disassemble the previous de filter. I rather spend my time hosing down the cartridges than wrenching 20 bolts. At least, that's how I feel now. By end of season, my feelings may change. Glad to hear the time invested on each kind is relatively equal.

Thanks for the welcome!

Mrsheller = Mrs Heller not Mr Sheller but that's how most people read it

@AimeeH Thanks for the welcome! Hoping to go from green to clear only one time this season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Well hey there Mrs Heller Welcome to TFP... I enjoyed reading your intro and suspect this year is going to go WAYyyyyyy better than last.

Maddie

 

[Jimrahbe]

Your new filter should work just fine...

Thanks for the update on your gender change...

Jim R.

 

[bmoreswim]

Bigger never hurts, but you'll be fine with that filter size. I have the 325 (should have gone up one size) on my pool which is the same size as yours. I clean my cartridges after pollen season, about July 1, then when I close in late October (they are quite dirty but pressure rise is still ok - less than 30% from clean pressure). What helps tremendously with the filter is using hair nets on your skimmer baskets. This keeps tons of fine stuff, like pollen, from getting to your filter. They are disposable and cheap. During the spring you would change them most every day. Then much less frequently later depending on your debris load from trees, etc. Hair nets on Amazon And if you have canine swimmers, you'd have to be crazy to not use hair nets. But I would regardless. Simple but effective. They also make emptying the skimmer baskets easy, peasy. You just pull out and replace the hair net. Normally you'd have to rinse out the basket to get it clean from all the junk.

 

[Mrsheller2246]

Thanks for the advice! I'll order those. New filter is in but turns out my CYA is too high, so I'm in the process of draining off some water.