DE on bottom of pool after filter grid replacement

[dave_m]

I just replaced the grids in my Hayward DE6020 and fed 7.5 lbs of DE in through the skimmer yesterday evening. Today there appears to be a few small piles of it on the bottom of the pool. I thought it would all stick to the filter grids. Did I feed it in too quickly perhaps? What can I do to fix it?

 

[JamesW]

Dump a pound of DE in the skimmer and watch for DE to come back through the returns.

 

[dave_m]

but if I put too much DE in couldn't I be increasing the pressure in the filter?

another related question is if I have to wait a certain amount of time before adding chemicals after the DE filter cleanout? Is there a certain amount of time that it needs to set in or anything?

 

[JamesW]

Try a half pound. It won't be too much. It's a diagnostic test to see if de comes through the returns.

The returns should stay perfectly clear. If you get a cloud of de through the returns, you're going to have to open the filter and check the grids, manifold, air relief and how everything is assembled.

Is the de piled around the main drains or is it under the returns?

Do you get and water leaking out of the multiport waste port?

Do you hear suction at the waste port when the pump turns off?

Do you have a check valve between the pump and filter?

 

[dave_m]

Thanks James. I'll give it a try this evening and let you know what I find.

 

[dave_m]

I don't know why but I haven't been able to post. But here's what I found...

Adding .5 lb of DE did not produce cloudiness coming through the returns.

The DE has kind of showed up in different places. I found it in the spa but that was when I was running just the pool drain. When I run both, less shows up in the spa. The biggest area is kind of around one of the returns but seems more like an area of lower water circulation. The shape is kind of a long oval or more like a rectangle with curved corners. One corner has the spa which is very small and the steps are adjacent to the spa almost center of that end of the pool. There is a return near those steps but most of the DE is on the steps and the surface of the bottom around those steps and the spa. The other returns point in a direction that would circulate the water clockwise. Eventually it runs bluntly into the wall of the spa where there is a 90 degree angle and a dead corner. That return over the steps is the only return that isn't pointing to circulate water clockwise. It points toward the center of the pool which may be further reducing the continued clockwise circulation. But that area is where I see most of the DE.

I don't know what the multiport waste is(maybe that clear dome window?) but I don't get any leaking around any of the pool equipment now really.

I don't hear any suction.

It doesn't look like there is a check valve between the pump and filter.

I was trying to figure out how to upload pictures and I think that's why my posts were failing.

So I'm considering sucking up the DE with the robot and trying to estimate how much it takes out so I know how much to add. Does this seem like a good plan? Should I open up the filter and look for anything? I'm just not really confident that I've done this correctly and am worried that my filter isn't working properly now. It's kind of stressing me out and I'm considering calling a pool service company.

 

[JamesW]

Assuming that the problem only started after replacing the grids, I would disassemble the filter, clean the grids and then reassemble everything.

The other possibility is that the de is flowing back through the suction lines when the pump is off due to an air leak at the filter.

 

[dave_m]

Ugh. Sounds like its time for a pool guy. And that I will never again attempt to clean the filter myself. So much effort to just screw it up. I took it all apart and spent most of a day cleaning the grids only to find the last one was broken. Called to see if the grids were available at the local pool shop and they said I could buy individual but if one was falling apart it was probably time to replace the set. So I wasted the time cleaning the old only to buy new anyway. Then struggle with assembly of course only to get that wrong somehow. Obviously this is something that is outside my area of expertise. If this filter ever dies I'm definitely not getting another DE filter. Maybe the cartridge filter is more my speed.