New to me Hayward 210 sandfilter. Pressure and performance?

[Freefall_Doug]

I am trying to get the feel for my new to me pool, and filter setup.

The pool is a 27' Round AG, with a Hayward 210 Sandfilter that takes 200 pounds of sand and has a decent size one speed pump (I think that the filter and pump were designed as a combined unit).

The cover fell in with all of the ice and snow we had this winter, and the pool was completely filled with leaves and gunk. I was slow to get to the pool this spring and it turned into a swamp.

I have spend the past week and a half shocking and following the BBB methods as best as possible. The algae is getting under control but I had a clouding problem that I couldn't get a handle on until I gave in and used a bottle of clarifyer yesterday. Now I can finally see the bottom.

Honestly I feel like I would have never had the pool clear if it wasn't for the clarifyer!

What pressure should I expect the filter to range around? It is running just a few PSI under 40, which seems high because the max PSI on the label is 50! According to the Hayward website it is also short cycling, I have to backwash pretty frequently.

I also have been having difficulty adding some DE to help clear up the pool. There is a very small range where my PSI can go up before the flow from the return goes down big time, maybe 3 or 4 psi max. Even a small amount of DE seems to put me in this range and I have to backflush.

I think the sand in the filter is 3+ years, could that contribute to the delay in clearing the pool?

I am new to sand filters, and pools in general, so any information you could share would be very helpful. Thank you!

 

[dmanb2b]

Hi there...may I suggest that your scrap the DE idea for now. Please attempt a backwash and see where the PSI ends up with a clean filter...I have the 250lb version of you filter and my normal psi is 18-26psi...40 sounds really high...eventhough every setup is different 40psi do not give you much room to play with.

follow the backwash process listed here and let us know if that helps...chances are you added too much DE...also what was your normal PSI range in past years?

Here is a link to the owners manual

http://www.haywardnet.com/products/Manuals/pdfs/Manual145.pdf

 

[mas985]

What size/model pump do you have? 40 PSI is not even possible with most pumps (90 feet of head) which might indicate a bad gauge.

 

[Freefall_Doug]

What size/model pump do you have? 40 PSI is not even possible with most pumps (90 feet of head) which might indicate a bad gauge.

It is a 1.5 hp Hayward, 115v, rate for a 15amp service. I will write down more specifics when I am home tonight.

After repeated backflushing and rinse cycles and a clear sight glass it runs just below 38 psi. I thought it was running more around 20-30 psi when I first started this battle.

When I put our lady-bug auto floor vac on the pressure runs more around the low 30's, and the level of the water in the strainer basket on the pump drops from totally full, to having some air space in it, but the flow is still very strong. There are no bubbles in the return, so I don't suspect any leaks in the system either.

It was running around 38 psi or so before I tried the DE. It doesn't look like the DE caused the high pressure, if the gauge is to be trusted, it just pushes the system out of it's narrow range of operating really quick.

I am a little suprised that after running 24-7 for almost two weeks the filter wasn't clearing the cloudiness from the pool, but it cleared to crystal clear with in 1 1/2 days of dumping in the Namco Super concentrated clarifyer. I am happy it is clear now, hopefully I can get out of battle mode soon and move to a maintenance routine instead of a treatment regiment.

 

[launboy]

Does the gauge drop to zero when you shut the pump off? If not, there's a good chance the gauge is bad. Even if it does go to zero, it might be worth replacing with a new gauge. They are pretty cheap and if they do give the same reading, store away the new one until the old one breaks. They usually don't last more than a couple of seasons.

HTH,
Adam