Curious, 36hr after setup and my filter is clogged with jelly like crud.

[Runner003]

Hello,

I wanted to throw this out there as I'm curious as to what I saw.

I just set up our first Intex 12x30 Easy set pool. Awesome seasonal pool for our 5yr old. I had a couple of hours of daylight left to start filling this pool up as my 5yr old wanted to swim ASAP.
So I ran a couple of hours worth of water into the pool to finish get out the wrinkles out, then I hooked up the hose to the hot water heater to warm up the water so the 5yr old could play in it. There was amble of cold water in there already to not hurt the pool.
I noticed within 24 hour the pump was slowing down in water flow. This morning 36hrs after setup, I pulled out the filter as there was no water flow. The filter was covered in jelly or slime like stuff. I ran my fingers through each blade getting more than a thumb nail worth of crud out from each blade. I then used a jet nozzle to rinse the filter of which the crud came right off.

Anyone have a guess of what this stuff was? Do I need to add some chemical to the pool beside the mini Chlorine holder tablets, to keep the slime at bay?

Cheers,

 

[cfherrman]

Buy a cheap sand filter and pump combo on eBay, $117 and pick up a bag of pool sand. Those pools can't be mantained on the factory pump and filter.

 

[Runner003]

Thanks for that. I'll look forward to upgrading in the future. For now just learning whats going on with the water to create Slime like I experienced. Some sort of fast acting Alge?

 

[ashtonfitzgerald]

Have the same setup, and for most of last summer we ran it on the standard pump/filter it came with. The pump is under powered, but you can get by if you run it long enough each day and keep on top of the filter maintenance and do daily testing and keep the chemicals balanced.

I ended up upgrading near the end of last season as I wanted to actually vacuum the pool and run a skimmer.

The slime could be any number of things including anti-stick powder that the pool liner was coated with for packing. PVC loves to stick to itself.

Keep up with the filter maintenance (I was cleaning mine every other day). I ended up wrapping the cartridge in a length of poly-felt to catch larger debris and gunk to stop the PITA cartridge from gunking up so fast. It was much easier to clean, and made the cartridge cleanings go to weekly. Many people keep spare cartridges on hand so you can swap one out, and clean the old one when convenient.

Test the water daily, and add what it needs nothing else. Pool school is your friend.

 

[cfherrman]

I was cleaning mine every day, I got tired and started throwing them in washing machine. That worked for a week or two.

If you have a skimmer pump you can fill the strainer basket with pea gravel and use that as a pre filter.

It's your choice, a new filter every week or less, or a little money up front and easy peezy

 

[domct203]

Hello,

I wanted to throw this out there as I'm curious as to what I saw.

I just set up our first Intex 12x30 Easy set pool. Awesome seasonal pool for our 5yr old. I had a couple of hours of daylight left to start filling this pool up as my 5yr old wanted to swim ASAP.
So I ran a couple of hours worth of water into the pool to finish get out the wrinkles out, then I hooked up the hose to the hot water heater to warm up the water so the 5yr old could play in it. There was amble of cold water in there already to not hurt the pool.
I noticed within 24 hour the pump was slowing down in water flow. This morning 36hrs after setup, I pulled out the filter as there was no water flow. The filter was covered in jelly or slime like stuff. I ran my fingers through each blade getting more than a thumb nail worth of crud out from each blade. I then used a jet nozzle to rinse the filter of which the crud came right off.

Anyone have a guess of what this stuff was? Do I need to add some chemical to the pool beside the mini Chlorine holder tablets, to keep the slime at bay?

Cheers,

Hello,
It could very possibly be the coating they use so the vinyl doesn't stick together.

Do you see any residues floating on the surface of the water when it's calm?

I see that you are using chlorine tablets. How long of a swim season do you have?

 

[Richard320]

Was it clear/whitish goo you scraped?

My guess is it came from the bottom of the water heater. That's Calcium and whatever else is in your water. I recently replaced a water heater for a friend and when I drained it, it was practically jello coming out initially. The good news is, you got it out of the water heater, which probably extended its life by a few years.

 

[Runner003]

Nothing is floating, if anything just odd stuff on the bottom. The swim season here in Nashville TN is 4-5 months. Looks like I'm going to have to clean this daily as this morning it was half as gunked up as it was yesterday.

- - - Updated - - -

Indeed. I was thinking the same thing as I had hard calcium deposits on the bottom of the pool. I expected those, just not the heavy water too.

 

[ashtonfitzgerald]

Once the bulk of this gook is filtered out maintenance will be based on swimmer load and other debris that finds it's way in. For now definitely check the filter daily.

 

[Runner003]

Thanks CFherrman, after reading up on a 2800gph Sand filter, I'm so going to do this. will I do any damage to my pool 12x32 with a 2800gph sand filter?
I suspect its over kill of the current pool but it will fit nicely when I upgrade. Cheers!

 

[zea3]

The sand filter pump combo should be fine for you pool.

 

[cfherrman]

Mine was 1800 gph and 13" sand filter, that was kinda overkill for my 12' x 30". If it's not too expensive (under $150) and still has connections for 1 1/4 (too keep it easy) go for it.

 

[Runner003]

​Thanks! Zea3